Bringing hope to the streets of Macau

By day the area buzzes with tourists seeking a bargain and locals shopping for specialty foods; the place full of noise, talk and crowds. By night the dark closes in and while the shops remain open, a different product is for sale in the rooms upstairs.

Ladies who work as sex-workers stay in dingy guest houses around the side streets of the shopping precinct, away from the glittering casinos that Macau is famous for. They wake late having worked through the night.

A group of women known as Rahab Ministries meet outside the guest houses in the early afternoon to pray. They climb dimly lit stairs and find the girls whiling away the hours playing mah-jong, waiting for customers to arrive. The women long to befriend them and share about a hope that they don't yet know. They distribute gospel tracts and tell the girls of a clinic they are holding on Thursday – a free clinic for STD check-ups and where hopefully there will be further opportunity to connect with them. The girls do not hesitate to give their phone numbers and sign their commitment to attend. They know this is hazard of their industry. The Rahab women move to one side as an early customer arrives, he moves to a room with one of the girls. As the women leave they note that some of the girls are reading the gospel tracts.

They go down the stairs, regroup and pray. They pray that God's Word will not return void, but will achieve that which He has sent it out to do.

Many of the ladies come from mainland China and other Asian countries on two week visas. It is hard to connect with them. When the Rahab team return next week, they know they will find different faces.