My sweet friend, I wondered if you could share with our readers what it was that stirred in your heart when I first shared with you my thoughts about going into the strip clubs of our city?

I’ll never forget the first lunch Denise and I had together, it was at my office, Panera 🙂 Finally I was going to meet with this woman who many people had been telling me about for a couple of years saying that I needed to meet her and that we had similar hearts. Well, our hearts immediately connected and the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, “I want to do something new with the two of you, so I want you to listen very carefully.” And as we both began to share our passion for God and wanting to bring His love and salvation to those who are broken and hurting, Denise began to share with me about her encounter with a stripper who had written to her ministry many years ago. And then she said, “What if we went and ministered in the strip clubs in our city?” I immediately said YES! We got so excited! We knew that God had brought us together for such a time as this and for this! Then we looked at each other and asked, have you ever been to a strip club? Of course we both said NO!! What do you wear to a strip club? What do you say to get in? Where do you look when you go in? What will it be like inside? Will they let us in?  There were many questions and many chuckles but mostly tears. Tears of possibilities! Could God really get us to these young, broken, hurting, lost, bound women? Would we be able to take his Gospel of love and freedom to some of the darkest places in our city? We committed to go in faith and pray and ask God to give us his strategy. And he did…and we went…and as we went, He gave us everything we needed to know, his grace would continually grow and his power never ceased to flow! To our amazement we were met with such favor — the favor of God.

What has been one of the most impactful encounters you’ve had while at one of the clubs?

I have had so many encounters over these last 4 years in 5 different clubs encountering brokenness in women and in men. One encounter with a young woman that I will never forget was with “Destiny”. We were in the dressing room and she was completely naked (not unusual, they are strippers) and Destiny had so many piercings on her body I didn’t know where to look!  So I just said, “Destiny, tell me about your piercings?” She began to tell me about each and every one…the overarching theme was pain!  Tears flowed from my eyes as she shared with me her journey of pain. When she was done, I simply asked her if I could pray for her and she said, please! Rarely do they turn down prayer.  In my prayer I talked to the One who bore our every pain and carried our heavy shame and she felt the presence of the Holy Spirit! She then got called to the floor for her “segment”. We did exchange phone numbers and we texted a couple of times and then her number was disconnected. I have not encountered her again, but I will never forget her! I can still see her pain and I can hear her telling me about it one piercing at a time. Some nights I am awakened from a deep sleep thinking about her and I pray for her and ask God to send others to follow up and water the seeds that we sowed into her that night over a year ago…and so we continue to go.

I shared in my introduction of you your heart for evangelism and your exceptional giftings in that area. You and Dale have created a culture around the Great Commission that fills the very heart of your church family. Share with us what you would want people most to know about evangelism. What would you want someone to know who feels they have a true calling to pursue a specific area of evangelism?

I think about all the people that God has sent along my way over the years to speak to me, to love me, to value me, to hug me, to alert me, to correct me, to bring wisdom to me, to heal me, to stand with me, to believe in me, to bear my burdens with me.  And all along the way it was Him! We are his hands, his feet and his voice! And while we may not see the fruit at the time of our encounter, you can be sure that God will use it and water it and perfect it. And that is why we go! And so may I encourage you to go!  Just go where God calls you to go. Don’t let the fear of man intimidate you. You have the good news of Jesus Christ; look at what he has done for you and what he has saved you from. The Gospel is a message to be spoken – don’t let the devil steal your voice! Imagine all the people who could be impacted by the love and power of Jesus Christ if we just looked at everyone who we encounter in our day as a divine encounter by God. Start where you are today – at your job, at the grocery store, at the mall, at the doctor’s office, or at school, or even at church! There are people all around us every day who don’t know Christ. Then ask God to send you to those who are hurting and broken and desperate. He will. It might be the most unsuspecting places. Get ready! God is not looking for the perfect, he is looking for the willing. Ask him to give you his heart for the lost and the broken and he will.

Oh, and one last thing – it will cost you everything: your time, your money, your energy, your heart. But once you go, you can never go back. It’s kinda radical…radical for Jesus!  Because – He was radical for us!