Christians Outreach Into Strip Clubs, Porn Conventions to Share Love of Jesus
Instead of ostracizing and condemning men and women who work in the porn industry, two Christian ministries from Southern California are among several in the nation that are reaching out to workers in strip clubs and porn conventions in an attempt to share God's love for them.
Their efforts are showing positive results say the leaders of a group of women at Rock Church in San Diego that started a ministry chapter of JC's Girls seven years ago, and in Pasadena, where XXXChurch is headquartered and outreaches to men and women.
Sheri Brown, one of the lead coordinators for the San Diego chapter of JC's Girls, told The Christian Post on Tuesday that their trained volunteers' mission field includes going to all of the strip clubs in San Diego, porn conventions in Los Angeles, as well as anywhere else God calls them to go to "reach out in love" as they form bonds with the women who are desperately searching for love and fulfillment in their lives.
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"We just do what the Holy Spirit calls us to do and allow Him to do the rest, opposed to focusing on what He might be up to or try to keep a record of the lives we've seen touched by the Lord through this ministry," Brown said. "There have been times God has shown us fruit two- to four-years after an outreach, which totally blesses us. But the whole ministry is not for us, it's for Him. We know that God is always working behind the scenes and I truly believe He only allows us to see a tiny fraction of what He's actually doing."
To build a rapport with the women, JC's Girls take a large gift basket filled with hot pink Bibles, jewelry, lotions, candy, nail polish, lip gloss, and copies of the "Father's Love Letter." The San Diego chapter is comprised of six ministry teams, including an outreach team.
"When women express an interest in joining the outreach team, we have a few requirements they must meet before even being interviewed. They must be committed to attending Bible studies – and have been attending consistently for at least four months – their love for Jesus must be evident, their motives for wanting to do outreach must be pure, and their heart needs to be in the right place. They must also read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, fill out an application, and meet with the leadership team for an interview," Brown said.
Brown, who told CP that her chapter has fine-tuned their strategies during the last seven years, said she advises against allowing women who are struggling with pornography addiction or lust from joining the JC's Girls outreach team, because the temptations for them can be overwhelming.
"When we first started the ministry, I thought that any woman who came out of the industry would be perfect for the outreach team, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. We actually lost women back to the industry in the earlier days because we didn't have guidelines in place. The temptation for women to go back into the clubs can be very strong, so we really try our best to use discernment and wisdom, and we thoroughly pray about each decision."
Even though the JC's Girls are not ministering to women overseas, they're still impacted by their mission work, which can be mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausting as they interface with women who work in the sex industry, as well as the men they meet inside the strip clubs and the California porn conventions.
Brown emphasized the significance of the power of prayer, and said that a prayer team covers them in prayer while they're out, and then they "pray, pray and pray some more! We typically go on outreach right after our Bible study and we pray before we leave the church, before we enter the strip club and after we walk out of the doors."
XXXChurch: Ministering worldwide to people working in the sex industry
Pastor Craig Gross, co-founder of XXXChurch.com based in Pasadena, Calif., is also no stranger to broaching the topic of pornography, and for 11 years has been reaching out to the men and women who work in the sex industry, most notably, Ron Jeremy, whom he's established a friendship.
Craig told CP that the XXXChurch started stripchurch.com in 2009 and now have 64 outreaches worldwide that reach out to women who work in the sex industry, including brothels, strip clubs and street prostitution. Similarly, they go to between eight and 11 porn shows a year to minister to people who work in the industry, as well as those who are attending the conventions.
"We go where most religious folks are scared to go," Craig said. "Our motto is: 'you can't blame the dark for being dark, you have to blame the light for not shining on the dark.' We build relationships, we show love, and we show up in their world and don't expect them to come to our world. We don't ask for anything. We serve them and show them we care."
To ensure that those who are part of the XXXChurch outreaches are not tempted or lured into the sexually pervasive and morally corrupt world of the sex industry, Craig emphasized that no one on the team travels alone. But he also noted that people usually don't fall into temptation when they're working in outreach, and said that people who are tempted by pornography usually do so in the privacy of their own home.
"We don't take this lightly, but we're not scared, either," he said. "We take people who have a heart for these people and I don't fear that this is going to be a place where you would see people fall while they're in the midst of serving. Most people fall apart behind closed doors, but not out on the front lines."
To prepare the outreach teams before they venture out to pray, minister and counsel those who need the love of Jesus Christ, Craig said that through strip church they've established a network of like-minded ministries that communicate through a closed Facebook account, weekly blogs, and monthly phone and Internet calls to support and encourage each other as they continue their mission work; and most importantly, they share praises for the lives that have been transformed through Jesus Christ.
