Warriors of Light

Prayer walking night #2. It was cold (4 Celsius tonight), but I layered up and was OK. Guys, this is hard for me to leave my cozy house at night--it goes against my grain. But God calls and with his help I'm listening.

Last night after an international Thanksgiving event at Hope House, and after dropping off some friends at their apartments, I was driving home through the thriving and partying Katamachi and Korinbo districts after 11 PM. There were loads and loads of taxis spilling out groups of men who were headed into dodgy bars, and my heart hurt. I'm praying not just for the folks being trafficked, but also the ones trafficking them and the ones paying for it who perpetuate this very unvirtuous cycle.

Also, last night at the Hope House event, I reconnected with my friend Mika. I had met her once before at the Friday night English Cafe, but it had been many months. Sophia and I were talking about what time and where we'd meet for the prayer walking tonight, and Mika asked a few questions and then told us to be safe.

This morning when I woke up, out of the blue my first thought was that Mika would probably contact me today to go walking with us tonight. And a few hours later, she did! I felt so encouraged that Jesus already knew what would happen on our walk and was giving me a little preview. I was also happy that Mika asked. 

I started to pray this morning to ask God to "show up" tonight, but he kindly, gently, and laughingly let me know that he was already there. No "showing-up" needed. 

Tonight I parked the car and then walked to meet Mika and Sophia, and on the way I was asking God to show me whatever he wanted to--and I saw this sign for "Escape" (I prayed for freedom and escape for those trapped in trafficking)...

And like on the first walk, God prompted me to stop and pick up a piece of trash, reminding me that the world might see throwaway people, but no one is garbage in his eyes. No amount of hurt can stop his healing power.

We are equal in his sight. We all need spiritual freedom, and some folks need physical freedom as well, but he made us all and we all have value.

This building says "Walk." So as Laila from Norway encouraged me, I'm rising up and walking!

May those trapped and in darkness be reborn! 

And here we are, at the start of our walk together: moi, Sophia, and Mika. I read Galatians 5:1 to start us off: "Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you."

I felt that Jesus was telling me tonight that we are Warriors of Light on our walk and in our lives. We did so much walking, talking, and praying. Mika is not a believer in Jesus so she had a lot of questions about what we were doing and why we were praying to Jesus. And it was lovely having her with us: she could answer our questions about certain aspects of Japanese culture and give us her insights and thoughts.

This bar, Hope, was deceivingly labeled as a ramen shop, but it was most definitely a dodgy place. We saw loads more men in black suits this time around the whole district, standing on corners, drawing men into their bars. And we saw young women, too, on corners and being guarded by the black-suited guys. May they all find Hope, true Hope, in Jesus.

One young girl, maybe eighteen or nineteen, probably trapped in prostitution, was standing in alley shadows around the corner from the entrance to a dodgy bar. I smiled at her, but her face was stony, and a guy walked up to her as we walked past, and then she walked off.

I was wondering if she has lacked the love of a mother, and so I prayed that God would be mother and father to her. (This Mother's place was a restaurant just a bit farther down the same alley.)

And this place. Oh my goodness, this place. This is where Sophia felt the most heaviness on our first walk, and all three of us felt it tonight too. It really is dark. So we stood on the opposite corner and prayed--it looks like a jail to me, but the entire building is full of dodgy bars. We prayed that there would be true freedom for those inside. Actually, this is the building on our first walk that I had a vision of it totally crumbling into a heap. You can't tell from the photo, but it's much taller than you can see. There is not one redeeming place inside it, but we know who the Redeemer is: Jesus!

This Thanksgiving week, I'm grateful for my freedom in Jesus. And for those who still haven't met him and his healing, I'm asking him to open eyes and hearts. And to continue opening mine as well.