Laurie Ishii and Daryl Bargy

Okay, this is two blogs I copied and pasted from my myspace blog…

AWESOME OUTREACH last night….
Current mood: excited
Category: Life

This one is REALLY long…

God is soooo good! I just woke up – we got home around 7am. I didn’t sleep very well cause I got a tooth pulled yesterday – the dentist was gonna do a root canal but I just didn’t want to go through what I did last time, going to see him every week for about two months! So I told him to just pull it. He told me of the risks – and one of them was that the tooth would break and that I’d have to go see an oral surgeon. Well, guess what? Ow. There’s still a peice of tooth in my jaw/gum. I have to go see an oral surgeon ASAP.

Oh well. In spite of my tooth aching and gum raw – I was so excited to go out. Not only did we have the gift bags for the girls, but we also had the one hundred dollar bill stuff for the pimps. I ordered some pens, notepads, keychains etc. with hundred dollar bills on them.

Anyway, we met at the church office at 3am, and our friend Fred was waiting for us. By the way, would y’all please pray for Fred? He loves Jesus and has been looking for a job for some time. He needs a car – but right now he’s taking the last BUS to Hollywood and waits for us from about 1am till we get there to meet him.

When we got there he said that he was approached by a prostitute and that he gave her one of my testimony tracts.

After we prayed for the outreach and over the bags, for divine appointments etc. we set out. We drove around and after a bit we saw four girls. Three were together, and one was by herself down the street. We parked and got out of the car with the bags. I gave one to one girls, and the other two saw and asked for one too.

We weren’t able to talk much with them but one of them told me her name, Mary – she was 20. Then we went driving again and saw the fourth girl – and Daryl parked and got out. He met her down the street while Fred and I prayed and this girl (her name is Joy, she’s 20 years too old too) seemed pretty open and walked with Daryl. They walked up to the car and I got out. I asked her what she was doing – she hesitated and I told her “I know, I used to do this too” and she said that she was doing it “for a sort of good reason…that she was saving up to get her RN.” I asked if she had a pimp and she said that he was more like a ‘roommate’ who drove her around and she paid him.

She let us pray with her and Daryl said that she seemed more interested in getting our contact information than anything else before we parted ways. When we were driving off Daryl noticed a guy in a car who was watching us nearby – he believed him to be her ‘roommate’ – he was watching to make sure she was okay.

Then we drove to another area, and saw a girl – we parked at a laundramat and saw a pimp in the parking lot. I grabbed a bag and went to talk to the girl – and it was Mary, one of the girls we met earlier. She looked like she was gonna cry – she said she was okay and said she appreciated what we were trying to do. She also said she liked the stuff in the bags. But she was in a hurry and kept walking so I told her we’d pray for her.

I ran and got the hundred dollar bill stuff and ran up to the pimp and introduced myself. He said his name was “Cash” – I laughed and said, “Well then I think you like this stuff” and gave it to him. He smiled and said thanks. We talked for a bit and then Daryl and Fred came up and we asked Cash if we could pray for him. He said he knew Jesus and that he goes to church. (They amost all say that) So we prayed for him. I asked how old he was – 34 – and he said his birthday was just this month. I ran to the car and got him a $10 Target gift card and wished him a happy birthday. He said that that’s the only time someones wished him a happy birthday, cause usually he doesn’t make a big deal of it.

Then we went driving again, and stopped in the transgender area – we had already made up bags for them that didn’t have “For a Very Special Lady” on them because we don’t want to acknowledge them as being a woman when they’re not. We only saw two transgenders and gave one bag to one of them and it was so cute cause the other one was on the phone and Daryl goes, “Hey sweetheart, this one’s for you…” handing him a bag – and he said “No thank you” – but Fred was saying that after he sees what’s in the bag he’s gonna wish he got one!

The night was winding down and we stopped and prayed again some more and when we were getting ready to drive Fred home, but I wanted to stop at one more place where the pimps hang out. Before we went there we saw a girl and I got out of the car and gave her a bag. I didn’t really expect her to be so open – but she asked what the bag was for and I told her that we wanted her to know that she was special to God and that He loved her. Then I said “You don’t have to be doing this you know…” and she said, “I know! I am SO SICK of doing this! I am so tired, I haven’t slept in days, I just want to sleep…I wish I could just go away, even for just one day…” I asked her where her pimp was, and she pointed at an SUV parked down the street.

She said that he doesn’t care about her – he says he loves her but then he’s got her out here and the other girl he has is in the car with him and that she knows he doesn’t really love her but that it’s so hard for her to leave him…she said she has somewhere to go but for some reason (mind control) she can’t…she said her mom knows what she does and says it’s not for her (um, excuse me, who IS it for?) and that she could come home any time she wants…but she ‘loves’ her boyfriend/pimp. Argh! Her name is Laura.

Laura said she had to go to the bathroom so I told her where she could use the bathroom and she asked if we’d drive her over there – fortunately one of Daryl’s old drug buddies works there so he let her use the bathroom… and when I came out I saw G…with about 10-12 pimps that used to hang out at the donut shop. I waved and he walked over…it seemed like he was a bit ‘embarrassed’ – maybe I’m just reading wrong but it seemed that way.

Then I noticed CH! He’s really another one of my ‘favorites’ – God has given me such a huge heart for him! I ran up and gave him a big hug!!!

He said that he got my messages and the Mc Donalds gift card I sent him and thanked me. He’s so awesome, I love him. I told him about the bed bug fiasco and he was asking questions about the bugs…and then we saw MB – and Daryl and Fred came up and we intoduced everyone…poor Fred seemed pretty uncomfortable with all these pimps…then a cop drove by and said, “What the heck is going on with you guys all hanging out here at this time?” A guy who goes by “PY” said, “Pimpin’ and Christians!” The cop just kinda chuckled and drove off.

Then PY said something about me preaching a message, that maybe they need one. He said, “You guys are on the internet now huh? I seen you.” He’s on myspace too, and I wrote to him before. My friend Kristi and I met him about two 1/2 years ago on Sunset at the donut shop, and he remembered us. But when Kristi and I met him – he was pretty COLD to us – but this time he was really nice! Praise God!

Then I saw Laura walk out from the bathroom, and I went up and we began talking…she shared that she was so unhappy and how she wanted to get out but she didn’t know how to…I asked her if she knew Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and she said she prayed, but I asked her if she died if she thought she would go to heaven. She said yes, and I asked why – what she based that on. She said “Because I’m a good person” and I said “but you’re prostituting – and besides that, you aren’t perfect, and that’s God’s requirement to to heaven.” She said that she knew she’d made mistakes and I told her that God knew we wouldn’t be able to live up to the standard of being perfect, that’s why He sent Jesus to die for our sins, etc. so we can be forgiven. She said “I want to be forgiven.” So I asked her if she wanted to pray and ask Jesus into her heart and be forgiven etc. and she said she did so I led her in the sinners prayer.

Just after that her phone rang – she said she wanted to go with us to take Fred home but when she answered the phone the girl on the other end was telling her to come over to where she was at… I could tell that Laura was scared of this other girl. We started walking toward our car and then the pimps started joking and one said, “You’ve crossed over, you done caught yourself a girl” (saying like I was a pimp and I got myself a girl) They were laughing and playing around.

The other girl came walking up to Laura and I and I said Hi and gave her a bag and she thanked me, but she was not happy and Laura ended up going with her. But Laura made sure to get my number – so hopefully she’ll call me.

Anyway, all in all it was a great night and I’m exhausted – I have to go to bed – I’ve got a LONG busy day tomorrow too. Thanks for your prayers and sorry this was so long!!!

Okay, here’s the second LONG one, about yesterday’s Sunday service and ‘G’ coming to our class, “Reaching out to Pimps and Prostitutes”…

Wow. Again, God continually blows our minds!!!

Okay, so we pick G up for church – he was really tired from the day before because HBO did a filming at his apartment for 12 hours and he had been out and up all night from the night before the whole crew came to his place.

We asked him if he was planning to come with us to hear our friend Charity speak at Mosaic at 5pm but that we had our class after church – and he said that he thought he should go home and take a nap after church and could we pick him up before we went to see Charity. We said sure, a bit relieved….

G brought up what happened Friday night – he said that he saw us with the young prostitute Laura – he said that just three nights before that, he had seen her at 7-11 and even spoke with her. He said, “I’m not gonna lie and try to pretend that I told her to go to church or anything, but I did ask her what she was doing out there and asked ‘where’s he at?’ (speaking of her pimp)” He said that she looked so young, and (she also wore these really thick glasses) that she shouldn’t be out there with eye problems cause she needs to be able to see well because a trick could have a knife or gun and she might not even see it…

He said that when he saw her get out of our car he was really happy and relieved. He saw me pray with her and then he thought she was gonna leave with us – until the “wife in law” or “Bottom B****” came up and got her – he said that he felt like maybe he should have done something – because if he had walked up to us and the wife in law would have seen him (because he’s a pimp) she would know better and would have walked away. He kept saying that he felt bad, that the girl didn’t belong out there…he should have done something…

He also said that when the other pimps were saying stuff and yelling at us (I didn’t care) he told them that “You guys need to quit, don’t be disrespecting the Lord” and that “Those guys are my friends, I’m going to church with them on Sunday.” !!!!!!! He said they shut up and were just tripping out, “What? Really?”

G is defininitely one of the top guys – he’s got brains and he can talk…they call him the “Mayor of Los Angeles” – I think that many of them are afraid of him. So can you imagine what it’s going to be like once he TOTALLY steps over the line and gives his life to Jesus?

At the church service, I spoke briefly about Friday nights outreach, just about the young girl I prayed with to receive Jesus, and about hanging out with the pimps – I kinda got emotional up when I was talking about how I really love the guys and how I believe that God has such a plan for their lives…

After church G said that he really liked what I said about the outreach and that he got “all choked up”…

We did our Sunday lunch at “Whole Foods” and G came with us – and then Sara (she’s been out of the prostitution ‘Game’ for over a year now) and she met us there. We were kind of in a hurry because the class was at 2pm and it was already close to 1:30 by the time we sat down to eat.

It was the first time Sara and G met, and although we didn’t have much time to talk we did talk about pimping and prostituting because he wanted to know more about the class – one thing he said was that “I never thought that pimping was sleezy until now.” (Praise God!!!) He decided to come to the class…

Well, it went really well – although I did feel a bit like I had to ‘censor’ a little at first when talking about the pimps – having one there. But as we went on – that feeling wore off. It was great because G was very interested in what people had to say – more importantly – he wanted to see what people’s attitudes were toward the pimps.

We also had Sara share her testimony with us – what a blessing! I cry everytime I hear her share her story. There weren’t too many ‘dry eyes’ in the class when she was shaing. I think it was really good for G to hear her story too.

Later, one woman asked how we ‘humanize’ the pimps and prostitutes – when she just sees them as “pimps and prostitutes”…that it was easier to see someone like Sara who’s right in front of her – but what about the girls on the street? I told her to think of Sara everytime she sees the girls on the street because many of their stories aren’t much different than Sara’s…

After the class G said that he really enjoyed it, and that next time he’d be willing to share too. He said that we make a good team – I said, “You’re gonna be a great part of the team too” and Daryl said, “You ARE part of the team!” He smiled. I think that G is staring to see what he can do and how he can help people once he gets out of pimping. He can be very instrumental in helping people get out of the game.

He did see that there were a couple of people in the class who seemed a little more interested in ‘STOPPING sex-trafficking’ and throwing pimps in jail and maybe even being more political about the issue because we aren’t political about it – we aren’t really trying to STOP prostitution and pimping as being our main focus. Of course, if we could stop prostitution that would be awesome, but in reality – no one is ever going to be able to stop it all together.

Our MAIN focus is introducing people to Jesus Christ and as a RESULT of knowing Him – they WILL stop pimping or prostituting. Because eternally speaking, what’s the sense of someone just stopping their pimping and prostituting when they’re still going to go to hell when they die? G he said that he really likes what we’re doing.

After we ate dinner we went to hear Charity speak and she was awesome – afterwards we went to say hi to she and her husband John, and we also saw some other friends that go to Mosaic. One of them was Troy – he came up and we started talking… he asked G how he knew us, and Jagg said, “We go to the same church” I told G that Troy was a DA (District Attorney) – and that made him raise his eyebrows. Troy shared some of the stuff he does and he is such a nice humble guy – he really has a servant’s heart and one can see that he wants to help people… (he helped us with our 501c3) – and he brought up a case about a 19 year old prostitute he worked with…

He said that he wished that there was a program for the girls who don’t have prior offenses and maybe since there’s a drug diversion program maybe there could be one for prostitutes…it was really cool cause G has a pretty harsh opinion of lawyers from the DA’s office. Anyway, after we left Mosaic, G said that “before, if someone said that they were from the DA’s I ‘d be like, ‘WHAT? You’re from the WHAT?’ (with an ugly look on his face) I usually hate those guys – but this guy was really cool, he wanted to help the girls instead of just putting them away…”

Anyway, this is another LONG one so I’ll end it here before it gets any longer. But before we dropped G off, he said, “Thank you so much for letting me hang out with you guys man – I had a blast. I love it, I can be myself.”

PRAISE GOD… he’s just gotta ‘step over the line…’ – next Sunday at church we’re having a guest speaker give his tesimony – he was a Muslim!!! Woohoo – can’t miss that! Pray that God speaks to G through this man’s testimony!!!