There was a building years ago on East Sprague in Spokane that catered to the sex industry, calling itself Déjà vu, an adult dance club, where as my son in law described so eloquently Sunday morning was a haven for all things bad. As many of you my loyal readers know, the sex industry comes in many guises and human trafficking is all but one that I have pointed out in my writings.
Two, yet to be released manuscripts dealt with two separate but equally heinous episodes that I had my protagonists put an end to. But, this is real and what made this event so wonderful was the fact that this building won’t be torn down, but instead made into something better and more positive.
The owner and his son, and grandson, who founded and operate Union Gospel, are the organizers of this former strip club who will make this into a house of worship, a sanctuary for women and girls, men and boys trying to escape these traffickers, and clinic to treat the abused victims through medical and psychological practices.
He went there on Saturday evening and according to him he fell to his knees feeling the holy spirit grip his heart and he openly wept for all those women and girls who allowed themselves to be bared and publicly humiliated. Later, he walked inside and began to use a sledgehammer to help destroy the dance stage where the strippers would flaunt themselves. Finally, the cross was brought in, and each man there touched it and helped lift it onto what remained of that stage. They prayed over it and blessed the new church and the new mission of this building once known for sin and immorality.
As the spokesperson stated on the Facebook page, “Yes, the stage was removed, and we are moving forward with a new day and new purpose for the building, but the last thing we want to do is have people we deeply care about think we want to hurt them.”
I’m not a religious person, but I do believe in the moral compass of life and what is right and wrong. At one point, I basically had the attitude I didn’t much care about morality because I always equated morality with conservative Christian philosophy where everything you believed that wasn’t their belief was wrong. I have lately changed to one who believes that like all things, there are many shades of gray that we are all confronted with. My belief is more rooted to my spirit and how I view the Bible in my way.
This event affected me because as many who read this know, whether Christian or whatever religion, faith or spirit your compass presides, human trafficking, sex exploitation, and sexual abuse have no rights, no more than those drug traffickers or organized crime.
This spokesperson ended by stating, “Don’t get caught up in the hate or the noise. Don’t get sidetracked from what God is really doing. He is on the move! This isn’t about us versus them. This is about Him loving all of us and wanting to set captives free…at the end of the day, these women were created by God, too. He deeply cares for them and so do we!”
Jerry Schellhammer 