Winter Travels 4: Amsterdam (part 1)

There is a distinct carnival-like atmosphere in the Red Light District in Amsterdam. As you enter the district, bright neon lights and signs assault your eyes. There are museums, shops, hotels, and restaurants close by. Lots of people, including couples walking hand in hand down the streets ogle "the goods" that are advertised in the windows. Unfortunately, the "goods" are about 500 window prostitutes. Horrible to imagine...yet this is only a very small percentage of the estimated 8,000 to 11,000 prostitutes in the Netherlands. There are many brothels where women are violently forced to work. Most of these prostitutes are NOT there by choice. They have been manipulated, violently forced, and even sold into slavery. Amsterdam is one of the top destinations in the world for human trafficking.

This is probably not the place for an in-depth education on the means that are used to force women into modern day sex slavery...but start reading some of the testimonies of women who are rescued from this tyranny. Click here to read a short testimony. Or get out on the street with an experienced ministry worker and you will not believe your ears.

As I entered the district, I couldn't help reflecting on the events that had led me to be here instead of listening to D.A. Carson speak on The Gospel and Good Works. Just a month ago I was at the Refugee Highway Partnership conference where I was made aware of the depth of the human trafficking problem in Europe. After doing some research on the situation in Prague and seeking out people who were ministering to women caught in human trafficking, I made it one of my many goals to connect with some ReachGlobal missionaries who had been at a particular conference on human trafficking. At this church planting conference I overheard someone talking about going to visit the Scarlet Cord ministry center in the Red Light District. I asked more about it and within 10 minutes I was in a van with the very people I had wanted to connect with. We were going to downtown Amsterdam.

The Scarlet Cord has been ministering in the heart of the red light district for many years. Started by the Association for Salvation of the People, they have been talking personally with women in human trafficking and helping them escape slavery. They raise awareness of the awful truth of human trafficking and its' effects. They do prevention workshops in the schools. They print the stories of the women in trafficking and give them a voice that both allows healing and warns others. They exist to help the women who are caught in human trafficking find freedom from slavery--physically and spiritually.

Toos, our host and guide, knew her stuff. She talked with us for almost two hours about human trafficking in Europe and the personal stories of women she knew. She shared how the Scarlet Cord ministers to these women. A startling moment for me was when she said that one of the most trafficked groups of women are Roma coming from the villages in Hungary and Trans-Carpathian Ukraine. I already knew that Roma women are high risk for being trafficked in the Czech Republic. She went further to explain that 60 % of the prostitutes in Amsterdam are from former Eastern European countries. I could see the frustration on her face as she talked about the fact that there was only one organization in Hungary that was equipped to transition women out of trafficking into a normal life.

Later, as she took us through the district itself, she pointed out where the various prostitutes came from. She pointed out the pimps, the loverboys, the different nationalities of prostitutes, the male prostitute brothels, etc. etc. etc. One of my colleagues said it well when he said he felt like she was a general walking through a war zone. She knew the terrain, the enemy, her own resources, and was ready for action at a moment's notice. She depended on the Lord to guide her every day of ministry.

The 6 of us who visited together ate supper and debriefed for a while. Each one of us had a greater knowledge of human trafficking and what it looks like face to face. I don't know exactly what God is doing but a few people are becoming aware of the human trafficking problem in Europe...and America...and Asia...and all over the world. Please take a minute to pray for God's work to be done among those who are being trafficked.