Her Heart is Fertile Ground

A while back, I went out with a Dominican woman named Milagros (Spanish for Miracles) for my first Scharlaken Koord shift in the Spanish-speaking part of the Red Light District. The truth is, there are Spanish-speaking women throughout the RLD, but we went to the area where they are most concentrated. We spoke with many women, the majority also Dominican. Milagros was a prostitute in Amsterdam 10 years ago, so she has quite a connection and heart for these women. I was amazed at how old some of them are. I think the oldest woman we spoke with that day was in her 6o’s! She and the other older ladies spoke openly with Milagros and I about their embarrassment from working in the windows at their age. They told of the many young men and women tourists that snicker and stare as they walk by every day. They shared about their home lives, and the financial and medical needs of their families. They spoke of the shame they feel about the work they do, and the desperation they feel at not being able to do another kind of work - a “normal job” as they put it.

There were 5 Dominican women working in the last brothel Milagros and I visited that day; one in her 60‘s, 3 in their 40’s, and then there was Aneris, the same age as me. I could see that Milagros has quite the rappor with that group. After about 15 minutes of conversation amongst the women, including tears and cries from the eldest about her desire to stop this work, we agreed it would be good to pray. We gathered hands in a circle and prayed together whatever came to our hearts. I was silent as the ladies took turns lifting prayers up to the Lord. In my silence, the Lord brought me a vision. I saw a woman’s heart, and it was open, with fertile soil laid out, ready to receive seeds from above. The seeds came down from the sky like sprinkling rain, and fell on the fertile soil in the woman’s heart. Then came a cleansing rain, followed by bright and warm sunshine. Little green plants started to sprout where the seeds had fallen. The little plants soaked up the cleansing rainfall and vibrant sunshine, and began to grow rapidly. They twisted and curled and grew stronger, thicker, more lush, up, up, up until the woman’s heart was entirely covered with a layer of beautiful, strong, new growth. The Lord spoke the same sentence over and over throughout the vision, “Her heart is fertile ground. Her heart is fertile ground. Her heart is fertile ground…”

The images of the fertile heart remained in my sight as the prayers finished and we all opened our eyes. I asked the Lord,

“What do you want me to do with this?”

He said, “Share it with her.”

“With who?”

“Aneris.”

A little nervous, I leaned in to Aneris and asked her if I could tell her something. She said sure, so I proceeded to share my vision with her. I told her about the fertile soil in her heart, that she is not dead or dried up, but ready for the change and renewal she is seeking in her life, and that God loves her more than she can ever know, and He is ready to give her the deepest desires of her heart. Her beautiful brown eyes looked up to me in tears, she thanked me for sharing, and hugged me before Milagros and I left the brothel. I was so glad I listened and was obedient that day in the brothel. What a blessing to be used in such a way!