By Tess Rivers

INOLA, Okla. — It all began with a phone call — one woman calling eight strip clubs in Tulsa, Okla., on behalf of the women’s ministry at First Baptist Church, Inola.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” thought Lynette Overstreet, who works in the church office. “All they can do is say ‘no.’”

Prompted by a challenge issued by Bonnie Swenson,* a Christian worker focused on prostitutes in northeast India, Overstreet called the Tulsa clubs to see if a small group of women could deliver care packages to the employees. Of the eight club owners she contacted, three said yes.

“I thought I would be turned down — with a few choice words,” Overstreet said.

Instead, the club owners allowed Overstreet and four other women, including Swenson, to visit the women in their dressing rooms before the clubs opened.

“We prayed before we went, ‘Lord, just let them ask us a question,’” Swenson recalled. Of the four women in the first club, all asked questions, including the most obvious, “Why have you come?”

“We told them, ‘God put you on our hearts. You are women just like us. We just want to give you a gift and let you know that we love you. We haven’t come to judge you,’” Swenson said.

Since that initial visit, Swenson returned to her work in India, but women of Inola continue to visit the clubs. In recent months, the Inola women also began meeting in local restaurants and coffee shops to pray with the strip club workers who requested prayer for their families and their kids.

“Talking about prayer concerns related to families bonded us,” Overstreet said of the coffee shop conversations.

“For us, this is all about building relationships with the women,” Polly Helling, coordinator of the ministry, said. She stressed that this is not a “program” with a set visitation schedule but a sincere attempt to befriend these women, become a part of their lives and share God’s love with them.

In addition to building relationships with the strip club workers, both Helling and Overstreet also noted that relationships among the Inola women are being strengthened.

“It’s changing our church,” Overstreet said. “You can only get to know one another so much in a Sunday school classroom, but there’s nothing like going into clubs and not knowing how you’re going to be received to bond people together.”

“It’s supernatural to see how God is working,” Helling said. “I feel like I’m watching arms grow on the body of Christ.”

PRAY THAT:

• The women in Tulsa’s strip clubs will come to know Jesus as their Savior.
• The Inola women will be faithful to walk with them and disciple them.
• Other clubs will allow access to their employees.
• Other Christian women in churches across the U.S. will be receptive to this type of ministry.

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Tess Rivers is an IMB writer serving in Southeast Asia.