Yes, yes it is. I've had my pockets picked, things stolen from my car, etc. But never felt in any physical danger from anyone, at least not in that particular area. But you prepare yourself before going and take precautions, like not having anything in your pockets that you don't want to lose, not having anything in your car that you don't want to lose. Important things I have to have with me (ID, passport, some cash, etc) is well hidden in a place they aren't going to think to look even if they got the chance. You have to have a "situational awareness" so you know what's going on around you so you can sense danger and get out before it happens. And the police are another danger. I've been stopped with hookers in my car more than once. I've know they don't buy my story if I tell them what I'm really doing (they've heard it all) and I don't even try telling them I'm retired LE. No way. But it's not illegal there, so it's mainly just harassment or looking for drug violations. It really takes humility to be treated like a john by the cops and not try to defend myself, But I know that could make it worse, so I don't do it. A lot of people also think a "danger" for someone like me in that situation is the, er, uh, let's call it "temptation to sin"... But when you see these women up close in good light a few times, or go into their little rented rooms (if they are lucky enough to have one) and see the kind of lives they live and the effect it's had on them, nah, not much temptation there anymore. At least I haven't found any.
Some will listen, some wont. For a guy like me it's easier to talk to the hookers because all you have to do is have your car door unlocked and just glance at one and they will jump right in with you if you don't say no (or speed away quick enough). The drug pushers can tell right away that I'm not a drugie, so it's harder to get started with them. But for either, on a slow night (slow for them) I've been able to have a lot of conversations with them. I spend a lot of time in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide me to the right person, and steer me clear of the dangerous ones. Sometimes, admittedly, I drive around until very late at night and don't feel that leading to try to talk to a single person. Other times things go better. If it's a cold rainy or snowy night, most of the "ladies" are happy to listen for a little while if I offer to take them to McDonald's and buy them a meal. They get warm and fed instead of standing out on the street in the cold, so they will listen... sometimes. Being a guy has the advantage of making them curious why I'm not looking to purchase their "services" so they almost always ask early on. That's a great opportunity to explain I'm interested in sharing the love of good news of Christ, and also just interested in giving someone a helping hand, even if it's just in buying them a burger and fries. (And then some are just passing the time with me hoping I'll pay them for their "time" so they can get their next fix of coke.) So it's not a ministry that has a lot of visible results and that wears you down after a while. You don't see 50 people come forward at an altar call, or pray with someone every night to accept Christ. But sometimes things go well and one person makes it all worthwhile. Afterall, all the angels in heaven rejoice over just one sole! Then sometimes you just get to help make someones life more bearable, like the 14 year old girl I convinced to let me drive her back to her parents and ask them if they would take her back into their home. The tearful reunion gave me firsthand insight into the reunion of the prodigal son and his father in the Bible and how they must have felt! And you might be surprised how many Christian women are out there who felt (many times realistically) that they had no other choice. You just do what you can and have to trust God for the rest.
And then one time, I met Satan himself out there. At least my pastor at the time, when I described what happened in detail, told me that this wasn't a person, or even a demon in human form, but was the devil himself taken human form to come and get me. And this from a pastor who just wasn't the type to see Satan in everything either. That was a very dangerous and very scary encounter, but a tremendous lesson learned for me in that standing on the word of God truly does repel the devil. Everything she (she took the form of a woman on the street that jumped into my car) tried to do was repelled by quoting scripture and standing on the word of God. The few people I have told the details to were struck by tremendous fear just hearing about it, even a life changing event for one person I shared it with. That was something I will never forget, but also something that strengthened my faith tremendously.
It's dangerous, yes, but more importantly it's not for everyone. It's possible to learn techniques to minimize the risk, but even harder for some people is to lose the judgmental and condemning attitude toward these people that may live horrendous lifestyles, but are very good and very well practiced at seeing right through any kind of judgmental attitude. I don't just pretend not to condemn them while in my heart I really do still condemn them. I truly have learned that they are no worse, nor any more deserving of condemnation than am I. Truly feeling this way in my heart is what gives me the ability to talk with them and even have successes sometimes.
So I think that's how I'm going to spend my Labor Day holiday tomorrow.
Lots of laughing and giggles, Praise the Lord!
