A Christmas Dinner for Hookers

We Church folks are often moved when we read of the conversion of Matthew the tax collector. Soon after Matthew's decision to follow Jesus, he threw a big party for none other than his old sinner friends. The religious folks stayed away--all except Jesus and his disciples. He was vilified and criticized by the folks who lived right, to which Jesus replied that it was the sick, not the well, who need a doctor.

Fast forward two thousand years. Here in San Jose, the Nexus (prostitution outreach) team gives a Christmas dinner for the street walkers every year. We've spent the last few Wednesdays passing out invitations to the prostitutes on the streets. We have invited maybe sixty prostitutes so far, and plan to invite a total of eighty. I missed last year's dinner because our family had gone to the US for Christmas and furlough. They tell me that the dinner is traditionally well-attended. The fact that any prostitutes would attend a church dinner can be attributed to the gifts of evangelism and compassion that prevail among the outreach team. The dinner is December 8. Please pray that it would be well-attended and for changed lives!

This past Wednesday night we ran into a teenager named Fabian, with whom I had prayed to receive Christ 18 months ago at the rehab center. He was out prostituting himself. The thing that was shocking to me was that Fabian was not a drug addict. The director of the center had taken him in because he was under 18 and had no place to go, as his parents had kicked him out. Fabian was basically a good kid. He stayed at the center for about eight months and moved on when the center closed. He was looking for work at the time. This is apparently what he found. I had never known him to be effeminate at all, but when I saw him last week he had developed effeminate mannerisms (though he was not in drag).

I tried to conceal my shock. I told him how good it was to see him again, and invited him to the dinner. The folks on the team said that he seemed genuinely glad to see me. Please pray for Fabian, that he would attend the dinner and, more importantly, return to Christ.