The Lonely Ones

So some of the lovely women in my Bible Study and I are starting to get angry. Don’t get scared, it’s good angry. We have been talking about the prevalence of the sex industry here in Paris, and have been getting ready to do something about it. Last Sunday, we went on a prayer walk up at Metro Pigalle in Montmartre (on the street where you find the Moulin Rouge). The entire street is lined with sex shops, peep shows (I feel like that’s the least attractive title they could give it), strip clubs, etc. Rather nauseating. We were praying over the people involved in these situations: the women inside of the buildings, and the men who frequented them. It’s so tragic to see how consumeristic it has all become. Walking down the street, you literally see McDonald’s next to a porn movie theater. It continues to alternate between sex shops and food all the way down the street. Which begs the question: what is a need? Why is the sex industry sending the message that this is as normal and necessary as lunch? I kept finding myself getting angry at the men on the streets (and praying for them, seeing that ONLY getting angry would be counter-productive on a prayer walk...). There weren’t very many women around in this neighborhood, and you could just feel the seediness of the mens’ intentions. I additionally found it interesting that I am in this neighborhood all the time to meet people because I have friends who live right there, but I tend to look away. I feel like all good little blonde children were told to look away when things got inappropriate. So I did, and I still do. But walking through this neighborhood intentionally looking IN was quite informative, and allowed us to pray INTO the bondage that these people are feeling. Many of these people are in slavery, both literally and emotionally, and if we refuse to look, we are refusing to care.