Larry, What Did You Do On Christmas Eve? ...Walk the Red Light District...
At first it might shock you but in context, it will bless you.
Evangelich Methodistisch Kirche, a Zurich inter-city church organized an outreach for the people living and working in Zurich's Red Light District.
A small group from Power House Church joined about 80 people from other local churches to do street ministry on Christmas Eve.
It was a clear, crisp, starlight filled night with the temperature around 35 degrees F (1-2 degrees C). The weather could not have been better. But cold is still cold.
As we walked the streets, we passed out small gifts, candy and evangelism tracks. The people we met were also invited to a Christmas Eve Service and Christmas Dinner at the inter-city church.
The men in the group, stayed on the streets and ministered to the homeless, the "Johns" and the "Pimps". The ladies on the team went into the brothels to minister to the "Ladies".
The Ladies Got Their Bibles
Our women's team reported an interesting experience in one of the brothels they visited. The team went in and started to 
share the Gospel. It wasn't very busy so most of the "Ladies" gathered up to listen and share about their lives.
After a few minutes, some of the "Ladies" excused themselves, went to their rooms and got their bibles. They brought them out and wanted to talk about the scriptures. The team took advantage of the situation and had an informal bible study right then.
I was surprised to find Zurich's Red Light District wasn't as "seedy" as expected. With the exception of a couple of obvious places, it looked like any main street with a mixture of shops, businesses and restaurants.
Later, the men I was with came up to an older, nicely dressed couple that were walking on the main street. We gave them a gift and a track. When they realized we were doing street ministry, they told us they were Christians and gave us an offering for the church.
Then There Was Daniel
We ministered to a homeless man named Daniel. He was seated on some cold marble steps at the entrance of a closed business. As he smoked a cigarette, he had his arms and legs tucked in close to keep himself as warm as possible. He looked about 70 years old but that was the result of living on the streets for so many years. He told us his story. It was like many others. We gave him some candy, some fruit, an invitation to come to the church and shared God's love the best we could.
Around 11:00 p.m. we gathered back at the inter-city church, where we shared our experiences. The church provided us with snacks and warm drinks before the Christmas Eve Service began. It was neat to see a few of the people that we had invited earlier show up at the service.
Open Microphone
At one point the church's pastor opened the platform to anyone who wanted to share. Two people came up and touched everyone's heart with their comments.
One person was a Jamaican guy that really started to preach an incredible message. If or when this guy gets saved, he is clearly going to be an evangelist.
A young woman who seemed to be a "Lady" came up and shared how much she was appreciated that strangers would come out on Christmas Eve to pass out gifts and encouraging words.
Rich or Poor -- Need Jesus
As an American, it seemed strange to think of Switzerland, one of the richest, per capita, countries in the world, would have homeless and the working poor but it does. "The System" can fail them too. But Jesus doesn't fail them. They need Jesus just like everyone else.
Our Heavenly Father loves all mankind but He needs us to express His love. Try it sometime. You'll be blessed.
Blessings in the New Year,
Rev. Lawrence Blakeslee
Missionary to Europe
