Forced into Sex Work...

Women will walk in freedom because you care.

Angela (not her real name) never thought she’d end up in the sex industry. But at age fourteen, she was homeless. She was kicked out of her last foster home, left with nothing but pajamas and slippers.

Preying on her vulnerability, a man in a fancy car told her that “a girl like her” shouldn’t be out on the streets. He promised to care for her and help her find a job. In the wee hours of the night, he delivered her to an underground brothel where other under-age girls “serviced” men who showed up drunk after the local strip clubs closed at 2AM.

What happened to Angela that night scarred her deeply.

She was forced into sex work

and continued working in the industry for ten long years.

In her adult years, she appeared like any other girl in the strip club. Naively, onlookers assumed she was there by “choice.” People believed the story that was that she was a struggling college student. In fact, she was a victim of domestic sex trafficking.

Then Angela escaped. But it was the only life she’d known -- her only means for survival . . . or so she thought!

Angela’s journey did not end the day she walked out of the strip club. It only began. Like many women we serve, Angela must now learn to walk in freedom. She must learn to resist the human urge to return to the familiar—even when the familiar means captivity.

Today, Angela works hard to rebuild her broken life. She faithfully participates in Treasure’s one-on-one weekly care team sessions. And she seeks stable employment, is growing in her faith, and bravely allows God to heal the deep psychological and emotional wounds she sustained.
Along with so many others, Angela is on the path to recovery. And because you care, Treasures equips her for the journey. Your faithful and generous partnership means freedom from the chains of bondage is offered, with God's love.

Thank you for supporting women just like Angela. Your best gift today goes to immediate use!


Sincerely,


Harmony Dust, Founder


P.S. Your gift of $50, $100, or even $250 or more will go far in helping women just like Angela.

Donations can me made at www.IAmATreasure.com/donations or 

Mailed to: Treasures PO # 2013 North Hills, CA 91343

Will you stop?

Will You Stop?

I am believing for a day when strip club outreach will be a normal part of the way the local church loves and reaches her community. I imagine there was a time when soup kitchens and homeless ministry was not commonplace—when people walked by a man laying on the street without stopping, much like the religious leaders in the story of the Good Samaritan.

Today, I wonder how many people walk by strip clubs, porn conventions, and women walking the streets without stopping and asking themselves, “What is really going on here? And what can I do about it?”

I wonder how many turn away in judgment, assuming that “those kinds of women” must like what they are doing and that they are all there by choice.

This weekend, the Treasures team had the honor of training over 30 women, from all over the nation, to do Strip Club Outreach. These are the sorts of leaders that have made a decision to STOP. They have asked the question: “How can I be a part of the solution?”

During the training, they learned that 87% of women in the industry would leave if they could*, and that there is a lot more going on behind the façade of glamour. After discussing everything from vision and logistics, to after-care and healing, we put it all into action during an outreach to Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles.

Each time I handed a little pink gift bag to a woman, I had generations in mind. As we link arms and reach women, the capacity to impact generations grows exponentially. As women in the sex industry make decisions to walk in healing and freedom, the lives of their children and grandchildren will be impacted.

And I believe that as people like you and I, make a decision to stop along the way, whether it be through prayer, outreach, giving or any other way, we become a part of these stories of freedom. Generations are affected.

Love, Harmony
www.iamatreasure.com/donations

PS. Tell your friends! This week you can catch me on the radio…

March 24th, 6pm (PT)
The Frank Pastore Show
Station call letters: KKLA
http://www.frankpastore.com

March 26th, 10am (PT)
Midday Connection
Host: Melinda Schmidt
MOODY RADIO
http://www.middayconnection.org

*Based on research conducted by Dr. Melissa Farley

In the face of rejection...

What do you do when you find yourself staring in the face of rejection?
What happens when it seems like the dream in your heart has no way of coming to fruition?

Check out this interview for the Examiner where I talk about how I dealt with rejection in the early stages of writing Scars and Stilettos.

http://www.examiner.com/x-35833-Womens-Ministry-Examiner~y2010m2d4-Coming-out-of-the-sex-industryinterview-with-Harmony-Dust-author-of-Scars--Stilettos?cid=email-this-article

This has been a VERY long journey and I am so excited to finally be celebrating the release of this book! Hope you can make it to The Stiletto Project on Saturday to celebrate with me!

Love, Harmony

PS. You can read the first pages at www.ScarsAndStilettos.com

What would you do?

You can make a difference

in the lives of women like Crystal . . .

Crystal*, a 21-year-old mother of two, had been stripping since she was fifteen. Two years ago, she miraculously reached out for help.

Like too many women, Crystal, hurting and vulnerable, was lured into sex work when she was just a child. Some are coerced and manipulated by men posing as boyfriends or caring “father figures,” while others are kidnapped and forced into sex work by traffickers.

While she was still stripping, Crystal made the commitment to change her life. She found a church where sincere love came from a pastor and his wife. But not everyone loved her...

Two women discovered what she did for a living. Showing up on her doorstep, they told Crystal she and her children were not welcome at their church.

Crystal desperately called the pastor. He assured her that he would speak to the women about the matter. But then the women returned to Crystal’s home -- this time with threats.


"The next time you go running to the pastor will be your last!"


The following morning, Crystal found her car vandalized. In the middle of the night, someone painted the words "Whore, Prostitute, Slut" on her car. Other names were also added, but too vile to include here.

In spite of feelings of hurt and anger, Crystal demonstrated a relentless pursuit of God. She was unwilling to allow anyone come in the way of her love of God . . . and her desire to know Him intimately. Many people in Crystal’s position would never set foot in a church again. Could anyone blame her?


With incredible tenacity, Crystal didn’t allow the ignorance of two people to keep her from finding a safe church where she and her children could grow and heal. The transformation in Crystal’s life is nothing short of miraculous! Recently, she wrote...

“Harmony, my family and I are doing well. Thank you for the time you took to talk with me and encourage me. I am now the youth pastor at our church! I also share my story publicly alongside my pastor, with the heart of our message being Treasures and the investment you made in my life. My church is raising funds for Treasures to keep you doing what you do and reaching these girls—the girls you and I once were. Treasures made a huge difference in my life.”


When you partner with Treasures, you help heal and transform women just like Crystal!


Your gift of $25, $50, $100, $200, or even $500 or more will purchase special gift bags, care packages, and Bibles for the women we are reaching.

What better gift can you make as the holidays arrive?


With Love & Gratitude,


Harmony Dust
Founder

PS. Donations can be made at www.iamatreasure.com/donations or mailed to PO # 2013 North Hills, CA 91343-2013

*Names and identifying info has been changed to protect confidentiality.

The Men of the Industry

The men of the sex industry—the gatekeepers. Strip club owners, managers, bouncers.
Before we can get through the doors to talk to the women, there is always a man standing in our path that we must first get through.

This weekend we returned to the San Fernando Valley, the porn capital of the nation, to bring gifts, hugs, and Jesus’ love to the women working in the strip clubs there. In one night, we encountered so many different gatekeepers as we try to reach the women inside.

Some are friendly, expecting us, glad to see us.
Some are suspicious, taking the gift bags hesitantly.
And some seem ashamed of working in the sex industry. Their eyes plead with us for understanding.

We always bring gifts for the men too, so they will be assured that we haven’t come to judge or to attack. We’ve come to give and to love.

We are women reaching out to women. And yet before God created Eve, He created Adam. And to this day, men still hold the keys to the hearts of so many lives of women.
Over the past several years, one club owner has been unrelenting in his “no”—unwilling to allow us access to the women in his club. At one point he showed us the Darwin fish on the back of his car, to prove that he is an evolutionist. He have always respectfully thanked him for his time and each year we return, praying that God would soften his heart.

This time he asked us if there was anything “religious” in our gift bags. We gave him a bag that he could look through to see the make-up, the jewelry, and the card that reads, “Precious woman, you are loved!” He then clarified, “No… I want to know, if I go to your website, is there anything religious there.” One volunteer, without hesitation, replied, “Yes, you will see the name Jesus.”

Jesus, there is power in the name. We were escorted off the property of that club. But not before the owner heard the name that is above all names. Not before the name was spoken that can bring down all strongholds, that can open prison doors, that can bring the dead to life. Jesus.

As we drove away from that club, we knew that a battle had been won. Jesus came to that man’s doorstep.

Nothing will stop God’s love from getting through to the women inside that club. But Jesus also wants the gatekeeper, He wants that one man. He will not give up on him, just as He doesn’t give up on us.

Written by Larissa for Treasures
www.iamatreasure.com

Jesus and the Magic Wand

A Treasure for You: The Treasures E-Devotional

Jesus and the Magic Wand
By Harmony Dust

In the popular story of Cinderella, our heroine goes from handmaid to princess with the wave of a wand. Most of us would say that this sort of transformation belongs in fairytales but, truth be told, many of us are hoping that someone with a magic wand will come along and fix everything that’s wrong with our circumstances.

I have had the opportunity to share my story for a number of media outlets, and time and time again have seen well-meaning producers look for the magic wand in my story. Some have even tried to peg Jesus himself as my own personal fairy godmother…granting my every wish and desire. And while the transformation that has taken place in my heart and life is pretty miraculous (just ask the people who knew me when I had taken up knocking men in the head with my stilettos when they crossed me). I always tell them the same thing, “Healing is most often a process.”

We like the “healing and transformation” part. It’s the “process” part that isn’t always enjoyable. So often we say we want to change, but we end up getting knocked off course by the first wave of difficulty that hits us.

The Gospel of Luke gives an account of the sermon on the mount during which Jesus gives keys on how to live. He addresses everything from giving, fasting, and prayer, to loving people, marriage, and dealing with anger and emotions.

After he finished giving all of this insight and wisdom he says…

I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. Luke 6:47-49

Much of the healing journey consists of the “digging down deep” part this passage refers to. This is where the work comes in. In order to heal and to develop the kind of faith that will withstand the storms of life, we’ve got to do some digging.

I am reminded of a time when the front yard of my childhood home in Venice was filled with crab grass. My mom took my brother and I out there one day with shovels and said it was time for us to uproot it all. She called the crab grass conquering grass, explaining that its roots would choke out any other seed we planted. As long as we let the conquering grass rule our yard, nothing else would be able to grow there.

The same is true with our lives. Some of us are working hard at planting new healthy seeds, but we haven’t uprooted the old stuff. And we wonder why those same old hurts and issues keep rearing their ugly heads in the garden of our lives. Those old, conquering issues are choking out all of our efforts to plant something new.

In order to lay a proper foundation for healing to take place, we have to allow God to dig down deep and uproot the things that are choking our efforts to get well. Abuse, shame from our past, unforgiveness, roots of rejection and abandonment—all need to be removed from the soil of our lives for healing to take place.

Incredible healing and transformation is possible. It’s available. If you have been waiting on Jesus to wave a magic wand over your life and nothing seems to be changing, chances are, He’s handing you a shovel.

Let’s get digging! Let’s get healed!

Love, Harmony
www.iamatreasure.com

love perseveres

November Outreach Update

On Friday night, we visited 10 clubs in Hawthorne and Inglewood, CA and gave gifts to women working there. At one club, a manager welcomed us in and said, “What’s it been? At least four or five years now you have been coming.”

Actually, next month is Treasures’ 6-year anniversary! And from the day we started, I knew that building relationships with the clubs was an endeavor that would take time and consistency. The manager’s acknowledgement of the longevity of this outreach was affirming.

Unfortunately, there are three clubs on this route, all owned by the same person that were less welcoming. We haven’t been able to connect with the owner on a personal level to address any concerns she may have and she has directed her staff not to let us give out gifts. At one of her clubs, the girls found out we were outside and came running to the door, trying to push past security, clamoring for gift bags. Our hearts broke to have to turn away without giving them gifts out of respect for the manager’s wishes. One girl ran out of the club and took one from us saying, “I don’t care what they say, and I’m not going to let them stop me!”

Despite the challenges at those clubs, it was a night of breakthrough in other respects. We were able to hand-deliver gifts at one of the clubs I used to work at for the first time since we started going there! It was incredible to think that I used to walk those floors prowling for customers and Friday night, I walked the same ground for an entirely different purpose!

When we visited another club I used to work for, I found out that one of my old co-workers is still there. At the mention of her name, my eyes welled with tears. She is a woman with whom I always felt a special bond. I could always find comfort in her kind and knowing eyes. And when I left the business, she cheered me on.

It has been 11 years since I last saw her, but when she walked in the room, she recognized me immediately and called me by my real name. It touched me to know that she remembered me after all of this time. For the past 6 years, she has been receiving our little pink gift bags. It felt so good to see her face and to wrap my arms around her. It was worth the wait!

In 1 Corinthians 13, the bible paints a picture of what love looks like saying that “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Hugging my friend in that special moment was the fruit of perseverance. When I think of the women in the clubs that we were not able to reach, my hope is in knowing that God’s love for them perseveres. And because of His great love, so will we.


Love,

Harmony
www.iamatreasure.com
www.myspace.com/treasuresnonprofit