Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the Lord. Leviticus 27:28b
I can remember driving down a particular highway in my hometown passing a sign that read “strip club, dancers wanted.” Most people would avoid this building at all cost but for some it was a place of income, a temporary survival and a place deadly habits stayed alive.
My pastor had driven up and down this Highway many times praying for a place of worship. After five years of praying and laying hands on this building it is now our church home.
And when I stepped inside the building for the first time my assumption were confirmed. It reeked of stale alcohol and cigarettes. Stories of darkness seeped from the walls. Empty needles laying on the ground, articles of clothing designed for a specific job, broken glass and a runway linked to poles that seemed to support the building. Wall to wall mirrors in the dressing room left me questioning, had any of these women ever been told they were beautiful, deeply loved and were designed for a different purpose? My questions were answered as my eyes caught a sign posted on the wall. It confirmed they had one job to do and it cost them to do it.
As you entered upstairs, it had the feels of walking through a haunted house. The dark and creeping stairway left you wondering what might jump out at you as you turned the corner. The forces of heaviness in the room let us know evil spirits were being awakened from our presence. I could hear the passion in my pastors voice for evil to flee in the name of Jesus.
“Please pay the manager ten dollars before entering the stage.”
Refuge church stands in the place of what once tore lives apart but is now a hospital for the broken.
A place where people feel loved, accepted and healed from pain and suffering. A light. People finding there purpose for the first time.
A place of Refuge. “The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.”Psalms 9:9 NLT
A story of redemption.
God was making this place, a former strip club, holy, set apart for His glory.
There is no amount of value to place on the lives that can be redeemed in this life-giving building. Lives are being healed, marriages restored, hope for the weary found and salvation for those who were lost.
Restoring this property to holiness and giving it back to our Lord has allowed us to feed thousands of hungry people and the best is yet to come.
We will possibly never know until we reach heaven the amount of seeds planted here in this house.
Our building is no longer a strip club but a house of Refuge.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”Genesis 50:20 NLT
Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the Lord. Leviticus 27:28b
Mary Beth Powers ❤️ author.speaker 