Proclaiming the Gospel in a Brothel

Missy Camiola with Abigail, one
of the children in the brothel

Usually, when we go out to share with the ladies in the brothels, we get little response from the women at the first one, which I have written about before. The owner, who doesn’t speak much English, is a mean old lady named Mama Rahila. Most of her girls are either pregnant or have just had a baby. This is where I have seen babies tied up while the mom is working. Karis and I keep going every week to this place. We often bring candy for the kids and we always invite the women out to our Bible study. Rarely do any of them come, though, because Mama has threatened to beat them if they do.

I spent a long time in prayer last night asking God how to reach these ladies. I felt that God was laying on my heart to go in with arms full of Bibles to give to the ladies as gifts and then to preach the word right there in the middle of the brothel. So, that is what we did!

The next day Karis and I rounded up two Nigerian ladies and Musa (“Moses”), a convert who is really gifted in evangelism, and headed out with our arms full of Bibles. Everyone was excited to see that we were going to give them a Bible. Even Mama Rahila came over and took one! She then said in Hausa, “I can’t read, but I will put this under my pillow so that it will chase away the bad dreams! That was the open door I needed! I pulled Esther over to translate for me and I started talking to Mama about how the Bible is not a charm.

Many Nigerians use charms as part of their traditional religion. People often mix their animistic beliefs with bits and pieces of Christianity, never really understanding the truth of the gospel.

I went on to tell Mamma Rahila that although God is loving and merciful, He is also a righteous God who hates sin. I told her that God sent His only son to die on the cross for her, but that since she has rejected that gift, God will not show her mercy, but His wrath. I read to her about the wrath of God and the judgment of sinners that faces all of us who have not repented of our sins and trusted in the blood of Jesus. I told her she would rest her head on condemnation, not mercy, if she did not get right with God.

I continued speaking the truth of the scripture to Rahila for close to 45 minutes. To my amazement she listened. Then, to my shock, tears started rolling down her hardened face. All the other women sat and listened too. I even saw a “customer” stick his head out from one of the rooms. I prayed he was listening also!

Musa seized the opportunity to preach in Hausa to everyone in the room. Close to thirty people stood there and listened. He then invited them to come down and kneel before him if they wanted to receive Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. To my surprise, 12 women knelt down and prayed! Mamma Rahila was one of those women.

I stood up and read to the women from the first epistle of John, chapter two. This passage explains that we know that we know God if we keep His commandments and that those who say they have Him, but do not keep His commandments, are liars.

Going down an aisle and saying a prayer is a common thing here in Nigeria. Most of the prostitutes tell me that they have already accepted Christ as their savior, so I am not sure how many of those women really got right with the Lord today. I will continue to pray for them and I will continue to speak the truth to them! 

I don’t know whether Mamma Rahila truly accepted Christ, but I do believe she was under some serious conviction. Please join me in praying for her. I believe God has laid a dream in my heart to see her come to know Christ and then sell me her brothel/bar. I want to knock the filthy thing down, take all the girls to my half-way house, and turn the thing into a Christian coffee shop and outreach center right in the heart of the brothel district!

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;  but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:3–6, NASB).

This article is taken from the Camiolas' blog. Check their site and blog for more stories and details on how God has worked through this amazing family.