Voice 1
Hello, I’m Rachel Hobson.
Voice 2
And I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“I remember sitting in my house. I was thinking, ‘This is all going to end! And I can not do anything about it.’ I took a large amount of drugs. I remember falling back. I could not even hold myself up. And then the blackness hit me. I felt so alone. I could not see or hear anything. I was all alone. All I could say was, ‘Jesus, please help me - I do not want to die!’
“Then, my friend came. She saw me and telephoned for an emergency hospital vehicle. It felt like my heart was coming out of my chest. I was having a heart attack. The pain was unbelievable. I just could not move.”
Voice 1
These are the words of Annie Loubert. Annie often remembers that time in 2003. She calls it the darkest time of her life. It was the time when she almost killed herself. Annie was a sex worker. Men paid her to have sex with them. She made a lot of money from this industry. She had a beautiful house, wonderful clothes, many cars. So how did Annie’s life reach such a low point? What happened to make her feel so alone? Liz Waid tells us Annie’s story:
Voice 3
“When I was a little girl, I never thought that I would grow up and sell my body for sex. I was very good in school. I always followed the rules. So, how did I turn into a “bad” girl?
“It all started when I was young. My family treated me badly. ... I felt very rejected and broken-hearted all the time. When you are a child, you believe everything that you hear. And I started to believe the negative things that people said about me...
“A close friend also started to treat me badly in a sexual way. But I hid my feelings. Soon, I did not trust anyone.”
Voice 2
When Annie was eighteen, her boyfriend left her for another woman. This hurt Annie very much. And she started to rebel. She says,
Voice 3
“When your heart is broken... what does love mean to you? I looked for love in the wrong places, the wrong people - people who had problems like mine. I had sex with many men. I went to drinking and drug parties. I listened to bad kinds of music. ... I was the party girl!
Voice 2
After some time, Annie went to live in Las Vegas. This city has a busy sex industry. Annie knew she could earn lots of money there. She planned to work for six months. Then, she would have enough money to go to music college. This was her dream.
Voice 1
However, things did not work out as she planned. Annie stayed in Las Vegas for eleven [11] years. She had built a life for herself. And she found it impossible to escape from it. At first, it had seemed fun to live in such an exciting place. But everything was not as great as it first seemed. Annie explains more:
Voice 3
“I was paying a price for my exciting kind of life. The idea that I was a success was false. I started to fall apart slowly. On the outside, I had everything I ever wanted. But in my heart, I was dying.”
Voice 2
Things got worse for Annie. Sex workers usually do not work alone. Usually, men control their work - pimps. Annie’s pimp started to beat her. Then, in a period of only five months, people close to her died - her sister, uncle and grandfather. Also during this time, Annie became very sick - she developed cancer. She took medicine to help her with the physical pain. But she also took illegal drugs to help her deal with the emotional pain. Many things changed in Annie’s life. She was able to leave the sex industry. But she still felt empty and lost inside. Her experiences as a sex worker continued to hurt her. And she continued to use illegal drugs. And then, on that night in 2003, she went too far. Annie took a large amount of cocaine. And this caused her to have a heart attack.
Voice 1
In a miraculous way, Annie survived. God answered her cry for help. And later, Annie felt God touch her life again. She was watching a religious television programme. A woman called Joyce Meyer was speaking. She kept talking about God’s love. Annie remembers:
Voice 3
“I started reading the Bible and Joyce’s books. They really started to fill me with the truth... One day, I was watching Joyce on television. I heard her say to the people, ‘God loves you!’ My heart melted completely.
“‘What do you mean?’ I thought. ‘After all that I have done? God is not angry with me?’
“For the first time in my life, I heard God’s voice speaking to me. ‘Yes, Annie - I love you ... and there is NOTHING that will separate you from my love again.’
“Tears filled my eyes. I fell on my knees... I decided to take a jump of faith and give my whole life completely to following Jesus.”
Voice 2
Annie has kept her promise to God. She no longer sells her body for sex. And she is now free from drugs. But Annie is still involved in the sex trade. How? Well, she explains:
Voice 3
“My desire is to help anyone in the sex trade. I want them to see that there is a real, different life outside of the sex industry. They may want help to change their way of life. If so, I am here to help them.”
Voice 2
Annie has started an organization in Las Vegas - Hookers for Jesus. Its purpose is to help sex industry workers - hookers. It offers practical help to people who want to leave the industry. It provides education for people who think that the sex industry is harmless. And its members share the message that changed Annie’s life: the message of God’s love. Annie walks around the streets of Las Vegas with her friends. She stops and talks to sex workers. She prays for them. She tells them how God changed her life. Annie is still a rebel. But this time, she is rebelling against something different - the idea that women selling their bodies for sex is acceptable.
Voice 1
The writer and producer of today’s programme was Ruby Jones. The voices you heard were from the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa. All quotations were adapted for this programme. This programme is called, “Hookers for Jesus”.
|