The Genesis Project

So I went to a prayer meeting in Seatac for a group called Genesis Project on Saturday.

This was one of those out of body experiences. But first let me give some background on who they are.

Genesis Project is (in very short) a safe house for minors caught in prostitution or other sexual exploitation. A group of Christian officers in the Sea tac area were frustrated that they were forced to take young girls and boys they found being exploited straight to juvenile hall. They alerted several churches that they wanted an inbetween house. A sort of safe haven where they could drop off teens to get real counseling, love and healing.

This is a picture from their website.

(You can click the picture or this link to go there)

A few years later Genesis Project is now off the ground with it's first safe house in downtown Sea tac.

I heard about an opportunity to go to the safe house and pray and worship and knew I couldn't miss it. Well right before we left I did consider staying home and watching a movie on the couch but in the end I did make it out the door. I went with a friend named Erin (who was also my ride). We drove to the meeting a good forty five minutes away from my house and in the middle of a very shifty looking part of town. We sat in the car when we arrived and debated for a few minutes whether or not we had actually made it to Genesis Project or had somehow landed ourselves at some seedy bar. We ended up getting out and just taking a risk. I was honestly afraid to open the door. All the windows were covered with what looked like black garbage bags and old posters. Erin and I looked at each other, I took a deep breath and we ventured, into the fray!

Well the inside was alot nicer then the outer. The colors were warm and modern. There was a cute little foyer with couches and a bar. We talked with a few other brave souls who had made it to the meeting and after a few minutes of talk we walked to the adjoining room for worship. There were aisles of chairs a proper stage and this beautiful fresco of Michaelangelo's hands of God and Adam on one of the walls.

Here's a picture to help you well... picture it.

(But what I liked about the one in Genesis Project is that Adam's arm had all these crazy tattoos on it.)

Anyways we worshipped and the presence of God was so thick. Now I always cry when the Holy Spirit touches me. I was definitely tearing up in worship but I didn't start really losing it until we began to pray. There is a verse in Isaiah that I was lead to speak over the men and women who would be receiving help at this safe house. It says that "violence will no longer be heard on your streets." I wept aloud and I prayed for healing from violence over the exploited men and women walking through their doors. I also declared that verse about the new city of Zion over the city of Seattle and Sea tac. 

Needless to say after that I was a wreck the entire night.

We walked around the building praying for different rooms. I walked into a room with a few beds and a shower. I sat down on a bed and knew that women who had never felt real rest in their lives, women who have been haunted. would be lying on these beds and perhaps for the first time feel some sort of safety. I walked into the adjacent shower room and could almost see young people trying desperately to wash away the faces, the memories of their past. I prayed the water would wash their Spirits, that they would walk out with more then clean bodies but also cleaner hearts. I continued to shed tears for the nameless faces of the people I was seeing.

At the end of the night we came together and prayed for some of the volunteers. One of them is a girl I know named Denise who organized the whole prayer and worship night. I saw in my mind, while we prayed, a girl backed into a corner with a slash through her lip and scars under her eyes. I saw the way the volunteers tenderly wiped the blood away and rubbed their fingers over her scars and said, "Beautiful." 

I shared this with the group and several of us began to cry. I was weeping so hard I could hardly get it out. I declared over them  the power to call beauty out of ashes and convince even the unwinnable of their true value. 

I left the night feeling so glad that I had stepped a few inches out of my comfort zone. I didn't get to see someone delivered. I didn't do very much. But as my heart poured out for this safe house and the Holy Spirit broke my heart for men and women I didn't even know I knew something powerful had been released. Something I might never have the chance to see but was honored to be apart of. God has great things for that safe house and especially for the broken people who will be walking through it's doors. I hope I have another chance to go again soon. 

At the end of that experience I realized how much more I need to give myself away. There's too much happening in the world for me to be stagnant. I think having your heart broken by the Lord is one of the most beautiful things that can happen to a person. Anything that reminds us that we are not the center of the universe is always a good thing. 

I think tomorrow I'll take another step outside my comfort zone, I heard it's in that place, of uncertainty and wonder, where life really begins. 

Sincerely, 

Jaelle the Broken-hearted