STEPS ON THE WAY

The idea of having an interview with Tabea came to me last Christmas, when my aunt gifted me a book about „Kite Pirde“. The topic of forced prostitution is one that had always moved my heart, and I was part of a prayer group in the city of my studies, where we regularily prayed against that. Added to that, in the time around Christmas I was suddenly having doubts about Gods plans for me. Totally out of the blue I started questioning if I understood him right concerning Israel and all that social work stuff I desired to do. Should I really go to Israel again for a longer time? And if yes, what shall I do there? Where shall I start, and actually What should I start? I felt like I didn’t know anymore why he wants me there and for what… So that present from my aunt came just in time! It talked about an area of social work that really moved me, and about a german speaking woman that lives and works in Israel! That hit me! It was like a loving hint from God, confirming the direction of my way. I read through the whole book in one night ;)...

After that I texted Tabea on Instagram and asked her for an Interview. I wanted to check out if this was another hint from God as to where specifically I should go, or if he had just used the similarities of our calling to encourage me. To my great joy, Tabea answered directly and invited me to stop by at their shop and factory. - It was a super cool experience! Having the possibility to meet the person I just read a book about, was definitely crazy. She took a lot of time for me, was very kind, answered all my questions, gave me some extra tips, introduced me to her team and gave me a tour around their space.

After the talk with her, I was sitting at a little bus station. I was full of impressions, and wanted to write down all the things she had told me, now that they were so fresh in my mind. I took out my phone, and started a new document. I had just arrived at the end of my text, glad that I had remembered so many details, when my phone suddenly died. Nooo! I hadn’t saved the document yet!! I turned the phone back one – which surprisingly worked directly – and started the document all over again. It was a bit annoying, because I was actually in a bit of a rush.

I was invited to another place, called „Red Carpet“. It was a social work place that was connected to the topics of prostitution and human trafficking as well. But contrary to Tabeas company, this one was a center especially for women who are still caught in prostitution. It was a place where those women could come to rest, take a shower, get a free meal, find donated clothes, and also get their hair and nails done if they wanted to. The goal of this center was to show real love to these women, give them back some dignity by offering beauty treatment, and to provide a space where they would meet people that could help them out of their situation, if they wanted that. It sounded like an amazing addition to the place I had just been at, because it would show me the more practical and dirty side of this topic. I had texted with the leader of this place, a woman named Anat, and I didn’t want to miss anything from their short opening times. But I also didn’t want to forget what Tabea had told me! So I decided to stay on this bench at the bus stop a little longer, and tried to hurry up with typing my notes. Looking back at it, I am convinced that God was the one turning my phone off, because he needed to keep me at that bus stop just for a little while longer…

I was somewhere close to the end of writing everything down again, when an elderly woman set down next to me. She had short, red hair, was wearing a colorful mix of second hand clothes and was snacking a bag of steaming hot Falaffel. „At medaberet Ivrit?“ - „Do you speak Hebrew?“, she asked me. „Lo, rak k’zat. At medaberet Anglit?“ - „No, just a little bit. Do you speak English?“ Luckily she did. So we switched languages, and she offered me some of her Falaffel. That was very cute, I thought! They were really good! ;) 
This woman - let’s call her Moriah* - started telling me about herself. How she loved chicken about any other meat or food, how green is her lucky color, and how she is waiting for her son to call her back, but her phone never works. I felt it was important to stay with her and listen. It seemed like she needed it. As she was just telling me about the way she likes her coffee best, she remembered that she has some left at her house, and asked me if I wanted to come and have some. Knowing about the dangers of traveling alone and going to a strangers house, I quickly checked with the Holy Spirit to see what he thought about it. I got a very clear „go“ from him, and so we went to her house. To my surprise, Moriah lived just ten steps behind the bus stop. Literally! She couldn’t walk so well anymore, so it still took us a little while to get there. The entrance was a big gate that we had to pull aside. Behind was something like a very dirty backyard. It was a small corridor between two houses, and on the left side there were three or four doors next to each other in the wall. Moriah opened one of them with her key, and led me inside. 

I was shocked! It was definitely not what I had expected! It was just one little dark room, that had just enough space for a bed, a stove, a cupboard and a door that led to an even smaller toilet area. There was no space to walk. After two steps one had reached the bed already, and from there to the kitchen, it was an arm length only. Maybe two. I started to get an idea of the life Moriah must have had, and is still having now… While she was happily making me a Nescafé – and one for herself with „much much“ milk ;) - I was sitting on the bed, noticing the bad smell, seeing all kinds of dirt on the ground, and a pile of super old cloths in trashbags on top of the cupboard. She served me the coffee in a paper cup. Having seen her situation now, I suddenly realized the value of her sharing the Falaffel with me, and now she was even making me coffee! While we were sitting on her bed, drinking our drinks, she talked a bit more: She told me how she knows all the songs on the radio, how much she loves smoking, and how much she hates men. „All men are ’charah’! (Hebrew for „Sh**“) - They all so want to touch me!“, she said in her hebrew accent. That suddenly made me sit up and take notice! All men want to touch her…? Could it be, that… ? But before I could finish my thought, she had already switched topics and started telling me about a woman named Anat, who always makes her nails, and that she still wants to visit her today. 

That was too crazy!! Anat? Wasn’t that the name of the woman I had texted with? And weren’t they also doing nails in their street center „Red Carpet“? Convinced that she was talking about the same person, I told Moriah that I had also planned to visit Anat today, and if we want to go there together. That was really special! Moriah knew which bus to take and which streets to walk, so we arrived at „Red Carpet“ in no time, even though we were walking slow. The conclusion I had almost drawn, was right: Moriah was one of the regular visitors of the street center, and knew all the staff. As far as I understood she wasn’t in prostitution anymore, but had been in it for a very long time. The trauma of that, the usage of drugs, some sicknesses and her age, led to a degree of confusion and topic jumping, as well as repeating the same things all over again. While talking with the staff I found out that the phone call of her son, that she told me she is waiting for, must be something from her past, since she was waiting for that phone call ever since she first entered the center a few years ago...

On one hand Moriahs situation made me unbearably sad, but on the other hand it filled me with hope. Seeing Moriah first in her home and now in that center, showed me how much light a little place like this can bring to a persons life! The staff would talk to her, ask her about her day, would help with her phone (that was actually never broken), and would always try to make her laugh. They would make sure to have chicken in their meals whenever possible, and would put green clothes aside just for her. Her favorite nail polishes would be stacked in a cupboard, ready to use, and there was always enough milk, so she could make herself the coffee that she loved. 

On that day, I got a very good glimpse of the centers work, and also met many other women that received true care. Since then, I came back to this place whenever I visited Israel. I helped with the food distribution, crafted jewelry with the women, and had many talks with them. I also saw a bunch of crazy things happening, and had to keep my calm in the threat of violence. So in that sense the book my godmother had gifted me, was definitely a motivating, and also a more or less specific hint from God! :) And every visit at „Red Carpet“, I also saw Moriah again, who – to my surprise – remembered who I was, every single time :)

*Name changed

Kite Pride: www.kitepride.com, @kitepride_tlv

Red Carpet: www.abundantlife.org.il/red-carpet/