Strip Church Training

Post by Cissy McNickle

Hello Everyone!!!

There is soooo much to share with you about the Loves Way Out AC and what God has been doing in my heart that I am not sure where to begin!

Over the last few visits to the clubs I have been left wanting more….. discouraged a little. I feel that over the last year we have built credibility, consistency, and good surface level relationships with the staff in the clubs we are reaching.

We have seen little connection outside of the clubs though and have only had a handful of opportunities to pray with the staff. We still haven’t gotten into 2 of the dressing rooms. Because I am not in contact with any other ministry like ours that is a year in, I feel like I don’t have a good barometer of where we should be. I don’t want to push too hard and jeopardize our hard work and what God has done, but I also don’t want to be timid and miss opportunities. So, all of this has been running through my mind the last few months.

Also, I haven’t been in prayer for the clubs like I need to be. I pray when I take our team out or when I take others interested in the ministry around to pray for the clubs, but on a daily, even weekly, basis, I am not praying. I know that this is the biggest component to my lack of vision and direction.

Well, like He always does, God has moved……again!!! We had the opportunity to go to a Strip Church Training in Edison, NJ. This training is apart of XXX Church which is in ministry to people in the porn/sex trade industry. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing it was. I went into it pretty skeptical, and left blessed, empowered, and ready for tomorrow night’s visit!!!

First off, we met Allison who is from Clearwater and serves with Miss Barbara in Tampa!! (That was so encouraging for me to be reminded that I am loved, supported, and prayed for in Tampa!) We also met women from all over the US! It is so affirming to know that NO, I am not crazy, that God is calling many women from all over the United States to stand in the gap for those caught up in this lifestyle!!!!

The training was split into 3 parts: 1. How to Get Into the Club!?  2. You’re in, so now what!?  3. How to build and sustain your ministry. Each part was perfect for the team and I! We realized that its not a fluke that we are in these clubs. God is moving all over (LA, Vegas, AC, Tampa, etc) letting His girls enter where Satan is ruling!!

I also learned that in many ministries, older than mine, that it typically can take YEARS to move beyond the surface level. I learned that I had been wanting to take the conversation to Jesus so badly, I was missing opportunities to go deeper with a friendship, to go to the deep places in the these girls’ lives and connect as women. I know God will allow me the opportunity to speak HIS Truth into their lives as they grow in deeper trust with me. AAAHHHHHH, I am crying again!!! :)

I just love this ministry and these girls sooooo much that I want to see God redeem and restore them! I know now, that day will come it just may take a little bit more than a year. :) I was so influenced by the culture I was raised in that said real victory is number of people saved only! And yes! that is a victory but the quote that stuck with me after the training was,  ” victory is walking into hell to reach His children!” time and time again no matter how long it takes! We are doing that!!!

It was also said that to go into these clubs with any expectation of the staff, is to exploit them further. We go to express Christ’s Love with no expectations & no agenda for them to respond or come to church! If that happens, FANTASTIC! but we are not deterred if it doesn’t!!

Thank you sooo much for being a part of this with me. Your support means more than you know!!!

Below is a blog entry from Craig Gross who started XXX Church and Strip Church! It has encouraged my team and I so much and I know it will encourage you as well.

"When people are excited or passionate about something, they usually want to share it with their friends! I want to tell you about one of the ministries here at Fireproof. StripChurch was an idea birthed in 2008 out of a great need to have outreach teams on the ground to visit various strip clubs in major cities around the world. We originally launched with a single team in Las Vegas, Nevada; since then StripChurch has had tremendous God-growth and is currently represented in 4 countries, 30 states and 72 cities! (Loves Way Out AC is soon to be one of these!!)

Recently, two former strippers (Jaime and Meli) attended a StripChurch Training together. While at this training, Meli met and connected with one of our StripChurch speakers, Lisa from Arizona. It turns out that Lisa had been reaching out to a club in Phoenix that Meli had worked at for 10 years. Meli wore a silver bracelet to the training with the verse John 8:12 engraved in it. This was the very bracelet that Meli received from Lisa and her team from their outreach on Easter. Meli found the bracelet the NIGHT before the conference and put it on for the first time.

This was not a coincidence, but God’s ultimate workings! Both Meli and Jaime are now going back into the clubs doing ministry. A seed that was planted years ago has now grown and is planting more seeds in the lives of women just like them. Check out some of the amazing transformations of those doing StripChurch ministry.”

Pray with me that one day, God would allow a girl we are praying for, to be redeemed and restored, and then turn around to reach back!!!! Amazing! Thank you God for calling and equipping your children for work you have already prepared for us to do!! You are good.

Remember to pray for us tomorrow night as we go out!

Unthinkable Ministry Opportunities

Heartbreaking, humbling, encouraged, challenged, moved. Those are just a few of the words that my wife Cissy and I would use to describe our experience at the Exxxotica Convention, April 11-13. We have never been in an environment like before and we are so thankful that many of you were praying for us.

I realized that it was definitely another way that God has answered our simple prayer, which led us to plant a church in New Jersey… “Lord make us UNCOMFORTABLE.”

It is funny, when I think about the fact that Cissy and I had both prayed that simple prayer at different times and different seasons, without either of us knowing it. Later in God’s timing he revealed to us that we both had that same desire.

We knew that we had become satisfied and comfortable in our own ways when we were in Tampa. God started putting a tension that made us aware of where things are and where they should be. We both knew that God wanted more from us individually, as well as a family. It was our desire to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Who knew that praying that desire would lead to leaving an amazing church, incredible network of friends and family, our home, and much more, to move to a state that I had never visited in my life, to a city that I had only heard of, to plant a church, which was something I had never dreamed of. And then to think that I would be attending a porn convention with my wife, which was something I would have said is unthinkable.

This past weekend, we were fortunate to cheerfully submit to the leadership of XXX Church to learn more about what this amazing ministry has been doing for the past 12 years. They are on the front lines of breaching the darkness of the beast, which feeds a nasty addiction that is destroying men and women, both inside and outside of the church.

In fact, a couple attending the convention stopped by the booth and were engaged in a conversation with a few of the volunteers from XXX Church. They were asked to pose for a picture and be willing to tag themselves with the hash tag #XXXchurch on social media. The couple declined because they served at their church and didn’t want anyone to see where they were.

I also witnessed another conversation with two girls who were curious as to what this booth was all about and what the free t-shirts were all about. A pastor from New Jersey named Mike engaged in a great discussion with the young ladies. Mike found out that the girls were in the industry and they were from Las Vegas. One of the girls held her head down in shame when she revealed who she was and what she did. Mike explained to her, out of a heart full of grace, that “the slogan on the t-shirt, which read – ‘JESUS LOVES PORN STARS’ – wasn’t just a slogan – it was truth and it was true for her.”

That moment was POWERFUL. The young girl looked at Mike and the tension was obvious – had to be similar to the tension Cissy and I felt – and it was in that moment that she looked at Mike and said with a sense of brokenness that she wanted to believe that it was true. Mike explained that he knew it was true, because God loved him and he told his story. I pray that she would come to know that it is true and that she would receive that love for herself.

We learned a lot from XXX Church and their ministry. The favor that God has given them is nothing short of the work of the Holy Spirit. I asked Carl, who is on staff, what it was they did and his answer was simple and direct, “approach.” After spending a weekend with them and witnessing it first hand, I can see why he said that, approach is what they do. They approach people in kindness and love just like Jesus did.

The Lord Jesus’ offer of friendship to the bad characters around him gives us reason to admire Him but it also gives us reason to ask ourselves a question. How many bad characters do I talk to? We must be willing to be the good news and share it with absolutely anyone. We can’t expect to win others to faith in Christ unless we offer them genuine friendship.

We have been given some neat opportunities to come alongside and work more with XXX church. XXX Church was praying about working in Atlantic City and when they found out that we were already doing what they had been asking God for, they were excited to meet us. It was reassuring to know that God was allowing us to be an answer to that prayer. We have been asked to help them with the Exxxotica Convention Atlantic City show next year.

We have also been asked to help XXX Church go to Sydney, Australia and work with them there. This is a major and bold step for XXX Church and there is a strong possibility that it may not happen. Carl expressed that this was a huge burden and prayer of theirs and asked if we might be willing to help them put this show on. The need is there. We feel like it would be amazing to learn more from them. We also believe that it would be a great on-ramp to helping us to widen our ministry here in Atlantic City by giving us a strong partner like XXX Church. They bring experience, wisdom and accountability, as we seek to be salt and light in difficult places.

There is a major cost to helping them… and it is 20,000 dollars. For a church plant like us and for a ministry like XXX Church it is impossible. But to God, if it is what He wants, then we know it is possible. Carl and I agreed that if God provided, then we would know it was His will. If He didn’t, then it wasn’t. I told Him that we would pray and if we didn’t receive the funds by May 7th then we would pass. SO, will you join me in praying for God’s will to be revealed? If God wants you to help in any way, please let us know ASAP. PRAY with us and PRAY for this amazing ministry.