¶ From Prostitution to Redemption
So let's look at this video together . And this is , this is the purpose , this is our mission , this is why Jesus came .
I've had pimps whole guns in my head . I've had pimps pull up pictures on the internet of my family and that they do whatever they needed to do to make me fall in line .
When she was two months old , Joy Anderson was adopted into a loving Christian family . Her childhood was filled with laughter and music .
I wanna stop right here just for a second . Think about this . A lot of times we see somebody where the lifestyle we're about to watch and we just assume that they grew up with like molestation or whatever the worst case scenario that we think and we apply it when it can still be .
Somebody who grew up in a good , healthy house with a mom and dad available , with a good Christian going to church , but that's . I'm gonna get to it at the end , but that was part of my story . I had the perfect house and I started hanging around the wrong people . Listen to this .
She excelled as a piano player . However , as a teenager , the piano became an afterthought as Joy turned to alcohol and marijuana as a way to fit in with her peers . During that time , she left her home and her family .
I had been kind of in and out of different people's houses because it's homeless . I couldn't go home because I didn't wanna live under their rules .
At 17 , while at a club she met a woman who told her how she could make big money fast as a prostitute .
She pulled out a couple thousand dollars and for someone like me that was a lot of money , but I was desperate and vulnerable . It was almost like this is the perfect timing . I need this If you don't feel worthy of having a healthy family . It's almost like when that darkness does come to you and say here , we welcome you in .
It's like you buy into a lie , and that's what happened with me . I definitely bought into a lie .
Just like , sometimes , how you can get . You can be in a bad spot and you , all of a sudden , something is presented to you in a way and you're like man , that was God , like God really showed up in that moment . The same with the enemy waiting to trap .
The Bible says that he roams around looking for someone to devour , he is on the prowl , he is waiting for opportunity to rob you of what God had for you in your future .
Her new family introduced Joy to crack cocaine and after one hit she was immediately addicted and trapped .
All of a sudden I was hooked on it . I knew that I needed that to do , whatever he told me . It also helped me check out emotionally , so when men came in I didn't really .
I forgot to warn you . I got a bad feeling about this .
Magic kids magic wife . Magic kids magic wife . Magic kids magic wife .
Got some explicit material , so don't have young kids .
You have to be all there , because I wouldn't want to be all there , nobody would . You need more and more to see different clientele , and the pimps knew that it would just get really dark .
Yeah , after several terrible years trapped in addiction and traffic for prostitution , joy began dreaming of a normal life .
The pimp took us to this gas station one time and I saw this mom and dad pull into the gas station with their children . They had like a minivan . I never remember thinking I want to go to that kind of normal again , but it just fell so far away from the darkness I was in . So I think I have fleeting thoughts that maybe I could get out .
But when you feel so in chains you know from the inside out it's hard to tap in to think that you could really live a normal life again .
See , that is one of the biggest tricks of the enemy .
If he can get you separated from the herd , if he can pick you off and he can get you alone and he can get you secluded and he can make you feel like there's no way back to where you come from , that he's got you and he's setting you up for destruction and down the path , like you said , a very dark path , because you feel like where you come from , or
the people that you used to know , that only if they knew they would never talk to you again . Or only if they saw me in the depths of where I am right now , they would never . And this reminds me of the story of the prodigal son .
I'm going to move on just a second Reminds me of the story of the prodigal son , where he felt the same way until something clicked in his head and he said even my father's servants , he better than this , like what , I'll go back and just work for him , because he had already squandered all of his part of the inheritance .
He got it early and he went back , and the Bible says that he saw the father , saw in the distance his son coming and he began to rejoice and he went and got the fatted calf and said we're going to , we're going to feast tonight . No , I actually said this to my congregation last Sunday . I said there's two types of people in the church .
There's the type that welcomes in those who have been far from God and that have lost their way and they went down a dark path and now we rejoice because they have come home .
And then there's the others that are the brother in that story of the prodigal son , where they're sitting there mad because they've been welcomed back in and everything was restored to their house . She will know .
Though she wanted to run , she feared for her life and remained chained to her addiction . Over the course of 12 years , Joy was trafficked all over the United States . In 2015 , the reality of her emptiness turned to desperation .
And I went into the bathroom and I looked in the mirror . I didn't recognize myself . I knew I wanted out and I knew , for some reason , I just knew to go to God . I just got in my face in that bathroom and I cried out to God and I said , if you hear me , help me . I want out .
Wow .
Joy's pimp was the target of an FBI sting . Two days after crying out to God , Joy was called to a hotel room .
And when I walked in and he closed the door behind me , I turned around and looked at him and he pulled out a necklace , a long necklace with a badge on it , and I was like and it said FBI . And he said we're doing a human trafficking sting , basically . And I just broke down in tears .
And they also brought a woman in there and she was an advocate for human trafficking victims and she told me God sent us here to tell you that he loves you and that this is your way out and if you'll give your life to him , he'll set you free . And I just bawled like a baby . She told me I had worth what . She told me . I had value .
She told me God created me for something different than this . She told me that he'll take me out of this darkness . And when she said that , it did make me think about the prayer I prayed in that bathroom . I believed her . There was light . There was this light . I'm not even joking . There was this light coming off of her and I knew that was God .
Over the next two years , Joy got clean from drugs and gave her life to Jesus . She began leading worship in a local church .
Ah , come on .
So changed . Everything's completely different .
¶ The Power of Worship and Redemption
Sometimes I got chills right now because I think about the freedom I have today . I don't wake up or get out of bed . I want to not be here . I want to be here because God's given me a purpose and I love him so much and it just changes everything . Just to worship God Feels so good , Not even just a feeling . It's like I know I'm made to do that .
It's worship God to bring him glory .
Joy's message through her music is the same one she receives . The love of God can set the captives free .
Amen .
I am trading my shame , oh yeah , and I am laying them down , them down , them down . You have worth .
You have value .
God loves you so much . You're still here for a reason . God can give you a new life . He can set you free from any chain and give you a beautiful life .
Any chain , bro , I got teared up a little bit . Wow , that is the purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ . Like that is the reason I tell my people all the time in church . I say , listen , you did not get saved so that you could just hold on to what God has given you .
You've been saved so that you can go and show other people what God has done in your life , so that you can share the gospel with somebody else . What a beautiful story of God's redemption . See , that's shame is the devil's game , but redemption and transformation and regeneration is God's game .
Like he desires for every person , every person , to come to the knowing salvation of Jesus Christ and completely give everything that you are , every darkness in your life , every darkness in your mind and your heart . He wants us to give everything over to him and when you do , I'm telling you , your world will never be the same .
Like she was talking about the light coming off of that woman , I'm telling you it changes . I have had people in my church that rededicated their life and he said just the colors are .