Joy Attmore shares what love looks like in the strip clubs of New York City.

"These are for me? Really?!" Sarah* looked at us with childlike delight on her face as I handed her a cellophane bag full of homemade cookies followed by a larger bag containing lots of little pink gift bags.

"Yes, they're for you!" I responded, smiling warmly, "and these are for the girls who are working here tonight. We wanted to give you all a little something, to let you know how loved and valued you are."

Sarah's eyes began to sparkle with the hint of tears, as we handed her, her own pink gift bag, containing lip gloss and a card with a message of love written upon it. "This is so nice! You've made my night!" She looked over the bounty laid out before her, like a child at Christmas.

Words of affirmation and love began pouring out of our mouths to fall upon Sarah, as a male client stood next to me, looking on with curiosity. There were also two large, heavy-set doormen watching from a few feet away. We were in the entryway to one of Manhattan's many bustling, midtown strip clubs on a Friday night; a team of mailmen, delivering packages of love, to precious daughters of the King!

I wanted to jump across the bar that separated me from Sarah and enwrap her in a big hug. I wanted to communicate, in the smallest degree, just how valued she is to a God. My heart was bursting with the fact that He's a lot closer than she thinks and He has gone to such huge lengths to tell her so. We lingered for as long as the circumstances allowed, before wishing her and the onlookers a wonderful night. We shook the hands of the bouncers and made our departure out into the hectic-ness of Friday night in midtown Manhattan.

I have been giving up my Friday and Saturday nights on a regular basis over the past several years, in several different countries and locations, with the simple desire to see love enter places where many would fear to tread. Every time, without fail, I have had the privilege of witnessing people encounter the simple beauty of pure love. It is this most powerful of actions that has, and continues to, change our world and every person in it. Meeting Sarah, and every other woman whom we encountered that night, made all the preparation and lost hours of sleep worth it.

We each blaze with light, not merely a flickering flame, but a roaring fire. It was never intended to be hidden, or just shared with our favourite friends and family members, but rather released and allowed to be blown upon, until we are an unstoppable force of all-consuming love!

Love is passionate about justice and speeds the cause of righteousness; eager to do what is right from a place of faithfulness.

This week was the first time that I had helped lead a team of women in a movement of love, to the strip clubs of New York City. I wasn't sure how the 'gates' of the city would respond. People here have such a reputation for being blunt, almost hardened by the grind of living in a place that is inhabited by another 8.5 million people. It definitely does have an effect! But I should have known that a high density population, and all of the survival modes that go with it, are no match for the impact and power of a heart set free and on fire with love. Love is no respecter of persons or places. Love conquers all.

So history was made this month of March, as love lit up the dark crevasses of the adult entertainment industry in NYC, when a small team of women came together from Treasures and Liberty City to dare to say, "You are worth more than the cost of an over-priced cocktail. You are beautiful, precious, loved, valued and adored by the Creator of the universe. You are seen. You are known. You are loved."

*names have been changed to protect identity