Street Stories - A Ringside Seat To Over 4 Decades Of Taking Jesus To The Streets Of The World

grandfather was brokenhearted, but he arranged for a family to adopt her that would allow him and his wife to still be a part of Cleo’s life. The last time I spoke to Kim’s father he had not heard from Kimberly in five years. Cleo was being very rebellious and was very confused about why she had been adopted. Cleo is a young woman now and I pray for her when I think about her. I know that God had us rescue her numerous times for a purpose – His purpose. Some of the girls from the House of Magdalene had tragic endings. I’ve always wondered what happened to Cleo’s beautiful mother, Kim. God knows. Another one of the girls from the House of Magdalene that really stands out in my mind is Cindy. When I first met Cindy at the House of Magdalene, she was seventeen years old and looked like a sweet, innocent little teenager from a church youth group. I was more than shocked to find out that she was a prostitute. Now, the girls (and boys) caught up in prostitution frequently call it “survival sex” instead of prostitution as they are doing all they know to do to survive. Cindy was a couple of months pregnant when she came to us. She was scared and didn’t know what to do. She was from a broken home in Northern California. She was from a very affluent neighborhood. Her father had raised Cindy and her sister because her mother had abused the girls. Cindy could recall her mom burning her with her cigarette to punish her. Again, heartbreaking! I later found out that only a year before we met her Cindy had been pregnant and her parents had forced her to have an abortion. She was hurting inside. She just wanted somebody to love her.

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