SEVERAL women who engage in prostitution on the infamous “Back Road” in Portmore, St Catherine were brought to tears last Thursday night when they suspended their usual activities to attend a nearby open-air church service.

There, at the beckoning of Bishop Dr Romeon Facey and his Freedom Evangelical Association, many of them confessed to having abandoned their religious upbringing, falling instead into a lifestyle that they largely regret.

The bishop and his congregants planned the meeting in an attempt “to help those who have been trapped in prostitution to make ends meet”. They marched from one end of the road, which connects the tolled highway in the north with the round-a-bout at Rodney’s Arms, and back, finally stopping at the open lot in the vicinity of Royal View Entertainment Complex where they had set up speakers and other audio equipment.

All along the stretch, formally known as Fort Augusta Drive, the church group recruited more and more ladies of the night.

Clutching bags on their shoulders, the skimpily dressed women were eager to take up the invitation.

“Hold on, mi a go put on clothes,” some of them said, before running to a lot that housed several zinc shacks close to the rear of a particular premises.

“Yes, go put on clothes,” Bishop Facey concurred.

When the women returned to join the march, they started sharing their stories, some of them breaking down in tears.

Among them was a small-bodied woman who looked like she could have been the leader of the group. She revealed that she was converted to Christianity in her younger years but had reverted to old habits. She disclosed that she is traumatised by some of the distressing incidents she has experienced on the road.

“Nuff time when the man dem come and wi a have sex wi affi call out ‘Jesus!’ Wi have to pray before wi come out because wi nuh know what wi coming out to,” she said.

A 30-year-old woman, who said she recently had a baby, claimed that she began prostituting when she found she was unable to take care of her children.

“For days we didn’t eat anything; wi just lock up inna di house,” the mother of six told one of the clergywomen.

Admitting that she grew up in church and was not pleased with her recent actions, the woman said she wanted to change.

The clergywoman comforted her and reassured her that things will change.

Another woman who, like the others, confessed to having turned from church, had a more gripping tale.

“Mi nuh want what happened to my mother happen to me,” the 26-year-old mother of three said.

She fought hard to hold back tears as she related that her mother died from AIDS when she was 11 years old. She turned to the sex industry four years later, she revealed.

By this time, the congregation arrived at the location of the service. Competing with the music blasting from a nearby bar, the sermon began.

A female deaconess, who said it was just shy of seven years since she became part of the ministry, identified with the women, testifying, “I was not on the road, but a better mi did deh on the road. I was almost or maybe like you. Glory to God!”

The deaconess testified further that prior to being baptised, she was not someone of good character.

She explained that when the relationship with the father of her three children went downhill after she found out that he had another child outside their union, she began having sex with numerous men. Her breaking point, she said, came when her children’s father was robbed and killed.

She said at that point she lost faith in God.

“…I remember one day I left out of the house to go to work and I couldn’t send my children to school. I had mint and I had sugar. I told them to make some tea… And they locked themselves in the house,” she said, adding that when it was time for her to return home from work, she lingered in Cross Roads contemplating taking her life.

That was when she met Bishop Facey who was officiating a church service under a tent in Hannah Town, Kingston. That, she said, was when she received her breakthrough.

“The Lord has provided for me so much; my children received scholarship after scholarship, award after award. Glory to God!” she said to rousing shouts of “Hallelujah” from the crowd.

Bishop Facey, during his sermon, told the women that even though they may try to hide what they do to earn a living because of the stigma associated with it, they couldn’t hide it from God.

Making reference to current social media videos promoting promiscuity, the bishop warned against adultery.

“There is a lady by the name of Mackerel that did a video that she’s taking people man. Come on, praise God! When you’re taking people’s man, you consistently have to be looking over your shoulders,” he preached.

“Taking people man is not something good. Taking something that doesn’t belong to you is not good. There is a consequence for taking something that doesn’t belong to you. Thou shall not covet thy neighbour’s husband!” he preached.

The pastor later prayed for the women and told them that they were beautiful and that God had a plan for their lives. He even prophesied that one of them was going to own a hardware store.

While they did not indicate that they would quit, some of the women said at the end of the sermon that they felt like a burden was lifted from their shoulders.