What is in a name?

For the women we encounter in the clubs, protection is in a name.

A member of Treasures was answering questions about the support group to a woman who was seemingly skeptical, her face unemotional.

“Go to the website and check it out,” said the Treasures woman.  “You will see a phrase repeated over and over again on the site.  ‘You are treasured.  You are loved, valued, and purposed.’”

Three other dancers had gathered, listening to the Treasures woman and soaking in information about the support group.

The Treasures woman introduced herself to the dancer, extended her hand, and asked for her name.

“Which name?”

“Whichever you feel most comfortable giving.”

“I’ll give you my stage name then.”

The three other dancers pressed the woman to give her real name, but she remained firm in her decision.  For her, giving her real name wasn’t safe yet.

Jesus, the name above all names, knows that woman’s real name.  When we deliver the pink gift bags and invite the women to support group, we pray that those gestures and words would speak to the women like Jesus whispering their names saying to each, “Come to me, my beloved, and I will set you free.”

Love is in a name. Freedom is in a name. Healing is in a name.

Like this woman, many of the women we met in the clubs on Friday night were invited to support group, a safe place where they can be known.

One woman had just moved from the South and didn’t know anyone yet.  She was relieved to learn of a place where she could meet other women who would understand her and who would protect and value her name.  Even a manager last night recognized the need for a support group.

“When you girls decide to walk,” he said to his dancers, “you call Treasures.”

The gifts, the hugs, the conversation, and the smiles are just the tip of the invitation–those are the pieces of this outreach that are known to the dancers.  But there is prayer and service and strategy that runs deep that these women might never know.  For example, as the Treasures women were shuttling through Hollywood and West LA, the Men4Treasures were at a retreat in the mountains praying for the women.  The women might never know that there are godly men who don’t know them but who value them and pray for their healing and restoration.

The woman might not have offered her real name, but she was aware of the power of her name.

What is yet known to her is that even before we met her on Friday, Men4Treasures and the Treasures prayer team were praying for her; now, Treasures women are praying for her by her stage name and the Holy Spirit has always been praying for her by her given name.

The day when she will hear Jesus speak her name will mean something profound to her.  She, like all the women we encounter, is loved, valued, and purposed.  She is known by the One who loves her.

Love, The Treasures Team

Update written by Lindsay Hall