Jackie PullingerIn her book, Chasing the Dragon, Jackie Pullinger tells of being called by God to Hong Kong to work amongst the prostitutes and drug addicts living in the notorious walled city. Though fearful for her own safety, daily she would try to make contact with people who lived in some of the worst conditions one could imagine. But after six months little had been achieved and despair set in.
She agonized about it for days. "If God has called me to be here why aren't people responding?" One morning she realized what was wrong. She'd been telling people that God loves them and that Jesus loves them and wants to forgive them but she'd not been loving them in any practical way. She needed to go and be as Jesus, with them. The next three months she spent, "soaking herself in scripture and prayer - and being drenched by the Holy Spirit!"
Her new and very practical approach yielded a remarkable response. Providing food, shelter and healthcare, visiting prisons, speaking up for victims, these became the ingredients of her everyday life. The situation was so transformed that even the drug barons watched out for her safety. She's still there and so is the church that grew from her work but the Walled City isn't. It was demolished ten years ago.
Jackie Pullinger
