Boyfriend tried to pimp me out

Dear Pastor,

I was living in the US with relatives but I did not like it. They did not treat me well. They introduced me to prostitution and I almost went to prison.

Some of my cousins encouraged me to do shoplifting. I had a boyfriend, but he did not like to work. He wanted to use me as a prostitute.

Once, a couple of policemen saw me on the street and told me to go home. They asked me where I was from and I told them, and they said “Go home, otherwise we will pick you up and take you to the station.” So I went home and never went back on the street. These officers told me that by the way I was walking, they knew I was new to the street. I had to leave where I was living to get away from my boyfriend.

Some relatives are not nice. I left the house where I was staying, and total strangers took me in. My relatives tried to get me to take drugs, but I did not get involved in that. When I left their house and started to live with other people, I did not tell them where I was going. I am doing better now. I have a job and I have new friends.

I am living in a house in which I have to share everything, but I am coping. My relatives used to make fun of me all the time. They were always embarrassing me, but nobody can do that to me any more, because I have grown up and I am a better person today. Keep up the good work. I try to listen to you every night on the radio and I have tried to call you, without success.

C.

Dear C.,

I am glad the police officers did not arrest you. They recognised that you were just a young girl on the street trying to make a living the wrong way.

You did not follow your boyfriend, who wanted to be your pimp. He was a worthless guy. There are so many girls who were encouraged to enter into prostitution and to do drugs. Then when they get hooked, it is difficult for them to get out of it.

I hope that you will work and do your best. Try and go back to school. America is a land of opportunity, so don’t waste your time there. Pay your bills. Don’t get into unnecessary debt. If you have to get into debt at all, those debts should be essential debts, such as for the purchasing of a house or for attending college.

Pastor