Alexandra (26) grew up in a gypsy family in Romania. In the family there was a lot of emphasis was on buying expensive things. There was not much attention for Alexandra. She also grew up without a proper education. Eventually she ended up as a prostitute in Amsterdam. But in December 2020 everything changed: “I felt the power of God when someone prayed for me. It changed my whole perception of working as a prostitute.”
Alexandra shares her story: “When I still lived with my family, they thought I should get married and have children soon. They introduced me to a guy when I was fourteen. We started living together and traded fashion. After three years of making money, I left him. Most of the money I gave to my family to help them. With the money that was left, I got my driver’s license.”
Church
In that time Alexandra started going to church, it was a good time. “I prayed a lot and saw that prayer works.” But then one day someone invited her to a party. Since she hadn’t had an easy childhood, partying appealed to her. “I stopped going to church and started going to clubs. I just wanted to have fun.”
The money attracted me and I went with him to steal. Now I also came home with a lot of money every day.”
At a club, Alexandra meets a security guard who is very nice to her. “My parents never really took good care of me, so I saw this man as kind of a father and friend at the same time. We got into a relationship and I moved in with him.”
Spain
Then the club closes down and her boyfriend gets fired. They decide to travel to Spain where her boyfriend finds a job as a security guard in Mallorca. Alexandra herself stays unemployed at home, but then she sees a man who earns a lot of money every day.
“I asked him, ‘How can you make so much money?’ He said, ‘I steal from shops.’ The money attracted me and I went with him to steal. Now I also came home with a lot of money every day. My boyfriend quit his job and started stealing as well. We had a lot of money and stayed in Spain for eight months.”
Amsterdam
Then they return to Romania and eventually run out of money. A girl asks Alexandra to accompany her to Amsterdam. “She said that we could make really good money there.” In Amsterdam Alexandra gets into a lifestyle of prostitution in the Red Light District. “My first thought was: this is really hell. But I needed money and wanted to help my family.”
For three and a half years, Alexandra works every day and earns a lot of money, but it is a harsh environment. When asked whether it is true that many tourists make humiliating jokes about the women in the Red Light District, Alexandra answers in a confirming way.
“People make a lot of jokes that make the women feel bad. Then money and good things don’t really matter anymore. I didn’t really think about what was good or bad. I was just focused on the fact that I needed money. Deep inside I knew it wasn’t right what I did, but I suppressed that feeling.”
Like a father
However, that changes when she comes into contact with Frits Rouvoet, a man who reaches out to prostitutes with his foundation ‘Bright Fame’. “Many of the girls see him as a father, someone who represents God. One evening he came to pray for me with two ladies. That was new to me. No one had ever prayed for me. Then I started to feel the presence of Jesus in my life.”
After that, Alexandra feels less and less comfortable with her work. When the pandemic breaks out, there is less and less work for her. Again Frits prays for her. “I felt the power of God and really felt that God didn’t want me to do this kind of work anymore.”
Mother to many women
In January this year she decides to stop working as a prostitute. Frits prays with her and breaks the power of the spirit of prostitution. Gordon van Veelen, European Healing Rooms ambassador at Healing Rooms Ministries, gets a prophetic word for her at that time: she will become a mother to many women and she will be successful in life. “That really touched me,” says Alexandra. Later she receives this word again from Arleen Westerhof, one of the pastors of the church ‘God’s Embassy’ in Amsterdam.
When she returns to the Red Light District to collect her stuff from her apartment there, people in the Red Light District are amazed at how she has changed. “They said I was much calmer and radiated peace.”
Now I felt so uncomfortable that I couldn’t imagine how I could ever have enjoyed myself there.”
She noticed the change herself as well: “The Red Light District used to be my home and I loved that place. Now I felt so uncomfortable that I couldn’t imagine how I could ever have enjoyed myself there. It’s the power of God that changes you like that,” she testifies.
Much of the money she earned in the Red Light District, she had put on a bank account in Romania. But in the end she discovers that her boyfriend has put all the money on his name. At that point she decides to end the relationship. “I had nothing left, only God. But now I’m happy with God. I want to live with Jesus, I want Him to be proud of me.”
Alexandra’s dream
Alexandra dreams of starting her own business in Romania to generate her own income. She also wants to collaborate with Bright Fame in the future. Her dream is to help other girls get out of prostitution, so that they too can flourish and use their God given talents and generate an income of their own.
