ANNIE LOBERT |
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Hookers for Jesus founder, Annie Lobert |
A SURVIVOR’ S STORY Hookers for Jesus members at Joyce Meyer Convention
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Story by Meahgan Pear Photos courtesy of facebook. com / HookersforJesus
There I was … sitting in the crowded, dark theater listening intently – my eyes glued to the screen. Uncontrollable tears were streaming down my face; a lump developing in my throat. I was paralyzed by emotion. I had watched several documentaries on sex-trafficking before, but there was something about this woman. She was raw, vulnerable, and her story captivating. I could feel her tears, and I could feel the pain emanating from her shaky voice as she told her story. I had an instant connection to her soul – I knew I had to talk to this woman. My first encounter with Annie was on that very screen. Featured in the documentary Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, she told of her time working as a high-class call girl and exotic dancer in Las Vegas. Her story wasn’ t one of physical captivity – tied to chains or forced to live in a brothel. In fact, she told of how this lifestyle was her choice; that entering the sex industry seemed‘ glamorous,’ with an allure of money, success, and revenge.
A few months after watching her on screen, I reached out to Annie to hear more of her story. I wanted to tell her how it touched me, how I admired her bravery for sharing it, and to thank her for the work she was now doing to help other victims.
We spoke on the phone in what I initially called an‘ interview,’ but it was much more than that. I was speaking with a hero, a survivor in every sense of the word. And although she started out our conversation reiterating that all this started with her choice, by the end it was clear – it may have been her choice, but a choice that was rooted in years of emotional damage. A choice that sparked a desire to rebel against the people in her life, especially the men that hurt her. There may have been no physical chains, but emotional ones held her captive.
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“ It all started when I was a little girl. I never felt really loved; there was abuse in my family that lowered my self-esteem to the degree that I became desperate for love. And when you’ re told a certain thing as a child, you tend to believe it. I didn’ t love myself or anyone else for that matter. I didn’ t feel that I deserved it.”
And with an absent, angry father, Annie didn’ t know what love was. Her trust in men was slowly fading away, and eventually was destroyed at only the age of eight when she sexually abused by a close friend. Her ideals of a healthy relationship were nonexistent.
A few years later, after entering high school, she found herself in a relationship with a boy she thought she loved. Someone she loved so deeply, that when he suggested sex would bring them“ so much closer” she gave in. But their closeness was short lived, and they broke up after she found out his appetite for other women was roaring.
“ I was devastated. Why did he lie to me? My heart was broken, and it was in that moment that I decided to rebel.” Going from the“ good girl” to a life full of promiscuity, nightclubs, drinking, drugs, and parties, Annie quickly swallowed“ pop-culture’ s pill”( as she calls it) and was embraced by the devil. Desperate to fit in, and in search of real love, Annie dove head first into what the music videos, movies and TV shows portrayed as‘ cool.’
“ I put on a mask, pretending everything was okay. My belief was that if I just put on a pretty smile, everything would be alright. But it wasn’ t. I kept burying my pain deep inside me. I just kept searching and experimenting, no matter what the cost.”
And it was that searching and experimenting that led Annie to Hawaii for a vacation- a vacation that would be the backdrop for a life-altering experience. It would be the first time Annie would sell her body.
“ Almost the very first night, we met two men that told us they were prominent businessmen in the community.
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