Veil Arms Presents Hookers For Jesus | An Interview w/ Annie Lobert
Written By: Jameson Ketchum

Hopecore.com and Veil Arms is proud to announce that Hookers for Jesus will be representing the month of June in the ongoing and wildly popular Inspire/Produce/Influence Campaign. The following interview is with HFJ founder Annie Lobert, who was once in the exact same position of those she is trying to help today. Her story is amazing and what she is doing today with her knowledge and experience is nothing short of a gift from God. We are more than proud to help spread the word on this very important cause.

For those who are shocked by first seeing the name Hookers for Jesus, give them a bit of your background as to how this all came about.

Annie Lobert: Hookers For Jesus was birthed out of my own journey to hell and back: into the underground prostitution world AKA sex trafficking. The name itself brings and draws controversy, but if someone looked deeper into what we do, and what we stand for, they probable wouldn’t judge the term “Hookers”.

I was called a “Hooker” by my pimp, johns (clients) and by certain vice officers who would arrest me. This name really hurt and bothered me at the time. I would get upset every time someone would hurl an insult of “You are just a ho, and will never be anything/nothing more!”

So I decided instead to be offended with the name that I could identify with instead-as well as other girls when they see it. We all know that people have used the name “hooker” to simply put someone down and to put them in a category of “less than”.  Well I was tired of it, so I wanted a change in the meaning! And the truth was, “hooker” just didn’t mean prostitute!

I looked it up in the dictionary–there are so many ways you can use the name “hooker”. Yes, it is a prostitute, but we are not using it solely for that purpose. Hooker is also known as a boat from Holland and a man that fishes upon that boat.  It is also a crochet hook, and a position in rugby and even a position in golf! Imagine that!

However the main basis for the name, Hookers For Jesus is based of the scripture: Matthew 4:19 “Come follow me”, Jesus said “And I will send you out to fish for people” NIV And that is exactly what we do; we fish for girls/women/people that are in need of help and support out of sexual exploitation. HOOK (outreach) HELP (transitional housing) HEAL (restoration)

So walk us through what you and your team does when hitting the strip in Vegas.

AL: For the safety of our girls that we reach and for the team that comes with us, we have to apologize-we cannot divulge every detail of what we do step by step. But we can share with you that we simply love the girls, without a hidden agenda of changing them. We reach out and give gift bags to ladies that are walking and working in the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

We are sure that you have an endless amount of stories and miracles you seen from this ministry. Will you share one that you are particularly fond of?

AL: I had a girl that reached out to us of whom was 17. She had been in prostitution since she was 11, and was forced into this lifestyle because she was homeless because of her mother’s drug habit.

We reached out and helped her for over a period of 3 years. She went back to her lifestyle repeatedly and then came back to us and our church the very same way. The entire time we let her know that we love her no matter what, and told her when she was honestly ready to stay away 100% from the drugs and lifestyle, we would be waiting for her. I am happy to say that she is now 20 and doing very well, and on her way to sobriety and a true freedom from her past!

Most people would have given up on this young lady, and wondered if she was really serious about change, or not. But if people could understand this one thing: the girls are overcoming addictions, traumatized, confused and severely shamed when they are coming out of prostitution/sex trafficking-and it will sometimes take many people believing in them and treating them like a real family with love for their heads & hearts to finally “get it”-that they can change and be freed.

You must stick with these girls, even if they go back to their pimps/lifestyles several times.  Because there is one thing that they will never forget and that is the unconditional love that you have shown them. We must offer that support no matter how hard it gets for them or even for us. This ministry is truly about a serious sacrifice of your time, energy and love. But it’s so worth it!

Obviously there are a lot of stigmas surrounding prostitution and the people involved. What are some points of education that you’d like to get out the to the general public?

AL: Whether many refuse to believe it, prostitution is a form of sex-trafficking. Sex trafficking/slavery has been going on in our own country since the very beginning of it’s establishment, and I believe that one of the reasons why we have not addressed it is that people don’t want to believe it is actually going on in their own back yards-so close to home. They believe that it’s not slavery, because in their mind, slavery has been abolished with Lincoln in the 1800′s.

The other factor in this matter is that society as a whole thinks that the word itself, prostitution, is always a free choice of a young girl/lady selling her body to make her life “better”. And rightly so, as far as the media is concerned, it has been portrayed as a glamorous lifestyle in so many different ways.

It may be at first to many, look glamorous & exciting, but if you look deeper and find out the real stories behind some of the ladies of whom have been prostituted, a large majority of them have started prostitution and ended up being trapped & coerced by a trafficker who will seriously harm them/kill them or their family if they leave the lifestyle of prostitution.

My story is exactly that-I met a man whom was my boyfriend, who I thought really loved me, only to find out later that he was actually a guerilla pimp.

Girls and ladies alike in the United States will most likely not get “sex trafficked” by kidnapping or brute force.  A lot of them will be “wooed” and seduced by someone who claims that they “love” them. They are suddenly in a world where they have to play by someone else’s rules. They cannot eat, sleep or work without the constant supervision of someone making sure they hand over every red cent of their earnings daily-no matter what the cost.

If you get raped or beat by a client-you get right back up and out there, because if you don’t, you will get beat by your pimp. All the while, your pimp is telling you that you will never be anything else but a “ho” (hooker, aka prostitute) and that he owns you for life. You are trapped, with no where to turn, all the while wondering how you got here and realizing if you leave, what will you do? Will he really do the serious harm–what he threatens to do to you & your family? Will he hunt you down and find you? You are stuck in this mindset that you or your family might be seriously harmed, maimed or even killed. Now let me ask you, is it choice THEN? NO, it’s not!

What can women expect upon entering the safe house? What does the process of going through the safe house entail?

AL: Each lady must be screened and accepted by an application process. Once she is accepted, she must decide that she will pursue her healing and new life away from the prostitution/sex trafficking lifestyle. This is the key to the entire program-that each lady decides without a doubt, that no matter what she has to do, she will make a true blue commitment to finish, even if it gets really difficult for her.

The rest is walking out that commitment spiritually, emotionally and physically–with a changing of her thinking, lifestyle, learning of new skills, etc. She will be able to go back out into society with a new career & outlook on her life, and a brand new purpose and destiny in God. Ultimately in the end, she will hopefully want to give back by being an advocate to the other girls that are reaching out for help like she once was. Each lady stays on an average of 4-6 months at Destiny House.

Tell our readers about Saved on the Strip and what that show has done for your organization and these women?

AL: Saved On The Strip on Investigation Discovery, is a mini docu-series that takes a deep intimate look at the lives of the girls that we have at Destiny House and each their personal journeys out of prostitution/sex trafficking.

I believe that each lady who was on this show attained more independence and freedom in their lives, by being able to share her own story on camera. It truly has led to an inner strength inside of each girl’s heart that could not be attained with just counseling and prayer. They knew that when each of them shared openly about what happened to them, that ultimately other girls would possibly see their stories and also get set free. That in itself is priceless!

Our organization Hookers For Jesus of course got more exposure, and with that more doors have opened up for ministry opportunities to help more ladies.

Thank you very much for sharing this information with us. What can the average person do to help out your cause?

AL: You are very welcome, we consider it a high honor to be interviewed! On behalf of myself and Hookers For Jesus volunteers, we thank YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

The average person? Prayer! We need serious prayer for a continued deeper love in all of our hearts to help others at Hookers For Jesus.  The other way they can really help is to offer finances. People automatically think because we are on TV that it would ensure bringing in large donations, but that simply is not true. We are in need of so many things-paid staff, grant writers, more homes!

One last thing is that when you give to Hookers For Jesus, we are not an organization that focuses solely on “awareness” campaigns, like many others. We at Hookers For Jesus, actually work with and minister to the girls on a one on one basis–focusing on the girls and their tangible needs.

Please visit www.hookersforjesus.net to learn more and check out www.veilarms.com to see the collaboration tee by Veil Arms Clothing as well as past collaborations in The Inspire/Produce/Influence Campaign. All proceeds from the sales of these tees go directly to HookersforJesus.net.