'I Hired…Some Prostitutes': Preacher's Shocking Blog 'Confession' Comes Along With a Major Twist

At first glance, the beginning of a preacher's recent blog post about enlisting sex workers is patently jarring: "Last weekend I hired out some prostitutes for the first time in my life – two young ladies for the whole night."

Simon Guillebaud (Image via Facebook/Simon Guillebaud)

While there's seemingly no limit to the questions and concerns that emerge upon reading that line, the story isn't at all what most readers would likely assume.

Simon Guillebaud, the author of the piece and a pastor who serves in the southeast African nation of Burundi along with his wife and three children, proceeded to detail the process he recently went through to "hire" the women so that he could take the time to hear their personal stories and offer them a chance to turn their lives around.

It was an act of compassion that, despite its good intentions, still came along with a fair amount of risk, considering his reputation and ministry.

"Because I’m a preacher and didn’t want people to know what I was doing, I asked a trusted friend, Cossette, to hire these women and bring them to a hotel where I would join them," he wrote. "I also didn’t want an absurdly inflated price because of being white, so she could hopefully negotiate ahead of time a more reasonable fare."

Guillebaud explained that the entire scenario had to be orchestrated with care, as the "credibility and reputation" he has built through his humanitarian nonprofit Great Lakes Outreach in Burundi would be destroyed if people found out that he was hiring prostitutes.

Once the plan was orchestrated, the pastor recounted how he met the two women that Cossette found and brought to a local hotel.

"I joined them at the table in the restaurant. They were fashionably dressed and wore lots of make-up. One was on the skinny side, the other more chunky, both pretty," Guillebaud wrote. "They were definitely nervous but were trying hard to look relaxed. Divine and Arlette, 21 and 22-years-old respectively."

Seeing the faux smiles on their faces broke his heart, the pastor wrote, before describing the surprise he offered up to the women — one that they had likely never experienced at the discretion of a paying customer: Guillebaud planned to give them a night off so that they could rest.

"I sat down and introduced myself. I told them how I wanted them to have the night off. They could order whatever they wanted, enjoy a hot shower, and then have a night of deep rest," he said. "The only rule was not to solicit any of the hotel guests. I would be back in the morning to pay them, and after breakfast together, they could go."

It was that next morning that Guillebaud said he met the women for breakfast and began asking questions about their lives, learning that they were both orphans who had no family members to look out for them.

Divine's mother died after giving birth and her father passed away in 2012, leaving her with few options to pay the bills. Arlette, in contrast, told Guillebaud that she had six siblings to support, which is what led her into the sex trade three years ago.

"I asked them what their dreams were. They said they wanted to run a small business, or maybe go into marketing. I told them we had prayed that God would lead Cossette to the right ladies to help," he wrote. "I imagined out loud how, if they made good choices from hereon in, that in ten years — who knows — they could be running a healthy business at the market, happily married with a few kids."

After the conversation progressed, Guillebaud said that Divine and Arlette prayed with him and Cossette "and invited Jesus in to help them make a fresh start" — a decision that is reportedly already transforming their lives.

Days later, Guillebaud said he sat down with the girls to help them make a budget to figure out how much money they need to survive and stay out of the sex trade. Already, he said they are interested in going to church and learning more about their faith.

"No way Simon, there’s no going back," Divine told him. "Now I have hope!"

Of course, the women still have a long road ahead of them. Read more about this story on Guillebaud's blog here.

(H/T: Christian Today)