Happy Easter! Christ is risen and his kingdom is breaking into our world. Have you heard this poignant and challenging Tony Campolo story?
Tony was walking towards the Holiday Inn in the middle of Port-au-Prince when he was intercepted by three teenage girls. The oldest was about 15.
The one in the middle said, “Mister, for ten dollars you can have me all night long.”
Tony was gobsmacked!
He looked at the girl and said, “I’m an old guy. Would you sleep with me all night long for ten dollars?” She said, “Yes.”
Tony unfolded his proposal: “You’re in luck. I’ve got thirty dollars. I’m in room 210. Be there in thirty minutes. Not before.”
He rushed up to the room, called room service and explained, “I want every Walt Disney video that you have in stock. How many do you have?” “Eight.” came the reply. Tony wanted them all.
He then telephoned the restaurant and requested the following items… “I want banana splits. I want extra ice cream, whipped cream, cherries, nuts, syrup – I want four of them.”
A few minutes later the girls arrived. The videos and the banana splits also came. They sat on the edge of the bed and watched the films until one o’clock in the morning. That’s when the last of them fell asleep across the bed.
As he sat in the hotel room, looking at the girls lying on the bed he began to mull over the incident, “Nothing’s changed. Nothing’s changed. Tomorrow they will be back on the streets selling their bodies to dirty, lustful men. Nothing’s changed. Nothing’s changed.”
And then something welled up inside him. He felt these words come into his mind: “For one night, Tony you gave them back their childhood. For one night you let them be kids again.”
If those three girls had come up to you what would you have done? Sadly I think I would have squirmed, shuddered and then ignored them and gone straight to the bar for a beer. Tony has a baptised imagination and I need to get one urgently!
Mark is a lively storyteller and the author of four books, including The Spy, the Rat and the Bed of Nails: Creative Ways of Talking about Christian Faith. His work is focused on storytelling and how this can help us to communicate the Christian faith. He has written many articles for the Baptist Times, RE Today, Youthscape, Direction magazine and the Christian Teachers Journal.
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