Salem Hicks did not dream of one day being a missionary in the most impoverished nation in the Western hemisphere.
At least not at first.
In fact, when Salem was a student at Liberty, she felt a calling on her heart during Missions Emphasis Week. But she remained in her seat. Surely, this wasn’t for her. She was an artist and hair stylist who dreamed of one day owning her own salon.
Still, a couple of years later, she said “yes” to a weeklong missions trip with Blue Ridge Community Church to Nicaragua and the House of Hope, a place that ministered to women in prostitution or coming out of it.
“It was there that I looked into the faces of young girls who had been raped, used and beaten; oddly enough, I saw a small part of myself there, the part that I had been walking through and began asking God to heal. I was only at the beginning of that process, but it was a journey that led me to a place I never thought possible,” she said.
When she returned home, Salem heard God clearly ask, “Would you be willing to go back for them?”
It took her breath away, but her answer was “yes.”
At the same time, Blue Ridge’s partnership with House of Hope ended. Salem began to wonder if God had only tested her willingness to obey. There seemed no opportunity to go further.
But even as Salem continued on with her career as a stylist and found success doing hair for films, God called her again. This time, after going on a weeklong trip with Blue Ridge to Haiti, she decided to apply for an internship with Mission of Hope. “By the end of the week, I felt at home, so connected to the country and the people,” she said.
For four months, she helped to take visitors to villages and to work on projects there. One group came and asked specifically to work with women in prostitution. Mission of Hope assigned Salem, knowing her heart for women’s ministry.
“This group didn’t know what they were getting into,” Salem said. “They kept looking at me and asking what to do.”
Salem didn’t know what to do either, so she shared her story. She talked about how God had healed her. “I gave them the word picture that it was like going around with a broken leg and not knowing it was broken. Then Jesus healed it, and I could walk again … It broke my heart that the women didn’t know they could be healed.”
She saw a glimmer of hope in their eyes. And Salem heard God’s voice: “This is what I made you for.”
Salem began praying and searching for ministries in Haiti that reached out to women in prostitution. She found none at the time. She personally only knew of two brothels. But she’d soon learn that there were many, and thousands of women were affected across the country.
As doors opened and closed, Salem came back to Haiti to stay at an orphanage while she explored more options for ministering to the women.
Salem worked part-time at a boutique (Rosie's) that sold goods to support missions. On week three of this new adventure, someone showed her a space beneath the boutique that would be perfect for a school.
Salem prayed and asked God to provide a way for her to use the space, if it’s what He wanted. She thought it might work out someday. But three days later, God, through a donor, provided the $4,000 she needed to rent the space for a year. “I think I realized how serious God was about all of it at that point.”
Salem sold her car and most of her belongings and poured her heart into getting the school started. That was just last August.
She began New Life Campaign with about 10-15 women, which quickly grew to 35-40. She taught classes first at the brothel, then at her new school. While teaching practical skills, she also taught the Gospel. God brought a translator and an assistant director. She loves that her assistant director’s husband is pastor of the church that has partnered with them. The Church of the Redeemed.
Still, it is difficult work — hot, dusty and heart-breaking. Salem talks of one woman who lives in a small make-shift tent with her five children. Dirty dishes are everywhere. Never enough to eat. Someone asked her why the woman keeps having children, and she answers that to feed them, she must continue to sell her body. The men pay more if they do not use protection. Every day is a struggle.
Often, one plate of food is the payment for a sexual service. A night may be $3.
Salem lives in a small rented house that is in disrepair. She must hire a guard at night. She’s been very ill at times from contaminated water and food. Still, she says she feels more like herself there than on the movie sets she once worked.
“People can be in deep poverty in different ways. There was brokenness in both places. It’s almost harder to diagnose that brokenness when everything looks fine on the surface,” she said.
In Haiti, she’s seen what a bit of hope from Jesus can do in a life. God has given Salem a dream for the women of Haiti. Please pray for her and consider supporting her. Set up monthly giving by emailing newlifecampaignhaiti@gmail.com.
This weekend, you can see what life for a Haitian woman is like by walking through the conference room behind the auditorium (enter through the doors on the left before leaving the auditorium).