Religion News / Lighthouse International Ministries
Magdalene Project seeks to change the lives of ‘women of the evening’
NIAGARA FALLS — Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute?
No one knows for sure, said Joanne Lorenzo, founder and director of Niagara Falls’ nonprofit Magdalene Project — yet “there’s a strong possibility she was.”
Magdalene — who became a follower of Jesus, was with him at his death on the cross and was a witness to his resurrection at the tomb — offers hope to today’s “women of the night” that “Jesus will accept you too,” said Lorenzo, whose project is a branch of Lighthouse International Ministries.
“Our hearts are with women in prostitution,” she said. “Women get involved in street prostitution because of drugs, alcohol, domestic-violence situations, homelessness, all stemming from low self-worth.
“They need to know they are loved and accepted by Jesus Christ. He’s the way out of the bondage of prostitution and drugs. I ask you to pray for the lost and forgotten women who walk the streets looking for love in all the wrong places. Our vision is to see a home where women can go to — from rehab and/or prison.”
Citing the special love Jesus had for “street people,” Lorenzo speaks of a once-beautiful prostitute named Karen, whom she met on the city’s 18th Street:
“She had her face set like flint, so I knew in my heart she was putting on a false front for a broken heart. My heart went out to her, and I decided to talk to her. I didn’t know how to approach her, so I drove home, grabbed some Bible literature and went back to find her. Thankfully, she was still out there,” Lorenzo recalls. “I said, ‘I’m praying for you.’ Amazingly, she started to cry, said, ‘Thank you,’ and walked away in tears.”
Later Lorenzo discovered that “Karen had a heart for children. She used to tell me stories about how women involved in drugs would leave their children in crack houses for days with no food. The other girls used to feed these children peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or anything they could find for the children, as the mothers went out on the streets looking for a hit of crack [cocaine], or a john to make some money. In Karen’s words, ‘The children suffer the most.’ ”
Before she died at age 38 of AIDS, Karen left the following message to her sisters of the night: “I was hurt by all the lies, was used and left out in the cold. I pray they don’t find you beat-up again, cut-up, or gang-raped, as a lot of us have been. Only Jesus can stop the nightmare.”
The Magdalene Project is among efforts to to change the lives of these women.
Niagara University’s chapter of the American Chemical Society, in partnership with Community Missions of the Niagara Frontier, recently hosted a food kitchen to feed the homeless as part of Magdalene Project, in St. George Church, 1910 Falls St., where there’s a new drop-in center for “women of the evening.”
NU students raised $500 toward the event, set up and served the meals and cleaned up.
The Magdalene Project reaches out to those in need by distributing food, clothing, Bibles and toiletries.
“Niagara University principles are based on the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul’s inspiration to lovingly serve the less fortunate,” said Megan McGahan, president of NU’s American Chemical Society chapter. “The most touching experience to me personally was the prayer circle in which everyone joined hands no matter what their faith or background was.”
Through the efforts of other volunteers, the Magdalene Project, in just the beginning months of this year, was able to distribute dozens of items, including sweaters, coats, hats, gloves, blankets, stuffed animals and Bibles.
Every Saturday night, a special RV roams the streets of Niagara Falls and Buffalo searching for people in need.
“It moves up and down drug-infested areas of the inner city seeking men, women and children whose lives have been abused by drugs, alcohol, domestic abuse and prostitution,” Lorenzo said.
“Niagara Falls is one of the poorest cities in the U. S. But some people in the Falls don’t realize that there are people out on the streets with not enough food to eat — many not able to pay their rent, many don’t have a stove or refrigerator, many have been in situations of domestic violence, or other abuse.”
She said an alarming percentage of the city’s families fall below the poverty level, including thousands of children.
“Street Life in Niagara Falls is worse than you would imagine,” Lorenzo said. “Those who suffer the most are the children. There are women involved in prostitution [who have] children who have not eaten on any given day. There are grandmothers raising children because their [own] children are addicts. There are children acting as runners [for drugs] for addicts.”
She said there are close to 100 women in Western New York involved in street prostitution. For them, she quotes a line from Saint Theresa’s Prayer — that they know they are “child of God.”
For more information on the Magdalene Project, call 282-0908.
Have an idea for Religion News? Write to: Louise Continelli, The Buffalo News, P. O. Box 100, Buffalo, NY 14240, or e-mail her at
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