Rebellion. Noun. Resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition.
For the last three years, sometime in January, I have picked a song of the year, a song God lays on my heart to be the theme for my year. This tradition started by accident, but every year the song has been very fitting for how my year has gone.
This year, I forced it. I tried to pick the song I wanted, rather than one that God.put on my heart. So I came to the end of January and I still had no song. I had given up part way through the month. February 1st hit, and we were in the middle of our travel days to India. All of the sudden, it just hit me.
Small Rebellions by Jars of Clay.
I listened to it once, and there it was, my song of the year.
The song is about rebelling against what society considers ‘normal.’ The chorus talks about our days being filled with small rebellions, “senseless brutal acts of kindness from us all.” I decided that was a good theme for the year.
A couple of days later, I arrived in Mumbai, India.
I walked down the street through the Red Light district.
I saw women standing on the street corner, waiting to be purchased.
I met a precious child who has been raised by her mom’s pimp, as her mom was sold when she was 6 months old.
I met a little boy who has HIV, and one of the cutest smiles I’ve ever seen.
Our ministry here in Mumbai is working with Manna House, which is a former brothel in the Red Light District. It is rented from a pimp to be like a daycare for the kids in the area. Their mothers work all day, and oftentimes would have to keep their children under their beds while they were being paid for sex. Manna House offers an alternative, a place they can come to eat, to play, to take naps, to be loved.
Immediately, I realized this would be a month of small rebellions, a month to brutally love those who are forgotten. This is an opportunity to show these women and children that they are worthy of God’s love, despite what society tells them. It’s an opportunity to tell them that they are more than an object to be bought and sold., that they are precious in the sight of God.
I’m still processing much of what I’ve witnessed and experienced so far this month, and I promise I will have a lot more to say about this as the month goes on. But for now, I can say that I am daily rebelling against the normal here in India, the normal of ignoring the horrific things happening in neighborhoods all over the city.
The district we work in has 15,000-20,000 women forced to sell their bodies. It is one of the smallest in Mumbai.
Thats the same number as the population of my hometown.
And there are 7 more in this city.
I’m angry about it.
I’m heartbroken about it.
And I’m in a position to do something about it.
Even if that simply means hugging those who are forced to sell their body all day, and playing with precious children for hours.
The things I see every day don’t make sense. They aren’t okay. And yet they continue.
Please join me in praying for the people we encounter every day. And if you want to do something about it, please email me. I will help you find an organization to support that is fighting modern day slavery.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.-Isaiah 61:1
