Not your typical prison with bars, wardens and maximum security.
More like a mental and emotional prison with numbness, abuse, fear and bondage.
This prison cell is a small room that has a bed and a 5-10 minute time slot where she becomes a sexual slave to one of too many faceless men.
This woman is a daughter or a wife or an orphan who has been trafficked into the sex industry in Mumbai, India or Kathmandu, Nepal. But some of these women have seen freedom and been healed – and for many it is because of Asha Nepal.
Hold up a minute and let me back track.
At the end of August, team Unveiled Pursuit lost Matt Blair to another team and acquired the lovely Leah Malone and Sam Walter. Since we’re a new team we decided a new name was necessary to embody what we want from the rest of the World Race.
Let me introduce to you Team Breathe: Becca, Rebecca, Leah, myself, Tyler, Michael and Sam. Our desire for the following 3 months is to breathe; learn how to breathe in the Spirit and breathe it out onto others while serving them the best we can. As well, we want to take the things we’ve learned in the last 8 months and turn them into permanent habits in our lives; things that come as naturally as breathing.
This month, team Breathe is partnering with Asha Nepal in Godawari, Lilitpur, in the Kathmandu Valley, just 45 minutes outside of the capital. Here we are working with women and children who have been rescued from the sort of prision I mentioned earlier.
Hundreds of thousands of women and children in Nepal and India suffer daily from human rights abuses including sex trafficking, child labour and discrimination due to gender, the caste system and HIV/AIDS. Asha is the Nepali word for hope and that is exactly what this organization aims to provide for these people. Asha Nepal registered as an NGO in 2009 and is run by Christian men and women on a foundation of biblical truths. They offer a safe and secure house, psycho-social support, healthcare, legal support, education and training to help women and children become self-sufficient and fully re-integrate into society.
We have so enjoyed our first week here; teaching English, tutoring, taking care of babies, playing with children, sharing stories and building relationships. You can pray for healing over this house; physically, emotionally, and mentally. Pray also that we would be true examples, to these women and kids, of Christ’s love for his children. Lastly, pray that the men of our team would be able to show the young boys what it means to be godly men who are respectful, caring and honest servants to others.
Can’t wait to see what God has in store for the next three weeks!
