So I mentioned in a previous blog that this month our ministry didn’t look how I expected it to, I wrestled with this and asked God what our purpose was in Nepal? I was questioning why we weren’t loving the kids in the slums or recusing women from being trafficked. I mean the ministry we partnered with is known for both of those things they literally have a house full of rescued women and children, why didn’t we get to be a part of that?
Well ask and you shall receive, knock and the door will be opened. Last Monday we met with our ministry host and he explained that this week we would split into our teams and either go to different slums or to a “cabin restaurant” (Glorified way to say brothel). This came as a shock to me I kind of figured that we would be doing the same thing as last week, praying for people and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us.
So later that Monday, we were told our team was going to the “cabin restaurant”. Our ministry host told us before we left that sometimes in these places they don’t allow people to come in and if that happened we would just pray outside of the building a then leave.
As we prepared to leave, we all had heavy hearts and didn’t know what really to expect besides God being with us and paving the way and possibly allowing us inside to talk to these women.
We arrived at the restaurant and we’re welcomed inside, which came as a shock to me. Anyways we were escorted into this hallway which had six small cubicles, in each one was a small coffee table and bench. The walls were painted a bright salmon and blue color, I’m assuming this was to make the atmosphere seem not so heavy, and heart breaking. Eight of us piled into one of the small cubicles payed for Mountain Dew and the women’s time. We began talking and just getting to know the three women who were working there, we got to hear about their stories of how they started working there and what a typical day looked like, we giggled over the miscommunication and the things we shared in common with them. About an hour into hanging out we invited them for coffee on Wednesday, without hesitation they changed our plans to not just having coffee but they invited us to their apartment for coffee.
After leaving this place my heart broke, I couldn’t imagine that these women deal with this everyday. Working at a place that crushes their hopes and their identity, a place that they feel that they have to run to in order to make money but ultimately don’t know how to get out. These women feel shame for what their lives look like they don’t want to go home because they are scared of the rejection their families will have towards them.
So fast forward to Wednesday morning my team wakes up bright and early to meet the girls. We get to their house and they welcome us in with open arms and bright smiles, we walked into one of the girls apartments and sit down and begin to talk with them. They explained that they all have heard the gospel and are all christian, you can tell all of our faces had a huge grin and were thrilled to hear that they knew the Lord. We hung out for about an hour until the ladies had to leave for work, we prayed for them and then left.
These ladies have touched my heart, they’re broken and don’t know where to turn, they believe they are stuck in the business and that they don’t have a future based on their job title. These ladies need hope, they need the voice of Jesus, they need something to hold on to, they desperately want something better they just don’t know how. The ministry we are partnered with helps the women to find better jobs, to give them a hope and to point them to Jesus. I am in constant prayer for these ladies and hope that they can find new jobs and that God can pick them up from their brokenness.
Please continue to pray for these ladies.PEACE
XOXO
Heather
