Our ministry in Nepal has been focused around the vulnerable people of Pokhara. Last night, we went into the dance bars to love on the women that work there.
As we entered, I immediately started praying because I could feel the spiritual heaviness of the place. The lights were flashing and the music was blaring. There were couches lined up facing a stage. Waitresses bringing food to men. It smelled like cologne, greasy food, and anticipation.
We sat down, ordered some overpriced fries, and waited. We saw the first girl come on stage dressed in a mini dress. She looked completely numb to the dance she was performing. You could see the inner battle of not wanting to be on stage but still wanting to dance well so that she could get paid well at the end of the night.
We sat and talked with a woman, Khushi, for the whole time we were there. She was 20 years old, had a 3 year old child that was adopted into a family that lives in the United States, and she used to live with Maya Ministries. At various points during our conversation she would leave, go perform a dance on stage, then come back and continue our conversation as if nothing had happened.
She was my age.
Selling her body to men she doesn’t know.
This is her routine. It’s not her passion, it’s numb.
There were girls up there that were my sisters age.
They couldn’t have been older than 16 years old.
This is they life that they chose.
The life they feel stuck in.
The part that broke my heart the most was knowing that Khushi had seen the other side. She had lived with Maya Ministries. She had been living in a community that loved the Lord.
But it wasn’t enough. The draw of the glamor of the world was bigger than the love that the Lord brought. So she went back.
My prayers every morning have sounded a lot like “Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours today”. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. The Lords heart is completely torn for these beautiful women that He calls daughters.
Please keep us in your prayers as we go to hang out with Khushi on Sunday! She invited us over to her house for pizza and a movie. Pray that we’ll be able to reflect a life that’s more full and an eternity that’s worth more than anything that this world could supply.
