This month, my team and I have partnered with a ministry that works to educate children at risk, empower women at risk, and equip grassroots pastors across Nepal. Through the women at risk ministry, women who are sexually exploited, living in extreme poverty, have HIV/AIDS, are widows, and/ or are physically or mentally challenged can come live at the ministry center and learn practical skills to help them overcome their circumstances. This week, we had the opportunity to experience this ministry come to fruition, so believe me when I say you will want to read this whole blog.
On Tuesday morning, I woke up with a pounding headache and unrest permeating my entire body. My heart was unsettled, my mind completely drained, and I felt unreasonably apathetic. I’m usually one of the first people out of bed in our room of seven girls, but this morning I had to be shaken awake just minutes before we needed to leave. I thought to myself, “what is wrong with me?!”
Ever since arriving in Nepal, I have fought feelings of discontent and apathy. That isn’t like me so I’ve spent the past week struggling to find the reason why. Perhaps it has been due to the unknown and varying day to day schedules or maybe the fight for quality Jesus time after long days of ministry, I am not sure. I spent Monday fasting, praying, and seeking God’s will in all of this—and still, no obvious reason came to mind.
Throughout this month, I have been reading two books on spiritual discipline. So far I’ve learned a lot about meditation, prayer, fasting, and study. I’ve made a conscious effort to grow in these disciplines as I’ve read, so why has it been that I feel the most undisciplined I’ve ever been?! I’ve tried to simplify my life by being obedient to God and following wherever He leads me but I’ve struggled so much with it for no obvious reason.
So after being woken up late on Tuesday morning, I felt frazzled trying to rush to get ready. I knew that my heart and mind weren’t in a good place so I decided to stay back at the house for an hour to seek the Lord and try to figure out what was going on with me internally. I prayed that God would surround me with his angels, bringing my heart peace and comfort. I sought rest and rejuvenation and questioned God why I was feeling this way.
After an hour had passed, I was feeling slightly more settled, so I met up with my team and we began an orientation for our ministry that day at the “cabin restaurants”. We sat and listened to our ministry partner Maya* explain what exactly we were getting ourselves into that afternoon. She described that a “cabin restaurant” is another name for a brothel here in Nepal. They are usually very dark, both physically and spiritually, and women will come around offering drinks and “other favors” on their menus. They often work in these brothels out of desperation so we were going to share how much Christ desperately wants their hearts.
At this point I thought to myself, “what the heck are they going to think when 5 foreign, white women walk in casually asking for cool drinks?!” Maya explained our cover story– we were all oblivious tourists seeking cold refreshments after a long day touring the city and she was our translator. She warned us that sometimes the people at these brothels may not buy our story and deny us entry so we may just stand outside the brothel and intercede (pray) for the women. Other times we may be able to go in, but the women won’t want to talk to us as we are clearly not there for anything more than a few Cokes. Only if we are lucky, Maya said, we would be able to talk with some women and potentially share the love of Christ with them.
Maya then explained how this ministry is extremely hard for her. She hates going; it breaks her heart and gives her severe anxiety, but she does it out of obedience. She warned us that if we didn’t feel ready, we needed to make our voices known then, because we were going into battle. Honestly, everything inside me in that moment wanted to run away. I already felt unsettled inside, so how was I supposed to go into a brothel and share the love of Jesus?! But then I remembered back to the beginning of the race when a squad leader told me that it is the mornings that you don’t want to get out of bed that you NEED to get out of bed the most—there’s a fight for the Kingdom ready to be had that day.
So we all gathered in prayer, asking God to protect and guide us, and together we put on the armor of God:
“Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Ephesians 6:10-18
After a short bus ride, we began walking towards a shopping center and Maya encouraged all of us to pray. She led us to a dilapidated staircase that went down to the basement level. I could only see the first few steps as they descended into total darkness. In that moment, everything in my mind screamed, “DANGER!! What do these bystanders think right now as five foreign girls are heading down into a brothel?! They must have thought we looked out of place beforehand but now, oh my goodness!!”
I began to pray more fervently. As we walked down the stairs, everything became darker, but a dim light shone through the cracks in the concrete wall. We walked into the brothel and were greeted by three smiling women. We were taken to the back, corner booth, passing by some men smoking and drinking at the bar and many stalls of tables, each with a low table and floor cushions, surrounded by 5.5 foot walls.
I thought to myself, “wow, this is the darkest place (physically & spiritually) I have ever been in my entire life. While this looks like a scary scene from a movie, this is real life, and I literally have no idea what I am doing… so God, PLEASE HELP US.” I began praying that God would sit at that table with us and guide our conversation. I also prayed that we would bring light into that brothel to cast out all of the darkness and that His presence would be unquestionably known.
We ordered Cokes and invited the three women working there to join us. The first woman, Anna*, was very happy to sit with us. She had a bright smile and spoke some English. As we began to talk with her, she told us that she was 19-years-old, just began working at the restaurant, and had a 2-year-old son named Aaron*. She said that her son was there at the brothel so she quickly went to get him so we could meet him. The other two women then introduced themselves but kept getting called to the front to tend to the other customers. A minute later, Anna brought Aaron to our booth—an adorable little boy with a furrowed brow. After we all oohed and ahhed over him, our translator Maya quickly turned to us and said “she wants to give us her son.”
We all blankly looked at each other thinking “WHAT?! We just met this woman (who still thinks we are tourists) less than 5 minutes ago and now she wants to give us her firstborn son?” I looked over at Aaron, this innocent, curious little guy, just sitting on his mom’s lap, obliviously sipping her Mountain Dew thinking to myself “what on earth is happening?!”
Maya then took over the conversation and offered our help to Anna. Maya told her that we couldn’t take her son then, but if she met us the next morning we would be able to make arrangements for him. During this same time, the boss of the restaurant kept calling Anna to the front, so we quickly payed our bill, wrote down Anna’s phone number, and told her to meet us at a coffee shop tomorrow, not wanting to make a scene.
We left the brothel and hurriedly walked down the street until we found a quiet spot around the side of a building to pray for Anna, Aaron, and the other women we met. We prayed that the Holy Spirit would remain in that brothel and that the light we brought in would permanently cast out the darkness. We prayed that our armor had protected us against any evil spirits and that if any tried to attach to us, they would be cast out in the name of Jesus. We prayed that God would stir the women’s hearts to want to meet us the next morning.
Once back on the bus, Maya encouraged us to continue praying for all that had happened— to pray that Anna would have a desire to fight for a better life for her and her son, pray that the other women would also want to leave the sex trade for a new life, and pray the darkness would be permanently cast out. Maya shared that she was so surprised by what had just happened—God was IN that brothel, sitting around that tiny table with us. And He was on the move.
We left hopeful but nervous that the enemy could confuse or scare Anna so we went back to our house and spent the rest of the evening in intercessory prayer. I thought to myself, “Is she really going to come tomorrow? What if she didn’t give us the correct phone number? Does she just want to give up her boy or does she actually want a better life for the both of them? What would happen if the boss found out?” (and on and on). But we all continued to pray.
Wednesday morning, we arrived at the coffee shop and waited in anticipation. Maya had gotten ahold of Anna who said she would meet us there, alongside baby Aaron and another girl from the brothel, so we were hopeful but still a bit hesitant. We waited for about an hour in expectation and then they came!! PRASIE GOD. After we enjoyed small talk over coffee, Maya suggested that we to take them to the zoo to have the important conversation and sign papers in a safe, public place.
Admission was expensive for foreigners (as always) so we paid for the women to go in while I waited outside the gate with Baileigh and Naomi. We weren’t sure what Anna had decided, did she want to give up Aaron or did she want to be rescued alongside him? No matter the decision, we prayed that God’s will would be made known in that zoo.
After praying and reading Scripture for 45 minutes, we looked up and watched Anna and her friend quickly walking out the gate and down the street with tears streaming down their cheeks. Oh shoot. We began to pray more. About 20 minutes after that, Maya, Kirsty, Sue, and Shannon walked out carrying Aaron, asleep in her arms. Anna had given up her son.
After hearing this news, I felt a bit discouraged. While I was so thankful that Anna took a great opportunity for her child, I knew that the best future he could have is staying with his mother. A brothel is no place for a child to grow up, but with a family other than his own is quite difficult too. I prayed relentlessly that Anna would want to stay with her son and move into the ministry house to begin a new life but instead we watched as both Anna and her friend walked out of the zoo.
But then Maya told us that BOTH of the women want to leave their work at the brothel and come live at the ministry house. They just need a bit more time to make some money before they come because during training they will learn new skills but be unemployed. While Anna gave Maya temporary custody of Aaron, she will be able to see him every 15 days and there are hopes Anna will be reunited with her son soon.
I am in complete awe of how God rescued a baby boy’s life in Nepal this week during a conversation at a brothel that lasted 20 minutes. All glory to the King!! While nothing is set in stone yet with Anna and her friend, we will all be praying continually until they enter the ministry house’s doors.
My team and I are currently raising funds for the care of little Aaron. Maya and her family graciously invited this little boy into their home but they don’t have extra funds to provide for him so they are solely relying on the Lord for His provision. Please help this lovely family in providing for little Aaron as he awaits his mother’s return. Visit our Donor See page at https://donorsee.com/project/1163. Please also keep Anna and her friend in your prayers that they will leave the brothel behind and pursue the life God has for them.
Since all of this has happened, I feel completely restored and back to my normal self. I now recognize my feelings of discontent and apathy at the beginning of the month as spiritual attack from the enemy.
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have the divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Through this experience, I was able to tell the enemy to go away by pursuing the Lord with my whole heart and going where I was called. And God is so faithful!! I now feel re-centered and ready to do whatever else it is that He calls me to do here in Nepal. All praise to the King! Thank you all for being such generous supporters on my World Race journey. Without you, who knows where this little boy would be today.
Peace & blessings,
Britt
*names in this blog have been changed to protect their identity and for the security of our ministry contact
