This is a story written by our main ministry contact. It's loosely translated, but you can get the jist. Just a warning, it's not pretty. But it's the truth, and I refuse to be silent about it. THIS is the world we live in. The story is kind of long, but bear with me.
"You must drink cola in our home," Gharwali (a lady owner of a brothel) insisted us for that while we were passing one of the Red Light Districts of Mumbai, India in November 2010.
We saw in her house there were 6 ladies waiting for customers. I was with James Nepali and Bimala Thapa (director of Asha Nepal). Asha Nepal is working for sexually exploited women and their children (www.ashanepal.org). I as the board secretary got the chance to visit Mumbai and see these heart-breaking situations of girls in Mumbai.
She ordered 3 colas for us. We started to talk. Slowly, that Gharwali began her story. she was sold by her own grandfather when she was 12. She refused to sleep with a man but she got gift of big beating and rape. She did to save her life. After some years, she started her own dhanda (business of buying and using girls as sex slaves). She also told that after some years of dhanda she wanted to go back to her village. She went back 6 times, but her father rejected her and she had to come back to Mumbai with some girls to use for sex slavery. We prayed for their health and the Lord;s wisdom to repent and went ahead.
As we were walking in the street we saw some girls from age 12 to 60 waiting for the customers. People could see their cheap make-up and some had children by their side. Anyone can imagine what happens to those small children when they see with their own eyes their mother sleeping with different men every hour.
We passed that street and went to another street. Same situation was there. Some girls were pulling some men's hands to come as their customer because if they do not find anybody, they and their children do not have anything to eat in the evening as well as beating and cursing from Gharwali. We encountered a lady who had about half a kilogram of gold as her ornaments. she gave us a bench to sit. We started to talk, She is one of the richest Gharwali of Mumbai and she has big number of girls. Her faily income from girls is about $1000US. She said she had started an organization for the rights of sex slaves. I cried in my heart but could not say anything about it as we were told- saying anything against them is to be killed. These Nepali Gharwalis are the main traders of girls. They are protected by local authorities and gangs with the power of money. We also prayed there and proceeded.
In the night I was crying with our missionary James and his wife Selvi. They shared more heart-breaking stories with me.
During 2010, ten baptized ladies from churches of west Nepal have been sold by husband, brother, pastor (I cannot say those people are pastor, but the Lord will judge them). Some became Christian and were persecuted in their family and they follow somebody for the better life who leads and sells them in Mumbai.
In 2004, Selvi was asked to go to a home for prayer for a girl that had high fever. She started to pray but the customer came in. The girl caught Selvi's feet and requested for the prayer for healing, but customer was above that girl to feed his desire. The girl could not do as the customer pleased. The customer punched the girls head and she died. Selvi ran to save her life.
Recently two girls were killed because they refused sex. Law does not work. Murder of children and old ladies is normal. So many girls were raped tying their hands and legs in pillars, some were beaten til death, and some got sign from hot iron on their thigh or lower belly before starting dhanda because newcomers do not want in the beginning.
About 300,000 Nepali girls are still in Mumbai and many have settled to Pune and other towns of India because the Indian government law. Price of Nepali girls has gone high because importing girls are gone down. It is because of awareness in so many places.
Other main reason is that Nepal Police is proposing Nepal government to start Red Light Area in Kathmandu. Nepal police say more than 35,000 girls are in sex slavery in Kathmandu alone and more than 90% of them are age 12 to 17. In other cities, this God-hating business is growing.
"Lord, hear our prayers abd send freedom for them."
Pray for the innocent victims that are trafficked every single day.
It isn't just in Nepal or India, it's EVERYWHERE.
This is the truth about the world we live in.
Who will go for them?
Hard as it is, we must also pray for those selling the victins into slavery.
Christ did not only die for victims, he died for EVERYONE.
Trust me, I don't write this easily.
If I'm being completely honest, my first thought about such individuals is that I want to castrate them.
Yet I must continue to die to my flesh and allow Christ to permeate my entire soul, especially with the hardest things such as this.
In the same waym we must also pray for the Gharwali and others like them, that their hearts may be softened to the gospel of Christ and they would turn from their wicked ways.
Pray also that the Lord provide the opportunity to speak with them. It is very challenging, because saying anything against them can get you killed very quickly.
THIS is our world.
But we serve a God that died for such as these people.
Only one question remains:
Who will go for them?
Peace and blessings,
Courtney
