Modern-day slavery, aka Human Trafficking, is the “fastest-growing criminal industry in the world, based on the recruitment, harboring, and transportation of people solely for the purpose of exploitation” as defined by The World Race Trafficking Route in 2011.
There are approximately 20.9 million men, women, and children that are sexually enslaved today. About 2 million are children, and women and girls make up 96% of the exploitation. It is awful. It hurts my heart. Helping put a stop to this has been a passion of mine for more than 2 years now! So, with that being said, here is what I’ve witnessed and experienced and learned first hand from buying women’s time here in Kathmandu, Nepal.
For the past three weeks, I’ve gotten the opportunity to do my dream ministry- rescuing women! Whether it has been from prostitution or slavery. Whether is has been in a cabin restaurant, which is basically a bar with stalls off to the side where men can order drinks, food and “specials” that typically come with a woman. Or if we are in dance bars, clubs where you can also purchase these ladies. I have been honored to meet them and buy their time. Time that would usually be spent in sexual relations with a man, occasionally even a woman, or worse… a child. The time spent with the girls I meet is filled with laughter and building friendships. What this often looks like is showing up to wherever we may be going for that day (sometimes night) and purchasing tea or coffee from the place, aka purchasing the workers for an allotted amount of time. We literally go get them for an hour two using our own money, a thought that is very difficult to wrap my head around because it should not be that easy.
I have been working alongside local partners going into these dark places. I have met many women, a few whom I have become close with, and have showed them the hope that lies in Christ. I have seen a girl quit her job in a cabin restaurant. I’ve taken two of my new dance bar friends to get pizza and we laughed the whole time, hand in hand. I have been stood up twice for coffee dates. I have attended church and gone to lunch with a prostitute. I have taught english to rescued adults. I have seen and heard and done a lot, yet the ache is still there. The heart break isn’t gone. I have actively helped and I still feel the heaviness. That will never go away, but I can rest knowing that I can, you can and we can all make a difference just by befriending. Just by going in, introducing yourself, paying and inviting these ladies to coffee. It will change them in ways you may never see. It will change you and has changed me in ways I could’ve never even imagined. I will never ever be the same. PLEASE, please go be a light to girls everywhere. Show them they are strong. Go and share your life with them. Tell them about the dangers and the reality of issues with those who are at-risk, tell them about the love and the healing that awaits them, even if they can’t get out of the sex industry.
I have seen God heal the broken-hearted and set the literal captives free! I have seen women stuck in sex slavery pour out their dreams to me and tell me that they believe there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel. I dove into some of the darkest places in the world and have come out with the most hope in my heart. Its hard, but you can do all of that, too. You can offer a loving and safe environment for women to exchange conversations of isolation, shame, and pain with you. You can witness restoration and redemption through being a confidant for these girls. Go for it. I may be sitting here hurting, but it was completely worth it because each woman you meet has a powerful story to tell, so do I and so do you. Grace flourishes in a friendly and accepting environment, an environment that we are capable of providing!
Speaking of providing a friendly, accepting, safe and loving environment- that is exactly what our ministry here is doing! They’ve made a center for women that have been sexually exploited to learn how to grow. It takes time to grow, and that is something we all need to understand. I recently painted a mural of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. It is a reminder for the women who see it to LIVE and love themselves through the season they’re in, or the work that they are stuck doing. That’s exactly what i’m learning right now. to choose into myself and accept where I’m at, but to also choose into God. To be ok with everything that is happening around me and just allow myself to live in it. I painted this in a room where women who have been misused come to learn english. to have a break from their reality and be poured into. A room in a center where they are taught life skills, loved on and told the truths about who they are. They are beautiful. wise. renewed and ALIVE. They are not objects to be bought. They are like the flowers of the field and the birds of the air. Isaiah 40:6-8 ““All people are like grass, and all their beauty is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God will stand forever.” They are a gift to this world.
Thank you for reading my word vomit of a blog. I just really wanted to express my thoughts and feelings on my personal experience! I hope and pray you got something out of this. Much love!
