Confusion hits me as we walk down the streets of Thamel. I’ve walked this street multiple times looking at the shops, eating momos, and hunting for a new favorite coffee shop.
How did I never notice the dance bars until now?
How could I miss the number of places that people went to “have fun” after dark, was I just unaware of the problem that is ravishing this place?
As we walked down this main strip I was overwhelmed with emotions as I counted bar after bar objectifying girls. Human trafficking has made its home here in Nepal and dance bars are just one outlet that men use to buy girls.
Seven of us set out with the mission to attend these places in order to befriend the girls trapped inside. As we sipped our Cokes we observed the room spinning out of control around us. In one corner drunk local men gawked at the girls and to my right the pimp of the bar motioned endlessly at his girls on stage to give him more. In front of me I watched girls in the least amount of clothing possible hiding behind layers and layers of makeup trying to become someone else. I watched a group of tourists who had just come back from trekking, over the moon with emotions watching the girls dance for them. My heart lost it as I watched men slide the girls numbers that would soon enable them to be purchased later that night.
We came to this bar to make friends with them and to give them an opportunity to relate in peace for a few minutes. Before we went in we had heard stories of girls that were able to be rescued from this life style and we were trusting that God could use us to do the same. We soon realized that many of our girls liked it there and many of them had even chosen to work there. I so desperately wanted them to want us to help them and find a new life style.
I sat with rage and disappoint as I watched the like go on around me, but I couldn’t keep my mind off the men. I was enraged, disgusted, saddened, and heartbroken for them. We often think about the girls in these situations, the ones who are being trafficked, the ones being sod, the ones being bought to fill others with pleasure, but what about the men?
What about the men who feel the need to fill their voices using these girls?
What about the men who spend their salaries over the course of a few hours?
What about the men who do the know the repercussions of their actions?
What about the men who leave their families at home while they go and find momentary satisfaction?
What about these men?
Aren’t they a main root to this problem Nepal is facing? Aren’t their lives just as broken as the lives of the girls who dance for them?
I ask that you all come along side of us in prayer for all parties involved in human trafficking.
Lord we just ask that you cover these women in the dance bars, the men who flock there nightly, and the pimps and people employing the girls in your love. We pray that seeds were planted the other night and that you continue to water them as you see fit. We know that you are sovereign and that our view of what is going on at the moment is limited. We know that you are working in ways that we cannot see and we trust that you are good. Lord we ask that you will not only rescue these people, but restore them.
Amen
