Today’s story belongs to two stong and beautiful women: Pramila and Usha.
About a week ago, my team and I met these two girls at their job in a cabin restaurant. For those of you who don’t know, this isn’t just any restaurant. It’s a place where each table is surrounded by four thin plywood walls, and when men come and purchase food, what they’re actually buying is the bodies of the women who serve them. These women have their bodies used again and again, day in and day out. In Nepal, there are about 50,000 women who work in this kind of restaurant, 30,000 of which are minors.
In order to visit the restaurant inconspicuously, we had to pose as a group of curious tourists with our guide and translator, Ruby. So there we were, 11 people all crammed into a tiny booth. We paid for their time. And then we talked. We started with small talk, asking the girls about their families, where they were from, etc. and learned that two of the girls were from a nearby village and had moved into the town of Bhaktapur looking for much-needed work. However, they were so uneducated that this was the only job they were able to find. Before we knew it, two hours had passed and it was time to part ways. They urged us to come back to visit them again and we left for home with plans to meet 3 of the girls on Monday morning to gather for authentic Nepali food and “roaming.”
On the bus ride home, Ruth shared with us through tears that her heart was deeply grieved for two of them specifically, Pramila and Usha, as she could tell they were very new to the business, and that they had chosen this line of work out of desperation. Ruth desperately longed for them to be given an opportunity for a better life.
Monday morning came and my teammates and I were walking excitedly to our pre-determined meeting point when we received a call that the girls had backed out of our plans, as one of them couldn’t make it, and the other two would not come without her. However, just a few short minutes later, we were informed that the remaining two girls, Pramila and Usha, had extended the invitation for us to join them for breakfast in their home if we were willing to make the trip. The plan was to spend a few hours with them before they had to go to work at 11. Naturally, we accepted the invitation eagerly, and in less than an hour, the nine of us were gathered together in a small, one-room living space with nothing more than a bed and a propane cooking stove. Together we shared tea along with the breakfast they had promised. Little did we know that this was just the beginning of what the Lord had planned for our time together.
We soon learned their job pays them no more than 5,000 rupees (the equivalent of about 50 American dollars) each month, half of which goes to rent. Eventually, I asked if they would work somewhere else if another job was offered to them, to which they replied that their job is so bad, they would literally do anything else. We continued asking the girls about their lives and their beliefs and before long, my teammate Allison took the initiative to share the gospel with the girls by reading them the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, along with some of her personal testimony. Pramila mentioned multiple times that she keeps meaning to attend church, which is when Allison told her that she doesn’t need to be in a church to give her life to Christ, but that she could do so in that moment. Though Pramila told us she didn’t know how to pray, we gathered around her as Allison prayed with her, holding her hand to walk her through the threshold of eternity. We soon learned that Usha had been a believer for a while, but in that moment she chose also to rededicate her life to Christ. Pramila then shared with us her concern that she still smoked and drank alcohol, and she didn’t know how to stop doing those things, to which my teammate, Amanda responded by sharing her own story of overcoming similar struggles. We then prayed over her and Usha once again, asking the Lord to break all chains of addiction and temptation over them.
When 10:30 came around, the girls decided they were going to skip work for the day so they could continue spending time with us. Our excitement over this decision soon turned to unease as the girls began receiving one phone call after another from both their boss and regular customers. We were heartbroken as Ruby translated to us their boss’s threats of the beatings that tomorrow would hold (this is not uncommon for girls in their line of work). Though we spent a day filled with fun and new experiences, I couldn’t ignore the weight on my heart as I thought of what the next day had in store for them. Even worse, I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it. As much as I wanted to rescue them in that moment and tell them they would never have to return to the cabin restaurant, I knew the reality of the situation was that there was nothing I could do but trust in the Lord’s faithfulness to provide them with a new job opportunity. Even now, our host is searching for new jobs for them in partnership with a group in her church that is working to put an end to human trafficking and the exploitation of local women. They have already provided jobs for many other women in similar situations.
We were able to spend one last morning with the girls, during which they introduced us to another friend of theirs, with whom Ruby was able to connect for follow-up long after we are gone. I’m truly grateful that the Lord has allowed my team and me to see fruit in these two girls in our short amount of time here. Though jobs have still not been found for Pramila and Usha, I know that God is faithful, and He is going to show up for them. If you are reading this, please pray with me now that God would provide a sustainable job for them and that they would leave their old lives behind and walk in the newness of life that He is offering them. Pray that they would scorn the enemy and his shame, and that they would embrace their freedom. Pray for other girls like them, because this story belongs to them as well. And lastly, praise the Lord with me, because this story isn’t over yet.
