Bleeding Red

It’s 9:00pm, and I’m standing on the train after ministry,
holding onto the metal triangle as the train rocks back and forth. My eyes look
out the open door and everything seems so peaceful in India. The warm, humid
wind from the open door makes my hair flow away from my face as I stand trying
to process our first day of ministry. I feel overwhelmed, helpless, angry, and
sad at the same time; these emotions keep my head spinning like twists on a
roller coaster. Here in the heart of India there are lights of all colors. As the
city whips by outside, I see yellow, white, green, and orange lights. The
problem is I cannot stop thinking about a color that is not as visible from the
outside but so deep and painful…..the light of red.

When I see red now, it’s a completely different color. Red is
the color of young children having to sit under a bed while their mother is
doing “business”. Red is the color of innocence being taken by force,
trafficked into new lands and robbed of all hope and future. Red – the color of
parentless children being raised by pimps just waiting for them to get to the
proper age so they can be put into business. Red – the color of corruption;
police being paid every week by pimps so they don’t take action. Red is the
color of deception, mistrust and injustice…the list goes on and on.

The area where we are ministering is one of nine red light
districts in Mumbai; there are around 15,000-20,000 CSW (Commercial Sex Workers)
in our district alone. Each woman has about 13-15 customers a day, and she gets
paid 120 rupees (approximately $2 USD) per customer, which half goes to the
pimp. The lady that cooks for us was sold at the age of 13 for 62,000 rupees
($700). Today, she is only 35 years old but has both HIV and Tuberculosis,
leaving her body frail. She is so thin and her face is sunken in just like a
75-year-old. The sad truth is that she is just one of 20,000 women that have
been forced into this for years. Around 60-70% are taken at the age of 11-14
from surrounding countries, mainly Nepal. In Mumbai it is said that 200,000
women are CSW’s, and around half are Nepalese.

The house where we are working used to be a brothel, but
today is a safe place for children and women called the Manna House of Prayer.
The Manna House of Prayer has been open since 2008. They are looking at
purchasing this home instead of having to pay rent to the pimp. The room is no
bigger than an average bedroom, but it housed eight beds separated by curtains.
Many women drop their kids off while they are working (12-15 hours a day). All
day long women walk by the outside of our door with men following casually. We
watch as they bring them into a “bedroom” surrounded by curtains. There are no
feelings behind their eyes – to them it is just another number.

Yesterday, while I was giving medicine to a women, that was
sold and taken from Nepal, with Tuberculosis in a brothel house next to the
safe house, a man walked in and sat on a bed. I watched as he slipped off his
red sandals. He looked up we locked eyes for a split second – I will never
forget the emptiness I saw in his eyes. A few minutes later, another lady – around
19 years old – pulled the curtains shut around the bed and attached the hair
claws to make sure they stayed shut. I just sat there feeling helpless, praying
for both the frail sick lady and listening to the sound of red. No longer than
ten minutes passed, when the curtain opened and the man walked out like nothing
had happened, and the 19-year-old went back to washing dishes. After she was
done, she washed her face, reapplied make-up and went back outside to get the
next customer. That is the light of red.

I wish we could do something to stop this, but all we can do
is love. Our main focus is to pray and love the children, who so desperately
crave attention they act out so we focus on them. The things that these
children have seen is indescribable. Many of them have had no childhood. They
have built up anger and they have learned that they have to get physical to get
what they want. So, what are we going to do? All we can do is love the children
by giving them the attention that they deserve and have been deprived of. We
can also pray for the girls that are getting ready to be of age. As we love
them, the emotions just flow through you – you want to do something more but
all we have to offer is our love. Every day, I pray that God would give me
strength to not only love the women and children but also the men that are in
need of just as much love. I pray that change would happen and the government
would see red for what it is and not a way to get paid or free services. 

  

This city bleeds red – everywhere I look I see young girls
with eyes that are sunken from the years of forcing feelings back. The feeling
of being worth so little that they don’t even know what to do. They base their
worth off years of lies telling them that they are worth nothing more than sex.
I see men watching us as we walk by with curiosity. Some of them salivating in
excitement or curiosity, and I can’t help but feel so sad that they are so
desperate for love. They are looking for something, anything to fill the void
in their life. Hopefully in this sea of red, we can bring a little hope, a
little white. We so desperately need your prayers this month. Pray for a
revival of hope and justice. Pray for strength and that our hearts would not
harden. Pray that we can pour out God’s abundant love on these men, women, and
children. Pray that this city would no longer bleed red.