Let's do a bit of an experiment.
Envision Nepal. Envision everything you'd associate with it. Everest. Mountains. Trees. Snow. Rivers. Hills. Valleys. Nature at its greatest. A country almost seemingly created to be living, breathing, natural monument to God and all of His glory. Breath-taking. Awe-inspiring. Incredible. Beautiful.
Is that what you expected? Me too. Funny things, those expectations.
Upon arriving in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, I realized that I wouldn't quite be seeing most of those things. For the first 2 weeks of this month we've spent in the big city. Kathmandu is a city full of internationals. Full of those who vacation here, or have their own missions here.
We have the opportunity to work with TAMI Asia (The Agape Mission International). The main focuses of their ministry are the slums, children at risk (slum and street kids), and women at risk (trafficking and prostitution). As far as ministries are concerned, it's a gold mine. All Racers want the chance to work with trafficking ministries, or ministries with street kids. In essence, we thought we were in heaven. I'm not sure how I thought I would fit into all this, but I?m fairly certain I didn't expect what came to happen.
You know how it was strange for me to expect such raw beauty, and then stay in the city? Well if I was expecting the mountain ranges of the Himalayas, then Ratna Park truly took me by surprise.
Ratna Park is one of the red light districts of Kathmandu. It was constructed to be a pretty park for children to come and play. But that is not what it has become. Hundreds upon hundreds of people hang out in Ratna Park for "time pass" Most of these people are men. And many of them are looking for the prostitutes that hang out there. Ratna looks like a playground that has long since lost its luster, on a much larger scale. It's a large park with old pavilions and stretches of ground where grass no longer can grow. There are men crowded around people doing magic, people doing tricks, food counters, or just sitting around talking. Upon entering you notice a brightly colored stall near the entrance, only to realize it's a place where condoms are sold.
Like I mentioned, men make up the vast majority here. Our girls described their eyes as hungry. Longing. Curious. Where one man stops to look at something, they all do. Droves of men circle anything of interest. Often never saying a word. Just staring. Waiting to either be engaged, or not waiting for anything at all. It's like being in an aquarium. Just being observed. It's unsettling.
The first time I went to Ratna Park I was with one of our contacts (a woman who has made a relationship with most of the prostitutes in the park), 3 girls on my team, and our main contacts 14 year old son whom was translating. He told me that our job was to give the girls some space so they could engage and talk with the prostitutes. That if we got too close they wouldn't be as open as they would with just the women. So we began to walk through Ratna. It didn't take long to garner attention.
As soon as the girls stopped to talk men started standing around and staring. So our contact led them towards the back of the park near some trees so they could try to get some privacy. So they went. We followed. The men followed us. We reached the tree when I turned around. 20 pairs of eyes stared back at me from behind a knee-high fence. Just watching. I could see that they were going to swarm the girls, and I wanted to do something. I just didn't know what. Then one man hopped the fence and stood right in front of me. So I engaged him, started to talk to him. I thought maybe I could go through the Gospel with him. Then a funny idea that could only come from God struck me. And before I could even think about it I looked at all the staring me and said "Hey! Come over here! I wanna talk to you guys. I want you to hear this too. Let's chat!"
So, then men circled me and Sameer (our contacts son), and we started sharing the Gospel. Sameer translated as I talked with these men. Laid out the Gospel the best I could. Tried to form relationships. I didn't force the Bible down their throat. I didn't tell them they were morons. I asked them if they had questions. I asked them if they wanted to know more. And boy did they. For around half an hour I answered questions about Christianity and my faith. Trying to plant the seeds of Christ while letting the girls form relationships of their own. Soon I looked around and realized there were around 50 men standing around listening to what I was saying. So, I channeled the deepest, most booming voice I could and carried on. I joked, I listened, I shared. I was told I was naive. Told I made good points. Thanked for taking the time to talk with them and answer questions. Thanked for my transparency and honesty.
Then the girls moved on. So I thanked the men and followed at a distance. Soon men started forming around the girls again, and again I saw what I needed to do. This time I came up behind the men and loudly said "Hey! What are you guys looking at?" Which was absolutely hilarious when they turned and saw my big ginger self. And everything started all over again. More good questions. More answers. More God working through me to do something I had never done before. I went back to Ratna a different day and the same thing happened again.
This was the first time I have ever felt a ministry so tailor-made for my gifts and abilities. I had fun. A genuine amount of fun doing ministry in this way. I saw a need and God prompted me to act on it. I made my own ministry when I wasn't necessarily asked to. It's made me find a calling and a passion I didn't know I had. Trafficking and prostitution are terrible things. But currently I can?t do much for the women. They won?t form the same relationships with men as they will women. Only women missionaries can lead them out of that life. But while I can?t do much for the women, I can do a lot about the men.
If you stem the tide of men wanting prostitutes, or bring them closer to Christ then it makes the "need" for prostitution much less. That?s my goal this month. To try and do men?s ministry focused on changing the thinking. Focused on evangelizing. It?s crazy work. Sometimes hard work. But boy is it fun.
Tomorrow we head into the hills and villages to do ministry for a week, so maybe I'll get to see some of that beauty. But I am incredibly thankful for what God has shown me so far. For letting me be a part of His ministry in the gritty parts of the world.
Seth
