We did get a chance to see a bit of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), eat out, do a bit of shopping and see a couple tourist sites.
New Years in Mumbai 2014. We were sitting on our deck watching some locals shoot off fireworks on the street. I was beyond jet-lagged wrapped in my blanket when suddenly a few fireworks came shooting in our direction, bouncing around on our deck - underneath my blanket. Did a little unintentional new years dance while my blanket was singed. We then decided to call it a night after what we thought/hoped were apologies from the boys on the street in Hindi.
Christmas decorations still lighting up the streets. The snowflakes are pretty cool ;)
Mumbai local market
Domino's pizza delivery
Moto taxi/CNG
Always room for one more...or more shopping bags.
One of the shopping malls
Christina and Julia
Roomies - Julia and I
Apartments - Mumbai is the most populous city in India and the 4th in the world.
Populations is about 20.5 million (World Population Review, 2014).
One of the main train stations - where Slumdog Millionare was filmed.
January 5th we had a party for the girls (ages ~8-15). Talk about excitement!! It was awesome! We had a picnic then took them to Wonder Park - the entertainment fair. Most of these girls have never been here so it was so exciting for them! We picked up food and found a little spot to have a picnic - rice, curry chicken, pop and chips. Each girl received some clothing material and could pick out a pattern for a new shalwar/camis outfit. They all clapped when each person opened their material, being sure not to rip the wrapping paper then wrapping it up again after it was opened. So cute!
After the picnic we headed across the street to the Wonderpark.
We were paired up with 2 girls each. The older girl I was paired up with didn't want to go on rides but the younger one did. The rides were long and spinny! The little girl I was with was expressionless on the first ride we went on. After we were done I was thinking is she going to vomit cause there was a few that did on our first ride, but no she wanted to go on the ferris wheel. Ok, so I was thinking things were good. But that was the fastest ferris wheel I've ever been on and suddenly she spewed, thank goodness for fast reflexes to avoid it.
Well the fun day ended up with more then 6 girls vomitting, but they all still said they had a great time.
January 3rd we had the Christmas party for the women. Such a beautiful day! A gym was rented and all the women who agreed to come, or were allowed to, were picked up from the red light area and brought over.
We decorated for the festivities before the ladies arrived. I was one of the ticket collectors at the door. It was really amazing how these women's appearance and demeanor changed drastically from one day seeing the women working the brothels to the next day looking so beautiful with their appearance
and demeanor changed.
As their normal day consists of being taken advantage of, treated like
dirt with so much disrespect, always being the one to give, they were finally
the ones being served and treated like a beautiful human being. It was so powerful! They were served snacks on their arrival by a group of young boys from the local church.
We had a time of worship to start (in Hindi language). Then one of the local pastors spoke of the Christmas story incorporating the view of a Mothers love toward her child and comparing that to Christ's love for us.
We did a skit called 'Everything'. Don't remember the last time I was in a drama...youth group or high school probably. It was powerful in relating to their life situation. It demonstrated peace when walking with Christ, what can pull us from our relationship with Him ($, alcohol, relationships, depression/suicide, etc), and how He died and wants to bring us back to a relationship with Him.
A boys group did a drama, and a girls group from a local childrens home did a dance to a worship song. Loved it! After this they had a foot washing ceremony. What a beautiful time. Some of you may think...how can foot washing be a beautiful time or a significant thing to do at a Christmas party? Feet are seen as low and dirty here. Anytime you accidentally
touch someone’s feet they always apologize, when you are sitting and have the
soles of your feet facing someone this is offensive. So to have people touching your feet and
washing them is seen as such an amazing act…why would anyone want to do
this? It was kind of a struggle to get
them to accept this as they didn’t feel worthy of it.
I was praying that these women would be open to receiving this act of love from Christ through us. While I was praying after one of the women who had her feet washed pulled me out of my chair and washed my feet. It was such an amazing blessing and something I will never forget!
After the foot washing ceremony a lunch was served before the ladies headed back of rice, chicken, veggies, and pop. It was really neat to see how many madaam's had allowed their women to come to the party, as well as how many madaam's came themselves. Praying this will continue to have lasting effects in their lives.
The Mumbai Christmas team - local staff and expats. So special to share this time with them!
James 2:25 'Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.' (NLT)
Not only is Rahab mentioned in Joshua 2 and 6 of how she was rescued both physically and spiritually, but in the faith chapter Hebrews 11. I'm looking forward to one day meeting some of these women again in heaven.
'Human sex trafficking is the most common form of modern-day
slavery.' (FBI, 2014)
'Sex trafficking is a growing global enterprise driven by
deception, coercion and force. Traffickers transport or detain their victims for the
purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. This trade in rape for profit thrives in the absence of
robust law enforcement to ensure the protection of the law for vulnerable children and
women.' (IJM, 2014)
Please watch this video from International Justice Mission about the magnitude of sex slavery:
‘Right now in India,
it’s more likely that you’ll be struck by lightning than go to jail for holding
slaves.’ (IJM)
'Those of us who live in freedom are responsible for those who don't.' (IJM)
For respect and protection of the workers and Rahab's Rope organization, we were limited in taking pictures, and in sharing them publicly as well. Below are a few.
It's definitely a eye opening experience as you reach the entrance to the Red Light district with 20+ women standing on the road trying to attract customers, some with babies on their hips. Alot of communication is done by eye contact and facial gestures. We were told not to make eye contact with the men...amazing how this habit in our culture can get you in trouble in a different culture.
Women are not usually dressed in traditional clothing but rather in old 1980's clothing - cotton mini skirts, old t-shirts, blue jeans, etc. with a large amount of makeup and jewelry. After the initial entrance into the Red Light district there's just alot of little shops/homes (what I thought could be homes) where these women are sitting outside on lawnchairs waiting for customers. It
definitely was an eye opening experience walking through the brothels and
hearing some of the stories from these ladies.It’s so sad to see the children born and raised in the brothel areas
knowing it’s just a matter of time before they’re forced into this same
livelihood.
Rahab's Rope has a Center where women and high risk girls in the area can come for English classes, life skills training, Bible teaching, prevention programs, assistance with healthcare, aftercare, etc. This picture below is taken just outside the center.
So many runt looking dogs everywhere, saw some with worms too - gross!
Love their amazing mende and artistic talent.
Painting some toes.
Very interesting talking to these women, listening to their stories of how they were deceived into some 'glamourous' new job only to be forced into sex trafficking. Many women from surrounding countries were promised nanny jobs, modeling, etc. Interesting to see pregnant women working also.
'The poorest are so vulnerable because their justice systems – police, courts and laws – don’t protect them from violent people. According to the United Nations, justice systems in the developing world are so broken that the majority of poor people live life “far from the law’s protection.'IJM, 2014
We walked through the area to and from the center inviting women to our Christmas party. One lady I particularly remember speaking with asked why would we come from Canada/US to India to see these women of the lowest people group and profession? Loaded question...I said it's because of what Christ did for me, despite my imperfections He came to earth to die for me because of His love for me. I want to pass His love along to these women. She requested us to pray with her, so we did. We invited her to our Christmas party, she denied the invitation saying she didn't want to come because she gets too nervous, uncomfortable, and anxious in group events. In my mind I'm thinking how can a social event be more stressful then working in a brothel? How unfortunate that this is her 'comfort zone' or her 'normal'. How deceptive Satan can be!
John 8:44b 'He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.' (NLT)
One day I was able to put some nursing skills to use by teaching a wound care class to some of the women one morning, and some girls in the afternoon. To think about these innocent girls potentially ended up as a sex slave breaks my heart.
The magnitude of the problem is so big, awful, ugly, evil, and discouraging...yet God's so much bigger then that and He is much more passionate about this then we humans are.
I John 4:4 'But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater then the spirit who lives in the world.' (NLT)
India…long overdue blog entry.I was in Mumbai India for a week over New Years, Dec 30-Jan 6, 2014 with an organization called Rahab’s Rope. A short term team of 4 (3 Americans and I), had the priveledge of assisting the Rahab's Rope staff set up a Christmas party for the women and girls in one of the Red Light areas.
So why did I go? Well over the past few years I've become more aware of modern day sex slavery/trafficking and a few of awful dynamics and injustice it entails. While in Bangladesh, a collegue of mine introduced me to Rahab's Rope and their ministry in India. I started following them on facebook and learned about this short term opportunity.
A bit of info on Rahab's Rope:
‘Rahab's Rope is an organization that exists to give hope and opportunity to women and girls that are at risk or have been forced into the commercial sex trade of India. By creating a safe and loving environment, they are enabled to grow and develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. Our work provides basic education and vocational training for each girl and woman who come through our centers; ultimately, allowing them to integrate into their communities in a positive and constructive manner.We are a faith based non-profit organization that desires to follow Jesus' teaching and direction on every step of the journey. Our vision is to see lives transformed by God's love in action.’ www.rahabsrope.com
