South Asia: Hurting and hopeless women

Recently, I went to the red light district of the area where I am living. We worked with the children of the prostitutes there and helped them with school work. I was sitting in the middle of a slum, in a small room filled with kids with smiling faces, knowing many of the children are being beaten by their fathers or not cared for by their mothers. Just the fact that they are getting an education is very rare, and some of them will never leave the slum where they are growing up. 

We walked up and down the streets, and we saw woman after woman sitting outside a small, one-bedroom house, waiting for customers to approach. It was the most overwhelming thing I have experienced in my life. 

I knew she was hurting

I locked eyes with one young woman, and I knew she was hurting. She had tears in her eyes, and it was as if she had no hope whatsoever. Really, none of them did. I smiled at each of them and took their hands in mine, trying to show them someone cared. I prayed they would see God’s light and the hope inside of me as I was walking along the way. 

Some of them would not even smile at me, which I can understand. Many white people come through this area. They come and say hello. Some will stay for a few weeks and do ministry. But then they will leave, and these women will be left exactly where they were before. The women are still there, selling themselves daily, feeling worthless and ragged. 

I left that place feeling completely overwhelmed and not having any idea what to do to help these women. The problem is so much bigger than I am. But I had to remember it is not bigger than my Father. He can bring deliverance to this place. 

Continuing to pray

So, during my time here, I will continue to pray for this area of my city. I will pray that God might reveal some way I can help. I will pray he would send people there full-time to do his work and invest deeply into making his name known. I will pray Christ’s love and hope would find its place there, and that those women would be delivered out of that place and shown that they are worthy daughters of the King. Please join me in praying for these women.  

Gina, a student at West Texas A&M University, is serving with Go Now Missions this semester in South Asia. Her full name is withheld for security reasons.