The Red-Light District
It took me a while to come home and begin writing about India, especially about our experience in the Red-Light District. I couldn’t sit down, think about what we experienced, and start typing. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around why.
It’s hard to think about suffering beyond anything you’ve ever seen. It’s hard to take that suffering and turn it into a concise paragraph that I write on my Mac, to post on my blog, back in the comfort and safety of my home in Austin. It’s hard to share a story that doesn’t feel like mine to tell. Amid all these emotions, I’m reminded that the testimony I now hold, of the experience the Lord had for me, was given to me to pass on. Out of respect for these women and the safety and privacy of their lives, I will not go into much detail. I would love to call or meet in person to discuss more about the trip if you are interested.
On the last day we were going to a Red-Light District slum, the biggest one in Asia. We got picked up by two locals, a father and his daughter. As we drove to the slum, they began to brief us on what we were walking into. As she was briefing us, a heaviness came over us. This was a world we’d never imagined we were going to step into, but the Lord blessed us in bringing us here.
The man who started his ministry here had one of the most powerful testimonies I’d ever heard. He’d come to the Red-Light District searching for the woman that had raised him. She had been kidnapped and sold as a sex slave. On his journey to find her, he found these forgotten women. No one seemed to be trying to help them out of their suffering. He began to become build friendships with them and started a business where they could sow bags to make a profit another way. We went to that business center and got to meet wonderful people. I got to sit with girls who were younger than me but had experienced more suffering in their lives than I could imagine. I got to share my testimony with them as someone translated for me. Other members of my team got to do the same and share Bible stories. We played games and talked. It was crazy how light everything felt in the darkest place I’d ever been.
After that, we stepped into different homes and prayed for women. As we listened to their life stories, I think our hearts broke in a way they hadn’t before. These women have no option. This life is all they know. We prayed for healing and restoration in their lives. Our prayer felt like a pebble in the mountain of suffering they had encountered in their lives, but the power of prayer is unmatched (1 John 5:14). We had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a woman and she said yes, accepting Christ into her life that day. In a Red-Light District, one of the darkest places in the world, a woman who had been in pain most of her life, accepted Christ and said she felt at peace. I’ve never experienced something quite like that before.
Walking away from the Red-Light District, there were bold things that wouldn’t leave my mind. We must operate out of a place of blessing. Yes, there is suffering in Austin, in the States, in the world… but man, let us be grateful. Let us see the goodness that revolves around us. Let us see what the Lord has provided for us so far.
Something I am asking of you. Read Psalm 72. I read it on the plane ride home to Austin. The verses depict suffering and the need for Jesus in a way I saw so evidently in India. Pray Psalm 72.
