Day 2: Visit to the Red Light District

On our first full day in India we woke up feeling pretty rested. We had a funny breakfast at our hotel and then we transferred back to our original hotel. Deveraj, the leader of the ministry, met us and we sat down and he oriented us a little bit about what we would be seeing today.

Then we began our adventure through the streets of Mumbai to the District. Driving in India is always an adventure. Besides the bumpy roads you have cars going everywhere, cows walking do

wn the road, people walking all over the road,

LOTS of honking, and whatever else seems to find its way to the road. They also drive on the

left side, which makes it even more fun for right side of the road drivers. The thing we found most interesting was we did not see any accidents and the cars were not all beat up. With the crazy driving you would have thought there would be accident everywhere. But it seems

the people of Mumbai have perfected the art of crazy driving. I have decided that if you learn to drive in India you can drive virtually anywhere.

On our ride over we learned a lotabout the city. Mumbai property is very expensive. Fo

r a regular flat it is about $300,000. Also they are not as concerned about the outside of the building. Many of the buildings looked run down but the insides are really nice. We saw some of the old city, some of the slums, some of the upper class, the ocean, and the new bridge around the city.

Then we entered the District. It was interesting to see the different buildings in the district. It is streets and stree

ts of buildings that are used as brothels. We saw the brothels that taxis literally line up outside to take women to hotels. We saw some of the women hanging out on the street. We saw the c

hildren who desperately need love. Going into the District you could feel the heaviness.

The ministry we were working with, Bombay Teen Challenge (BTC), has a free HIV/Aids clinic and Dental clinic in the District to be able to build relationship with the women. We visited the HIV clinic first where some of the outreach staff had been praying for 5 hours. It was awesome to talk to the staff. They have amazing patience. It is not easy pulling women out of this lifestyle. Many of them feel worthless and used. They don't think they can do anything but what they are doing. Many have debts they have to pay off from being sold. Others have a hard time trusting anyone. So the staff spends time building relationships with the women. This is the

only way to be able to gain the trust to bring the women out of the lifestyle they are currently living. The HIV clinic has been a great help to women. About 60-70% of the women have HIV . Which means there are many children affected as well.

Also, while were down there we saw a Hindu festival in the streets. They were slaughtering chickens which was real interesting.

Then we walked over to the dental clinic. This is the newest addition to the ministry and has been so helpful to women. In the last few weeks they were able to help a fourteen year old girl and were able to talk her into leaving the District. What an amazing thing to be involved in.

Then we went and visited a couple of brothels. We were able to speak to a few women but most of them were sleeping because they had to be up and getting ready for the night in the next hour. We talked to one girl whose debts are all paid and she is free, but is scared to leave. She does not know why anyone would want to help her or that she would be able to do anything if she came out. She is very close to leaving and beginning a new life. Please pray for her.

It was so heart breaking to walk the streets and know that in a few hours that the streets would be filled with women who are trapped in a lifestyle they did not choose.

Our last stop in the district was the children's shelter. BTC used to have the shelter open at only at night for a place where the children could come and not be in the rooms with their moms. But recently they made the decision to make it a 24/7 shelter. It is now more like a transitional shelter. The kids live there and they either send the kids to school or homeschool the kids. The kids are so thankful for this opportunity. BTC works with the kids and then when they a

re able they transition them to the homes outside of the city.

It was so sweet to be with these children. Many of them are down the road from their mothers but do not see them. All they want is love. We were able to do some songs, balloons and just love on them. They were so happy to see us and it was mutual on our part.

After leaving the shelter they took us on a tour of the city. Showed us the Taj hotel that had the tourist attacks. We were going to go inside but Hilary Clinton was there and she blocked off all the entrances. Her brigade also caught us in traffic a few times. We had to sit in traffic for about 2 hours because they would close the streets when she would come through. We were read for her to go home.

We had a wonderful traditional Indian dinner and then back to the hotel to get some rest. This was truly an eye opening day. It was heartbreaking to see the hurt among the women, but also rejoicing to see how a difference is being made.