Life Center India Girls Outreach

Many years ago I went to lunch with a friend who had attended a church I was pastoring.  He had a colourful resume, and had been a reporter for an international news organization, covering wars and violent places in the world.  He told me of a man he had connected with who was doing some exciting things.  The man was Indian, living in India, and had been a church planter with an international mission organization.  While in his assigned territory of Nepal he noticed something happening that drew his attention.  Without going into the details, he had stumbled upon the child sex slave trafficking that is prolific in that area.  He found that the slavers would come into a village and offer impoverished parents the equivalent of $300 US to purchase their daughters.  Poverty in Nepal is grinding, and the average wage for a hard working man is about $100 per year.  Three years wages offered all at once were irresistible, especially when coupled with a story that the girls would be taken to a major city in India, well cared for, given excellent education, food, clothing, and work as a domestic helper in a wealthy household.  Of course, the story was a lie, and as soon as they had the children out of sight, the brutalizing and abuse would begin.  It is called "seasoning."  The children would then be sold to locked brothels in major cities of India and South and Southeast Asia, to satisfy the lusts of pedophiles, including pedophiles traveling as sex tourists from European and North American cities and other Western nations.

This man had been going into the brothels, populated by child prostitutes, and rescuing some of them.  At risk of his life and limb, he would whisk the kids away, take them to a place of safety, and care for them.  He rented some large homes in some major cities of India, brought in compassionate staff members, and cared for them.  He provided teachers and education, medical care, trauma counselling and mostly genuine fatherly love and support.

As soon as I heard about this man, I determined to somehow connect with him, and help him do what he was doing.  The opportunity finally came, and our new church began helping him with funding.  As of this date (May 21, 2010) our congregation has facilitated the rescue of 97 of these precious children.  They range in age from 5 years old up to 14 when rescued.  They are happy, healthy, and well cared for.  They have all been led to Jesus, have an active prayer and worship life, and are learning (among other things) the Bible.  Several have now graduated out the top of the programme, and have stepped into the world of adults.  Some are in University, some have taken jobs at call centres (which is a prestigious job in India, as it indicates a great proficiency in English), and several have gone to Bible College and are now missionaries in their region, spreading the good news of Jesus.

To date, some 600 of these children have been rescued.  Some of the stories of the rescues could be the fodder for Hollywood blockbuster movies.  Recently my friend was accomplishing a rescue in a neighbouring country to India, and found himself running through jungle with 14 children in tow, while being shot at with live ammunition, the sex slave mafia trying to kill him.  God was good, and they all escaped unharmed.

I sit in my office in Vancouver daily and look out at the thousands of people hurrying by, going about their business, and I wonder.  I wonder how many of them, even once in their lives, ever have the opportunity to rescue someone out of anything like the hell pits of the deadly children's brothels of South Asia, and to realize the profound gratitude that God has allowed the congregation of the Life Center to so such things routinely.  We invite you to come and join us as we change the world, one life at a time.  Really.