India; when darkness meets light

Disclaimer: I tried to start writing a blog last night, but I fell asleep.  I'm going to go ahead and post what I started writing then, but know that the time frame mentioned in the post is as if I was posting last night (on a side note I'm 9.5 hours ahead of home).

India; I have only been here 24 hours and I already have countless stories that I could tell you. India is dirty, beautiful, smelly, colorful, chaotic, etc. More than any of those things though, India is dark. The darkness is apparent anywhere you are, whether the hotel breakfast lounge or the red-light district. That being said, Bombay Teen Challenge gives off light like I have never seen any other ministry radiate love. These people have given everything in their lives to loving God and loving their neighbors, and let me tell you, they LOVE in action.  

There are over 100,000 prostitutes in Mumbai. Falkland Road is the largest red-light district in Mumbai. BTC has planted 8 or 9 house churches on Falkland Road. Kamathipura is the second largest red-light district in Mumbai.  BTC has planted 6 or 7 house churches in Kamathipura.

BTC has a free dental clinic and a free medical clinic in Kamithipura.  They have free meal feeding program on a big bus that they can drive around.  Every day they go feed hungry people in a different part of Mumbai.

In Kamathipura they also have a children's shelter. All the kids in the shelter are the children of sex workers; one child actually was working "the line" before she was taken by BTC. This shelter is a place the kids can live while BTC tries to convince the mother that the child would be safer if they moved to Ashagram (where I'm going on Sunday) or at a Jubilee home. These places are out of the city, far from the districts, taking the risk of them becoming sex workers away. 

I got to visit all of these areas today. The light that BTC radiates in unbelievable. I'm going to take a quick moment to expound upon the darkness in the red-light districts, just so you can understand what I'm experiencing, but then we'll focus back in on the Light.  

I walked through Kamathipura after dark … after the prostitutes were out. I think I now know what hell looks, smells, feels, and sounds like. We weren't supposed to be there after dark, but we got carried away loving on and playing with the kids at the children's home. The street was too narrow for the car to come all the way to where we were, so we had to walk some. There are 7 other ladies on my team.  We all had someone's hand and stuck close together. There were BTC people with us, so we were safe, but it was still scary. The darkness is thick. Once we got in the cars, we drove through Kamathipura and then to Falkland Rd. We passed one part of the district that was rows of cage brothels. Sex slaves never let out of their cages. Like hamsters, except they are human beings that my Papa created in His image. We drove past another part that was all boy sex workers. As we drove through the districts, I gazed into the eyes of these women. Several made eye contact with me. I saw the same thing in each of their eyes; hopelessness. Their eyes were empty, painful, hopeless. The Spirit groaned within me. I felt Proverbs 31:8-9 and Isaiah 58 rise up within me. Open your mouth…for the rights of all who are destitute. Defend the rights of the poor and the needy. Let the oppressed go free. Pour yourself out for the hungry. I prayed and prayed and couldn't stop praying. The Spirit prayed and groaned and cried out within me.

So far in India, I have seen dark and light. The darkness made me realize how bright the light really is. A few months ago the Lord showed me that you don't really notice an individual light in a room that is already completely lit. For example if there were 100 lightbulbs lit in a room, and turned one of them off, the room would not become dark. I am generally surrounded by thousands of other Christians at Liberty University. The Lord was like, "Casey, you need to light the darkness, not be light in a room that is already shining bright." Here I am; thousands of miles from home, shining bright in extreme darkness.  

Philippians 2:14-18 says, "Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me."


Oh and here is a video I took of the kids at the shelter singing and dancing to a Hindi worship song.  :)