Yesterday the four of us spent some time at Rescue House here in Pune, which is home to 14 victims of trafficking & exploitation. Teena's story is all too familiar. When she was 12 years old, she wanted to be a doctor. She was the middle child of 3 kids. Her uncle had a terrible gambling debt to repay. One day he asked her parents if he could take her to a carnival, but instead of taking her to the carnival he sold her for $250 into prostitution so he could repay the debt he owed. She was shuffled around from city to city, abused, trapped. When her uncle returned without her, he told her parents that she ran away. Teena was eventually rescued from slavery and made her way back home. When she arrived home her parents finally learned the truth of what had happened, but instead of embracing her, they rejected her. They said "Teena is no longer our daughter. We don't know who you are".
Rescue house is a place that welcomes girls like Teena who have been rescued from a life of exploitation. It's not just a place to live but it is a place of hope....a place where these girls are encouraged to dream.
On the wall in the main living area of one of the rooms is a huge framed wall hanging. Right in the middle are the words "Dreams come true". There are little yellow sticky notes stuck all around those three little words. I asked the director what the sign was all about, so he told us the story. Last year the girls had a time when they wrote on sticky notes what they hoped to be or do one day. One girl wrote "I want to be a teacher", one wrote "I want to be a police woman".
Then they had career fair where people in Pune that work in those professions came in and talked about their work -- the pros and cons. It was a great time for the girls to learn & ask questions.
At the end of the week the girls laid their hopes and dreams at the foot of the cross and committed their dreams to God.
One of the things that impacted me the most was walking through their sleeping quarters and seeing little pillows on the beds with gold stitched letters embroidered on them. On each pillow is the girls name & who they want to become one day (*see the pictures).
For security reasons we can't post any other pictures or info about this home, but I have to tell you it is an amazing place. Before we left the director asked if we could pray for the girls and then sing a song or two together. Imagine sitting in a group of young women who have been through so much and starting to sing the song "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone, because I know, He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives".
Tears poured out of my eyes. It was hard but beautiful to sit there and weep & weep. Wow. That's all I can say. I am marked forever. "Because He Lives" will never just be another hymn to me.
