Nepal is one of the most beautiful, yet one of the poorest countries in the world. Crumbling buildings line the streets and at every corner young Nepalese soldiers grip their rifles and suspiciously eye each passer-by. Western mountain trekkers seem oblivious to the country’s underlying tension. They peek into Buddhist temples and sample the market wares of Thamel Street looking for novelty and adventure. As they climb the giddy heights of Mt. Everest they are largely unaware of the oppressive elements in a society that perceives the Nepalese woman as a second rate person with few rights. In Nepal arranged marriages are the norm and women have little choice in the selection of a husband. Young girls are often married to aged men. If the wife is unable to conceive, the husband is free to take another wife. Abuses against women are largely ignored and the problems of poverty and oppression are largely neglected by those who rule the country.

SEXUAL SLAVERY

Meanwhile in the big cities of India, ageing men seek sex with teenage prostitutes to make themselves feel youthful. Fair-skinned girls with Mongolian features are considered the most beautiful - such girls are found in Nepal.
Almost one in fifty of the female population of Nepal is sold into sexual slavery. Most are enslaved in their early teens. Often they are lured away from their homes by promises of a good job in a city factory. Some are kidnapped and drugged along the way, eventually finding themselves in a brothel in Bombay, India. Some of these girls are sold into slavery by members of their own family. Once in a brothel, their lives are a living hell with no hope for escape. By the age of thirty almost all these women are dead.

Ma ya Lama was 15 when she left the poverty of her Tamang village to work in Kathmandu. She met a woman who lured her to Bombay with talk of a better job. She thought she would be making sweaters but the flesh trader sold her to a brothel owner.
At first she resisted, screaming, crying and fighting off prospective customers, but the ‘manager’ who ran the brothel viciously beat her and starved her, forcing her to drink her own urine from the toilet. Eventually she was overpowered and raped, losing consciousness from the excruciating pain. After that she was forced to serve as many as 15 clients per day. The other girls in the brothel had already lost all hope of deliverance and they told her that it was useless to resist. There was no other option but to accept her fate. However Maya’s spirit was not broken and she tried to escape several times, only to be captured and forced back into bondage. Six months later she managed to escape with the help of one of her customers. She boarded a train, hoping to eventually get back home. Fortunately she was accepted back by her family. Many families, unable to deal with the shame, disown their daughters when they discover how they earned their money. The women usually lead lives of social isolation and destitution. Many are forced to return to prostitution in order to survive. An increasing number are dying from AIDS but none of the women live for very long. Some feel its better that way, if only to end the torture of their bleak existence.

Project Rescue in Kathmandu, Nepal, has been helping disadvantaged women by providing cottage skills training. The women also learn about God’s great love for them and the salvation that can be found through Jesus Christ. We are asking the Lord to expand this ministry so that many more exploited women in Nepal can be reached with the good news of God’s great love for them. It is our prayer that many will accept God’s grace and experience the liberty and victory found in Jesus.

Grace Life Ministries is reaching out to these Nepalese women by partnering with Christian Nepalese nationals to provide teachers who train women in cottage industries and market skills; resources and materials for crafts and industries (these could include sewing, weaving, making jewelry, etc.); Bibles and other literature for use in evangelism and prayer ministries; and by importing items made by the women and offering them for sale to Canadian customers at church presentations and fundraising events.