2. CONNECTED CHURCH
Sahaara, India

3. LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
April 2016

4. Leela had lost hope, but for herself and the sake of her children she had to keep on living.
Leela came to Mumbai from Bangladesh when she was just 22. Young and poor she was an obvious easy target for traffickers preying on her vulnerability. Overwhelmed by her need for food and water she was lured by the promise of a well paid job. She was promised to be taken by traffickers to Thailand. But instead of getting a job she ended up dancing in a bar in a rundown suburbs of Mumbai.
Heartbreakingly she danced for the next seven years. Each day she woke up to a deep fear and an endless cycle of predatory customers. She was never paid.

5. But her trust was betrayed again.
Seven years later a woman visited her and offered to pay her a way out for Leela; a new job in Mumbai! Her joy was overwhelming - she had been waiting for this moment for the last seven years. But her trust was betrayed again. She found herself taken by this woman to the red light district in Mumbai’s centre. For the next nine years Leela worked in commercial sex work, each day bringing new violation to her precious life.
But her trust was betrayed again.

6. ‘We have learnt that our day-in day-out, unglamorous work of turning up where our clients live is how their lives are changed.’
We met Leela early last year during one of our visits to the red light district. In the beginning she was very suspicious of us: she would argue and get irritated whenever we were around her. We see this with so many young women we work with - years of mental and physical abuse makes it hard for them to trust people. They keep their distance.
Over the years we have learnt that our day-in day-out, unglamorous work of turning up where our clients live is how their lives are changed. We visited Leela every day, making sure we were there for her whenever she wanted someone to talk to. After a few months of being a consistent, reliable presence in her life she began to open up. She started attending support meetings with other women from similar backgrounds.

7. ‘Leela’s story reminds us that even the darkest place cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.’
Sharing our stories with others brings healing. We are seeing this so deeply with Leela. Her aggressive, defensive behaviour is being replaced with a new lightness. “My new friendships have given me a different way of looking at the world,” she told us. “I have found space to envision a different future. I am looking forward to get out of the sex trade - life doesn’t have to look like this forever.”
Leela’s story reminds us that even the darkest place cannot extinguish the light of a single candle! Please continue to pray for her.

8. PRAYER
Pray for victims of trafficking around the world, that they would know safety and love.