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2 April 2002
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord
is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to
proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness
for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,…
to comfort all who mourn.
Isa. 63:1-2 (NIV).
The Morning Star Society
Temple prostitution has probably existed with
every ancient religion. References are made to its practice in
the Old Testament. Unfortunately, the practice continues today,
here in Hindu India, even though it is "illegal" (just
as prostitution is "illegal" in the U.S.). In the Miraj-Sangli
area, with a population over 250,000 people, there are at least
5,000 prostitutes in five red-light districts. These women and
their children are now the focus of a social outreach program
of the Church of North India. In this post-Easter time, when the
power of the resurrection is so fresh in our minds, we look for
just such a miraculous outpouring of power to reach these unfortunate
people, to bring hope to the hopeless, and life to the dying.
That’s why "Prabha Tara Sanstha," "The Morning
Star Society" exists.
In India, temple prostitutes are called devdasi,
"servants of the gods." Nearly all of these devdasi
come from outcaste groups; they are the very poorest of the poor.
In Hinduism, it is a solemn obligation for all parents to see
that their daughters are safely cared for, in marriage. Dowries
are very expensive, and the poorest cannot afford them, especially
when they have many daughters. An alternative to paying a dowry
is to take their daughters at puberty, and "marry" them
to a god at the temple, especially in March and April every year.
The practice is encouraged by some priests with a promise that
the whole family may be born into a higher caste with their next
rebirth. After the priests are finished with the services of the
new devdasi, a well-established network exists for them to become
commercial sex workers (CSWs) in brothels. Miraj, because of its
rail and highway connections, has become a major center for such
activity. Nearly all these young girls and women are illiterate,
and they are kept in a virtually enslaved state, unable to leave
the brothel area, unable to send their children to public schools,
with no hope for the future, neither for themselves nor for their
children. AIDS is now the major threat to the lives of mothers
and children, of course, and each brothel has seen deaths from
AIDS, among mothers and children. They have no access to health
care.
There is a pastor ordained by the Church of
North India who was himself rescued from a brothel, along with
a brother and a sister, when all three were small children. His
mother was forced into prostitution because of debts accumulated
as she was trying to survive as a young widowed mother. We’ll
call him "Pastor Jonathan." Pastor Jonathan has a passion
for rescuing other children from brothels. His wife is a nurse,
and they have one beautiful daughter of their own.
With his patient, caring manner, Jonathan has
gained confidence of the CSWs, and of their managers. As a consequence,
he now has access to five different brothel areas locally. It
has taken several years of groundwork to reach this point. Nursery
areas, called, crèches, have been established to provide
childcare for the children. These are especially needed during
the evening hours. Those who lack food have been provided some
food supplements, and clothing is also obtained when possible.
Staff for these crèches teach the children songs, action
games, and Bible stories, and older children provide childcare
for younger ones.
Pastor Jonathan has been able to gain mothers’
permission for some of the more promising boys to leave this area
to attend boarding schools in other towns. In this coming school
year, funding has been provided to start a hostel for even more
of the children, especially for the girls whose future is especially
precarious. Costs of boarding are low by U.S. standards, but clothing,
school materials, etc. all have to be provided, as well as a father’s
name for each child, so that they can be properly enrolled in
school. Without education, they have no hope for the future. An
organization has come into being to support this outreach work,
the Morning Star Society.
An effort is now beginning to bring literacy
teaching to the mothers. These women come from two different language
areas and speak Marathi or Kannada, but almost none can read or
write. Illiteracy ensures that they will never be able to break
out of their present existence. There are programs to teach adults
literacy skills in most of the major Indian languages now, using
biblical materials, and conveying the gospel message while teaching
people how to read and write in their mother tongue. Six teachers
have already agreed to be trained in these methods. Teacher trainers
will be brought from Chennai (formerly called Madras) to teach
the teachers the methods needed. None of the local teachers is
Christian, but all are familiar with telling Bible stories in
the crèches already. With these new skills, they can begin
teaching the mothers how to read and write using the gospel messages
as their source materials. That is a double dose of "good
news!" The promise of the resurrection is being realized
again.
Word of Jonathan’s success in ministering
to the prostitutes has already attracted the attention of another
Christian service group in Mumbai ("Bombay"). They see
a need to minister to CSWs and their children in Mumbai, but haven’t
any experience in the approach required. Now they are coming to
visit Jonathan and to learn his methods.
Needless to say, there are always social costs
to be paid when social changes occur. There are others within
the Hindu culture here who are trying to eradicate the devdasi
system from Hindu society, and to meet the social needs of these
women and their children. These welcome the efforts of the Morning
Star Society. Others are obviously threatened by all challenges
to the status quo. So, because of the sensitive issues raised,
we ask that you not circulate this letter (nor photos from the
Web page) back into India, because that might activate reactionary
forces of Indian society who could block further this "release
of the captives." We do ask that you pray for the gospel
message to bear fruit in these brothels. Pray especially for the
mothers, their children, for sustenance of the orphans left behind,
and for the older women who are left to beg on the streets. Pray
for health, and the means of daily survival for all of these unfortunate
brothers and sisters, children, mothers and grandmothers. Pray
also for opening more opportunities to educate these children.
Pray that the new literacy program will provide a strong new witness
for the kingdom of God to the mothers and their teachers. If you
would like to support this work in any way, a channel is now open
to do so—just ask about that. If you want further information,
contact prabhat_tara_sanstha@yahoo.com.in
Your brother & sister in Christ,
Paul & Judy Jewett
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