When I lived in the States and heard horror stories about girls in India and other parts of the world being sex trafficked, sold as slaves, being forced into child marriages, offered as child sacrifices, raped, abused and the list goes on and on unfortunately, yes, it always made me sad and broke my heart. But it's completely different putting a face to these stories. And when you have a relationship with one of these girls, it's a rock your world and your faith kind of situation.
Let me introduce you to one of my sweet friends. Her name is Asha, and she is 14 years old. Last May, Asha was forced to marry a boy a few years her elder from her village near Bangalore, India. Although it is against the law in India for a child to be married before the age of 18, around 47% of girls are married before 18, and 18% are married before the age of 15 according to the United Nations Children's Fund. Unfortunately, Asha was apart of the 15%, and her life will be forever different because of it. We fought to stop the marriage, but because of corruption in the government and police and having our hands tied because of our foreign status, there was nothing else we could do. I hate to say this, but there were moments I wanted to either talk her into running away or steal her and adopt her.
One thing you need to know. In India, the bride moves into her husband's family's house. This means that she lives with her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and many other family members. Often, the new bride is forced to become a slave of the mother-in-law. This doesn't always occur, but often, it does. And this is what happened to Asha. After her marriage, she moved in with her husband and his family. What has been a huge problem for Asha is that she follows Jesus and her husband and his family are all devout Hindus. I asked Asha if her husband allows her to pray or read her Bible, and she told me that he does not allow her to.
And now, my sweet friend is pregnant and due in February. That means that shortly after her 15th birthday she will give birth to a baby. I asked Asha how she felt about the baby. I asked if she was sad, happy or both. This is what she said, "I am sad. All my friends are playing, and I can't play because I have this baby." Because, y'all, she is a kid. She is a kid having a baby. It's just wrong. It's an injustice.
What makes things complicated too is that her body is not prepared to have a baby. She is very, very tiny and most girls her age have bodies that are not developed enough to handle giving birth. Her family thought about letting her just have the baby in the tent she lives in, but thankfully, they realized that she needs to have a baby in a hospital. The issue is that they don't have a lot of money to pay for a good hospital, and in India, you pay for what you get. I am trusting that the Lord will provide for this precious girl and her baby, but it's hard to watch a friend suffer in ways that I will never, ever understand.
So friends, will you pray for this girl? Will you lift her to the Father, to the only One who can truly help her? Will you ask the Father to save her family and to protect her from the evils of abuse?
For His Name's Sake,
Maddie
Let me introduce you to one of my sweet friends. Her name is Asha, and she is 14 years old. Last May, Asha was forced to marry a boy a few years her elder from her village near Bangalore, India. Although it is against the law in India for a child to be married before the age of 18, around 47% of girls are married before 18, and 18% are married before the age of 15 according to the United Nations Children's Fund. Unfortunately, Asha was apart of the 15%, and her life will be forever different because of it. We fought to stop the marriage, but because of corruption in the government and police and having our hands tied because of our foreign status, there was nothing else we could do. I hate to say this, but there were moments I wanted to either talk her into running away or steal her and adopt her.
One thing you need to know. In India, the bride moves into her husband's family's house. This means that she lives with her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and many other family members. Often, the new bride is forced to become a slave of the mother-in-law. This doesn't always occur, but often, it does. And this is what happened to Asha. After her marriage, she moved in with her husband and his family. What has been a huge problem for Asha is that she follows Jesus and her husband and his family are all devout Hindus. I asked Asha if her husband allows her to pray or read her Bible, and she told me that he does not allow her to.
And now, my sweet friend is pregnant and due in February. That means that shortly after her 15th birthday she will give birth to a baby. I asked Asha how she felt about the baby. I asked if she was sad, happy or both. This is what she said, "I am sad. All my friends are playing, and I can't play because I have this baby." Because, y'all, she is a kid. She is a kid having a baby. It's just wrong. It's an injustice.
What makes things complicated too is that her body is not prepared to have a baby. She is very, very tiny and most girls her age have bodies that are not developed enough to handle giving birth. Her family thought about letting her just have the baby in the tent she lives in, but thankfully, they realized that she needs to have a baby in a hospital. The issue is that they don't have a lot of money to pay for a good hospital, and in India, you pay for what you get. I am trusting that the Lord will provide for this precious girl and her baby, but it's hard to watch a friend suffer in ways that I will never, ever understand.
So friends, will you pray for this girl? Will you lift her to the Father, to the only One who can truly help her? Will you ask the Father to save her family and to protect her from the evils of abuse?
For His Name's Sake,
Maddie
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