India (MNN) — Human trafficking is a huge problem around the world. Reports indicate that there are 27 million people who are victims of human trafficking. 80% are girls. 50% are children. In India alone, 2.3 million girls and women are involved in the sex slave industry.
India Partners is doing what they can to make a difference in Mumbai, India. Brent Hample, India Partners President, says they're partnering with a local ministry call Sahaara Charitable Society. "They have safe homes, schools for children of the prostitutes, and outreach Bible studies to reach these women and children with the love of Jesus."
India Partners is helping with funding, volunteers, and training. Hample says their focus right now is on the children of the prostitutes in the red-light district. "They grow up in these environments where they grow up to be prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts and drug dealers. So, we try to get them out of that environment and get them into a place where they can read and write. They can learn about Jesus."
These children are taken to the Anandalay Safe House where they are protected. India Partners takes teams to the region to help. But you don't have to go to help. Hample says, "It only takes $3.62 to put a child in a safe house. That's a little over $36 to provide 10 nights for a child."
Is this kind of work dangerous? Hample says, "It can be risky. They have been doing it though for a long time now, and they know who the pimps are. The pimps know who [the workers] are. They really focus on building a relationship with the women, and they don't push it to where it becomes dangerous for them."
Anandalay is having an impact. One five-year-old girl was rescued from the red-light district in 2009. Today, that little girl is thriving in one of the top schools in the area, learning English, and because of the local church involvement in the program, she's heard the Good News of Jesus.
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