Sisters In Service

Your prayers and enthusiastic support for Resist the Darkness (RTD), the Sisters In Service (SIS) initiative to raise the alarm and to intervene for abused and exploited girls – has brought new life to girls in West Africa, Nepal, and China. We have much cause for praise. I'm delighted to share with you some of the developments we've seen over the last six months and invite you to glimpse the faces of priceless girls we've come to know..

Overview

A culture that allows multiple wives and the use of girls for sex (" temporary wives") leaves an aftermath of destitution for many already-impoverished child–mothers and their children. For these young moms, our training is tremendously empowering, giving them vocational skills by which they can sustain their family. To apply their newly acquired skills, however, they must have the necessary raw materials to start their new businesses. We've struggled this year to have the financial support to provide for that.

Our new director of West Africa, Bob Knapp, hopes to see this obstacle removed as he focuses attention on equipping used and discarded child-mothers. Pray for Bob as he heads to Mali this summer.

Estimates indicate that 12,000 girls are trafficked each year to feed India's insatiable sex industry. Traffickers find poor, illiterate girls to be easy prey. We work to prevent, rescue, and rehabilitate sex slaves, restoring their dignity and giving them a better future.

Many communities are without marriageable girls — 50 million are lost through sex-selective abortions or killed as infants. Since there are so few girls, the demand in China has increased dramatically. On the one hand, families hold a strong preference for sons, on the other, traffickers can make a tremendous amount of money when they acquire poor tribal girls, selling them as sex slaves. Our newest work, in the highest-risk province, gives girls passage out of the sex industry and into a respected vocation. Along the healing process, these girls encounter Christ's love and gain the purpose of helping others find new life in Him.

I'm pleased to report what God has done for these precious lives as we've partnered with you, and to look ahead to exciting new opportunities! Thank you, again, for your prayers and support as we Resist the Darkness of abuse and exploitation.

Nepal

In just three months, the border office we helped to establish interviewed 901 girls crossing into India —36 of these were rescued from traffickers. Praise God. Recently, 146 girls graduated from our literacy and life-skills program. Their training covered health, child rearing, financial stewardship, the values of honesty and integrity, and the ploys of sex traffickers. Most of all, they were introduced to the love of God in Christ. The Kamaiya people of Nepal are lowest in the caste system. Survival, not education, is each day's concern. So, it's easy to see why impoverished girls and families naively fall for a sex traffickers' promise of a good job in another country. Praise God that 106 Kamaiya girls are now trained in some form of income generation: pig or goat raising, farming, or sewing and tailoring — healthy alternatives to the sex trade. The rehabilitation home is in constant need of funding, as more girls are rescued. They need professional care for trauma and abuse. They need a safe place, nurture,food, clothing, and vocational skills. All are essential nutrients to help them thrive!

RTD-Focused Staff

SIS's newest staff member, Gabrielle Pickle, will focus on the urgent needs of the " Girl Child."