Devadasie

Devadasie.

Temple prostitutes.

The scum of India.

The spreader of HIV.

Their only goals in life are 1. to die soon, and 2. that their girl might not become a Devadasie also.

Many of the woman became temple prostitutes as young as 8 or 9.

They are not paid. When they go and peddle their business they do so in hopes that the men who use, or more often abuse and misuse, them will give them a little food to eat.

We might be going to the temple where they are dedicated as young girls. This will be the most spiritually intense part of the trip. The devil is no longer playin' subtle - this is part of his kingdom and he's strutting around no longer caring who sees his destructionwork.

The line from Prince of Egypt plays around in my head whenever I think of it: "You're playing with the big boys, playing with the big boys now!" Everything else we've done in India feels like child's play next to this (we know it's not though by the grace of God - God takes child's play and makes it Kingdom work). "You're playing with the big boys now!"

We are not just going to the temple, but we are also having a conference where we bring these women to a place where we shelter them, feed them, give gifts to them, share the Good News to them, and love them. This will be huge - both for us and them. Their is a fairly big chance that we will see manifestations of the devil come.

Only about a quarter of the women are believers - the rest are not.

This is where YOUR prayers come in. Pray that we might bring them all to know Jesus. We need wisdom to know how to show love to them - GOD'S love - and in sharing the gospel with them. Pray that our minds and tongues will not grow mute and numbed by the suffering we see in these women. Pray that we might be able to speak love into the lives of these hurt women.

Please PRAY - not just for us, but for the entire team. Your prayers are hugely appreciated.

Quick Update: we just finished a conference just like the next one for the pastors of India. I believe that they all were rested and refreshed and are ready to go out and preach again in their churches. Many of the pastors are persecuted, especially in the state we're in (Karnataka), and please also pray for them.