I’ll never forget the day I met Mina.
She arrived at the center the same week I did. I was spending a semester in South Asia, working with a program dedicated to helping girls get off the streets and acquire the education and access to vocational training they needed. Most of the girls’ parents were beggars or servants, but not Mina’s mom. She was a sex worker, and if their circumstances did not change, Mina would likely be forced to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
Mina was only 12 but already carried the burden of a future defined by cultural slavery. And she’s not the only one. Many girls growing up in poverty around the world have been taught that without an education, the sex industry is the only way they can survive.
But you can rescue one girl from a lifetime of abuse and exploitation in the sex industry by becoming a sponsor today. For just $35 a month, you will provide her with tools like education, nutritious meals, medical care, counseling, and more.
And over time, her life and future will be completely transformed!
When Mina first arrived at the center, she quietly watched as the other girls danced, sang songs, and studied. She avoided eye contact, sticking to the corners of the room and rarely cracking a smile.
When I asked another teacher what was wrong, she kindly explained.
“She’s nervous,” she told me. “She’s ashamed and worried about what the other girls will think.”
Although Mina’s mother likely had little choice when it came to providing for her family, her career was still considered shameful. All her life, Mina had been teased, harassed, and even abused for something she had no control over. She had been told repeatedly she and her mother were worthless.
School would give her a chance for a different future — but was Mina brave enough to take it?
For Mina’s freedom story to begin, she needed to know that she was loved, no matter what.
So every day, I chose to sit next to Mina during games. When prayer time came, I reached for her hand. And after class, a group of girls and I walked her safely home. As the weeks went by, Mina began to change.
She began to smile.
Mina simply needed someone to come alongside her — someone to believe in her and to reassure her that her family and her home did not define her. Mina could be whoever she wanted to be. With access to education and support came access to choices — a luxury her mother never had.
Armed with these tools, Mina began to hold her head high. She laughed out loud, joined in games, and studied hard. When prayer times came, she reached for my hand and the hands of other girls around her. And when new girls arrived at the center, she was one of the first to welcome them.
When you sponsor a girl on the path of entering the sex industry, you give her the tools she needs to break free from the chains of cultural slavery.
For just $35 a month, you can help completely transform a girl’s life. Your support will provide her with essentials like education, healthy meals, medical attention, and more, giving her a way out of poverty and a way out of the future she once believed was her destiny. You also remind her that she is loved … and that she is never alone.
Going to school, choosing a vocation — these can be scary things for girls who have grown up expecting to join the sex industry. By choosing to become a sponsor, you let one girl know that you believe in her and that she is special. And ultimately, your support will point her to the ultimate source of love — Jesus Christ.
Right now, there is a girl who is waiting. She is waiting for someone to believe in her … waiting for someone to come alongside her and give her another choice.
Will you help rescue your “Mina” from a lifetime of abuse and pain?