Living Humanly in the Coming Kingdom
By Daphne Eck CoppockFebruary 2009
Kushi1 is a young woman from India who was abandoned by her stepmother at age fourteen. A woman soon approached Kushi and offered her a “good job.” Instead of the promised job, the woman sold Kushi to a brothel, where she was drugged and kept locked up until she stopped fighting. After ten years in the sex trade, Kushi heard about a business called Sari Bari where she would be taught how to sew blankets and be given a good wage. More than anything, Kushi was excited to learn to read and write. Kushi is now able to attend “school” at Sari Bari. She is also saving money to buy her own home.
Sarah Lance and her community (who are part of Word Made Flesh [WMF]) started Sari Bari two years ago and are the ones who have given Kushi a chance to try on freedom. “New life in the making” is its mantra; Sari Bari is in the business of freedom. The business employs women who want to leave the sex trade to sew bags and blankets out of recycled saris. Women who want to find freedom receive a fair wage and generous medical, savings, and educational benefits for themselves and their families.
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Their workday starts with a short devotional and prayer. Then the women roll out their blankets and begin to work—smiling, helping each other, chatting, laughing, and asking questions as they learn to sew straight lines. The women have dignity now and best of all, their eyes reflect a scattering light of hope. This is a picture of resurrection.
Resurrection in Community
Just three days separated Christ’s suffering and resurrection, and the WMF community in Kolkata is aware of this truth. Each staff member who works at Sari Bari commits to participating in the community’s coinciding ministry in the brothels. At least one day a week, they visit the red-light district, making and maintaining friendships, drinking tea, visiting the women’s rooms, and playing with their children. They go because the WMF community in Kolkata recognizes its need to follow the suffering Christ into the brothels where their friends’ bodies are being used up for $2USD a customer.
They believe that the resurrected Christ cannot be celebrated at Sari Bari without also ministering to the wounds of the crucified Christ in the brothels. Likewise, the WMF staff who lead the brothel ministry always work at least one day a week at Sari Bari. The two groups of workers—those who serve primarily in the brothels and those who serve primarily at Sari Bari—need each other. The suffering found in the red-light districts can be endured, and even embraced, when the hope of redemption found at Sari Bari is present. And the hope of Sari Bari motivates those who would otherwise be crushed by the despair of the red-light districts.
The Bigger Picture of Redemption
Indeed, when we look at the current realities of the world, we are tempted to despair. UNICEF estimates 158 million children aged five to fifteen are engaged in child labor. An estimated two million children are exploited in prostitution or pornography. Approximately 1.2 million children are trafficked around the world every year.
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Daphne Eck Coppock is the international associate director of advocacy for Word Made Flesh. She has served with the community for more than nine years. Daphne and her husband, Caleb, reside in Omaha, Nebraska. |
