Urja was married at the age of 13, a practice not uncommon in the rural areas of Nepal. By the time she was 16, she already had two children. Then she learned the tragic truth that her husband actually already had another wife. Shocked and betrayed, Urja ran away. Alone, with two small children, and with no means to support herself, Urja turned to prostitution as a way to survive. It was not a life she would ever have chosen for herself, but she saw no other options. She continued working in prostitution for a decade until the summer of 2023, when she heard the good news of the gospel and decided to leave prostitution to follow Jesus. She found community through the local church and received ongoing discipling and Biblical teaching. Since then, she has shown tremendous spiritual growth and maturity, but life has been very difficult. Urja lives in remote west Nepal, right on the boarder with India, a literal gateway through which countless girls are sold into prostitution. The relentless stream of human trafficking through this village is a constant reminder of the life Urja left and the life she is even know only footsteps away from. She now instead works in road construction, but it is an extremely physically demanding job and keeps her away from her children for a large part of the day. She also lives in constant fear that her landlord will find out that she is a believer. If he does, he will kick her out of the small mud hut she rents from him, and she will not even be allowed to draw water from the local well. In spite of the challenges and danger of persecution, Urja and her daughter celebrated their new life through baptism during our team’s visit in February. Urja’s dream has been to receive training to allow her to work as a cleaner in an office or hotel. Thanks to the work of Hilltop of Hope, we have been able to connect Urja with a Christian safe house in Kathmandu, where she will be able to receive the vocational training she needs to have a fully restored life free from prostitution. This house will accept Urja and her daughter, but not her son. She plans to move there as soon as her children, now age 12 and 13, finish their school exams. Hilltop of Hope is still working diligently to identify safe accommodation for Urja’s son.
*Name changed for security
Today we prayer walked the red-light district of Ghatkopar. We encountered 55 year old Ditya. She was 15 when she was trafficked and sold into prostitution. Ditya never married. As a victim of sexual exploitation, she became pregnant many times, but the child was always aborted. To her own horror she has lost track of the number of abortions she has had. After 35 years as a victim of sexual exploitation, she felt she had no hope of a new life. When she was young, her madams and pimps would steal all her money. For the past 15 years, she has been paying her debt to her madam but the debt keeps increasing and freedom is not in sight. One day, she met people from Hilltop of Hope who shared the love of Jesus with her. Ditya accepted Jesus as her Savior. She now desires to be baptized and follow Jesus in obedience. She is a “daughter of Nepal” and dreams of returning to her family in Nepal. Pray that God will continue to intervene in her life and break all bondages from her past.
13 year old Luxmi enjoys her family life as the youngest of 3 children growing up in the foothills of the Himalayas outside Kathmandu, Nepal.
In a desire to have a better life, her aunt and uncle sell Luxmi for a bride-price to an older man.
This man has no intention of marriage and takes Luxmi to India where he sells her to a madam in the notorious red-light district.
Her innocence is stolen, and her life is now marked by bondage and abuse.
Soon she gives birth to a child, a little girl named Sweeti. When Sweeti becomes a toddler she is tied to a post while Luxmi serves her slave masters. Soon the toddler is sold to another brothel, a place of deep depravity.
Luxmi begins to feign madness in order to limit the abuse. Her madam tires of her, and at the age of 25 she is sold to another brothel.
In this place, she meets people who share about the love of Jesus with her. Surrounded by love, she begins to rediscover her stolen identity as an “image bearer of God”.
She deeply desires to find her family that she has not seen for 13 years and share with them the hope of Jesus Christ. After fasting and praying, she goes on a 3 day journey to find them.
On the 2nd day, she finds her village and walks up to the door of her home. While her sister embraces her with tears, her brother rejects her and angrily states, “You’ve shamed our family!” A mob from the village soon come to their home and demand that Luxmi leave “because she shamed the village”.
Luxmi returns to the safe house belonging to the Gospel ministry that shared Christ with her. Unfortunately, she is soon diagnosed with AIDS but the doctors will not treat her because of her background.
Through the love and support of the Gospel community, Luxmi continues to grow as the beloved daughter of the Living God. She is fervent in prayer and praise.
Her family contacts her and allows her to come home and live with them. Through the demonstration of grace and love of Luxmi’s life, the entire family become followers of Jesus - even the once hostile brother.
Luxmi’s health continues to deteriorate. She is soon bedridden with much pain. Her family gathers to pray for her. Luxmi asks for her Bible. They place it on her chest, and she embraces it as if she is holding her newborn child. The pain disappears, and with her last breath, Luxmi smiles and closes her eyes. When she opens them again, she is in Paradise...no longer a slave, no more pain, no more abuse, no more horror...blessed are the eyes that see what she sees!
The Aunt and Uncle were prosecuted and serving a life sentence in a Nepalese Prison.
Sweeti was rescued and is now living in a Gospel centered girls home outside of Kathmandu. The daughter of Nepal has returned.
Hilltop of Hope was birthed by the Spirit to return the daughters of Nepal. We are unapologetically Gospel centered - from the sewing schools to the Hilltop of Hope restorative community, the women and their children are empowered to live a life of freedom, and serve as ambassadors of the living God.