Light and Darkness

Today started out with Greek lessons. I now completely understand why they say "Its all Greek to me". This language is ridiculously hard. We do not use the same alphabet.The p does not make a p sound. It makes a rr sound etc.. The woman would call on each of us and have us sound out words based on the alphabet we had just learned. Everyone tried to pretend like they were super focused on writing so she would not call on us, but she spared none. All in all, we spent about an hour butchering the Greek language.

After our Greek Lesson, a Nigerian woman came in to talk to us about the specific culture of the Nigerian women we would be working with. Nigeria has a population of about 120 million. Of this large group of people, there are more then 250 ethnic groups and 400 different dialects. Because of this vast diversity of language, the main language of Nigeria is English. This is why we will be working with them specifically. We can actually interact and have a conversation with the girls. In Nigeria, the North is mostly Muslim, and they follow Sri Law. The girls cannot leave the house without permission from a male figure, thus they do not really receive any education outside of domestic duties. In the South, there is a mixture of Muslims and Christians. Here, the women are looked to to provide for their families. They often run the businesses, and support their families. The girls do get an education, but this is often interrupted by the fact that they must help out with the family business. This leaves no time for homework and ever actually learning anything. Arranged marriages are commonplace in Nigeria. The woman who spoke with us had actually had one. In the South the woman is allowed to choose after a period of courtship if she likes who her family picked. In the North, the woman has no say.

Most of the women we will be working with all come from a small SW region called Edo State. Surprisingly, the reason so many are from the same area is because family members or friends of family members are the ones who go back to their homeland and recruit. A cousin or an uncle may go back to his village with large sums of money and offer a relative a chance to go to Europe. A chance to have wealth, travel, and take care of their families. This creates a endless circle of prostitution with people within this part of Nigeria. They are often told they are going to go to the bars and just "dance". Even in some cases, the mothers pressure the girls. They see other girls who became prostitutes and come back bearing gifts, and they become envious. "Look at her mother and how rich she dresses. Do you want me to die in poverty?" One woman that was rescued from the streets was told by an uncle that she would just do hair for the other girls. That turned out to be a lie. The girls are mostly illiterate. They are primary school dropouts who cannot read or write. They are also mostly teenagers. We are tld we will see as young as twelve. It costs about 2,000 euros to get them to Greece. At most it would cost 5,000 euros. The girls are required and told they must pay back an amount upwards of 60,000 euros.

Traditional worship is still in practice today in Nigeria. Traditional worship is what we call voodoo. There are still JuJu priests that the people go to with prayers and requests. They are often required to make sacrifices or pay based on the requests. In some rare cases, depending on what is wanted, even human sacrifice is required. The madams and pimps use this against these women. Before they take them away, they bring the girl to the JuJu doctor. He preforms rituals and incantations on them. They are forced to take oaths of secrecy from ever disclosing what they are doing in Greece or what their pimps are making them do. They are told that if they break these oaths they will be cursed. Terrible things will happen to their families and to themselves. Often the pimps will bring all the materials to preform these spells on the women while they are in the brothels. These women are in bondage in every way possible: physically, mentally, and spiritually. The threat of demonic attack often makes it hard for the girls to open up. They are terrified of the witchcraft that binds them.

One of of the men in our team was able to go out on an outreach with another team before us. The theme of the outreach was light and darkness. Ironically enough, when everyone came together for a time of worship and prayer before going out into the streets and brothels, the power went out. Then some of the women experienced their purses getting slashed so that thieves could steal what was inside. What a way to start an outreach.
After worship, they split into teams. One team went to the bars and another went to the brothels. Chris was on the team that went to the brothels. The men here have the duty of praying the entire time and watching out for the safety of the team girls as they go out and talk to the prostituted women. The men are not allowed to speak with the girls. They were not having alot of luck as the team was turned away brothel after brothel.

Finally, at the second to last brothel, the Madame let her girl talk to a team member. The prostituted woman was a Greek girl who had been in the brothel for awhile. This woman began to open up, although she could only get parts of her story out at a time because she would have to leave for a little while to preform her services, and then she would return. She told them that after she worked her shifts in the brothel she goes home to a tiny one room apartment. As soon as she is in the room, she shuts and locks the door, collapses on the floor, closes her legs, and pulls them tightly to her chest. She just lays there and holds herself in a little ball. She said that it is only in this time, lying on the cold floor in a shabby apartment, that she is herself. It is the only time she knows who she is.

What do you even say to a story like that? I cannot picture a worse prison. I cannot imagine going through life just existing. Living in a self-induced daze in order to not crumble, in order to just survive. Going from one place of darkness to another, never entering into the light. The only place this woman is able to find some sliver of comfort is in a dark room where she still suffers alone. She must hold on to herself so tightly because if she lets go she is not safe. Many of the girls suffer terribly from nightmares. I am sure this woman is no stranger to night terrors. Her life is one.

The last thing that this woman said to the team member was that they (Nea Zoi) were doing the Lord's work. They should continue and persevere in this work. The woman said that although she was too lost, that Nea Zoi would be able to save many girls. She said that all of these people working with Nea Zoi would be blessed. She proclaimed that not only would God bless them for what they were doing, but He would bless their children and their grandchildren and teh generations to come. Later on, they learned that this woman's name meant light.

Let us pray that this woman and the other woman who live in this horrible nightmare see the light of Christ. May they know the love and joy that we find in our Lord Jesus. May they rest and be comforted in his arms. May Light pierce their darkness and set them free.

Isaiah 50:10
10 Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

Psalm 4:6
6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?" Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

Psalm 36:9
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.