Participants: John Lomacang (Host), Jim Rennie, Anita Kanalya
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY014099A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:07 Hello, friends, and welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:09 My name is John Lomacang. 01:11 Thank you to our 3ABN audience 01:13 and family that's tuning in again. 01:15 As you know, we always have 01:17 programming to exalt the cause of God 01:20 and also to bring the Lord closer to you 01:24 so that He can reveal to you 01:25 what His call on your life is really all about. 01:28 Thank you for those who are tuning in for the first time. 01:30 If you've never been on this station before, 01:32 lock that station in and remember the channel, 01:35 because I know today you will discover 01:38 that the message in this program today is one 01:40 that the Lord has decided to bring to you 01:43 not coincidentally but intentionally. 01:47 And I have two guests that I'm excited about, 01:49 I'm gonna introduce you to in a moment, 01:51 but before we go to that part of the program, 01:53 thank you for all that you do for this network, 01:55 your prayers and your volunteer work. 01:57 If you've come here before 01:59 and truly your financial support 02:01 that keeps us going and growing 02:03 as we prepare for the coming of our Lord. 02:06 Now as you know traditionally at our station, 02:08 we always have music and the young lady 02:10 that's going to be singing for us today 02:11 is one that I know very well. 02:13 You will be blessed as Vonda Beerman sings 02:16 "Embrace The Cross." 02:33 I am crucified with Christ 02:37 Therefore I no longer live 02:42 Jesus Christ now lives in me 02:49 I am crucified with Christ 02:52 Therefore I no longer live 02:57 It's Jesus Christ who lives in me 03:16 Embrace the cross 03:20 Where Jesus suffered 03:24 Though it will cost you 03:27 All you claim as yours 03:32 Your sacrifice will seem small 03:37 Beside the treasures 03:39 Eternity can't measure 03:43 What Jesus has in store 03:52 Embrace the love 03:57 The cross requires 04:00 Cling to the one 04:04 Whose heart knew every pain 04:08 Receive from Jesus 04:12 Fountains of compassion 04:15 For only He can fashion 04:19 Your heart to move as His 04:26 Oh, wondrous cross, our desires rest in you 04:33 Oh, Lord Jesus make us 04:37 Bolder 04:41 To face with courage the shame and disgrace 05:01 Embrace the life 05:05 That comes from dying 05:09 Trace through the steps 05:12 The Savior walked for you 05:17 An empty tomb 05:20 Concludes Golgotha's sorrow 05:24 Endure then till tomorrow 05:28 Your cross of suffering 05:39 Embrace the cross 05:43 Embrace the cross 05:47 The cross of Jesus 06:20 Thank you so much for that wonderful song, Vonda. 06:22 We really do appreciate your ministry of music 06:25 and the message fits wonderfully our program. 06:28 What does it mean to embrace the cross today. 06:31 You know, they're those that are called 06:32 to bear the cross in various avenues of life, 06:36 and I think our guests today understands 06:39 what that means when the Lord says 06:41 carry the cross, 06:43 this cross of self denial, this cross of sacrifice. 06:46 And sometimes the cross of risk and on that note, 06:50 I'd like to introduce you to our guests today. 06:52 First we have with me, well, let me just go ahead 06:55 and allow you to do the introduction. 06:58 Tell our audience who you are, 07:00 where you are from and what you do right now? 07:03 My name is Anita Kanaiya and I'm from Bangalore, India. 07:07 And I work in India with a project called 07:11 Operation Child Rescue, 07:13 where we rescue women and children 07:15 who are being trafficked for different purposes, 07:18 mostly labor and sexual exploitation. 07:21 Okay, well, good to have you here today. 07:23 And gentleman to your right that I am very familiar with 07:25 but I'll go ahead and allow him to introduce himself 07:28 just so that if someone's watching 07:30 that have never seen you before, 07:31 you could go ahead and give them 07:33 that good down under introduction. 07:35 Thanks, John. My name is Jim Rennie. 07:37 And I'm the CEO of Asian Aid USA 07:41 and our ministry is based in Collegedale, Tennessee. 07:45 And it's good to have you here, Jim. 07:46 You know, you've not only been here before on 3ABN, 07:49 you're part of our family, our 3ABN family 07:52 but you and I have had the opportunity 07:54 along with my wife to travel with you to India... 07:57 And to be a part of some of the Asian Aid projects. 07:59 So good to have you here again. Thank you. 08:01 Now just before I come back to Anita Kanaiya 08:03 who is part of the Operation Child Rescue in India 08:07 and partnering with Asian Aid. 08:09 Give us some updates? 08:11 Tell us what's happening with Asian Aid 08:12 and where you are today? 08:14 Well, John, as you know 08:15 our main program is child sponsorship. 08:19 Where we take children based on need 08:21 and place them in Adventist schools in India, 08:24 Nepal and Bangladesh 08:26 and we just have just under 3,000 children now. 08:30 That program is continuing to grow 08:32 and we always have the need for sponsors. 08:35 And we're just preparing to enter Myanmar 08:38 which is the old Burma. 08:40 And then also in India we're doing-- 08:43 we're partnering with the church 08:45 in the development of schools to improve building 08:49 and to improve the quality of education 08:52 in the Adventist schools. 08:55 We've just completed some projects recently. 08:58 I don't know if you've visited Vizianagaram in India 09:01 where we've built a brand new boys' dormitory 09:03 and the boys were sleeping on the floor in the church. 09:06 I saw that. 09:07 And it was just so exciting that last week they moved in 09:10 and now they're sleeping on beds in a new dormitory. 09:14 And we are upgrading some of the key schools in India. 09:17 And the other program that we're now building on 09:20 is what we're here to talk today 09:22 is the Asian Aid Operation Child Rescue 09:25 which is very unique as a ministry 09:28 that we are really on the streets in India 09:32 especially rescuing boys and girls, 09:35 mainly girls, from the slavery trade. 09:39 And we just feel that because we're involved with children 09:43 that we should be involved in this area. 09:46 And so it's something we want to grow. 09:48 Well, you know, as you spoke about the school 09:50 where the boys' dorm is now opened, 09:52 I remember very well when we were there in India, 09:55 I did an interview laying on my back on one of the boys' mats 09:59 as we talked about the fact that here in America 10:01 and many parts of the world, they have comfortable beds 10:04 that children go to sleep at night 10:06 but these young boys laid out their mat on this hard floor 10:09 and as I was testing it out, I'm so glad to hear 10:12 'cause I saw the program where the boys' dorm 10:15 is being opened up and now they have facilities. 10:18 You know what I like about Asian Aid is 10:20 it's not just a ministry that has good programs on television 10:23 but it's a ministry that is actually getting results. 10:27 In some difficult areas in Bangalore and Vizianagaram, 10:32 I've learned how to say that correctly, 10:34 and other parts of Asia 10:37 where poverty and some of the challenges 10:40 that are not native to America 10:42 are very, very real in the culture of India. 10:45 And so I'm interested in this program today 10:46 because I know that you cannot be involved 10:48 in children and their development 10:50 without getting into this avenue 10:52 that's very real. 10:53 You know, we hear about it in America 10:55 but it's something that's happening on the ground 10:57 there in India and surely other parts of the world. 11:00 But on that note let me go ahead and-- first of all, 11:03 thank you for coming today. 11:04 Can I call you Anita? Yes, please. 11:06 So good to have you here, we had a wonderful time 11:08 talking before the program began. 11:10 I am so interested. 11:11 Before we dive into the program, 11:13 just share with us your connection with Asian Aid? 11:16 How that has blessed the ministry 11:18 that you are involved in? 11:20 I have been connected with Asian Aid now for a few years 11:24 and we met because of a common interest 11:28 to do something for children in Bangalore. 11:31 And I was working with an organization 11:34 that was working with rescuing children, 11:37 women and children from off the street 11:40 and putting them into programs 11:42 where they would be taken care of, 11:44 and that's how I met Jim from Asian Aid. 11:47 Great guy to being associated with. 11:49 Man of passion and vision 11:51 which is really blessed the program 11:52 and the growth of Asian Aid since his getting onboard, 11:55 I'm excited about that. 11:57 And you are a mother and a wife also? 11:59 You have two daughters? Two daughters 13 and 8. 12:02 Okay. Yeah. 12:03 And which also makes this program 12:05 and the project you're involved 12:07 and it endears you more to that 12:08 because if you think of what if-- 12:10 what would have happened to my daughters 12:11 if this had happened to her 12:13 and I know that that's part of the passion 12:15 and your drive to see that these are the children 12:18 that have no voice can find the confidence 12:22 that somebody is on the ground working for their betterment. 12:25 Take us now, Operation Child Rescue, 12:28 tell us about that? 12:30 How that got started and your particular involvement in that? 12:34 Well, I think about nine years ago, 12:36 I was called to, I had a phone call one night 12:40 and it was basically a friend asking 12:42 if I would go and rescue two girls, 12:45 who had managed to escape from the traffickers 12:47 and were in a bus stand hiding and there was no one else 12:52 he could contact and he called and said, 12:55 could you please just go and get them 12:57 and bring them over to your house 12:59 and we'll pick them up in the morning. 13:02 It was 10 o'clock at night 13:03 and my older one was only one and a half 13:08 and I was a bit disturbed about it, 13:12 but I knew that I was gonna go and get those girls 13:15 'cause the picture of those girls 13:17 just hiding there without anyone there for them. 13:21 I ended up going with a colleague from work 13:24 and we got the two girls 13:25 and they were only aged 12 and 13, 13:28 and had been trafficked three times before, 13:32 and had managed to escape 13:33 and they had this one number of a lawyer in Bombay 13:36 and that's where I got the call from. 13:38 So when I brought them home, I heard their stories 13:41 and at that point I didn't realize 13:43 that trafficking was so real in India, 13:45 this was about eight to nine years ago 13:48 and so real in my city of Bangalore. 13:53 The social worker didn't turn up in the morning. 13:56 She came at least three days after. 13:58 And so for three days I had them at home. 14:01 I heard their stories. 14:02 I saw the reality of what trafficking had done to them, 14:06 their bodies, the scars on them and I was not the same anymore, 14:12 I mean, I decided then that 14:14 I really want to look into this issue. 14:17 How do we address this? 14:19 How do we find out more about it? 14:21 And how do we rescue these girls 14:24 who are in such a desperate need of rescue? 14:26 So now this passion, this fire getting lighted in you, 14:29 and I don't think as I think of what you just said to me, 14:32 I think the Lord allowed these girls to be 14:34 in your home for the days 14:35 that they were there so that this could-- 14:39 it's like putting a melting ice cream 14:41 on a very warm pavement. 14:43 You know, it sinks in if you grab it right away, 14:45 it hardly penetrates. 14:48 This experience allowed that to sink into your psyche 14:51 and to really grab a hold of you 14:52 and bury a passion within you to now say 14:56 these could be my daughters. 14:57 If I do nothing, if I stand back, 14:59 I was-- yesterday driving home actually on the highway. 15:04 And this is all that is needed for evil to prevail 15:07 is that those who do good do nothing. 15:11 And so the Lord just lit that fire in you, 15:13 now how did you take it to the next level 15:15 because you go from a concerned mother 15:17 and I'm interested how and you don't have to express 15:20 or reveal the details but to get that call 15:24 was something that you did not anticipate 15:27 but God saw that he was reaching out 15:28 to you to make a difference. 15:30 What did you do next to make this...? 15:32 Well, one of the first things 15:34 we did was to research the issue. 15:35 To see what was it some, was it an issue 15:40 that was very present in our city of Bangalore 15:44 and during the research we put together a conference 15:48 and called just about anybody who was doing anything 15:51 in the area of human trafficking, 15:54 child protection, child abuse issues 15:58 and one of the things that came up 16:01 from that conference was that there were lots of children 16:05 who were going missing, 16:06 and the police didn't have a database, 16:08 a computerized database, 16:10 so it was just a manual form that was filled out 16:13 and somehow it had to reach a central location 16:18 and then from there, the message had to be conveyed 16:21 to the policemen on beat to find these children. 16:24 Almost an archaic way of communicating. 16:27 So I think one of the first things 16:29 we did was to start looking at the connection 16:31 between children who go missing and trafficking. 16:35 And what we've found was, 16:38 for me, I think astonishing because in the first year 16:41 that we helped set up a missing person's bureau 16:43 with the police department in Bangalore, 16:46 we realized that while the police were happy 16:50 about having a system to trace missing people, 16:53 they weren't really bothered about 16:55 where these children were going, 16:57 when they had gone missing. 16:58 And when we started analyzing the data 17:01 to look at what age groups are these children? 17:03 Which backgrounds did they come from? 17:06 Which areas were they going missing from? 17:08 We realized that it was a very planned, 17:12 well thought out thing that was happening. 17:16 And we realized that there were more girls 17:18 going missing than boys 17:20 and the age groups were as low as 12 years. 17:24 12-13 years, girls were going missing. 17:27 And so it almost appeared to be strategic to some degree 17:31 that this was not a coincidental event. 17:35 And maybe-- the archaic systems served its purpose well 17:38 to keep this as a non addressed issue. 17:41 But by automating it that is adding a-- 17:43 putting a database together 17:44 so that the information can be proliferated a lot quicker, 17:48 so that the moment these children are missing, 17:49 the reporting can go on quicker. 17:51 It'll get to all the stations that it needs to-- 17:54 what kind of support did you find 17:56 because I know-- I've been to Bangalore, 17:58 it's a thriving city right by the coast. 18:01 And to just wake up in the morning and say, 18:03 okay, I want to go ahead 18:04 and impact the city of Bangalore 18:06 in this sense where the people are-- 18:09 and I'm gonna use this word oozing out of this city, 18:12 there are just motorbikes everywhere, cars everywhere. 18:16 How do you find the children amidst 18:19 that plethora of human bodies that are there, 18:22 I mean how do you-- how did you get to the next level? 18:26 Okay, now we were setting up the database, 18:30 then what did you do next? 18:31 Well, like I said, the police wanted to close cases 18:35 of children who'd gone missing. 18:37 We were interested to see why they were going missing? 18:40 And what were they getting into? 18:43 And that was the tough job like you said, 18:45 you know how do you find? 18:46 First of all how do you find the child, 18:48 you know in the city of 6 million and more? 18:51 And once you find ways to find the child, 18:56 when we realize what they've gotten into. 18:58 Many of these children had been trafficked out of the city. 19:02 And usually that's what happens with trafficking 19:04 is for it to be call trafficking 19:07 the person has to be geographically moved 19:09 from one location to another. 19:11 And many of these children came from very, very poor homes. 19:16 So when we were analyzing the data, 19:18 we realized many of these children 19:19 were from slum communities. 19:21 Were children of migrants 19:23 who had just moved into the city looking for jobs, 19:26 and basically people who could not even register a case 19:30 because they were illiterate or too poor to, 19:33 you know, know where to go. 19:35 And for the police to do anything about it, 19:38 so we realize then that we had 19:39 to become voice for the voiceless. 19:41 Because many of these people never registered cases 19:45 and because the police wouldn't take it seriously, 19:48 they had too many children, they were always told 19:50 they weren't looking after their children well enough. 19:53 And by the time anything happened 19:55 it was a good you know 10 days or 15 days 19:58 after the child is gone missing, 19:59 making it almost impossible for us to trace the child. 20:03 Because in India in 10 days children could be anywhere, 20:06 and it's such a large country. 20:08 They could be in Delhi, 20:09 they could be in Andhra Pradesh. 20:11 They may I think could be anywhere. 20:13 And it's not like America 20:15 where you have these traceable devices 20:18 or tracking-- when 12 years old 20:21 I mean you're talking about a child that that point at best 20:24 it's terrified about what's happening in his or her life. 20:28 And they are at the mercy of whoever the kidnappers are 20:31 or whoever the traffickers are. 20:33 We think about this issue worldwide 20:35 and I know for those of you listening to the program, 20:38 it's a very serious matter for you to able to take on 20:41 and now if I'm following carefully, 20:44 you have been working in this field for 8-9 years. 20:47 Tell us what kind of progress you've made? 20:50 And maybe even we could go into some of the stories 20:53 to be very vague rather than 20:55 specific about some of the names, 20:57 about how this is now beginning to be reversed. 21:00 But just tell us, 21:01 what has happened over the last 7-8 years? 21:03 Well, yeah, I think 8 years ago 21:06 we started with this problem of missing children. 21:08 Then we actually got into rescues 21:10 because we realize that 21:12 this wasn't a major issue for the police. 21:15 They had lots of other things 21:16 that they were supposed to be doing like, 21:19 terrorism was a big issue. 21:20 Right. 21:21 Law and order and crime, local crime was an issue. 21:25 And trafficking wasn't important for them, 21:27 you know, some child going missing somewhere 21:29 especially because they are from the poor background 21:32 didn't matter enough. 21:34 So we realized that if that child had to be found, 21:37 we had to start working as investigative, 21:41 you know, operators with the police, 21:43 so one of the things that we do till today 21:45 is we have our own investigation team. 21:48 And the investigation team doubles up 21:51 as customer's clients pimps all of that 21:55 just to be able to gain information about 21:59 where they take the children. 22:01 Where are they bringing the children from or women from? 22:04 Where do they hide them? Where are the brothels? 22:06 How do we get into a brothel? 22:08 And once we have all of that information 22:10 and we actually send in a decoy customer 22:13 inside higher the girl pay money, 22:16 higher the girl take her into a room. 22:19 Talk to her and find out what the story is, 22:22 it's impossible for us to convince the police 22:25 that they need to rescue this person. 22:27 That is so-- I mean that is such an operation, 22:33 you just don't get up in the morning and say, 22:35 well, let's find the connections, 22:37 let's find the pimps, the brothels. 22:41 It's a whole underground dark network. 22:45 And so when you said you put a network together, 22:49 evidently people came on board with you. 22:51 Tell us about that? 22:52 How were you able to muster up the support for that, 22:55 because you have to convince other people? 22:57 We are in a city where this is seen as a crime 23:00 probably not even seen as a viable crime. 23:03 If you put terrorism and a missing child together 23:06 in a city of six million people 23:07 where poverty is not an uncommon thing, 23:09 they'll say what's the big deal, 23:11 he's just a child, 23:12 let's stop terrorism in our city 23:15 and so it gets on the backbone 23:17 but how did you get a network together? 23:18 Because obviously other people came onboard. 23:21 Yeah, I think the first year 23:23 that we set up this missing children's bureau 23:24 and we analyzed the data, 23:26 we realized that 1000 girls had gone missing 23:29 from the city of Bangalore in 6 months 23:32 and we shared that data. 23:34 Most often the police would say, 23:36 you know these are young girls 23:37 who have fallen in love or who have run away from home 23:40 because they were beaten all, abused or scolded. 23:44 But then when we looked at the ages 23:46 that the children had gone missing 23:47 they were below 12 years. 23:49 And you know a girl at 12 in India 23:52 is not falling in love and running away. 23:55 And so we then got that information 23:57 across to other agencies or organizations 23:59 that are working with child protection 24:01 and children's issues. 24:03 And we managed to convince them 24:06 that we have a very real issue in out city, 24:08 and that we need to do something about it 24:11 and so our first network was formed to try and see 24:15 how we could share any kind of expertise 24:17 that we had to trace missing children. 24:21 As you know investigators don't get 24:23 turned out of any college, 24:24 you know you don't have an education 24:26 that leads to you becoming an investigator 24:29 at least not in India. 24:30 I don't know how it is here, 24:32 so we had to build up people who had a heart 24:36 to go out and look for these children. 24:38 But we had to build expertise 24:39 in terms of investigations skills, 24:42 the police were cooperative. 24:44 We had some really top police people 24:47 and they were very cooperative 24:48 in helping to train the initial team. 24:52 Today I think our investigators are on par with the police 24:55 in terms of their investigative skills 24:57 and what they're able to accomplish. 25:00 The day before I could actually come here, 25:04 we had a rescue operation 25:06 and we had to get into a brothel 25:08 which was locked from outside, 25:10 but the girls were inside and we had the police with us 25:12 and everybody was wondering what to do? 25:14 And our investigators 25:15 just scaled the walls of the next building 25:17 and before you know it they were on the terrace, 25:19 we had got access to the top door 25:22 and we actually entered the building 25:23 before the police could even do anything 25:25 about breaking a lock on the bottom. 25:28 Wow, I mean that's interesting 25:29 'cause-- see what I'm hearing is 25:31 not only all these girls being rescued 25:33 but then I think off a real-- the real need how-- 25:38 Do you take them back to were they were? 25:40 Do you take 'em to a different home? 25:42 What happens when they're rescued? 25:44 Because sometimes-- 25:45 I'm thinking of the poverty aspect of this, 25:47 sometimes a family may even participate. 25:51 Have you found any of that kind of fabric 25:54 a part of this networking 25:55 because if the girls missing at that age 25:58 chance are as you said 12-13 those young ages 26:01 then following a romantic interest 26:04 but sometimes the family may say, 26:06 hey, how much would you give us for our daughter? 26:08 Had you find-- did you find any kind of that fabric 26:11 where people were just giving away their children 26:13 for some kind of financial gain? 26:14 Yeah, I think what we found in the years 26:16 that we worked at this area is that 26:19 traffickers pray on vulnerabilities 26:21 and poverty is one, 26:23 but poverty with the combination 26:24 of gender discrimination, 26:27 unemployment, illiteracy is a deadly one. 26:32 And we've realized most often that traffickers 26:35 when they actually go and procure these girls 26:39 will make promises of jobs 26:41 or will make promises of a better life. 26:44 For the younger girls they're often told 26:46 that they are taking them to an orphanage 26:48 or a school to be able to, you know, have an education, 26:52 but it's always a lie, 26:54 and most of the people from villages 26:56 are from high source areas 26:59 which are really not close to cities, 27:03 often don't know what's happening. 27:05 And they believe the traffickers 27:07 because the traffickers gain their trust in some way. 27:12 Sometimes they settle in the community, 27:14 sometimes they are a friend of a friend, 27:16 a family friend, sometimes they're from within the family, 27:19 and they have learned that 27:21 this is an easy way to make money. 27:23 Many times people have asked, you know, 27:25 do families actually sell their children? 27:28 I think without really knowing it they do. 27:32 They think that their children 27:34 are going on to something better. 27:36 I mean what you do when you are a farmer, 27:37 your crops have failed, monsoons have failed, 27:41 you have eight or nine children and you have no money, 27:45 no way to feed those children and somebody comes 27:48 and promises your children now, at least that they will live, 27:51 you know, they will get a job in a city. 27:54 These people just believe that, and send them 27:57 and they're given money immediately to compensate. 28:00 You know, a small amount of money, 28:01 and most often they never hear back from their children. 28:05 You know, I was thinking of that way, 28:06 as you were unwrapping the story, 28:08 I was thinking here and, Jim, this is-- 28:10 you know, what's sad about the situation 28:12 is Asian Aid is involved in situations similar to this, 28:16 when I was over in India. 28:19 I remember one of the teachers they are saying, 28:21 sometimes we would find a child 28:23 on the side of the road tied to a post 28:27 because the family cannot afford 28:28 to take care of this child, 28:29 whatever the reason may be, and we would rescue that child 28:32 and bring them into a care home or school or boarding academy, 28:36 whatever the case may be and raise that child 28:38 and we've seen many of the success stories, 28:41 you know, for example, Ravi a success story, 28:44 so when that-- even a family 28:47 is approached with these prospects 28:49 of a bright life for your daughter. 28:52 They may even say, 28:54 well, have you heard of this school in India, 28:55 where foreigners are coming and helping us out. 28:57 We could get your daughter into that program, 28:59 so it turns the light on in the eyes 29:01 of a trusting father or mother. 29:03 But then the sad reality is what happened to my daughter? 29:06 By then it's a needle in a haystack, 29:09 you can't find them any longer. 29:10 And some of-- have you interview 29:12 some of these families that have lost children? 29:15 What has-- tell me about that? 29:16 We have interviewed families that-- 29:19 I wouldn't say lost children 29:20 but have definitely had their children been trafficked 29:24 and many times when we've tried to restore 29:29 the children back to the communities, 29:31 where it is possible where we know for sure 29:33 that a family member hasn't been involved, 29:36 and where we can ensure 29:37 that the child is gonna be protected. 29:40 For example, we had this girl who had been trafficked 29:42 to the city of Bangalore by her dad. 29:45 He brought her to the city, she was only nine years old. 29:48 And he sold her to a woman there, 29:51 who was gonna traffic her to Mumbai. 29:54 But somehow and this was girl was made for two days 29:57 or three days to wash vessels 29:59 and do, you know, just labor, hard labor 30:01 and wasn't given any food. 30:03 And we thought she had escaped sexual exploitation. 30:07 She managed to escape from that place, ran away, 30:09 and somebody on the road just found her, 30:12 public person contacted the police, 30:14 who then contacted us, and I went to visit the girl, 30:19 and we found out that she was 30:20 from a village in Andhra Pradesh, 30:22 where we had a project going not very far 30:24 from where she said her home was. 30:26 So we agreed to take her back to her home, 30:30 just to be able to see what the story was 30:32 because she wouldn't talk much. 30:34 On the way she was very quiet, we stop for food, 30:36 she ate something and then when we reached the village, 30:40 everything was really quiet and then we got out of the car, 30:44 obviously they had never seen, 30:45 you know, a car coming to their village very small 30:49 and then the girl got out. 30:51 And we asked about her parents 30:53 when they said her dad was back in Bangalore 30:56 searching for her, 30:57 so the story he had come back with 30:59 was that his daughter went missing in the crowd 31:02 and that he had gone back to file a police complaint 31:04 to find his daughter. 31:05 Wow, when in fact he was-- 31:06 The mother was in a field 31:09 and then the grandmother ended up coming 31:11 and when the grandmother came running 31:12 and saw this granddaughter, 31:14 she thought the granddaughter was dead 31:16 and they never gonna find her, 31:17 so there was a very teary you know, embracing 31:20 and then the girl told the horror story 31:22 to her grandmother, that she had been abused 31:26 and how her dad himself had left her in this house 31:31 and said he will come back, but he didn't turn up. 31:34 And then we went on to explain 31:35 what trafficking is and everything 31:37 and the sad thing was 31:38 she was in that home for three days, 31:41 but had been sexually abused, nine years old. 31:45 This is terrible story, I mean my heart just bleeds for this. 31:48 I'm hearing about this, 31:49 I'm trying not to get emotionally connected 31:50 but I'm-- I can't prevent myself from doing that. 31:53 So this is the real world of Bangalore 31:56 and other parts of India, which you've been involved in. 32:00 You brought some pictures with you 32:01 that I want to walk through 32:03 and I want you to explain to our audience 32:04 and even those listening on radio, 32:06 what we're watching? 32:07 They will bring them up and we'll have them 32:09 have you explain what are we seeing here? 32:11 Well, this is a rescue that we had may be a few months ago, 32:16 the girl is from Bangladesh, increasingly we're seeing girls 32:20 from Nepal and Bangladesh being trafficked to India, 32:24 and especially to Bangalore. 32:25 Now Bangalore is an IT hub. 32:28 You have a lot of global people visiting Bangalore 32:31 because every, I think every multinational company 32:33 has an office in Bangalore. 32:35 Thriving city. Yes, it is a thriving city. 32:37 And I think it has opened up the door for more people, 32:42 the demand for sex and commercial sex, 32:45 and that therefore the increase 32:47 in number of girls being trafficked 32:48 so the picture up there was from a rescue. 32:51 We don't get to take too many pictures 32:53 because of the sensitivity of the issue itself 32:56 and the secrecy of our operations. 33:00 But this particular girl story was that, 33:03 she had been brought to the city for a job 33:07 and abandoned in the city in a brothel, 33:10 and had been in the brothel for three years, 33:13 and the day that we rescued her 33:14 she was so grateful to be rescued. 33:17 And she was ready to testify against the traffickers, 33:22 she in fact on the phone lured a trafficker 33:25 back to the brothel who had mange to escape. 33:29 And when, you know, listening her story, 33:31 her story is so typical of 33:33 so many of the Bangladeshi girls 33:34 that we have rescued. 33:36 That the poverty, extreme poverty in Bangladesh, 33:39 and the promise of a job brings them 33:42 so easily into the situation. 33:45 So the young ladies that are found in Bangalore 33:47 are coming from great distances. 33:49 Yes, they are. 33:50 So I mean, when you think about it, 33:52 here's the young lady at a crossroad in her life, 33:56 should I stay here and just follow the road of poverty 33:59 or take my chances in a big city like Bangalore, 34:03 they gonna go? 34:04 They're never told the destination. 34:06 Yeah, they're always told a job 34:08 and sometimes they never even told 34:10 that they gonna be taken out of the country. 34:12 And often times we kind of chronicle 34:15 how they came into the country? 34:17 Because how do you cross borders? 34:18 You have no papers, you have-- you know, no documents. 34:22 And the story of how they cross across the border 34:25 is pretty similar for all of the girls. 34:27 You know, they pay some-- the agent pay some money, 34:30 the border security force turns a blind eye, 34:32 sometimes they abused them themselves 34:34 and they just walk across the border. 34:36 So this is a systemic issue. It is. 34:38 Not just, not just-- oh, well, I need some money, 34:41 but it seems and I would understand that 34:44 in this investigation process of seven, eight years, 34:48 you're discovering, 34:49 I want to be not very-- not specific 34:52 but there are some legal ramifications here 34:55 because you are talking about people in high places, 34:58 that are involved in that. 34:59 What impact has that been to your operation? 35:02 Because here is a movement now 35:05 that's on the streets intelligent now, 35:09 ready and out there on par with the intelligence 35:12 and the skills of the police officers, 35:14 who themselves may be tainted by the system. 35:18 What kind of opposition are you getting if any at all? 35:21 Well, we're talking big money here. 35:23 If trafficking wasn't grossing millions of dollars 35:27 it wouldn't be such a big issue. 35:30 I think were so many of the brothels 35:32 that we worked in, 35:34 it's they make 35:36 to a $1,500 every day. 35:40 And it-- that happens from just may be one girl, 35:43 two girls or in about under five girls, 35:48 so you can imagine that kind of money, 35:49 I mean, there are many, many payouts. 35:52 Like you said, law enforcement is very much involved, 35:55 sometimes as clients and customers, 35:58 most times to turn a blind eye to allow 36:01 this kind of undercover work to flourish. 36:07 The big risks in this are that 36:09 these traffickers are big people. 36:11 And anyone who's trying to spoil their trade 36:14 their business, is at risk. 36:18 And one of the big challenges for us 36:19 is to be able to survive in this dark and nasty world, 36:24 but like you said at the start of this-- 36:27 it's God who's brought us into this, 36:29 it's God who wants to shine His light 36:31 in this very dark places 36:32 and He uses the most obscure, weak, 36:36 unaccountable people to accomplish His great jobs. 36:40 And so till today, I can boldly testify 36:43 that nothing of serious consequence 36:46 has happened to anyone of us, our staff. 36:48 We have been followed, we have been threatened, 36:51 we have been chased, but we have never been touched. 36:55 Well, praise the Lord. 36:56 And it is-- we all know that it is a risk, 37:00 but if we do not take the risk, 37:03 there are hundreds of girls literally 200 girls everyday 37:07 are forced into prostitution. 37:09 80% of them against their will in India. 37:12 So it requires us to be willing to take this risk, 37:17 knowing that God is in control, 37:19 and that He would be with us, as He has been in the past. 37:24 That right. To protect us. 37:26 Now, do you have any more pictures 37:27 that you want to explain to our audience? 37:28 Yes, I think we have a couple of others. 37:31 This is a policeman, 37:33 the person in the green shirt is a trafficker. 37:37 This operation involved the rescue of 37:40 33 women and children. 37:42 Who are being housed in-- 37:45 in a women's only accommodation, 37:48 the whole of the ground floor had been taken 37:50 and the girls had been trafficked from Bangladesh 37:55 and other places in India. 37:57 And this main pimp was actually looking 38:01 after this whole operation, and we had to bust this, 38:04 the police were very, very good in this operation, 38:06 cooperated completely with us. 38:09 And we were able to rescue those 33 women and children, 38:13 who are being forced to hide in a huge room, 38:19 but absolutely no ventilation. 38:21 We searched for about 45 minutes to an hour 38:24 and there was no light and no ventilation in that room 38:27 where we found them. 38:29 I mean if we hadn't found them, 38:31 I dread to think what would have happened 38:32 because they were desperately trying to hide these people, 38:36 you know, pretend like nobody was there in that building. 38:38 Wow, now the other thing is having Operation Child Rescue, 38:45 have you gain any kind of government recognition? 38:49 Because to carry on this for as long as you have, 38:52 how did you-- how did you get to that particular place? 38:55 Yes, we have gained a lot of appreciation 38:59 from the government. 39:01 We have some really good police officers 39:04 who work closely with us. 39:06 To be able to get the police to go with us 39:09 on these operations is an uphill task. 39:11 First, we have to convince them 39:12 about the emergency of the need. 39:16 Then we have to, you know, hide the information 39:19 sufficiently enough so there is no tip off from their side. 39:22 Wow, that's huge. 39:23 And the third is that we have to prevent any corruption 39:27 as we go out on these rescue operation so, 39:31 to say that we've must have done about 39:33 in the last eight years, nine years 39:35 we must have done over 50 operations. 39:38 And most of them have been successful 39:41 in the rescues of the women and children. 39:45 And partnering with the police has not been easy, 39:49 but we have managed to do that, 39:50 gained a lot of respect with them, 39:52 especially with the investigative skills 39:55 that we have been able to build on, 39:57 and the credibility. 39:59 You know, you mentioned something earlier that's about, 40:01 I want to go back and address 40:02 because Bangalore is such an international hub, IT 40:05 you know, the whole tech and it's a quite a city, 40:08 Jim, you know, we see the buildings, 40:10 we could see the obvious business aspect of that city. 40:13 International travelers coming in, 40:15 hiding their dark secrets in the-- 40:18 under the umbrella of, I'm away from home, 40:21 and thinking that these things won't be found out. 40:26 How have you been able to impact that 40:29 or is there any impact because I know that, 40:32 I mean, this is not an easy task, 40:34 you're getting local help, 40:35 you're getting government's support, 40:37 but I think that what kind of message 40:39 is being sent to those who may think of Bangalore 40:41 as, hey, if you want to go ahead 40:43 and get involved in the dark sexual trade, 40:46 go to Bangalore. 40:47 What kind of message has been sent, 40:49 in any kind of media form to those-- to those avenues? 40:53 Yeah, I think, I have talked in length about the rescues, 40:57 but we do a lot of prevention as well. 40:58 Okay. 40:59 And one of the big messages that we always try 41:02 and get across is the reality of trafficking. 41:05 You know, so many people think 41:06 that it exists in another places, 41:08 Southeast Asia, you know, 41:10 Bangladesh, Calcutta, Delhi even, 41:12 but not really the cities, 41:14 so we do as many promotional talks as possible 41:18 with general public in companies, 41:21 multinational companies 41:22 that bring in staff from abroad. 41:26 We talk to them about the realities of trafficking. 41:28 What it is like on the ground? Who the clients are? 41:31 Very often, IT professionals visiting the city are clients. 41:35 When we've done our rescue sometimes 41:37 we've arrested people who are using these facilities, 41:42 and many times we've discovered 41:44 that they are well educated, young IT professionals. 41:49 Foreigners actually. 41:50 Foreigners, yeah, Indians, 41:52 people who just are able to pay for sex. 41:56 And don't really question where these girls are from? 42:02 Did they get into this on their own? 42:04 How are they being used? How they are being treated? 42:09 So we do a lot of talks on this 42:12 because I believe that if we do not get the message 42:14 across that trafficking is a reality 42:19 and that we need to stop any form of trafficking. 42:23 We need to be able to educate these people. 42:25 So that's a big-- that's a big part of it 42:27 because you know, if you say to the company heads, 42:29 when you have the next convention 42:30 know who you are bringing in. 42:32 And understand what their-- what their focuses may be 42:36 because you could be bringing in people 42:37 that are predators on our own society. 42:40 Do you have a couple more pictures 42:41 that you want to walk us through? 42:42 Yeah, I think there is one more, 42:44 and this again was rescue that we did. 42:48 These girls had been brought into the city 42:51 to work in a beauty parlor, and again from Bangladesh, 42:54 a mix of girls from Bangladesh and from other places. 42:57 And the reason I put this picture up was we rescued them 43:01 and it took a long time for us to finish off the cases. 43:04 It takes about 4 to 5 hours for the rescue 43:07 and the subsequent legal work that goes on, 43:11 the filing of the cases, the traffickers. 43:15 And because it was late at night 43:17 the police decided to house them in-- in a place 43:21 that was really not certified for trafficked victims 43:26 and by the time we got to them in the morning, 43:29 the three of them had run away. 43:31 They had manage to escape from that place 43:33 because there was no security, 43:34 and this brings me to one of the issues 43:36 that I really would like to highlight on this show, 43:39 is that once we rescue these girls, 43:43 we find it very, very difficult to rehabilitate them 43:46 because the only option we have is the government run shelter, 43:50 which is more like a jail, 43:52 and is not equipped to deal 43:55 specifically with trafficked victims. 43:58 They have all kinds of victims, that are, 43:59 you know, domestic violence, 44:01 abuse, runaways, abandoned children 44:06 and trafficking has its own issues especially 44:08 because of the level of abuse, 44:10 and the slavery that you know, they have been involved in. 44:15 These people do not fit in there. 44:18 And they sometimes try to escape, 44:20 so one of the things that we are looking at 44:22 is to try and see if we can open our own home. 44:25 So that when we rescue these girls, 44:27 they have a safe place to go to, 44:29 and we're able to intervene immediately 44:33 whether it is counseling or prayer 44:35 or any kind of support. 44:36 Specific help. 44:37 Yes, and encouragement, that will just give them 44:41 that hope that there is a future for them. 44:44 I think this is where Asian Aid is partnering 44:46 and talk about that some, 44:47 Jim as we have few minutes remaining on our program. 44:49 Well, as a key project for us next year 44:53 we have to build this home. 44:54 I mean, you can see the dedication of Anita 44:57 and her team. 44:58 Their spirituality, but they are on the frontline, 45:01 I mean who else goes into the situations, 45:04 since she is downplaying what she does. 45:07 She's downplaying the danger, 45:09 and the corruption that she faces. 45:11 And we're just excited that 45:13 as one of our key projects next year, 45:16 we can help raise funds for this home or shelter, 45:20 and that would be a key project for us in 2015. 45:25 Because we are associated with children, 45:29 we just want them, 45:30 we belief we have to that where we find committed 45:33 Christians that are involved in this work, 45:35 we have to support them. 45:37 You know, that's why I want to just on this very note, 45:39 I want to appeal to our listening 45:40 and viewing audience because, I mean this is gripping, 45:43 I wish I had two hours, 45:44 just to sit on and talk with you. 45:46 And I appreciate the fact that you've been able to communicate 45:48 such sensitive information in the way 45:50 that you have and I know that you have to 45:52 for many reasons not be so specific 45:55 and do downplay of some of what you talked about here today. 45:58 And I sense that those of you listening 46:00 and watching this program will know that also, 46:02 this is a very real problem around the world, 46:06 but I thank the Lord that He's called Anita Kanaiya 46:09 and her team and to partner with Asian Aid 46:11 to make a difference and impact the lives of young lady 46:14 and in some cases young men in Bangalore, 46:17 and other parts of India. 46:18 But here is the information that you need, 46:20 if you are interested to get involved 46:22 financially in any other way, here is how you can do that. 46:27 If you would like to know more about this ministry 46:30 or if you would like to help sponsor a child in need, 46:32 then you can write to Asian Aid, USA, 46:36 PO Box 2258 Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. 46:41 That's Asian Aid, USA, 46:44 PO Box 2258 Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. 46:50 You can call 423-910-0667. 46:54 That's 423-910-0667. 46:58 Or you can visit their website at asianaid.org. 47:03 That's asianaid.org. 47:05 Sponsor a child's life today to empower their life tomorrow. 47:13 You've receive the information, 47:14 but I want to give Jim sometime to just go ahead, 47:16 we have a minute on this side 47:17 but sometime on the other side of our newsbreak. 47:20 What are the some of the ways 47:21 that our audience can get involved in this project? 47:25 Well, this project is called 47:26 Asian Aid Operation Child Rescue 47:29 and I think we've got a slide with the logo on 47:32 and we would just seek support from our 3ABN partnerships 47:38 very important and the 3ABN supporters 47:41 and viewers have been very supportive of our projects 47:45 and we would just ask that they consider 47:48 supporting the Asian Aid Operation Child Rescue, 47:52 and in the new year we'll be communicating ways 47:55 that they can do that. 47:56 And but we'll also ask for your prayers for this project. 48:01 Anita and her team need guarding angels around them, 48:05 so we probably seek the prayers and support first, 48:09 but obliviously for us to support the rescue program 48:13 and then eventually build a shelter 48:16 is very, very important. 48:17 You know, I think that note 48:19 is so significance to the next song 48:21 that Vonda Beerman is going to be singing. 48:23 These young ladies, 48:24 these young children need a hiding place. 48:27 Listen to the message in the song 48:28 and I pray that God will impress you 48:30 to do something about what you've heard? 49:01 You are my hiding place 49:07 You always fill my heart 49:11 With songs of deliverance 49:17 Whenever I am afraid 49:21 I will trust in You 49:27 I will trust in You 49:33 Let the weak say 49:35 I am strong 49:39 In the strength of the Lord 49:47 You are my hiding place 49:53 You always fill my heart 49:58 With songs of deliverance 50:04 Whenever I am afraid 50:07 I will trust in You 50:13 I will trust in You 50:19 Let the weak say I am strong 50:26 In the strength of the Lord 50:57 You are my hiding place 51:03 You always fill my heart 51:07 With songs of deliverance 51:13 Whenever I am afraid 51:17 I will trust in You 51:23 I will trust in You 51:28 Let the weak say 51:31 I am strong 51:35 In the strength of the Lord 51:40 I will trust in You 51:46 I will trust in You 51:51 Let the weak say I am strong 51:58 In the strength of the Lord 52:03 I will trust in You |
Revised 2015-03-05