Here I am Lord, send me!

What’s a short-term mission trip like? Exhausting, heart-rending, profound and life-changing, says Helen Cobham.

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of joining a short-term Elim Missions team to India led by Mandy Campbell.

Unexpectedly, a space suddenly opened on this team, and I felt the Lord prompting me to step up to support them.

This mission was an exploratory visit to support our global partners and set up a Be Free India project. Be Free is Elim Missions’ stand against human exploitation.

Our global partner has a vision to help the women who are exploited by the Devadasi system of the Hindu religion.

In this system, prepubescent daughters are offered to gods by their families in the belief that the deity will be pleased and then bless the family.

When Devadasis reach adolescence, they are compelled to perform sexual duties as servants to the deities. Devadasis are nothing more than child sex workers or sex slaves.

With growing age, once a Devadasi is no longer useful to the deity, she will often end up working in agricultural labour, often homeless and even having to beg. No one will marry a Devadasi.

Emptiness in life and exclusion from society become lifelong companions for these women.