E-mail
Print
RSS
G-bookmarks
Live
TechnoratiThe plight of the children led him to exhort his Church for three years, drawing the attention of congregation towards the need for the body of Christ to get involved in the rehabilitation of children of Kamathipura. The effort paid off at last. The Mar Thoma Church established the Nav Jivan center in the midst of the red light area in 1994. At Murud village, 56 km from Kalyan in 1994, around 140 children of sex workers are being educated and cared for.
It was not only rehabilitation of children, but rescue of minor girls also that had begun to lay in the mind of Anson at that time. The task was tough. Led by the Holy Spirit, Anson would enter the dens of those unfortunate girls by posing as a customer. Once inside the brothels, he would make discreet inquiries about the minor girls who made a living by selling their flesh.
In the course of his ministry, he discovered that the police were least helpful and had a vested interest in allowing the trade to flourish unimpeded. They very often acted as informers to the brothel owners and gave advance indications about impending raids. Anson knew he had to be tough with erring police officers. He would keep up the pressure by sending protest letters to senior police officers about the unhelpful attitude of the lower rungs.
Finally, the higher police authorities were forced to act. Action was initiated against police stations in the precincts of red light areas, and becoming active in their cooperation to Anson in his mission. His latest rescue was of 16 girls from a brothel in Grant road on the night of December 4 this year.
Today, Anson has his sources in these areas through which he gets to know of brothels and trafficking in minor girls. Today after a decade of hard work, the signs are positive. Anson is a known figure among brothel owners, some of them fear him, and some of them mock him and see him as a threat to their bread and butter. Of course then, there are those whom he had led to a better life, to a new life in Christ.
Every Saturday, at the Nav Jivan center worshippers bursts into clapping and singing; they sing praises in honor of the Lord Jesus; in honour of the One who came to this earth to save the lost. Had He not shown mercy to the woman taken in adultery, while others tried to stone her to death? Did He not tell the woman: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.”
It is the same love that drives Anson into the ministry. How he must have rejoiced when at one of the Gospel meetings held at the center, a former brothel owner confessed all her sins to the Savior, with tear-filled eyes. She not only had closed down her brothel but also set free all the girls.
Today Anson is using the electronic media, in interesting and innovative ways, drawing attention of the world to the plight of the ‘sisters’ of Kamathipura. The 38-year old customs officer is alert and watchful ever to save a hapless victim of the evil. He is focused on his mission, not withstanding the long hours spent in the performance of official duty. He does not resent those sleepless nights, when the phone rings demanding his presence at a house of ill repute at an unearthly hour. He is keen that the darkened lives of Kamathipura need the light of Christ as much as the wicked and sinful men outside their territory.
