Mission India regularly encounters adults who were trafficked as children and teens. Broken and abused, they are in desperate need of life skills and Christ’s love.

Mission India’s Raina Miller says, “In India, there’s not the hope of Christ, by and large. A lot of people don’t know who Jesus is. Ninety percent of the people groups are unreached by the Gospel. So if they’re living in hopelessness, they’re desperate.”

Nanya (Photo courtesy of Mission India)

That desperation often leaves children vulnerable. Miller shares the story of Nanya, a young woman who came out of bonded slavery.

“Her dad, who was an alcoholic and really struggling, he had sold her off into a bonded labor contract for two years,” Miller says.

“She was sent off to work for a family [with] crazy hours – like 5 am to 11 pm for two years straight. She just had no life outside of that…. When she was working, she earned none of the money. It all went to her dad.”

When Nanya gained her freedom at 18, she didn’t know where to go next and couldn’t read or write. Eventually, she joined a Mission India Adult Literacy Class.

“She learned, first of all, how to read and write,” Miller explains. “Second, she learned how to save and earn money in ways that had dignity and were something that she can be excited about.”

The best part? Miller says, “She also discovered the love of Jesus and received him as her Savior!”

Today, Nanya runs her own business as a beautician and shares her skills with other young women.

Adult Literacy Class (Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Miller says, “Adult Literacy Classes are meeting people in their hardest, deepest, scariest moments and helping them find a way out. Sometimes that’s trafficking; sometimes that’s other situations that they’re stuck in. But our Adult Literacy Classes also provide education around these issues to help prevent them in the future…. We’re really excited about that aspect of our Adult Literacy Classes and just the holistic impact that they make.”

This month, there’s an opportunity to help more people like Nanya.

Every donation to Mission India will be matched up to $300,000. Normally, $40 covers the tuition for one Adult Literacy Class student — but through the end of April, that same $40 will allow two students to enroll.

You can give today at missionindia.org.

Header photo courtesy of Deepak Kumar/Unsplash.