They lived in temples, performed and danced in religious rituals, and were supported by kings and wealthy patrons of the temples. But the social status of devadasis gradually diminished.
Some became concubines of priests, kings, and other prominent men of their communities. As the centuries passed, the roles of devadasis changed. Instead of dancing and performing religious rituals, these women became nothing more than temple prostitutes.
Most of the young girls given to the temples came from poor families who want to unburden themselves of another mouth to feed. Other girls were daughters of devadasis themselves who had nowhere to go. Many devadasis were nothing more than sex slaves for the men in charge of the temple and prominent men of the village. Many lived their whole lives as devadasis in temples and brothels, while others managed to escape. One of the devadasis that escaped a temple in Dohnavur eventually sought shelter with Amy Carmichael.
Some of the villagers demanded that the young girl be returned to the temple or her family, and they even threatened Amy if she did not give up the child. However, Amy stood her ground and sheltered the girl in spite of the threats. This young girl was not the last devadasi Amy Carmichael took under her wing. Several devadasis left the Hindu temples to seek shelter with the Dohnavur Fellowship. Amy and her team of missionaries at the Dohnavur Fellowship also rescued young girls from this plight.
She and other missionaries of the Dohnavur Fellowship donned Indian dresses not only to blend in but also as a sign of respect to the Indian culture.
Please don't send me back! The little girl had just escaped from a Hindu temple in the middle of the night while her guardians were sleeping. She tiptoed quietly through an unlocked door and pushed open the heavy gate running as fast as she could.
Preena's mother had given her to the temple priests in hopes of winning the favor of the gods. Amy did not know what was going on, but she knew this little-frightened girl needed her love and protection.
Amy Carmichael had come to India as a missionary to reach those who did not know Jesus. Amy was sure that God did not want her to marry and have children of her own.
That decision had been settled many years before. But was He now asking her to settle down and become a mother to an unwanted Indian child? Amy Carmichael grew up in a wealthy family in Ireland.
Her father owned a flour mill business. She went to the best boarding schools and had many fine things. But one day Amy's life changed without warning. Her father's business began to lose money and it closed. Carmichael worried so much about his business that he became ill and died. The family could no longer afford expensive things. Amy had to drop out of school. She spent the next ten years helping her mother take care of her younger sisters and brothers.
One cold, dreary day as the young Amy, her mother and brothers left the church, Amy saw something that changed her life. Little Pearl Eyes talked freely as she played with the doll. She told Amy things that they did to her in the temple, demonstrating them using the doll. The date was March 7, Amy never forgot that day nor the child's story.
It was terrible beyond imagination. This was the beginning of her rescue of these children who had been dedicated to the temple gods. This incident led to the founding of the Dohnavur Fellowship. Over the years literally thousands of temple children have been rescued and other ministries established there at the Dohnavur Fellowship in South India. In , they began to rescue baby boys, for they likewise were dedicated to the temple gods and goddesses.
Other areas of the work over the years were added, such as hospital, schools, printing, etc. Amy was not understood by many of the missionaries in India. She was also greatly resented by the Hindu priests and was frequently taken to court on charges of being a kidnapper. Amy was greatly influenced by the life of George Mueller and ordered her work on the same basis, never asking for financial help except as she winged her petitions to the God of all grace.
In Amy had a fall that left her an invalid for the remainder of her life, and she seldom left her bed. It was during this period of her life that she was most prolific in writing. Occasionally someone would wheel her in a type of wheelchair out onto a veranda where her children would gather outside and greet her and sing to her. My wife had always been a great admirer of Amy Carmichael and collected most of the books that she wrote.
It was a real thrill for us, while in India, to visit the Dohnavur Fellowship. Dohnavur Fellowship is located on a large tract of land on the very southern tip of the Indian subcontinent.
It is a lovely site with many tropical plants and flowering shrubs and trees. The buildings are well built in Indian style. The central building is the chapel, which is a large, lovely facility. Daily devotions are held there. There are no pews per se, but the Indians who are a part of the fellowship sit on mats, Indian style, in the main part of the auditorium. Around the periphery, there are chairs for guests that are visiting the campus.
The children are housed in "family" units. Each house takes care of 8 to 10 children with a house mother living with them and supervising them. The boys' and the girls' sections are separate by some distance. There are very few boys anymore. That part of the ministry is virtually closed.
They do have a hospital, schools, agricultural pursuits, and other facilities. The house Amy Carmichael lived in is still in good repair. However, that week, Preena was to be chosen to marry one of the main gods. Preena tried to run away but was caught and as her punishment, her hands were branded with a red-hot poker.
When Amy saw her, she knew that she could not send her back. The little girl would be beaten and maybe even killed if she returned. Amy could have been charged with kidnapping and thrown into prison for taking the young girl in, but it was a chance she was willing to take.
As Amy began studying the Hindu caste system more in-depth, she learned that Hinduism encouraged the temple slavery of children. Amy became increasingly aware of the fact that many Indian children were dedicated to the gods by their parents or guardians, became temple children, and lived in moral and spiritual danger.
Babies, children, and teenagers began to show up on her doorstep until the family was over fifty in number. Amy realized then that her time of traveling and evangelizing was over. There, Amy founded Dohnavur Fellowship, which became a home for former child prostitutes.
She devoted the next fifty-five years of her life in India rescuing children from the temples and raising them as her own. When the Hindu priests found out what Amy was doing, they were furious. It was worse when the children became Christians, as they were bitterly persecuted by their uncles, grandparents, and families.
In , a family pressed charges against Carmichael, which could have resulted in Amy going to prison. Yet Amy was undeterred. If a child came seeking refuge, they were instantly given a home and hope for eternal life. The case was not dismissed until When Amy stepped into the struggle to end the wicked service, she found that even the missionary community condemned her work.
Although people-trafficking was not new, they thought she exaggerated the situation of temple prostitution. The truth of what went on behind the temple scenes was so hard to get people to understand, that Amy found she must pretend to be an Indian and visit the temples herself. She would dye and stain her light skin brown with coffee or tea bags, and her brown eyes helped her fit right in as a Hindu.
No one would guess that the dark-skinned woman wearing a light blue sari, which was associated with the lowest caste, the untouchables, was a missionary from Ireland. Every child that came into her house was given a new name and loved unconditionally with the love of God. When children were asked what drew them to come to Amy, they often said:. Although Amy never tried raising funds, she was in constant conversation with God for all the money and medication that was needed to sustain the ministry.
In , Queen Mary recognized her work and helped fund a hospital at Dohnavur. By , the Dohnavur Fellowship was housing one-hundred-and-thirty girls, and over thirty Indian Christian women volunteered to serve in the ministry. In , Amy added a home for young boys, many of whom were born to the former temple prostitutes. They were taught to love and fear God and eventually when the children grew up, many of them married Godly spouses and served with Dohnavur.
In , Amy Carmichael had an accident where she broke her leg and ankle. Her hip and back were badly damaged and she was unable to fully walk again. Along with her neuralgia, she was kept in bed for the remainder of her life. The last twenty years of her mission at Dohnavur Fellowship were directed from her bedroom. While her movements may have been limited, her ministry was not.
She passed on the duty of rescuing children to the Starry Cluster and began writing books and poems about her intimate relationship with God and her love for Jesus. In those twenty years of permanent bed rest, she wrote thirty-seven books, mainly poems, as well as sixteen additional books of the missionary work in India.
Presently, only a few of her books are still in print but they still have a great inspirational impact on people today as a spiritual witness.
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