One of the most eye opening experiences I have had on the World Race so far has been learning more about the sex-trafficking industry. A teammate and I watched a documentary called “Nefarious: Merchant of Souls” back at the end of month 4. It completely broke my heart for the women involved in the industry and the men that fall into the temptations surrounding it. I highly recommend taking the time to watch it if you have a chance. Today we all hear a lot more about the sex-trafficking industry but to actually see it in action and all around us these past few months makes it so real.
About two weeks ago, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, two of my teammates and I, decided to spend one morning walking around the red light district downtown to pray over the area. We thought we would just spend our time walking and praying, but the Lord had a different plan.
As we were walking around, we saw bars with inappropriate names and signs advertising “friendly lady services”. We passed many that had older western men sitting around with younger Cambodian women. It was a difficult sight to see because we’ve been told a lot about the sex-trafficking industry in these areas. The women claim to be at least 18, but as you walk by it’s clear that many look very young, as young as 14 yrs we’ve been told. For them, this is a good job here. They make good money and don’t need an education to do it.
After some time walking, one of my teammates had the idea that we should sit down and have drinks in one of the bars. I was feeling lead to go into a bar we had just passed, so that’s what we did. We had no idea what to expect. Cambodia has a very difficult language barrier, but the Lord took care of that. As we walked in to sit down, it was clear that a few of the women knew some conversational English. They welcomed us inside and I believe we shocked them with our order of Sprite and water.
We spent the next two hours just hanging out with the women in the bar. One of the first things they wanted us to do was to pick out some music to be blasted on their speakers via Youtube. One of my teammates put on the Hillsong, Young and Free album. We started jamming and dancing to the song “Alive”. They all loved it. Who knows if they understood the words. We wondered what people must have thought when they walked by outside and heard Christian music playing.
It was later afternoon by now, so they were all doing their hair and make-up while they hung out with us and waited for the men to arrive in the evening. I got the chance to hear a bit about several of their stories and had fun learning some Cambodian traditional dance moves.
It was definitely one of the most fun days I have had in ministry on the race and it wasn’t planned at all! There were no crazy moments like convincing them to leave their type of work or getting them to convert to Christianity, but what we did do was show them what Christ-like love looks like. We planted a seed that I know the Lord will water and bring fruit to some day. The best part was this wasn’t the only time we got to visit with them. The Lord gave us the opportunity to stop by twice more to just hang out with the girls and we got to know each other a little better. They learned more about why we were in Cambodia and once again we just hung out and loved on them.
It’s moments like these that make me never want to stop doing Kingdom work. One of the biggest things that the Lord has taught me on this Race is how to have a Kingdom Perspective and how to make everything I do intentional and for His glory. I don’t need to be on the World Race to go on prayer walks and visit with and love on people. I can use any situation I am in back home to also do the exact same thing.
