Dan and I traded the comforts of the city for the tranquility of the country to serve with Team Shekinah in Krongnoung village for our last week of ministry in Cambodia…a village too small to keep this story for itself…
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. – Matthew 10:29-31
“Brandy…she’s scanning the van for you.” Sam said. I immediately slid across to the window and began searching the crowd for her. The instant our eyes met, smiles swept across our faces as our hands frantically continued to wave.
Goodbye Lita Lou.
Lita is the 4-year old adopted daughter of Sun, the woman who ran the kindergarten in the remote Cambodian village we were serving. Lita is beautiful and precious gem who radiates with His love. She twirls with the innocence of a child while carrying the testimony of a old soul.
When Lita was only a few months old, her mother, dying from HIV, made the desperate decision to sell her on the streets of Phnom Phen. Sun learned of the little girl and desired to rescue her from the fate of the streets. She was interested in adopting her but only if she did not have HIV. She met 6-month old Lita and immediately fell in love. Sun took her to the hospital to have her tested.
She waited…she prayed.
The doctor delivered the news.
“I’m sorry, this baby has HIV.”
Wanting desire to overrule reality, she had her tested again.
Positive.
And again.
HIV Positive.
With the results placed before her and the baby in her arms, the choice was hers. Return Lita to the streets to be sold – or pay the price. The $200 monetary price her mother demanded…the sacrificial price of raising a baby with HIV. Was she worth the cost? Was she deserving of life’s most precious gift….
Lita was bought with a price. Sun loved her too much to let her go.
Sun returned to her village with Lita in tote and offered her the only two things she knew to give… unconditional love and prayers. The few Christians in the predominantly Buddhist community began to faithfully pray for Lita’s miraculous healing. Day by day, night by night, they continued to pray.
When Lita was 18 months old, Sun returned to the city to have Lita re-tested for HIV.
She waited…she prayed.
“Please God let the words that come out of the doctor’s mouth not be ‘I’m sorry’ – please Lord let him say ‘Congratulations – your daughter does not have HIV.”
She waited…she prayed.
And then came the doctor…followed by the words…
“Congratulations – your daughter does not have HIV!”
Today Lita is the picture of health and product of love.
God’s greatest love story…for Lita…for Sun…for me…for you.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
Lita pictured with Sun and Soca
Soca is another little girl Sun has taken in, along with her mother — who were tragically left homeless in the village
If His eye is on the sparrow, His heart is on you.
*all pictures by Sam
