Sometimes you come across something that you just can’t understand. In Thailand that is exactly what happened to me. I was with the rest of the men of our squad working with an organization called Remember Nhu. Remember Nhu is an organization in Thailand that is fighting child sex-slavery. While there are many organizations working towards intervention and rescue, Remember Nhu’s strategy is on the prevention side.
Remember Nhu searches for children that are at risk of being sold into the slave trade. Thailand is plagued by poverty and many families see their children as a form of income. This is something I can’t quite wrap my head around. The culture there has become so passive toward this issue that most people don’t see anything wrong with selling their children to the highest bidder.
Sadly, finding children that are at risk is not a very difficult task. Remember Nhu has filled 4 homes with 170 boys and girls that were all considered to be at a very high risk. Sometimes that means they were within hours or days of being sold to a local trafficker. Ages of these kids range from as young as 3 years old up to 18 years old. Each kid is put into a home with forty or fifty other children along with a mother and father figure. They are pulled out of a life where they would have been forced into a future of physical, emotional, and spiritual damage and given the opportunity to have a childhood and future they can choose.
These children are now part of a new family and are given direct daily exposure to the love of Christ. Along with exposure to Godly parents, the Children are also given an education. Remember Nhu pays for the kids schooling all the way thru college. Giving the kids opportunities that they most likely never would have had otherwise.
One of the greatest moments this month was going to the homes for Sunday morning church. Every Sunday each home would work on a presentation, usually a song or a dance. So we would get to have church and worship with nearly 200 kids. All of which have been rescued from a life of physical slavery and are now finding out that they can also be freed from spiritual slavery thru the love of Christ.
The best part is this. After the school year the kids have the option to go home. The ones that choose to are a light to their families and villages. One village Remember Nhu goes to has seen a huge difference in the kids that come home. They noticed the kids were healthier then before and were learning faster then the kids that stayed. The difference was so drastic that the village as a whole has decided to no longer sell any of their children. The influence of the children completely changed the culture of the village. By rescuing and loving these children Remember Nhu is shaping the future generations of Thailand. Opening eyes to see the evil that slavery is and raising up a new generation that has seen victory over it.
During the days we helped lay the foundation for a new boys home and the evenings were spent with the children. We would play games with the kids, help them with their homework, and play music.
I’m so thankful that I got to be of some help to this amazing organization. You can also help through giving support or sponsoring a child, volunteering yourself, or in prayer.
For some more info about Thailand and Remember Nhu check out these blogs from my teammates.
http://ericcash.theworldrace.org/?filename=remember-nhu
http://jessegill.theworldrace.org/?filename=the-land-of-smiles
Also check out there website.
