Manistry month!!! Wow, I came into this month extremely excited. I’ve never been to Cambodia before, I’ve never been a team leader before, and I’ve never done the world race with just 13 dudes before. I knew this was going to be an adventure. And that it was.
All we knew coming into this month is that we would be digging 2000ft of trenches for an irrigation system for an organization called Remeber Nhu. They specialize in helping end sex trafficking through prevention (taking care of the kids that are at high risk of being sold or kidnapped). Some pretty serious stuff, but this was Manistry month. I was ready for it. So I thought…
I pictured this month would resemble something out of The Great Escape but in reality, it looked more like scenes form Father Goose (would highly recommend both movies). One of those movies is of one of my Dads favorite and one of them is one of my Moms favorite, I’ll let you figure out which is which. We showed up to our site and within the first day we noticed that our next-door neighbors were 14 bubbly and adventurous girls. They had all been at high risk of being victims of sex slavery and had been received by the organization. The ages ranged from a couple months old to 18. Most of them being around 8. It was hard to believe that these little girls, so young, were at risk of being sold into a life time of abuse. But that’s a common tragedy in Cambodia.
Our host, Mark Kellend, is a youth pastor from the states that spent time in Germany and Japan working on military bases. Him and his wife got the call to come to Cambodia 2 years ago, to help this organization get back on its feet and although the past years have been hard, they have turned this place around. Their vision, God’s vision, of this place is amazing. Their goal is to make the compound completely self-sufficient. They have a fish farm connected to their crops, a boat load of chickens, goats, a new cow, and worms that digest left over food and make fertilizer. It’s a go-green liberal’s dream.
Mark has also had a vision for our team since we got here. He has been completely invested in us, deciding to live in the team house which is 2 hours away from his wife. He also leads us in nightly devos and is a constant presence amongst the team. The knowledge and wisdom that he spits has been substantial food for the guys this month. There is one piece of wisdom from Mark that has become our motto for the month, “It’s about the walk not the work”
The Work
The plans of our work were laid out in front of us and it was hard to swallow. But we all grabbed our best new friend for the month, a garden hoe, and started working. Laying sod, digging 2ft deep trenches, putting in a sewage system, bush whacking, pouring concrete, and laying pipe all in the hot Cambodia sun. Granted, it is winter time here so it only gets to the mid 90s here on a hot day so we are grateful for that and I am sorry for any worldrace team that is here in the summer months. We also led games with the girls every other night and sometimes try to teach some English, but it doesn’t get much past “What is your name?”.
The Walk
The best way to describe this is in a good ole spiritual metaphor, buckle up. So, it’s crazy to think that at the end of our month, an unsuspecting person wouldn’t be able to tell the majority of our hard work put into this place. All the dirt we uplifted for the trenches would be smoothed out and all the pipe we laid will be hidden from sight. The only tangible visual of all our hard work will be seen in the literal life that it brings. The life that will sprout up from wherever the pipes touch. The irrigation lines will be sprawled out over a field intended for gardening. Water is essential for things to grow. So, in a hot, dusty, lifeless terrain you will notice an oasis of life and green. Our hard work will be evident by the food and nourishment it will provide for hundreds of girls that will call this place home.
Sometimes in our spiritual journey, our development and work can go un noticed. People won’t always see the disciplines you have in your faith. They won’t know the challenges you’ve gone through and the relationships you’ve weathered. They won’t know the horrible memories that you’ve dug through in order to see God and claim restoration. They won’t know how you talk to the heavily father when you’re alone or what things make your heart beat fast or make you tune into the small voice in your chest. They won’t always know the prayers you pray ceaselessly and you won’t always see the results of those efforts.
But they will know you by the life that you bring. By the fruit that your spirit produces.
Matthew 7:16 “You will know them by their fruits”
Your hard work may go unnoticed, but the results of the work will be on display for everyone. It will be used to bring life and love to those who greatly need it.
In the same way that you may not see the work going into the irrigation lines that produce life, we also haven’t seen what these girls have been through in order to get them to this point. But we can see the life they bring because of the work people, and more importantly Jesus, has done in their lives. These girls have every reason in the world to be bitter and distant. Most don’t have families, some have seen some horrible things, and they live in a country that sees them only as valuable as the sex they offer.
But they aren’t bitter. They don’t throw tantrums. They don’t hold grudges and they aren’t scared to embrace a stranger. I can’t tell you how it feels to have Kimsreang run up to you and hung you so tight that it feels like she won’t ever let go, or how it feels when Palle asks you to throw her in the air one more time only to bring her safely to the ground giggling like she’s just been rocketed to the moon.
This month is going to break my heart. Not simply because of the injustices that are far too common here, but because of the life these girls bring and the life they will continue to bring their country that desperately needs to know the Lord’s love. I will miss them dearly.
I am grateful that, even though I wasn’t there for the big moments in these girls lives, I am able to see the fruit. God is going to accomplish what he wants to accomplish, it just depends on whether you want to be a part of it or not. He was at work in Cambodia long before we arrived and will continue to work long after we leave, I am just grateful we could be a part of it and dig some holes while we were here.
