It is dusk on Monday night, and there is certain hum that begins to stir in the air of Phnom Penh as the sun begins to set. The streets are crowded and bustling as the evening market places come to life.
I am on my bike, approaching an over-crowded and stagnant intersection . . .
Innocent one, as the moto you ride on slips in front me, your precious face is being etched on my mind.
I can’t help but allow a smile to slip across my face at the sight of you.
Your bashful eyes hide behind a playful smile, that divulges to me the truth of your 9 or 10 years.
Your long, beautiful hair, the color of ebony is tied in a wispy pony-tail.
Your pink pajamas have two little frills at the bottom of each pant-leg- I speculate if they are or not your favorite pair.
I wonder at the state of your little life as you continually turn your head to look at me; smiling- I imagine you are wondering the same things about me. Each of us, trying to fully take in the other.
That is when I notice it . . . the loose skin of his arms covered in wiry white hairs . . .
Who is this, little one, with whom you ride? Do you know his name? Do you know to where he is taking you?
I peddle harder, trying to keep up. But they are picking up speed, and she is slipping away from me.
I breathe out prayers from my spirit pleading with God for her protection.
The innocence of her pink pajamas, the bashfulness of her eyes, the playfulness in her smile are cut away as the etched crevasses in my mind deepen, to disclose a possibly truer reality . . . .
Every night hundreds, maybe thousands of young girls are taxied to hotel rooms throughout Phnom Penh on the backs of motorbikes. There, perpetrators trespass on their very hearts and souls as they prey on their young bodies. . . .
Join me in crying out to God on behalf of these young ones.
Each Monday I will be posting something (stories, statistics etc.) about child-trafficking in Cambodia with prayer points. Please join me in fasting and praying on Mondays for the children of Cambodia.
**photo: thank you Erika Clark.
