The past 2 weeks in the coconut carving room at Daughters has been amazing. Relationships are being built with these men and I’m really learning how to encourage, serve, and just have a ton of fun with them. We may have even partaken in bit of moonwalking with a little MJ in the background. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. It was hardcore laughter… the kind where you’re hunched over gasping for air. It looked like some of them were trying to ride the nordictrack and do the running man at the same time. So good! Oh and one of the missionaries, who is my mom’s age and is a long terming it at Daughters, gives the king of pop a run for his money (ok well, maybe not.. but seriously she has moves). Through God’s goodness and my silliness, I think it’s made the guys more comfortable to open up to me and share a little bit about who they are. So as we sat at the dusty coconut carving table chatting it up last Friday, one of my favorites, Sam, decided to tell me his story. His story is painful but beautiful. God pursued hard after Sam and is still going at it.
Sam’s Story
So here we go… At the age of 5, Sam’s parents died in the genocide in the late 70s, along with 3 million other Cambodians. He then was left with his older sister and her husband. As soon as he was old enough, he was forced to work to provide money for them. He studied a little English at some point and then went to work translating for tourists on the riverfront. While working by the river one day, he was approached by a gangster, as he described him. I don’t know if he was forced into work with the gangster or if he did it because he had to provide for his sister and her family. Either way, he was trafficked. The gangster took him to a brothel and forced him into becoming a woman. His identity was changed as he played the part in Cambodian’s sex industry. After years of hurting, abuse, etc.. he was approached by missionaries one night while he slept by the river. They told him about Daughters and about the Sons program and asked him if he wanted to come. He decided to go with them and back at Daughters he was introduced to his Rescuer and Restorer. God has pursued this man! He seriously is without a doubt the most joyful person I know and is also incredibly goofy. I think my whole team can second that. He is now a role model to those men who are now on their way to becoming men of God. Every time I see him, there is this huge smile that blankets his face. He is not in the least bit scared to tell you it’s because God is his father, he depends on Him and because of his dependency He has provided Sam with everything he could ever need. Friends. Home. Transportation. Food. I tried not to cry as he told me his story. To see this man who is so joyful being abused and made up like a woman made me so sad, mad, and maybe even a bit angry. I wish he had never had to go through that, but how amazing is God’s pursuit of him. God found him, and called him out of darkness, broke his chains, and brought him into the light. His face shines so brightly you have to be completely blind folded to miss it. I want that same dependency that Sam has on God. I want to depend on Him with my life like Sam and to choose joy over all the ugly things in this world. Sam’s story is a beautiful God story.
“Chains be broken
Lives be healed
Hearts be open
Christ is revealed”
Took this pic at Toul Sleng Prison where prisoners were held captive and tortured during the reign of Pol Pot’s regime. Light breaking through chains. Setting captives free. Setting Sam free.
“You give beauty for our ashes
and a hope that’s everlasting
The past has been redeemed
now forever we will sing
You can make all things new
Only your power can raise us
You can make all things new
Only your love can save us
All hope is not lost
You make all things new”
“My chains are gone, I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood, His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace”
**To protect Sam, I can’t use his real name.
