Imagine being 4 years old. Your family owes many debts to wealthy men in your area. Your family has no way to repay them as they don’t make much money. One day your father takes you to a doctor to get tested to make sure you still have your virginity. The doctor gives your father a certificate stating this is true. One day a strange man comes to your house and your father hands the certificate and you over to him. You are taken to a pink room on the second floor of a brothel. You are dressed up and told to sit quietly. A man comes in, looks you over, and pays a high price. You are taken to a small cement room with a wooden bed where you are raped. When he leaves a man comes, locks the door, and leaves. You are left alone in the dark. You have no idea how to process what just happened. The next day you are woken by the same thing, a man coming in, shuts the door, and has his way. This is your life for months or even years. Locked in a room, being raped time after time. You are in hell!
I walked into this reality here in Cambodia. I walked down what used to be a narrow hallway with evidence of the small cement rooms on both sides, at the end of the room stood the last bedroom left. It was not torn down with the rest of the bedrooms as a memorial for the young girl found there dead after the brothel was raided. An organization named Agape International Missions has come into a community in Cambodia that has one of the largest rate of child sex trafficking in the area. They have helped to shut down more than 10 brothels on one street. They have rescued hundreds of children from this horrible fate. They help prevent children from being sold into the trade by their families. They give the people of the community jobs, they give women who have survived this abuse jobs, and teach them trades to help them reintegrate into society. They teach the people of the community about Jesus and show them there are better ways to love.
The Lord really showed my team and I the horror of sex trafficking, children as young as four are trapped and abused, children. Again I say, CHILDREN! Men think this is ok, that it is normal. Please pray for the hearts of the people of Cambodia. Pray that these young girls, in their horrific circumstances will seek the Lord. Pray for the hearts of the men who purchase and sell these children.
Pray for freedom. Pray for healing. Pray for change.
I was not able to take pictures here, but please look up more about Agape and their mission in Cambodia! They sale many of the products the women make in the shop as well. You can also make custom t-shirts though them, also made by the women. It only takes 10 shirts to make an order! So check it out to help support these women and help them find freedom! http://agapewebsite.org http://aimapparel.com/collections/all
You can also go here to 3Strands to purchase bracelets and necklaces that are made from the women survivors. I bought several! All the jewelry has a red bead on them. This bead is pulled from the inside of a nut found in Cambodia. The nut is usually disagreed, seen as ugly and unwanted. It symbolizes these women’s lives and how they are made beautiful and worthy.
