Tonight, woah was amazing.
We did ATL- ask the Lord. In the city of Siem reap, Cambodia. One of my teammates was adamant about hitting the streets with me. She said, “If I go with you I know that you will push me out of my comfort zone and make me do things I don’t want to do.” I was encouraged and honored the she not only thought that, but that she voiced it. That pumped me up and I was totally ready for the night.
It was about 10 pm when we started walking and praying. The streets were super busy and so much was happening that it took me a moment to take it all in. Siem Reap is loud, exciting, and super lively. But it’s also very heavy.
We were walking the streets for about 30 minutes, with no prompt to do anything at all. But that’s when we walked past this book store and immediately God told me to go inside. I was lured in by the darkness that was there. I could feel it. It was beyond heavy. BEYOND HEAVY. I looked over and just kept praying.. I’m pretty sure we had just walked into the storefront of a secret brothel.
I gazed over and to the right of me was a group of young teenage girls. They were all scandalously dressed. I just knew in the pit of my stomach they were being used as prostitutes. I swallowed my fear and walked over to them. I had no idea what I was going to say, but I just knew I had to be in their presence. My heart sank. I could feel almost an anxiety attack. But I prayed for peace and clarity and right in that moment I was overflowing with LOVE. In a weird way I think the girls could pick up on it because they were smiling from ear to ear when I walked over to them. I made direct eye contact with each of them as I spoke to them. They had very very broken English, but we were able to make out a few sentences. I told them they were beautiful and they wanted to take pictures with me. So I did, and I noticed that the girls were very touchy feely and I could just feel this loss of innocence and sexualization over them.
When we were done taking pictures I hooked my arm over one of the girls and embraced her. I could feel Gods love as I was hugging her and I knew she could too, because she didn’t want to let me go. I thought she was going to start crying. I could feel that God was hugging her through me.
Then it hit me… They may have never felt such a pure love before. And my heart broke. I said my goodbyes and left.
As I walked out, I barred witness to creepy men walking past the storefront back and forth. At first I was filled with anger, frustration, and disgust. But then something inside me broke for those men as well. They were just as lost and alone as the girls inside. Does it excuse their behavior? Absolutely not! But my heart hurts for them as well. God loves them and desires for their hearts to be changed. Times like these are hard because I honestly don’t know what I can do to truly help these girls. All I know is that I want to bring a piece of that hope to them, a hope that God has given. I want them to feel love, even if it is only through a smile and hug. Nothing will discourage me from wanting to go back tomorrow and see them again.
