Written January 25th, 2012
My view of Cambodia mostly looks like this….
or this…
or this…
But today I saw this…
It’s a Brick Factory. I have read about these places but
never once in my life did I actually think I would be here; right in the middle of one.
I was unable to go the first day to the factory as I was
sick but the second day our team bought rice and brought it to the factory.
This is what I saw…
Brick Workers’ Homes
Making Bricks
Drying Breaks
These people are slaves. They are very very poor and so they
borrow money from the boss in order to buy food and live. In exchange, they
work for the boss until they pay off their debts. They work for about $2 a day
and a bowl of rice with a few veggies and small fish. If they don’t work
because of sickness or rain (the rainy season is 6 months of the year), they
don’t get paid, they don’t eat and so they borrow more money in order to live.
In asking our contact if anyone can ever pay off their debts and leave he said,
“no, no one ever gets out”.
My heart just broke to this is reality right in front of me.
At first I was angry, then sad. Then, something came over me and I could see
some happiness here. The children smiling and laughing; the adults joking
around after they finished their work. I
realized that Christ is still here. He is here in the form of my team bringing
rice. He is here in our contact.
Before handing out the rice to the families, we talked to
the people again about FREEDOM. Freedom in Christ. We shared with them God’s
love for them. We shared with them the story of Christ and how to receive
salvation through Christ. No one accepted Christ that day, not outwardly anyway
but you could some of them thinking. Like God was slowly taking the blinders
off and you knew his presence was there.
I wish I could pay off their debts, their children’s debts,
but I can’t. All I can do is pray. Pray that the government becomes intolerant
to places like these. Pray that Christ continues to work in their lives and
they accept them as their Lord and Savior.
So, will you pray with me?
Check out another awesome blog about the Brick Factory by my
teammate Elaina here.
