I wasn’t paying attention. The bracelets captured my eye and the little boy trying to sell three to me for one dollar was so cute. One dollar for three bracelets? I love bracelets, just look at my left arm! And I’m still looking for good and cheap ones to get friends… Sure thing! …I almost bought three bracelets for a dollar… Let me tell you why I didn’t.
It was a normal day off in a touristy area of Phnom Phen and our team decided to visit Daughters of Cambodia, a ministry here that combats Sex Trafficking and dedicates itself to helping women stuck in the industry find hope, courage, and a way out. Trafficking in general is something that we all know about, especially the sexual kind… But when you come to a place where trafficking of any kind could be and is lurking around each corner, it’s easy to miss it.
On the Race, we are told specifically – especially in Asia – to not give money to people in the streets, and especially kids looking for money or selling things. It’s very likely that they are working for someone who is involved in the trafficking industry. In this particular instance, thinking that giving someone money is helping them, actually only hurts them and fuels an awful cycle of abuse.
Luckily, the Lord made me hesitate as I was going to pull my wallet out and consider getting bracelets. I told my team mate who was with me “I actually hesitate now that I really think about it.” I told the boy no. But he was unrelenting. It got to the point where he began stepping on my feet and asking in even more urgency for my money. I stepped inside a nearby shop and looked out as the boy began to cry in anger and frustration… Our other team mates met up with us and as we left the area to get our tuk-tuk’s home, the little boy started yelling horrible profanities at us, words that no five or six year old should know.
I’m glad I stopped myself from buying those bracelets. That boy was probably working for someone very bad, and it makes me sick thinking that I was so close to buying into it because of a cute face and prettily clad bracelets.
Everyone, it’s that easy.
All it takes is bright colors and the cute face of a boy to mask the murky darkness surrounding us at every corner. Thinking about normal tourists, it would be so easy to just be like “awesome bracelets! I’ll take nine of them for three dollars!” While you may not think for two seconds about it, at the end of the day, that boy will have none of that money and it will go to some very bad guy who’s trying to find his fulfillment in something empty and hollow. Granted, this is a huge assumption on my part, but it’s very likely that the money that boy makes does not go to him and he is being abused if he doesn’t make enough in a certain amount of time, which is tragic and awful.
We need to remain on guard. We cannot let shiny things distract us from the problem at hand. We need to walk forward with the full armor of Christ on us and inside of us. The light overpowers darkness every time… So how do we go from a place of contributing to the atrocities in our world to actually doing something useful to stop them? When does helping hurt? When does it actually do good? Jesus only ever asked his disciples to plant seeds everyday and then rest in Him. To listen. To proclaim His name boldly and walk in trust. To be honest, it was probably not very often that they saw watered and grown seeds. But what is the cost? It’s priceless when Jesus is the victor – and He is – every time.
The Lord has been speaking to me about Month 7 since before launch. My team and I have a unique opportunity during this upcoming month and it requires us to be on guard, but also willing to plant seeds and use our individual gifts accordingly while allowing the Lord to move us and direct us freely. It requires us to drop everything we know of that’s comfortable – especially our expectations. The Lord has been telling me more and more to “get up and walk.” He has been placing a desire in my heart to get to know random strangers in streets, listen to their stories, and build relationships with them. But He reminded me with the little boy today, that moving forward, I need to stay on guard and really be attuned to His spirit.
Darkness may lurk around some corners, but light is everywhere, and most all people are just looking for a ray of sunshine, that hope and lightness only the Lord can bring – and He is faithful to plant the seeds, water them, and grow them if we are on guard to the enemy and willing to walk into the dark as God’s living vessels of light.
