On our daily bike ride into town, we pass by 6 KTVs (brothels) that line the streets of our town. Let that sink in: within a 10 minute bike ride, there are 6 actual buildings where human bodies are sold for sex.
At night, around the KTVs & the night markets or bars, younger girls are being escorted by their trafficker, who offer them up to any strangers that will pay a few bucks for sex. 7, 8, 9 year old little girls, stolen, trafficked, & sold over & over again for $3 or $4. That’s less than dinner costs here.
I can’t rightfully express how far this reaches into my heart & disturbs the deepest parts of me. It wreaks havoc in my spirit. This is the darkness in the world that God has given me a passion to fight against for the rest of my life. This is where my heart cry is.
& here I am, in Cambodia where prostitution & human trafficking is heavily prevalent. It’s visible- all around me. Yet I find myself feeling more hopeless than ever: prostitution is legal. Most police officers are involved in it. Some are also customers of the illegal traffickers. If they aren’t, all it takes is a cheap bribe & they won’t do anything at all. How can I walk around this town, see it happening, & physically not be able to stop it? It’s devastating. It haunts me. So what the heck can I do? Where do I begin?
The Spirit reminded me: “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)
All I want to do is drive a bulldozer into the walls of these places & scoop up all the girls, take them to my home. Show them how worthy & valuable the are, show them Jesus. Set them up in jobs that will provide & take away all the terrible memories they’ve had to walk through. Love them.
But unfortunately, I can’t do that. All I can do right now is sit in front of these places, & pray. Oh, how immeasurably powerful Jesus is teaching me that is! How often had I used prayer as my last resort? Jesus brought me to a place where it’s my only resort. He’s teaching me prayer is supernatural- which is more powerful than anything natural- anything I could do in my own power.
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)
So I come before these buildings, literally watching the girls wait at the door for customers. & I let my heart ache, & I pray. BOLDLY. Having faith & believing what I ask for will happen. I pray that these buildings would go out of business, that they would be torn down, & buildings of redemption would come up instead- churches, rehab facilities, rescue shelters. I pray that every single girl would be rescued, or escape this life & find a way to support themselves healthily. I pray that they would meet Jesus, & embrace His True Love. I pray for the men running these chains, that they would find Jesus & become advocates AGAINST sex-trafficking. I pray for a revival to start right here in this city. & I believe He hears, & that it will all be done in Jesus’ name.
Join me in these prayers, from wherever you are. Join me in the fight against human slavery.
I can’t thank God enough for bringing me to this frustrating place of being humbled completely to see that I can’t save the world. That’s His job. My job is to let the brokenness break my heart, & in loving obedience, do whatever small or big thing He may ask me to partner with Him bringing light & love to the world. I trust Him. I know His heart breaks more than mine, & He is at work- reconciling the entire universe back to Him. There will be a day when no pain, heartbreak, or darkness are here. Heaven will be perfect in every way. But until that day, we will remain steadfast in prayer. Trusting He is good. He is.
