Welcome to Cambodia. The only thing keeping me from questioning if I’m back in Africa is the Asian faces. You’re kidding me! I thought my squatty potty and no running water days were over. Well, let me tell you I was seriously mistaken.
This month is actually the shortest month so far. I will be spending 21 days here working at Teen Challenge, a home for boys and men struggling with addiction or other types of what they call “life challenges”. We do things like teach Bible, English, music, play sports, and help them work in the gardens. Anyways it’s a really awesome place and I was super stoked to get into the ministry.
And then it happened, I showed up to the property to enjoy breakfast one morning and I noticed the place was eerily quiet. Then I heard the news, 11 boys left in the middle of the night. 11! That leaves 4 boys and 13 men. Well I didn’t take the news very well at all. I felt anger and bitterness filling up inside me. Not towards the boys, at Satan. He thinks he’s so clever. The lies he tells, the way he digs his claws into people so hard they become his puppets to destroy with pride, greed, and addictions. I hate it.
I only had 3 days to get to know those boys before they left and what I do know is that they were made to do great things. Each of them are loved so deeply by God and He will continue to fight for their hearts and pursue them with His love and grace. I know that for a fact. I just wish that I could be in control of the situation and make them see right now how much God loves them and how He has better things in mind for them. Things better than living on the streets, stealing, and getting high. But I understand they are still bound to their addictions, still slaves to it. They have yet to experience the freedom that comes from knowing Christ. I have faith that God is doing something in their lives, after all once they do feel the embrace of their father in heaven they won’t be able to turn away. The Lord works all things together for the good of those that love him. His love is as deep as a bottomless sea. A friend reminded me that even Jonah ran away but he found himself in the belly of a whale. Eventually he turned back to God. I pray that God sends each of them a whale.
Even with a majority of the boys gone we have not let up on doing ministry. I love the 4 little boys that chose to stay behind despite the temptation they faced to leave. And I have so much fun teaching the men English. We have also spent some time visiting people out in the community and have experienced quite a bit of this culture. It’s been fun, challenges and all.
