I am amazed at everything we have been doing here in Cambodia, the vision that is happening is amazing. It’s also been another eye opening experience full of stories, better heard on an empty stomach. Full of truth. Part of me would like to sugar coat them, but I can’t. There is a harsh reality out there that much of the world is sheltered from, or chooses to not hear. Take it however you can, but don’t consider a problem too far away to help….
A country so new….. started over only 30 years ago, after a mass genocide by its own people
A fear still lives today, a fear that it could happen again….. they don’t talk about it, you don’t ask
A little girls virginity is sold for $40-$1000 (give or take) or just enough to feed the family with rice
age: Khmer- 12 to 14 years; other groups- much younger
often she will brutally raped and then sewn back together, so her virginity can be resold…. salt may be put in her wounds
They don’t fight…… there is a STRONG sense of duty to ones family here
There is a village notorious for small child sex (I’m not going to broadcast the name, though most know of it)
In 2003 brothels began to be raided….. now they are much more underground…..
they look like any average business
To arrest a Cambodian man for sex, he must be caught in the action
90% of the perps are Khmer
Others are tourists from other parts of Asia and Western countries
Brothels are a loose term now….
girls are sold out of their homes and returned in the early morning hours
she could be sold by a family member, a friend, a stranger
it could start when she is 5 and last until she is a teenager…..
or until her body gives out…. permenant damage
many people turn a blind eye, but some won’t put up with it anymore
the elderly couple who stood in front of a pedophiles car, as they had watched the girl be sold night after night from her home…. he runs them down…….. they survive, the girl now lives with them
I could go on…
the boys being raped
the drugs, the violence, the poverty
but you get the picture
This is the reality for so many people
not just in Cambodia
in Africa, Nepal, Europe, the States…..
borders to borders……
This could happen to anyone…… it may look different…..but it’s Real
This is not to be taken a a sob story, as just images on paper
this is about real stories, real people….
What do we need to do??
discipleship, funds, prayer, hope, sustainability, restoration, etc. etc.
Villiage by Villiage; person by person; God is big enough to fight this
There are thousands of organizations out there who need help….. let me know if you don’t know where to start.
Where do you fit into all of this? PRAY about it.
