Last Friday we had the opportunity to partner up with
Gentle Warriors (GW) and see their ministry site in the slums as well as go to
Rubbish Mountain (the city dump) and minister to the people there. I just want
to give you the play by play of what it was like for me (thoughts in italics)…
I could see the smoke coming up from Rubbish Mountain
even before we reached the slums and I wondered when to put on my face mask. No, not yet the GW’s aren’t wearing theirs.
We parked in the slums and made our way through the trash lined houses there.
All the while I looked into the face of each individual that we passed, giving them
the traditional greeting and smiling brightly at them. I couldn’t get over the
smile that burst across their face. How
often are these people overlooked, unseen and not shown respect? How many
people walk by without acknowledging their existence? So I did my best to
acknowledge each one.
As we continued on the path toward the mountain I asked
God to give me more and more strength, and I took Renee’s hand as it all came
into view behind the last house. Here is where the mask came on and the path is
made through the trash. It’s strange to know that what you’re stepping on is
squishy and you sink down a bit with each step because it’s trash piled on
trash piled on trash. We climbed higher and then suddenly the ground was
rumbling below my feet and I looked up to a dump truck rolling in to bring its
latest addition. As the smoke rises around us and there are fires here and
there I saw a sign off to the right saying not to be here this place is toxic,
and then I looked to the left and I saw all these men, women and children
picking through the trash looking for plastics, aluminum and whatever else they
can use or recycle for money. We just stood watching for awhile. This is not what God intended. This is NOT
what it’s supposed to be like! I couldn’t get past these thoughts.
Then we walked over to the houses made out of trash in
the trash to talk to the people living there. As we approached you could hear
the flies, gnats, mosquitoes swarming the area, and they were all around the
homes and in them on the mats with a few chickens walking around. You couldn’t
tell where the trash ended and where their belongings began.
In one of the homes there was a boy and an old woman, we
were invited in to talk with her, the boy moved further away but was still
listening. We had a pastor from the slum with us, and so she did most of the
talking and translated for us. This woman had just come from the countryside to
visit her daughter who was out working in the trash. We asked this woman if she
knew about God and Jesus, she replied that she had heard but that was the god
of white people. She said she followed Buddha because that was the god of
Cambodia. What? Wouldn’t there be only
one god over all the earth if you only followed one god? How in Buddhism do you
believe that there are different gods over different people? So the pastor
was sharing when her daughter came in. She sat down and wiped some of the sweat
off her face and pulled off her worn out boots. As it turns out she does
believe in God. Yay Jesus! She
started working on Rubbish Mountain 4 years ago when she couldn’t find any work
to support her 2 children. Now they are being raised in the dump.
The amazing part is that we were able to encourage her
and she’s going to try to return back to church. We were able to pray for her
and her family. When we were done praying for her, we asked her mother if she
would be willing to accept prayer and she readily agreed. I looked up during
the prayer and saw tears in her eyes. She’s
so close Lord. I trust Him to bring her close to Him.
After prayer it was time to leave, some were crying as we
made our way down the mountain. I once again took Renee’s hand while trying to
gain composure over my emotions. We passed the homes in the slum again on our
way out, I smiled and acknowledged everyone seeing joy over their face at the
friendly greeting. A little girl even gave me a kiss on the cheek. How many look but do not see?
From our tuk-tuk I watched the columns of smoke slowly
fade away and then sobbed all the way home.
I don’t have much insight to add to this, I just wanted
to share my story. If you want to know more about what went on with slum
ministry and see photos/videos from this past month I would encourage you to read the Gentle Warriors
blogs.
