I stroll down Pub street. Pub Street. It’s name indicates what is on this small yet central part of Siem Reap. Bars and clubs line it, with music so loud that the street shakes. The tourists dance, having the time of their lives, on the outside at least. This is the street people go to in order to have fun and to forget their lives back home. It is a place full of people, yet it is full of loneliness at the same time. People try to drown out their past, fears, insecurities, jobs, and life in general in the short term pleasure of alcohol, women, and dancing.
Then there are the bar girls, the kids collecting trash on the street, the beggars missing limbs, the women begging for milk with a child in their arms, and masseurs who sometimes do more than just massages. I pass by them almost every night. Some have fake smiles plastered on their faces, and others simply can’t hide the pain they are in.
So what have I done about it? Honestly, from the outside, nothing. I walk down Pub Street and it is still the same since I first walked down it. Sometimes it feels like the music is louder and the pain more obvious.
Yet, God is moving here.
At first, I was discouraged by the lack of outer victories. I prayed for people and they weren’t healed. I played with the children, but what good does that actually do? I made relationships with some of the women, but I am leaving here in less than a week.
Then, God happened.
My squad mentor, Kate, noticed our discouragement and had a talk with all of us. She explained how bringing people to the Lord and outward change is good and comes in its season, but before the harvest comes the plowing, sowing, watering, and weeding.
Yes, there is a lack of outward change, but I can feel the spiritual atmosphere shifting here. We have been interceding for this city and people in prayer. We are plowing and sowing seeds. It is a job that may not seem glorious, or really even makes a good story, but it is important nonetheless. I can feel God’s hope for His people, and He is calling them home. I am simply blessed to be a small part in the work He is beginning here.
May the King of Kings bless you!
~Ashlyn
Fundraising Update!!
For those of you who don’t know, I am fully funded!!! Praise Jesus!! If you would still like to support missionaries on the field, please check out my team mates who still are not fully funded.
http://eviecarrigan.theworldrace.org
http://joellsturgeon.theworldrace.org
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