I’ve known for sometime that my team would be working at an
organization called Daughters of Cambodia here in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. You can check out their site here http://www.daughtersofcambodia.org/. I knew that I would be doing some kind
of design work for them and I was thrilled to see how God would use me here to
serve through the experiences He has given me with Whitestone Motion Pictures
and Scarlet’s Cord.
It’s hard to come on a trip like this with no
expectations. My team has
struggled a lot with this. Though
we thought we were coming with no expectations of what it would be like or what
we would be doing, the truth is we did.
We thought we would spend our days listening to stories of abuse and the
girls’ past experiences in the sex industry here. We thought we would know every story of how they came to
Daughters and all the awful things that brought them to the doorstep. The truth is, I haven’t heard even ONE
story after 7 days working with the men and women here!
The rules are simple:
1-Don’t ask about a client’s past.
2-Don’t take their picture.
3-Don’t give them your contact information. 4-Don’t spend time with them outside of the center unless
it’s to meet them at church and even then you cannot spend time with them
afterwards, go to their homes, or invite them to yours. Well, that’s the complete opposite of
what I EXPECTED! At first I was
frustrated to be honest. How was I
supposed to help be a part of restoration and healing if I don’t know what
someone’s past looks like?! How am
I supposed to love them the way they need to be loved, encourage them how they
need to be encouraged, meet them where they are if I don’t know where they’ve
been?!
It took about a week to realize the lesson and beauty of
this. It was the night I had
decided to share my story (my past) with my team of 7. As I sat there thinking through what to
share and how to share I realized why knowing someone’s past was so incredibly
important to me. My past
identifies me. When I think of
myself and want to or have to describe who I am, I am this wounded little girl
who has known rejection, pain, loss, wounding, abandonment, self-destruction,
and despite all that was still pursued by a loving God. My story isn’t unworthy of being known,
that’s not at all what I’m saying.
Knowing someone’s story, someone’s past, helps you understand their
journey, their character, their tendencies, their hopes, their fears, and what
has marked them and brought them to where they are. HOWEVER, YOUR PAST DOES NOT DEFINE WHO YOU ARE! It’s what you know, it’s what you’ve
experienced, but it’s NOT who you are!
In this first stop in Asia, maybe God wanted me to FIRST
think of these men and women in the way that HE does, to see them as HE sees
them, to love them as HE loves them with no concern of where they have been but
only with hope of where they are now and where they are headed! What an opportunity to risk
unconditional love! And, what a
great gift He would grant me at the beginning of this journey to know my own
story and trust that I am more than the first few chapters! I am the daughter of a perfectly loving
Father who would never reject me.
I am a co-inheritor of a heavenly Kingdom. My God is living and present in every moment of my
life! He sees. He hears. He feels. I am
made new in His sight. I am
clothed in grace and beauty! I am
restored and so are the men and women at Daughters of Cambodia! That’s how I see them now. I don’t see hopeless victims who need
me to save them. I see victorious
conquerors over a life that was NOT meant for them! I see the beauty they possess as a result of the one and
only true God that I pray they will all one day come to know intimately!
Evidently, my expectation of RESTORED HOPE has begun with
me.
