Cambodia is where things started to get interesting. This journey was really starting to get difficult. Hard. Like physically hard. We were now 8 months in, moving into month 9, and our bodies were starting to feel the effects of everything. Lack of sleep, long travel days, constantly creating new relationships. Here’s the general format: reach a destination, build relationships, 3-4 weeks of labor, leave said relationships, long travel day, new destination, build new relationships, 3-4 weeks later start the whole process all over again. It’s exhausting, honestly. Rewarding, but exhausting. And it was beginning to show…
Cambodia was hot, too. Super hot. Probably the closest to as hot as Côte d’Ivoire that I’ve experienced on the race, but our ministry hosts were able to provide fans for us to use at night. That was a blessing. There were rats. Yes… rats. We set traps at the house and caught several of them over the 3 weeks we were in Cambodia. I’m also fairly confident one ran across my foot one night while I was trying to sleep. Our house was robbed one day (we were not there). We lived by a big river and the site of our ministry often flooded with it being the rainy season. And you’ve never truly experienced the third world until you’ve actually had to use your hand after going to the bathroom. Yeah, I won’t go any further on that one…
The truth, though? There is no other ministry that I’ve been a part of on the Race that I’ve connected with as much as I connected with this one. Cambodia was hard, physically. Really hard. It was hot, we sweated a lot, it smelled, but the ministry and people we worked with were amazing. The vision of this place brought me to tears one day during a meeting with our hosts and ministry partners.
Outside of Romania, Asia was the area I was most looking forward to in the Race, especially Cambodia and Thailand because of their extensive involvement in human trafficking. After all of the freedom I’ve experienced this year (see The Broken Beautiful blogs), I felt like I was finally ready to jump into an area of ministry that previously would have scared the crap out of me. Well, that wasn’t EXACTLY what God had for my team in Cambodia.
This ministry was originally started by the woman we lived with. A young woman in her early 30s. She’s Vietnamese, not Cambodian, but she moved to Cambodia around 12?? Maybe 13 years ago?? I can’t remember the exact number. The first time she visited Cambodia was on a short term mission trip, and what she saw and discovered broke her heart. There is a sect of Vietnamese people living in Cambodia who are actually trapped. Their families came to Cambodia seeking refuge or safety during tumultuous times in Vietnam, and when they tried to return after things settled down Vietnam would not receive them. The Cambodian government also does not recognize them as citizens, so they are literally trapped with no hope of better futures. Because of this, prostitution and the issue of human trafficking are huge in these communities. Many families will sell their daughters into the sex trade for money or because they think it will be a better life than what they currently have, and there are also tons of girls who voluntarily enter the industry because they see all the “fancy things” that the prostitutes have and want them for themselves. It’s a serious issue.
Our host was heartbroken when she saw all of this in action on her first trip to Cambodia, so she decided to move there and do something about it. She began working in the red light areas, alone if she had to, talking with the girls and trying to minister to them. She helped several get out, but what she soon discovered broke her heart even more. For most of these girls, this is a cycled lifestyle. A lot of them may come out, but a great many of those eventually run back to it when they think things are getting to hard in life. She was burned one too many times and wanted to find another way.
Her thought was – If we can prevent them from going into the industry in the beginning, they won’t need to be rescued later!
So, she started a school in the Vietnamese community that she lives in. A school that teaches the children the basics of education in math, english, science, etc. And they teach them about Jesus! It is completely run by volunteers – none of whom have any educational backgrounds. They just do this to serve, and because they love the Lord and support the vision. This is where we worked. In the school. With these kids. Teaching them and loving on them.
We weren’t working directly to combat human trafficking, but what we were doing was helping to prevent it.
In the meantime, what I was learning personally was the importance of resting in The Lord. This is when the “seeking His love and kingdom first” really started to take off, and I began to realize the pattern of my constantly seeking man’s approval when all I need is Him. Actually, it started in Romania, but some things happened in the beginning of Cambodia that really made it push forward. That’s not a story for today, though.
Next up – Thailand… which was just last month in October! I’m still processing a lot of Thailand, so I don’t know what will come of this blog. My recommendation is to be prepared for anything.
