It would be a romantic, charming scene… Sitting here at our debrief hotel, writing on my computer as my feet dangle in pool and the sun shines down with no sound but the Cambodian birds. Nice picture, but I have not told you yet what is in my vision. Over across from me in a lazy chair are a 65 year old looking man (white) and a young Asian girl about 16. Normal, but is it ok if my blood boils a little bit? What can I do? I can point out many just walking around all of Thailand and here in the little travel section of Cambodia that I have been so far. It is the norm here. I was not privileged to go to the red-light district, but one of our all girls teams did! The stories that they tell me never fail to lead me to tears. One of the girls shared that the going rate for one girl is 400 baht, which is about $13 US dollars. The next day she saw a mug for 400 baht… a mug, or a girl. There are so many arguments about helping the girls, they need money, they sell what God made so precious so that they can live, support themselves, and maybe their mom, brothers and sisters. The girls here have no one fighting for them, no one but God. And He is. When I spot the men, all the white men that make my blood boil, I can just pray. I met a couple of young, strong Christian men that work for Y-WAM in Thailand who minister to the men that go to the bars and red-light districts. I do believe that the Lord is raising up young men and women to have passion for these countries, and to fight for the women that do not feel like they have a choice, but to sell themselves.
This last month in Thailand my team got to live at a small orphanage, House of Union. The kids there were so precious… they are from a hill tribe that migrated from Burma, called the Lahu tribe. They are not valued in Thailand in the least. They are none existent. The only way that they can make it in the world is to go to University and get a degree, which might secure them a small job and give them a status in Thailand. These kids were taken from their homes so that they can have an education and prevent them from trafficking.
The Lord taught me so much through their smiles and faces… playing with them and teaching English lit me up like a fire, put much passion inside of me, and broke my heart for the future. I would love more than anything to adopt a little Thai baby someday. It would be a gift from God. Until then, after the Lord provides me with a good job, I hope to sponsor one kid. That in and of itself sounds cheesy, but it is one girl or boy, taken out of trafficking, given food, education, and taught about the Lord.
Let me leave you with this thought. Keaston, Katrina, and I were cleaning out the boy’s room because it was messy with molded food, dirty clothes, and trash everywhere (because they never throw anything away, aka: boys). I found a box… a shoe box with Christmas wrapping on it, and on the side had a couple words, “Boy” and “Ages 8-14”. It took me a second to completely understand what that box was, Operation Christmas Child box. I had met him, maybe it was you that sent it? Maybe it was you that sent this sweet thing one toy, shoes, hat or gloves. They wear it, and play with it.
