I was able to minister to women that work at a restaurant for my second ministry in Cambodia. I was asked to do Bible studies, do two Beauty for Ashes sessions and teach them conversational English during my three weeks there. As I mentioned on my previous blog I was out for the first week of ministry because I was sick. The “Elevator Talk” is that the restaurant works through a cooking program that helps underprivileged high risk women from being sex trafficked. This means that they were about to be sold by their families to be sex trafficked or some of the other women have been rescued from sex trafficking.
The conversation I had with one of the people helping run the program made my jaw drop. Did you know there’s a virginity certificate?! Yes, in Cambodia, doctor’s give virginity certificates to prove that women are virgins. The parents are able to sell their daughters for up to one year’s worth of food if they have the virginity certificate. Women in most Asian cultures are seen as valuable know-a-days because they can be sold. Before there was a negative connotation if you had daughters, but that changed once they started to be sold. Add this to what the Khmer Rouge did to their past relatives and its chaos.
If you didn’t read my last blog, I will once again recommend for you to look into the Cambodian genocide, that happened NOT that long ago (1975-1979). An estimate of 25% of their population died during this time by the regime; about 2 million people. The director of this program told me that this country is the 2nd highest country with people in 2nd generation dealing with PTSD. The Cambodian people have resilience and damage. They speak to each other in out of “tough love”.
The program I worked with this month is a Christian program but it takes in girls from different backgrounds. It doesn’t push Christianity on them but instead we share the gospel out of love; not condemnation. As World Racers we come alongside this program to bring lift to the staff working with these women. The program gives the students a stipend to help their families with monthly rice, a water filtration system and helps them build on work skills to have a career. This program is based on referrals from family members that know a woman is at risk because her parents are taking her to get a virginity certificate. The program is expecting to expand the program to double the size of interns and are looking for ways to sell food outside of the restaurant. We were able to eat Thanksgiving food at this restaurant on Thanksgiving day.
Where do I fit into all of this? How can I help or make a difference? I told them about Jesus while I taught them English. Women working in this program were dealing with lack of worth, shame from their past, guilt in what society tells them, confused on how to start new and not knowing if they should share their stories with a woman they just met.
I can’t share names or pictures due to the persecution in this ministry; I can only tell you about my experience in this restaurant. One of my students accepted Jesus and the most beautiful thing I’ve come to learn about the race is that Jesus is mostly easily accepted when there is a relationship with the person in the receiving end. Christianity is about love and relationship. I was able to teach them English but I gave them more than that. I was able to give them hope by sharing the gospel. The view of God was one of the activities I did through Beauty for Ashes. I ask them how they think God views them. This shows me where they stand in their beliefs and in return lets them know the truth of how God sees them. By sharing their stories, we break the cycle of shame in culture; allowing them to know God takes away all sin. Most cultures believe we shouldn’t talk about the “dirty little secrets” like sex trafficking. We expose scars for what they are so there can be freedom and healing.
Some of these women shared similar stories; they had been abandon by their parents or their parents had died from AIDS. I was able to talk about the love of our Father and how He never abandons us. I was able to tell them how He can heal internally and externally. Some had questions but not all wanted to know about Jesus. That’s okay. However, we presented them with an opportunity to be heard. They felt seen and loved for once.
Please keep these women in prayer. They have touched my heart the most! Sometimes short term missions can be seen with negative connotations of making little to no impact. I can tell you that it’s not true from first hand perspective. Being able to teach women about worth is life impacting. Thanks for the love and support in all I do. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Vietnam!
