The past 2 days my team has spent in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. We’ve been able to see a lot of the city and learn more about the heart wrenching history of this beautiful country.
On Sunday we took a tour of the Tuol Sleng Museum. A school – turned prison- turned museum, and a memorial to all those who died in the genocide that took place only 30-some years ago. This prison was a place where the innocent were taken to be tortured until they confessed to crimes they didn’t commit and then later were executed. Of the nearly 14,000 people held in this prison, only 7 survived. In the end, nearly 2 million people were violently murdered all over Cambodia. On Sunday I walked freely around a place that was once a living hell for thousands of people. As I walked through the prison cells and looked upon pictures of people being tortured, I couldn’t help but ask: “God, where were you when all of this was going on?” I walked away that day with a heavy heart and knots in my stomach.
Yesterday, we had the opportunity to take a tour of Agape International Mission. An organization fighting against the child-sex trafficking that is taking place here in Cambodia. We were taken to the former Red Light district, where there used to be brothel after brothel that housed little girls who had been sold by their families. Little girls awaiting the time when a pedophile would pay to have sex with them. I imagined the pink room upstairs where the virgins waited for the person who was willing to pay a little extra money, to come and rape them for the first time. I pictured the girl found dead when the first brothel was shut down only 15 years ago. She was never able to see what freedom looked like. And again, I asked “God, where were you?”
As we continued the tour of Agape, we were able to see the clothing factories, where they are providing good jobs for the girls coming out of the sex trade and their family members. And I heard a voice whisper, “here I am.” After walking a little more we reached the outside of the restitution center where the girls are given the counseling they need in order to make the steps to move back into the real world. I heard the voice again, “I’m right here.”
My eyes have been opened to a lot of things over this last year. Things that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Things that I will never be able to turn a blind eye to… Sometimes the only light in the world is us. We’re suppose to be Jesus to those around us, but sometimes we’re too busy burying our heads in the sand. This world needs more love and it needs more people like those at Agape, who are willing to step up and speak out.
I asked God where He was and He reminded me of the laughter of the children I taught all month and of the light in the eyes of our host’s. He’s all around us, waiting for His light to be let loose within the ones He’s placed it in… So what are we going to do? Are we going to shine the light into these dark places of death, sorrow and despair? Or are we going to keep it to ourselves and continue to pretend that living our clean-christian lives is enough? Posting about it on Facebook isn’t enough, this world needs people ready to take action, ready to love people where they’re at.
I’m never going to understand why such horrible things happen in this world. And unfortunately, I’m probably not going to stop asking God where He is, when the darkness seems to be taking over. But fortunately, He’s not going to stop reminding me that His light is within me, waiting to burst forth. God is in the business of redeeming what seems irredeemable. He’s making beautiful things out of the ashes that are spread throughout Cambodia and the rest of the world.
Right now I’m on a bus to Vietnam, Heading into my last month of ministry on the World Race. It’s hard to believe how fast time has flown by, but has seemed to drag on at times. This month my team is doing Unsung Hero’s. That means it’s our job to look for and seek out ministries and churches for the World Race to partner with in the future. It’s going to be a great month of trusting God and seeing how perfectly He brings things together. Please be in prayer for my team as we finish this journey strong!
