I apologize a little in advance for a couple of reposts from other people, but the internet I have this weekend is a little dodgy, so I’ve picked out a few stories to tell you in advance. Just in case. I actually met this guy a little over a month ago when I ran into his group in the Philippines. Now, he and his team are in Cambodia and facing some of the most intense darkness felt around the world. I’m praying for these guys because they will see and experience things that don’t make sense and may even make them feel powerless. But our God is a soveriegn one and whether we believe it always or not, He knows what Hes doing.
As I waited in line for coffee in a small shop in Sihanokville, Cambodia, I had a conversation with an aged-Australian man that revealed the tragic truth about this country. As he sipped beer and received a massage from a thin Khmer girl, he shared some things that I haven’t been able to get out of my head.
“This place is like heaven,” he said. “You can get whatever you want.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked him. “What brought you here?”
“A business opportunity,” he said. “I own a guest house. It’s the only one right in the street. You should come by.”
“No that’s alright. I’m staying with my friends at a motel.” Although I got the hint about what kind of place this man was running, I couldn’t help but ask more.
“How’s business?” I asked, fearing the response I may get.
“Oh, it’s great mate. Hundreds of girls wait across the street. Guys pick out their dates, rent a full-priced room for an hour, then leave. I make hundreds a night. Really, you should come by.”
Feeling nauseated, I shook my head and mustered out, “No, that’s quite alright.”
But he continued, “Oh come on man. The girls are cheap. And young, really young.”
At this point I couldn’t take anymore. I looked at him wide-eyed and said, “That really depresses me.” He just smiled and laughed, so I walked away.
As I spend more time in Cambodia, I’m finding it very difficult to love as Christ loves. For me, it’s very easy to have compassion on the sex-trafficking victim or the young prostitute who grew up without a father. And while I thank God that he has broken me for these girls, I’m beginning to see that that is only one side of the love that God calls us to. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies.” God’s heart doesn’t just break for prostitutes and trafficking victims; it breaks for the men perpetuating the cycle.
If I’m honest, after the conversation with the chubby Australian, I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to throw his beer in his face and say he’s the reason the world has problems. I wanted to knock over his chair and spit on him. I wanted to make him feel pain.
Yet as I think more and more about our conversation, I realize this man is just as enslaved as many of the girls wrapped up in prostitution. To him, Heaven is making quick money, buying cheap beer and having unmitigated sex with girls who don’t love him. He has clearly never tasted what true life is, and that’s nothing short of a tragedy. This is not to say that he doesn’t carry responsibility for his actions, but it does show that he is just as much in need of God’s love as the girls he profits off of.
How sad that so many men are satisfied playing in the mud when Heaven is on the horizon. Pray that God’s grace would flood Cambodia and wash away the shallow desires that run rampant here.
