The children are still hanging around the front entrance of Rahab’s House… our very own fan club. Today I shared my name with the most outgoing boy, I would guess an eight year old. After a few tries I was able to pronounce his name, Tao, and he was able to pronounce mine, Paul. This may seem to be a trivial task, however the Khmer language has different sounds, so it takes a few attempts each way for us to get our names pronounced properly. Within a few minutes, all his friends were introducing themselves to me and asking for the names of the rest of the Field Team. Richard is the only name they couldn’t manage, so he elected to go by the name of Tom. These children get so much joy out of interacting with strangers, it makes you wonder why some people come here to abuse them.
Lunch came quickly. Clayton had ordered pizza to celebrate our progress. He also mentioned that the girls undergoing rehabilitation at the Agape Restoration Centre (ARC) were going to be dropping by today. They come by twice a week to do community outreach, and as you read in some of Tuesday’s Blogs, they elected not to come that day because of the constructions. We focused on filling in the wall ruts with concrete (a job I find very therapeutic) and cleaning up as much of the mess as possible. This would be the first they would see how this former house of despair and oppression had been changed. Gone was the pink from the walls, gone were the pictures depicting what sexy girls should look like, gone were walls that entrapped them with sexually depraved men… maybe this would be part of the healing process for them… removing the physical reminders of the terrifying times they spent here.
As I stood with the rest of the team when the girls stepped out of the van, a stream of conflicting emotions flowed through me… so fast that none of them really registered on my face.
- Shock at how young they were and innocent they looked… much like the girls in my daughter Megan’s class.
- Joy that they were no longer subject to the oppression of the past.
- Sadness for the many girls, many lying sedated in huts around the village, still slaves to this awful trade.
- Relief that they are getting the best help possible to heal their emotional and physical scars.
- Grief for the burden they must be carrying and the guilt they feel for what is not of their doing or their fault.
- Hope for their future, as they experience the immeasurable love of God, who heard their cries, cried with them and called us all to take action..
We will have the opportunity to meet these girls again tomorrow when we visit ARC, and many of the other who have been rescued by IJM since the first raids in 2003. This is why we have been called to do this work, not just the ten of us here in Cambodia, but all in Fairview Church, and all of our friends who have heard of this mission and are supporting it through donations and prayer. We are all making a difference in this world. Praise God.
Here is part of a song by Matt Redman, maybe this best expresses my gift to these girls.
Jesus, what can I give, what can I bring
To so faithful a friend, to so loving a King?
Savior, what can be said, what can be sung
As a praise of Your name
For the things You have done?
Oh my words could not tell, not even in part
Of the debt of love that is owed
By this thankful heart
I will offer up my life
In spirit and truth,
Pouring out the oil of love
As my worship to You
In surrender I must give my every part;
Lord, receive the sacrifice
Of a broken heart.
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