A feast in the Kingdom of God - Grant

In our world of wonderful technology which allows us to tell you what we are seeing and experiencing and which allows us to photograph and video everything, there are times when the only record of an event are the memories of the individuals involved. Today is such a day.

We started a little earlier than usual because we had an 11:30 we could not miss. We spent two hours at Rahab’s House today. I was painting with Marty up in what was formerly known as the “virgin room” – the place where top dollar got time with a virgin which in the child sex-trade is terrifyingly young. It is a very different place. As Kit said, the horrible pink is gone and has been replaced with sunshine yellow – not a colour I would chose for my own home but just the right colour here. Yesterday I’d been working downstairs scraping walls for the day and at one point I went up to see how the team upstairs was doing. I reached the top of the very steep stairs and called out to Marty and Kit and Barb and asked how things were “in the party room.” No sooner were the words out of my mouth than I felt sick to my stomach. I intended to refer to the fact that they were up in the bright light of this room removed from the rest of us – like was a special place – but the reality of my own words quick connected to what this room had been. As quickly as I’d said it I said, “forgive me I didn’t mean…” I was forgiven.

This is a holy work we are doing. I’ve heard that and said it myself a number of times, “This is holy work.” When we say it we are referring to scraping off the pink paint and painting the washing area out side of the upper room and knocking down walls – it is all holy work. And today after two hours of work we were back to PP to get ready to see a big part of the reason this is holy work.

ARC (NewSong) is a wonderful place. It is very secure and we want to keep it that way so we won’t use any real names of staff or children or indicate in anyway where it might be found.

We are all so privileged to be invited in because they are very careful about who they even allow to know the location. We all feel this honour as we enter the grounds. We are given a guided tour by the man in charge – a man known lovingly by all the girls as “Dad.” He doesn’t treat them like broken flowers, he shows them great respect and love and treats them all like his own daughters. He protects them like his own daughters. We are shown through classrooms and a variety of other rooms used to help these girls heal and grow up like regular kids.

After the tour we are invited to share lunch with the girls. I feel like an honoured guest… What did it feel like? Was I an honoured guest in the presence of royalty? No that wasn’t it. Was I an honoured guest in the presence of a movie star or rock star? No that wasn’t it either. Even as I sit and write this I have a very strong sense that I was a guest of honour in the Kingdom of God – Yes that’s the closest thing to it. We were at a feast in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom where tears will be wiped away, where there is healing and wholeness and love and God is right there. ARC is part of the Kingdom of God as is Rahab’s House as if Fairview. At those tables we were connected - we were one in the Kingdom of God.

We presented the banner for the girls there and it was happily received to great applause – Dad encourage the great applause. We presented them with the money the children at Fairview raised for school supplies at RH and we presented them with the pictures Brian Dennehy took of the presentation of the banners at Fairview the Sunday before we left.

Then we presented them with the matching banner – the one we will bring back to Fairview for the girls to write or draw or do what ever they wanted to. We left it with them to finish because our time was up and we had to leave. I was asked to pray for and over the girls before we left. I am not often caught off guard but I was at a loss for words but offered what the Lord placed on my heart. There were many sompaes (bow with hands held in the prayer posture at the mouth) as we said our good-byes. “God bless you,” was called back and forth and there was even a “We’ll see you next year” by one of the girls for good measure.

Then we were back to the street and out tuktuks back to the hotel. I can’t speak for the other team members but I left with real thankfulness for the profound work of so many that has made this place a reality. And God has made us too – all of Fairview – to be a part of this amazing work.

There are no photos of our visit for security reasons we have only our memories which are permanently etched into our minds.

Grant