Monday, June 29, 2009
Cambodia adventure continues
Its Tuesday. My team encouraged me to stay back and rest today so I could get well. I left California with a cold, and its gone into my chest and sinuses. I'm praying that this day of rest will allow me to get well. I'd appreciate your prayers too. There is so much to do, and it will take everyone on the team contributing these next two weeks. Please pray for strength and the ability to deal with the extensive heat and humidity as we work throughout the day.
We're up at 7 am and leave by 8. We're not home until 5pm. There is no airconditioning, and electricity for fans comes and goes throughout the day at Rahab's house. Rahab's house was bought by Agape International in the center of Svay Pak. It used to be a brothel, but they've turned it into a church and community center for the kids during the week. A young pastor and his wife and infant son live there now, up in what used to be the virgin room. Young virgins yield a lot of money, so little girls under ten are sold as virgins. When Agape took over they found permanent blood stains on the floor and bed in that room.
But now the whole building is flooded with joy, laughter, light and God's presence. You can feel it. The people who now come to this building every day are safe. Those who work here now care about the people, and love the children. Here the children can be children again, if only for a couple hours a day. Yet some of the people, especially the traffickers, even the parents who profit from selling their children, resent Agape for being there. The young man who runs Rahab house has been threatened. They say to him, we know why you're here...you can't stop what we're doing. The traffickers work like the mafia...the people don't go against them.
The little boys are taught young to be runners for the girls. Little boys starting under 10 years old are paid to get the girls and bring them to customers. There's no use going to the police, cause they're in on it. In fact the chief police of Svay Pak is the one who used to own the brothel that's now Rahab's House.
In the midst of the hell of Svay Pak, God's light is shining. Young children are coming to know Jesus, and are discovering for the first time that what is happening to them is wrong.
I don't know about our little girl yet, but will find out when the team gets back tonight. I'll let you know if she came in today. Svay Pak is like living in hell. Its a huge filthy, dark slum. Almost all the children in that area are trafficked.
Last night while I was blogging to you, an older woman, probably a grandmother came in with three little girls all dressed up. They were very little, all under ten years old. About fifteen minutes later she came out with a different girl and met a man. It turned my stomach. Even here in our hotel girls are sold. Our first morning for breakfast an old American man came in with a young local girl. I see him around here all the time...the emotions I feel towards him are ones I've never felt before.
Thanks for your prayers and reading my blog. Please pass the link to as many people as you can who will pray!
Blessings, barb
We're up at 7 am and leave by 8. We're not home until 5pm. There is no airconditioning, and electricity for fans comes and goes throughout the day at Rahab's house. Rahab's house was bought by Agape International in the center of Svay Pak. It used to be a brothel, but they've turned it into a church and community center for the kids during the week. A young pastor and his wife and infant son live there now, up in what used to be the virgin room. Young virgins yield a lot of money, so little girls under ten are sold as virgins. When Agape took over they found permanent blood stains on the floor and bed in that room.
But now the whole building is flooded with joy, laughter, light and God's presence. You can feel it. The people who now come to this building every day are safe. Those who work here now care about the people, and love the children. Here the children can be children again, if only for a couple hours a day. Yet some of the people, especially the traffickers, even the parents who profit from selling their children, resent Agape for being there. The young man who runs Rahab house has been threatened. They say to him, we know why you're here...you can't stop what we're doing. The traffickers work like the mafia...the people don't go against them.
The little boys are taught young to be runners for the girls. Little boys starting under 10 years old are paid to get the girls and bring them to customers. There's no use going to the police, cause they're in on it. In fact the chief police of Svay Pak is the one who used to own the brothel that's now Rahab's House.
In the midst of the hell of Svay Pak, God's light is shining. Young children are coming to know Jesus, and are discovering for the first time that what is happening to them is wrong.
I don't know about our little girl yet, but will find out when the team gets back tonight. I'll let you know if she came in today. Svay Pak is like living in hell. Its a huge filthy, dark slum. Almost all the children in that area are trafficked.
Last night while I was blogging to you, an older woman, probably a grandmother came in with three little girls all dressed up. They were very little, all under ten years old. About fifteen minutes later she came out with a different girl and met a man. It turned my stomach. Even here in our hotel girls are sold. Our first morning for breakfast an old American man came in with a young local girl. I see him around here all the time...the emotions I feel towards him are ones I've never felt before.
Thanks for your prayers and reading my blog. Please pass the link to as many people as you can who will pray!
Blessings, barb
My Cambodia Adventure
Its almost 10pm on Monday evening, and we've just finished our first day here in Cambodia. We had a great trip on our way here stopping in Hong Kong for a day. Cambodia is like no place I've ever seen, or could have imagined. I'm still trying to process what I've seen, smelled and experienced today. First of all, we're in the capitol, Phnom Penh. Its a big, crowded city. People mostly drive around on motorbikes transporting their entire families on one bike, including infants. Traffic lights, and order on the roadways are non-existent--and pedestrians do not have the right of way! I've already had two tuk-tuk rides--a motor drawn open carriage. Its a popular way to travel here.
This week we're doing a Vacation Bible School program with the children in Svay Pak. This is a highly trafficked area with most of the children trafficked in the sex slave trade. The children were incredibly excited to meet us this morning. They're sweet, precious and very friendly. Our guides took us around to the homes of the families in Svay Pak. There is so much poverty, with entire families living in open shacks the size of a small bedroom.
Its just so hard for me to process that these young, small, precious children are sold by their families every night and used for sex. One little girl showed up today with makeup on. She had to be about 6 years old. We found out that the week before she'd come to kids club with bruises all over her. Her mother had given her a beating because she refused to have sex with a man. She's still a virgin. After tonight she won't be...she's 6 years old. Her childhood has just ended. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. I've been praying for her every since I saw her.
On our way home tonight we got caught in a rain storm. Within minutes the streets flooded a couple feet deep. Our tuk-tuk driver had to drop us off to walk back to our hotel because he couldn't drive through the water. We waded in dirty, sewer water up to our knees. It was quite an adventure. Thanks so much for your prayers. We need them. We're still jet-lagged, the heat and humidity is extreme and some of us our sick. But we feel so privileged to be here, and excited about what God wants to show us of Himself here in this place. He is working. He is a beacon of light here in the midst of this evil. Continue to pray for God's power to rescue these children from this life of torment, and their parents from the ignorance that perpeuates this from one generation to the next. And pray for Agape International who are here every day being Jesus to these people, and providing a refuge for the children.
Blessings,
Barb
This week we're doing a Vacation Bible School program with the children in Svay Pak. This is a highly trafficked area with most of the children trafficked in the sex slave trade. The children were incredibly excited to meet us this morning. They're sweet, precious and very friendly. Our guides took us around to the homes of the families in Svay Pak. There is so much poverty, with entire families living in open shacks the size of a small bedroom.
Its just so hard for me to process that these young, small, precious children are sold by their families every night and used for sex. One little girl showed up today with makeup on. She had to be about 6 years old. We found out that the week before she'd come to kids club with bruises all over her. Her mother had given her a beating because she refused to have sex with a man. She's still a virgin. After tonight she won't be...she's 6 years old. Her childhood has just ended. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. I've been praying for her every since I saw her.
On our way home tonight we got caught in a rain storm. Within minutes the streets flooded a couple feet deep. Our tuk-tuk driver had to drop us off to walk back to our hotel because he couldn't drive through the water. We waded in dirty, sewer water up to our knees. It was quite an adventure. Thanks so much for your prayers. We need them. We're still jet-lagged, the heat and humidity is extreme and some of us our sick. But we feel so privileged to be here, and excited about what God wants to show us of Himself here in this place. He is working. He is a beacon of light here in the midst of this evil. Continue to pray for God's power to rescue these children from this life of torment, and their parents from the ignorance that perpeuates this from one generation to the next. And pray for Agape International who are here every day being Jesus to these people, and providing a refuge for the children.
Blessings,
Barb
Friday, June 26, 2009
Cambodia 2009
Today I leave for Cambodia. My first mission trip. I'm both excited and nervous. Working with Agape International, www.aim4asia.com, my team and I will be having an impact in the lives of young children, girls especially, who are currently involved in the sex slave trade. As well, we'll have an opportunity to work with a house full of girls who've been rescued and are now being restored by Agape.
Its hard to imagine this evil going on day after day, with everyone knowing, and no one doing anything to stop it, but rather encouraging and profiting from it. Here in America we have no frame of reference for this. Yes, I know its happening here, but thankfully its neither accepted, encouraged or allowed. Not so in Cambodia. Everyone is involved; family, friends, police, tourists...there is no where to escape from it. It is your destiny if your family is poor.
I don't know what to expect, which is part of the excitement and nervousness...the heat, humidity, fatigue, poverty, in addition to this evil makes me nervous because I sense I'm journeying to the pit of hell. But I'm also excited, because I know that God is there--right in the midst of this hell. He is already working. He's merely invited me to witness and participate in what He's already doing. I'm excited to see Him at work in ways I could never imagine, and possibly never witness here in our land of freedom and plenty.
You can take this journey with me as I blog about the trip in the days to come and view the pictures and videos we'll be uploading to our site. In addition to this site, you may also want to visit our website, www.cambodia2009.
The adventure begins...stay tuned.
Its hard to imagine this evil going on day after day, with everyone knowing, and no one doing anything to stop it, but rather encouraging and profiting from it. Here in America we have no frame of reference for this. Yes, I know its happening here, but thankfully its neither accepted, encouraged or allowed. Not so in Cambodia. Everyone is involved; family, friends, police, tourists...there is no where to escape from it. It is your destiny if your family is poor.
I don't know what to expect, which is part of the excitement and nervousness...the heat, humidity, fatigue, poverty, in addition to this evil makes me nervous because I sense I'm journeying to the pit of hell. But I'm also excited, because I know that God is there--right in the midst of this hell. He is already working. He's merely invited me to witness and participate in what He's already doing. I'm excited to see Him at work in ways I could never imagine, and possibly never witness here in our land of freedom and plenty.
You can take this journey with me as I blog about the trip in the days to come and view the pictures and videos we'll be uploading to our site. In addition to this site, you may also want to visit our website, www.cambodia2009.
The adventure begins...stay tuned.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Teen Girls and Sex
Last weekend I spoke at a teen girls conference on sex. More specifically, I talked with them about how sex creates a bond, physically, emotionally, spiritually and even chemically. And this bond outside marriage can wound us, and impact our ability to bond in future relationships, even marriage.
But unlike other teen audiences, with this one, I also talked about sexual abuse, and forced sex as in rape. In my experience leading women through sexual healing, I've discovered that for many women, their first exposure to sex begins with someone molesting them, forcing them to have sex, or exposing them to sexually explicit material or behavior.
In addition to opening their sexual pathway early, it can cause great damage, wounding and shame. Most young girls don't tell anyone of their experiences because of the shame, thereby allowing the abuse to continue. And then when these young girls reach puberty, the abuse can often cause them to become sexually promiscuous.
After I spoke, I offered the girl's an opportunity to speak confidentially with me. And so they came, several girls, telling me of their experiences with abuse in their past. And their current sexual choices. My heart broke to hear their painful stories. But I was also excited for them. Bringing their secrets into the open, and healing from past wounds can protect them from re-wounding themselves sexually in the future. It can also save them from living decades haunted by shame and pain.
Although we need to address teen sexual behavior, we need to be aware that if teens are having sex early--12 or 13 years of age, they may have been exposed to sex earlier in their life that contributed to this behavior.
But there's hope. God can heal anything. I've already watched Him do it with countless women who've been wounded by sex in their pasts. And I know He'll do it for these girls too.
But unlike other teen audiences, with this one, I also talked about sexual abuse, and forced sex as in rape. In my experience leading women through sexual healing, I've discovered that for many women, their first exposure to sex begins with someone molesting them, forcing them to have sex, or exposing them to sexually explicit material or behavior.
In addition to opening their sexual pathway early, it can cause great damage, wounding and shame. Most young girls don't tell anyone of their experiences because of the shame, thereby allowing the abuse to continue. And then when these young girls reach puberty, the abuse can often cause them to become sexually promiscuous.
After I spoke, I offered the girl's an opportunity to speak confidentially with me. And so they came, several girls, telling me of their experiences with abuse in their past. And their current sexual choices. My heart broke to hear their painful stories. But I was also excited for them. Bringing their secrets into the open, and healing from past wounds can protect them from re-wounding themselves sexually in the future. It can also save them from living decades haunted by shame and pain.
Although we need to address teen sexual behavior, we need to be aware that if teens are having sex early--12 or 13 years of age, they may have been exposed to sex earlier in their life that contributed to this behavior.
But there's hope. God can heal anything. I've already watched Him do it with countless women who've been wounded by sex in their pasts. And I know He'll do it for these girls too.
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