It's crazy how this church here does ministry and sharing the Gospel. By 'crazy', i mean awesome and challenging. Rain or Shine. Doesn't matter...they go to the slums every Thursday. Put a blue tarp down in the middle of the slums for the kids to sit on. They play games, have a time of worship and then teach them a bible story. To end, they hand out little bags (cost about 25 cents each to put together) to each kid who participated. (see video below that i made from this past week)
Angkor Wat
Aaron and I took a day trip to Ankgor Wat last weekend (about a 6 hour bus ride that costs $8).
Children At Risk
Really good stuff. People donate money ($35 a month) and this group goes to different villages and sponsors families with children who really need it. Good to see money being put to good use and changing lives. Met a couple guys in one of the villages who sat down and played some worship on guitar with me. Taught me some stuff in Cami (language here in Cambodia). Really enjoyed that.
Sarah and SJ
Both of these kids live here at the orphanage. Sarah was just a baby when she was brought here by her mother. SJ has an interesting story. They found him on the ground in the middle of a village. His father abandoned his mother. His mother is prostituting in Phnom Penh, and nobody knows if she will ever come back. His grandmother is a drunk and supposedly beat his head…So he survived by crawling around from shack to shack looking for food. Here is a picture of him when he was found.
and now.....
I was able to call and talk to my friends in India a couple times last week. Miss em. They told me about the church that they planted and asked for our continual prayers. A friend of mine, from Baton Rouge, who is also serving here in Cambodia, left last week to go visit them in India. Pray for her and her time in India.
I've seen the video's about it. I've heard the stories about it. But seeing sex trafficking happening right in front of your eyes...and i mean feet from where you are...it puts everything into a whole different perspective. Seeing an overweight, old foreigner walking around with a teenage (13-15 years old...and sometimes younger) cambodia girl cause he paid to keep her for the day or the week...sad is an understatement. Realizing that me having an emotion (anger or sadness) in that moment doesn't help anything and there's nothing i can do....i feel helpless. Im use to going somewhere and attempting to help by serving or giving something. But here....when you see that...what to do? i pray. And to be specific, i pray for Sara. A beautiful 23 year old Cambodian girl we met a week ago who was sitting in a restaurant at a bar. All dressed up. Mini skirt. Revealing top. Hair done. Just sitting there. Waiting. Waiting for the next guy to sit next to her and make an offer. I never had a face to put with all the stories and articles i've heard or read. Now i do. Wish i could do something to stop it.
To all of you who slipped me a $20 bill or gave me a little something for this trip, Thank You. Every thursday, Aaron and I take a group of the older boys (7-10 of them) out to eat for lunch. The money you gave me has been used to buy them this lunch the past 3 weeks. I can tell you on behalf of them, they appreciate it. Pizza would be nice one week, but that would cost about $40 for all of us. If you wanna help with that, i won't stop you. haha.
Miss my friends. Miss iTuesday. Never the same on Tuesday night without them.
Pray for me. Got alot on my mind. Alot.
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