Cambodia Trip - Tuesday, Day 2

This morning I woke up 10 minutes after my alarm had started ringing. Strangely, the sound got translated in my dream into the sound of a ship’s horn. But after a while my conscious mind began arguing with my unconscious, insistently saying: ‘But you don’t get ships in Poipet!’ This thought was enough, after a while, to startle me into waking – when of course I realised that it was not a ship’s horn at all, but the alarm!

At breakfast I got a huge surprise – muesli! Muesli and yoghurt and fruit. Wow! In Cambodia! I don’t know where it came from, but I have to say that it was lovely – especially when I was expecting rice and egg. I had a good catch-up chat with Elizabeth, also from England, and who had been with us in Pattaya for Operation Extreme Love earlier in the year. She has such a heart for the women, and I was excited to hear that she is considering coming to spend an extended period of time here in Cambodia.

After prayer and worship Aaron spoke on Justice. It was a powerful and directional talk, and afterwards it was some time before anyone had anything at all to say. Considering that we are a rather vocal bunch of people, it illustrates how much impact there was.

We then set off towards the border, where we spent a bit of time handing out the illustrated booklet of Bible stories in Khmer. The children particularly love receiving these. We had split into two groups and while we walked up the right side of the road, our fellow team members walked up the left. As they walked past the market, they noticed a woman lying in a strange position at the back of the stalls, and they went over to see if they could help. She turned out to be very ill, and after praying for her they arranged to take her to the hospital. Her husband was very grateful, as he had no money to take her to there. On our side of the street, we encountered two nuns from Mother Teresa’s charity in Calcutta. They were on their way to Siem Reap, so we only had time for a quick conversation with them. 

We wandered back towards Hope & Health – it was almost time for lunch. As we walked I chatted with Narith and Sambo. Sambo was telling us about the one time he had tried to ride a horse, and about how much more difficult it was than riding a motorcycle, because of balance challenges, and because of the simple truth that the horse has a will of his own. We had a good laugh about this, and then I told him a little bit about True Connection, and about how we can synchronise together, horse and person so that it is as if they share one will – but that it is quite difficult to do. 

When I was telling him about this, I think he caught a glimpse of what it is that makes horses so very precious to me. ‘Awesome!’ he said – just as if he had spent time with my friend Ingela!

The horse conversation was not yet concluded, although the participants changed. I sat with Malina, and she wanted to know more about Brazil. I told her about the boys, and about how much I have grown to love them, and about how much I wish it were possible to change their circumstances. And, of course, about their excellent horsemanship. And about how the horses have contributed to their emotional and spiritual healing. About what horses have done for me in my life, and why I am so completely persuaded that they are wonderful facilitators to self-understanding and wholeness. About the things God has done in my life because of my own horses. And then I told her a bit about my own horses, and she shared that she would like to ride a horse; that, in fact, her husband had promised her a riding lesson for her birthday some time ago and that she had not yet had it. And then the idea came that maybe, just maybe, when next she is in Europe, she could come to Longfields and ride with us. This would make me very happy if it were to happen. I can’t say I know Malina well at all – but what I do know of her is so beautiful that I can’t help loving her. We share a common heart with regard to the well-being of children.

Malina then gave me an update on the developing connections with the Thailand authorities, and the increasing understanding that is coming between her and them. This is such wonderful news, because up until recently it was very difficult indeed to rescue trafficked Cambodian children in Thailand. There is hope that this sad situation is changing.

In the afternoon Ken shared a bit from his wealth of experience in different countries about the importance of discipleship, and about the sharing of responsibilities as a team.  

And then we split up into groups and went to different brothels in the city. We went to the brothel near the hospital, the same brothel to which I had gone on my very first visit to a brothel. We were a group of 6 people including our two interpreters, so they gave us three girls. What a contrast to other times we had visited brothels. The girls knew who we were because members of our team had been there the week before, and so instead of the usual 15 to 25 minute wait, they came running into the room just after we had sat down. One girl shared that she was so excited to see us that she didn’t even take time to wash her face before coming. Two of the girls sat with Narith and two of our team, and the other girl sat with Kim and Ken and me. As we asked questions about her life, Kim interpreting, she shared with us that she was 22 years old and that she came from a province far away, and that it took eleven hours to get home. That she had been working here for two months. She said that she used to work in a garment factory in Phnom Penh, but that she had decided to leave because they didn’t pay very much. I asked her what hours she had worked and how much she was paid and she said she had worked from 07h00 till 17h00 with a 1 hour break for lunch. And that she had been paid $50 per month. I felt a rush of anger, hearing this. It is one thing to hear about Fair Trade and the importance of supporting it, but it is another matter entirely when you meet a person who has been affected by the kind of exploitation of which we had heard. It is a tragic thing when a young person feels that she has no other choice but to prostitute herself in order to earn a decent wage. The economic reality is that it is very hard to survive, never mind live, on less than $2 a day.

I shared with her that when I was a young person, I had found life very hard because there were a lot of problems in my family. And that I had been very lonely. And that Jesus had shown Himself to be my Friend and that I had talked to Him about my problems and that He had helped me. I told her that things had got even worse in my home, but that I had been better in my heart, because now I had hope. I told her that I had seen in Scripture that God puts the lonely in families, and I had asked Him to do this for me, because I was lonely. That it had taken time, but one day I realised that my prayers had been answered, because God had given me a good husband and children and I was not alone any more.

I then asked her if there was anything I could ask Jesus to do for her. And her answer caused my heart to weep. She said she would like it if we could pray for her because she felt so dishonoured by everyone – clients and everyone else – in the way they looked at her because they know what work she does. This in a culture that esteems honour above most other things. And she was young and beautiful and sweet. Not deserving of the humiliation she was experiencing at all. Certainly not the prototype of a prostitute.

During the course of these last two years, there is one thing that God has ministered to me again and again; it is to do with value. He has shown me that my value is absolute and set – that it was determined the day He began to think of me, set on the day He created me, and confirmed when Jesus died for me. There is nothing I can do to increase or to decrease my value in His eyes. Which means, of course, that my honour is immovable to. Because value and honour go hand in hand.

So I looked her in the eyes and said that I was very sorry that people had dishonoured her, and that they had no right to do so, because God has determined her honour, and that it is very high. I said that the honour of man goes up and down depending on what we do, but that the honour of God never moves, no matter what we do. Needless to say, I was exceptionally grateful to Kim for being able to explain these concepts, in Khmer, with clarity and eloquence. I felt like she was reading my heart, not just listening to my words. And the message was getting through; I just knew it.

Ken than asked her if she knew of Jesus. And she said that she did, because an elderly person in her village had taught her. He asked whether she had yet opened her heart to Jesus, and she said ‘No’, but that she would like to do so now. So it was over to Kim, who prayed with her and helped her to receive Christ as her Lord. And then I prayed for her, that she would know the honour God bestows on her in spite of what people do or say. After this we asked her how she felt. We didn’t really need to – a huge smile had replaced the sadness in her face and she said she felt light. Ken then said that she should remind herself that she is special whenever she looks in the mirror. And I said ‘Like medicine!’ and we all laughed.

Meanwhile the other team members had had a lot of fun chatting with their girls too – we heard a lot of laughter and conversation. All too soon our hour was up and we had to leave. This is the hard part, leaving. 

Everything in us just wants to rescue these young women, but there is no way right now to do so. This is one of the challenges for Poipet – we really need a centre like Tamar here, a place where prostitutes can go to get the help they need if they are to change their lifestyles. Just yesterday there was a young woman who really did want to make a change, and she came to XP with one of our team members, and it was a hard, hard thing to have to tell her that we were not able to help her right now and that she had to go back to the brothel. We have taken her contact details and Andrea is going to see if there is an organisation in Siem Reap (or even Phnom Penh) able to take her. The problem is that there are too many young girls and not enough resources. This is a desperate need – one worth praying into and considering.

Back at the XP centre I had ½ hour to write this update and then we went for supper. Rice and chicken with cashew nuts. This is a delicious combination; one that I remembered from my time here in May. I sat with two young women from IRIS ministries; they are part of a new initiative of IRIS in Phnom Penh. It was exciting to hear of their experiences, both in Mocambique and in Cambodia.

Finally we had some time to share stories and experiences. It is always precious to hear what has been happening; we are so busy that we don’t notice much outside of what we are doing ourselves. Team members had amazing stories to share of people being helped and encouraged. It certainly made us feel that the effort of coming all this way had been worth it.

Ken had asked me earlier whether I noticed any changes since my trip in May. I was not sure and needed a bit of time to think about it. Suddenly this evening I did realise one very big difference. Wherever we walk we are greeted with shouts of ‘Hello, Hello’ and smiles as the little children come running out on the sidewalks to touch us or to do ‘High Fives’. And adults nod in greeting, and smile too. Someone told one of the team members that ‘The Christians help us’. Yes! This is how things should be. This is the life Jesus lived. This is the manifestation of the Gospel we who follow Him are supposed to bring. This is what it means to be a Christian.