Happy 1st Anniversary RAP Home!

Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary when we welcomed several young women into the RAP Community home. It was fitting that a Ratanak team from Canada was visiting Cambodia during this time. The team is made up of both Ratanak staff from Canada and some of our volunteers who work in raising awareness through their fundraising activities our hosting events for us. So we were especially blessed by having them come and celebrate not only the 1 year anniversary but also the 1 month birthday of Ratanak Daniel!

Ratanak Canada team

The festivities began at around 3pm when the team arrived and as part of our warm up games, the young women at RAP and our staff had to guess who were Ratanak staff and who were Ratanak volunteers. That led to a few rounds of laughter as the young women assumed that the older ones were staff and the younger ones were volunteers. Then the tables were reversed and we mixed up the Khmer staff and young women and the Canadian team had to choose who was staff and who was living at the RAP home. One of the advantages that the Khmer have is they all look so ageless so it was a bit of a challenge for the Canadian team.

Musical chairs

Jessica and Joy our two Ratanak staff had prepared a few ice breaker games and brought prizes along for the winners. We have found this to be very valuable in helping the young women at RAP overcome their initial shyness as we rarely have guests or short term visitors to the RAP home as a way of not infringing on the young women's privacy given that it is their home. But as well, we are mindful that these young women are still on a journey of healing and learning about healthy attachments with their caregivers. So the need to limit visitors is of primary importance to support ongoing bonding with those who walk with them on a daily process.

We started with the all too familiar musical chairs game which left a few minor injuries as one of our heavier weighted staff promptly sat on the leg of one of our young women---she has recovered from the soreness of that event!:-)

3 legged race with Canadian and Khmer staff

''Papa Brian matching pictures with one of the young women''

Following that, several other games ie: 3 legged race outside and a matching picture game all led to more laughter. But one of my favorite games was one in which each person was giving a picture of an animal and they had to find others who had the same picture but this could only be done by making the sound of the animal. We figured this was a good cross cultural game since it only required animal sounds and no verbal language. However we all discovered that as people walked around trying to find others who had the same animal sound,  there was a translation adjustment. Did you know that a Cambodian pig goes ''ou, ou'' while a Canadian pig goes ''oink, oink'' or that a Canadian cow say ''moo, moo'' but a Cambodian cow says ''more more!'' You can only imagine how difficult it was trying to match these sounds in a room crowded with 30 plus people. Suffice to say the game was a huge success with peels of laughter and to top it all, there was even a cross cultural lesson discovered! As an aside,  I guess next time when I sing to Baby Daniel,  I will have to change the version of the kids tune ''the wheels on the bus go around and around and the cows on the bus go ''more more more'' :-)

From there, it was the young women's turn as they locked arms with some of the visitors and took them on a tour around the RAP home to see their rooms as well as some of the office rooms with some of our staff  When everyone returned to the main entrance, '' Papa Brian shared a small speech thanking the RAP young women for allowing the guests to come and visit their home and congratulated them for adjusting to many changes and challenges as they moved from a shelter to the RAP Community home. At the end, the Canadian team had prepared little gift bags for the young women and also our staff. So often everyone focuses on blessing the young women but it is equally as important to remember that without our staff, we could not provide the care and services to support the young women.

Bloom cake for the Young Women and a 1 month birthday cake for baby Daniel

 We ordered a wonderful cake from our favorite bakery Bloom for the young women in honor of their 1 year anniversary at the RAP home and also a little birthday cake to celebrate Baby Daniel's 1 month. In the midst of all the games and activities, baby Daniel was busily sleeping his life a way immune to all the laughter and noise!

Baby Daniel with Sokunthy our social worker

Our evening of celebration continued at the Pizza Company for all of our staff and young women. Some of whom slowly began to practice their English on their Canadian visitors. It was wonderful time for the Canadian team to spend time with their Khmer counterparts and the young women. After all, our staff in Canada and our volunteers so often work in jobs behind the scene and spend countless hours praying for our team and the young women on this end.

All in all it was a light hearted entertaining afternoon and evening. A time to join together as one big family in Christ. Epheisans 3:4-5 says: For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. As the team returns to Canada shortly, I am reminded that whether we are Canadian or Khmer, we are all one in Christ. We all have the same purpose. To see God glorified in the lives of the young women! It is our efforts together as a team, whether praying, whether fundraising, or those of us who work on the front lines ministering directly to the young women ---we are all on a journey together walking with them so that they too will encounter the one glorious hope that we all have in Christ. It is that glorious hope that enables all of us to continue to persevere in the midst of challenges and stresses knowing that as He binds us together, He is the One that unites us and He is the One that will sustain us because He is the One that is doing the work of redemption as we remain faithful to that which He has called each of us!

A New Addition to the RAP Community Home - a Divine Interruption

There are many things one learns living overseas and one of the lessons I continually experience here is that God's ways are not our ways. We learn to expect the unexpected and go with the flow. Flexibility is a must for anyone who wants to live cross culturally and adapting to new situations is a regular occurrence. These truths became more of a reality when one of our young women became pregnant. With her permission, I am able to share about the most recent addition to the RAP Community home.

Ratanak Daniel - 1 day old!

 Last Saturday, we had the privilege of welcoming little baby Ratanak Daniel into our ''RAP Family"' weighing in at 6lbs 1 ounces.  The names of this baby seems so significant--Ratanak means "'Precious Gem" in Khmer and Daniel of course was a man of integrity. How God gave these names to Daniel's mother seems so appropriate. Indeed he is a precious gem of God created for for such a time as this, to live in such a way that he will live out God's ways and truth wholeheartedly in spite of the societal pressures to water down the truth.  While the community home was not designed for such young infants, God obviously had other designs and plans.

Ratanak Daniel - 1 week old!

Through his birth, I am learning much about God's grace and redemptive power through the remarkable courage of his mother who is going against the cultural norms by having a baby as a single mother! In this culture, so often young pregnant unwed mothers have to deal with shame and the stigma associated with having a baby outside of marriage. For Srey Neth (not her real name), her incredible poise, and maturity during this time continues to amaze me despite her young age. During her pregnancy, she ate all the right food to ensure that her baby was getting the appropriate nutrients, she talked about her future with her son and shared about what she would like to do. This morning, one week after giving birth she said to some of our young women, staff and myself, I would like Daniel to go church this morning. I would like him to know God. She asked if she could join as well and of course we were delighted to have her go despite the fact she was feeling a bit weak and sore from the delivery.

Daniel laughing while at church!

Like a doting grandmother ---yes I am now being called ''Makyeah'' I have been happily taking photos, praying over him each day whenever I see him, cuddling him and singing the infamous Christian children's song ''Jesus Loves Me This I Know''. In just one week, he has recognized that song and it soothes him if he starts to cry. So much so, that I often get called upon to sing the song to him if he cries but I have shared with our young women that they need to sing the song in Khmer so that he will learn it in both languages. To say that he is getting a lot of attention is an understatement but it goes to show that the Lord has a way of providing a loving family environment with lots of ''Ombreys'' (aunts) to baby sit and play with him! Pray for wisdom for all of us that we do not spoil him for it is so easy to do! :-)

 I have also had the privilege of observing one of the precious values of this culture--- the benefits of community and the love that can emanates out of such a close knit community.  From Baby Daniel's arrival, we have witnessed the love of God manifested in a whole new way as our young women and staff seek to care for this little baby as well as his mum. Two of our young women along with one of our home advisors were with Srey Neath as the delivery was imminent. They stayed over night at the hospital praying for her and Daniel, so much so the doctor was so impressed that he said to them your God is good because Srey Neath's delivery was smooth and short (6 hours) from start to finish. Amazing considering this was her first child. These two helpers took turns helping her when she needed to go to the bathroom and happily enjoyed feeding and changing Daniel's diapers under the watchful eye of our home advisors.

Two of our home advisors and one young women with Daniel

One of our staff and two of our young women helping out at the hospital feeding Srey Neath

Both our staff and young women at the RAP home have also shown me afresh that ''divine interruptions'' usually  are a summons to servanthood--not convenience, not ease, not wealth or power, but a summons to servanthood. Because usually when God interrupts somebody s life he calls them to serve. The Lord has interrupted our lives with this beautiful bundle of joy. We see the servant heart of Christ coming out in some of our young women as they volunteer to wash Daniel's clothes as well as wash Srey Neth's clothes while she is still recovering from the delivery. We see them willingly volunteering to clean his diaper and take him for little walks around the RAP home so his mum can get a rest. Indeed, through this divine interruption, we see tenderness, nurturing, sacrifice, thoughtfulness and most of all His love coming from our young women. Consider their own life experiences, where they perhaps have not received such love and care, their actions show again that the Lord has built into each one of us the capacity to love and care despite whatever trauma or brokenness we may have experienced.

Of course one learns much as well about how Khmer care for babies. I am told that babies born in the province to poor families are often given water and sugar to eat if the mother can't produce milk. They simply have no money to buy the milk powder. We have had to do some training with our staff on how to sterilize the baby bottles, clean him and burp him as well as the importance of personal hygiene. All these little reminders and details make me realize how many odds are stacked against children born in a third world country and yet God has His own ways of taking care and keeping babies healthy in the midst of the most challenging environment.

As I think of "'baby Daniel'', I can't help but reflect on a baby boy who too was born over 2000 years. The birth of Jesus ushered in a whole new dimension of love, of peace and of joy. His birth too was a Divine Interruption ---an interruption that change the course of history, change the life of his mother Mary and led to a whole new understanding of love and servanthood. His birth made a way for us all to receive salvation and eternal life. So as I think of the impact of Christ and the incredible interruption He was and continues to be in our lives, my hope is that Ratanak Daniel will also be a divine interruption where ever He goes, that he too will be used by the Lord to bless others in ways that they could never have imagined.

Baking at the RAP Home

At the RAP Community home we are always trying to ensure that the environment our young women live in is contextually Cambodian. However, the one area where we have a bit of ''Western influence'' is having a Western oven. This was deliberately done to encourage our young women who liked baking to gain different life skills and experience using an oven. Over time, our young women have made a variety of baked goods and our staff and the other young women have had the pleasure of taste testing!.

Lois encouraging one of our young women

Recently, Lois who is an international worker that volunteers at RAP normally helping us out on administrative functions, is also an avid baker in her spare time. As such, she has spent some time teaching some of our young women how to bake from scratch. This is a far cry from my lazy style baking which involves using Duncan Hines cake mixes. But the reality is, baking from scratch is more contextually appropriate and useful for the young women to learn all the ingredients and the quantities needed to make all the desserts. One of our young women SL has really excelled in this area on her own initiative and often in her spare time is now coming up with her own baking creations as she goes on the internet to research recipes and then experiments in the RAP kitchen. It has also been a great way for her to learn more English as she will chat with Lois on different ingredients and quantities. She now has her own recipe journal making notes of all the different recipes and has already making adjustments to existing recipes to perfect the taste! I think that's a sign of a good cook or baker!

Making muffins

Making Bread

To date, SL has made muffins, chocolate chip cookies, bread, pancakes, crepes and even donuts. On one occasion, SL and another young women contributed their own funds to make donuts for their friends at the shelter they previously stayed at. Such generosity using what little they have, speaks to the heart that God is cultivating in them as they seek to bless others.

Donuts 

Chocolate chip cookies anyone!

Muffins

Making  Pancakes

With such baking enthusiasm, we are gaining weight tasting all these baking delicacies.:-) But its for a good cause! How can we resist? One's gotta do what one's gotta do!

More importantly, through these baking exercises, we see self confidence, initiative and creativity being released in SL as she enjoys this ''hobby.'' This is what we desire for each of the young women who stay at the RAP home, that as time goes by, they will each discover their own passions that reflects their individual personalities, talents and gifts that God has given to them. Our role is simply to facilitate and provide opportunities to support and nurture their individual giftings and achievements so that when they leave the RAP home, they leave with a deeper understanding of not only who they are in Christ but a deeper understanding of why He created them and a deeper realization that they can do immeasurably more than they could ever imagine!

University --- Here We Come!

In two weeks time university classes start up again after the Pchum Ben holidays and we are so excited that  some of our young women  are now preparing to attend their first year in university. This has been a long journey for each one of them as they have overcome much to get to this point. Having passed their grade 12 exams recently,  they are heading to the university of their choice. Over the past few weeks our social workers have been busy meeting with each of them and discussing their career opportunities and what they want to do as part of their Individual Achievement Plan (IAP). Can you imagine this? Young women who are discovering the joys of dreaming about their future and what they want to do. This is not an easy journey but part of helping them to transition well, is helping each of them to discover first of all that they have choice to make decisions about their life and secondly, our ongoing desire is to help them choose wisely and make responsible decisions in all facets of their lives so that they can truly live out their dreams and achieve their goals.

For us at Ratanak, we feel such a privilege and are indeed proud of their achievements thus far. Its one of the reasons we have called our community home the Ratanak Achievement Program Community Home. These young women have achieved much to get to this point in their lives. They have had to endure much pain, rejection and abandonment, go through years of counseling, work through ongoing issues related to self esteem, value and self worth and here they are now, living examples that  ''we are more than conquerors in Christ.''  In all of this, we are part of a team of organizations investing in their lives and are grateful for our partners organizations who first walked with these young women and have now passed the baton to us to continue facilitating their journey of transition into the real world.

As part of their preparation for university, we give each young women an initial ''education pack'' ie: a small sum of money to buy their school supplies and school uniforms. Any subsequent purchases, during the university year, they have to save up their weekly allowance and budget wisely in order to pay for their ongoing supplies. Some of them are also hoping to work part time so that they can earn extra income. We encourage this since this is how many young people here supplement their university costs.   This is all part of preparing them for independence and a move away from dependence on the NGO to provide for every single one of their needs. This is not easy, but it is a necessary step if these young women are really going to develop the necessary resilience and tools to live in the real world.  However,  like typical teenagers or young people, the money is never enough but as a team we  have evaluated what is a reasonable cost for a university student.  So today, some of our young women piled into the Ratanak truck  excited to go shopping for their school supplies and uniforms. A few hours later, they arrived back to display some of their purchases.

University supplies, school uniforms

University students are all required to wear uniforms and our young women got a good deal buying their long skirts and blue shirts at the local market among their notebooks, pens, shoes and backpacks. One young women mentioned that she needed 6 notepads but only bought 3 because she ran out of money.  I showed one of our staff the notebooks the young women purchased and she mentioned, ''well she could have chosen a cheaper notebook and bought all 6 but she choose the most expensive ones.'' So the lessons on budgeting and saving begin!

So what will these 5 young women be studying? Well this is the fun part---one young women SL is planning to study Information technology. She is already gifted in this area and even teaches our home advisors when they have questions on different computer programs and has taught them how to set up their Facebook pages! Another of our young women C, is planning to study social work. She had a chance to chat with both our counselors and social workers asking them what's the difference between those two professions and through those conversations discovered that she doesn't want to be stuck in an office all day long listening to peoples problems but rather would be out on the field helping others. Our third young woman SN is hoping to become a social worker as well.. We think she will do well in this area as she has a very gentle presence and warmth that makes people especially little kids feel safe. Our fourth young woman TY wants to be an author/journalist. The other day I saw her trying to translate a very difficult English passage into Khmer. She perseveres and is diligent in making the effort to study despite the challenges before her. Then there is P, who received a scholarship for 50% of her tuition fees. She wants to pursue International Relations as one day she hopes she can become an ambassador!  Such is the dreams and hopes of these 5 young women who are entering university. Pray for each of them that this initial enthusiasm and excitement will continue as their studies begin and that they will persevere as they enter a new chapter in their life. After all, it is not how well we start, but how well we finish but God does promise that ''He who began a good work in them will complete it.''  Stay tune!

Bitter Sweet Moments

Life is all about bitter and sweet moments and how we learn to respond to them. Here in Cambodia there is not a day that doesn't go by where we do not encounter one of these emotions. The sweet moments are so often infrequent that we barely have time to savor them and then we are hit with a bitter moment. Many times, it is the bitter moments that weigh on our spirit and if we are not careful, we can either let such moments take us down by discouraging us or we can embrace those moments in all their fullness knowing that There are blessings we can never have unless we are ready to pay the price of pain. There is no way to reach them save through suffering. —Dr. Miller.  Yesterday I experienced both the bitter and the sweet all in a short space of time.

One of the joys of this ministry is seeing young women overcome all the challenges of their past and live a ''normal'' life. So it was a joyous moment when I and our RAP Program Manager were met by one of our reintegrated young women V near her work place. She had heard we were coming to pick up one of the other young women at the RAP home from the same work place as we were going out on a ''date night.''  So when our reintegrated friend V heard we were coming she wanted to say hi. It was so good seeing her and seeing the little weight she had gained from over a month ago since our last visit. She is doing so well and in her second month on the job, performed her work function so well that she got an unexpected 25% bonus on her salary. We took the opportunity to visit the place she rented which is within walking distance of her work place. By North American standards, one would consider this a little shack, but by Cambodian standards, it is a huge place for one person. It could easily fit a family of 10 people. She proudly showed us around her simple surroundings and brought out a large fresh fish that she was given by her ''mother in law to be''. This was her dinner with some steam rice and being the ''mother'' that I am, I asked her if she wasn't going to have it with vegetables to which she replied ''Bong Lisa, Oun oth joel jet bonlai (ie: Young sister does not like vegetables)---oh yeah I forgot about that! Her bedroom is on the upper level and as I am getting a bit old, climbing up to this other level by way of a wooden ladder was a reminder that I need to go and get some exercise.:-). It is like a little attic but in this upper area one finds her bedroom, with some of the items we had purchased for her as part of her reintegration package. V is unusual in that she enjoys living on her own albeit her boyfriend's family is not too far from here. Nonetheless, she is relishing this opportunity to live independently and is currently working in order to save money for her future. We are thankful for our partners who work in this community as their staff also encourage V and keep an eye on her in case she needs any support.

So as I was walking around this familiar environment with my Khmer friends, I asked about another little friend S who I have known for 5 years. I first met S in 2008 when she joined in the kids club that I was involved with with our short term team from Canada and our Khmer friends. She was a spunky little kid with a bit of a tough attitude but that soon soften as she began to frequent the kids club held in this community. She joined the community school as well and from time to time, I would see her in this village whenever I visited. She has always remained very dear to me as I remember going to visit her one day in her home and her grandmother promptly asked if I would adopt S when the grandmother died. It was an unexpected question as this little girl looked at me. Navigating such questions is not easy but I managed to suggest that I would have to consult with the local pastor to see what the possibilities were. That seemed to pacify the grandmother at that time. That was 3 years ago. Fast forward a few months ago and I was out on one of my regular exercise walks near the waterfront in Phnom Penh when I heard a little voice calling my name. Surprisingly enough it was S standing there all dressed up with her little sister. I was so overjoyed to see them both and asked her a few questions in Khmer to which she quickly responded in English! She is so smart! She was just ''dahling'''---meaning visiting in the waterfront. Of course I had to ask who she was ''visiting'' with and she pointed to her older sister sitting on a motorcycle curb side who looked at me rather suspiciously as she talked on the phone. At that moment, I asked her if I could take a quick photo as she had now grown so big and was close to my shoulders. She quickly obliged with a big smile happy to pose and we chatted a bit more before I left. But my joy of seeing her quickly turn to concern as I walked away thinking of what I had just seen on her face and that of her little sister. They were both wearing makeup---my mind started to compute and that sinking feeling set in. She was not just ''visiting'' the waterfront, she was being prepped to be sold along with her little sister that very evening. S is now about 12 years old but her size is that of an 8 year old. As for her little sister, while she is the size of a 6 year old. As I walked back home, I prayed for her and her sister not knowing what would happen to them. So yesterday as I was catching up with some of my Khmer friends in this little village so notorious for the deadly abuse of so many young pre-pubescent girls, I asked how is S? To my dismay, I was told that S no longer goes to school nor the kids club but daily she is all dressed up and wearing lots of make up.  My worst fears for this little friend had now become a reality.

What does one do with such news? What can we do? I found myself last night and this morning literally crying to God for this little soul. She is one of many that is being sold but she is one whose name I know, more importantly she is one who is not forgotten by her heavenly Father. I don't know whether we will have the opportunity to walk with her through a journey of restoration and healing but I have to believe, that God has allowed our paths to cross for a purpose if only or at the mere least for us all to intercede for this young life. So as I write this, it is the song ''Blessed Be The Name of the Lord'' that rings in my head ''He gives and takes away but my heart will choose to say, Blessed be the name of the Lord.'' 

In these two stories of V and S, God has given but God has also taken away---at least for now. We rejoice and praise God for His redemptive work in V and cherish this sweet moment of seeing her becoming a responsible young adult. But as I think of S,  it is a bitter moment, yet, we are called to embrace the pain of loss as we grieve for S and what is being done to her daily all for the sake of money. As we grieve and sow our tears by praying we are sharing in the fellowship of Christ suffering. I long for the day when her suffering will end but even that I have to entrust into God's hands. He is sovereign over this young life, He is sovereign over her suffering, He is sovereign as we wait for her rescue and restoration. In his Sovereignty, I rest knowing that He is her Messiah, He is her Savior and He is her Redeemer! 

Celebrating a graduation!

One of the greatest privileges we have is seeing how God restores hope and value  in the lives of young women who have experience sexual exploitation. Last  night was such a night as we had the opportunity to witness the graduation of one of the young women at the RAP home For the past three months she has been training at one of our partner organizations training center learning skills in hospitality.  She successfully passed all the requirements and so it was with great joy to celebrate with her and the other graduates on this special night.  She was able to invite 8 guests and so she took the opportunity of inviting her fellow room mates at the RAP home as well as some of our staff.

RAP staff joining the graduation ceremonies

There are not many places here that provide employment opportunities for the young women we serve but we are grateful to our partner organizations who are seeking to make a difference in this area. Their training centers are more than employment centers but they too seek to provide holistic care and empowerment to survivors of trafficking by providing them not only meaningful employment to earn a sustainable living, but they seek to care for the ''whole person'' providing medical care, counseling support and spiritual support.
The founders of the cafe Ruth and Murray have assembled an amazing team that operate a cafe and training center here in Phnom Penh.

Ashley, Grace, Ruth & Murray

So last night as part of the graduation ceremonies, we had a time of worship with a team from the ICA (International Christian Assembly) church here in Phnom Penh.

Then it was time for the graduates to receive their internationally recognized certificates. Each young women wore a graduation gown and received not only words of encouragement from the management of the training cafe but they each received a silver bracelet, a photo album with a collection of photos of the activities they were trained in and of course the graduation certificate.

our RAP Young woman receiving her graduation awards

It was a great time of honoring these young women for their achievements and other graduates who now work at this training center came forward to sing  a Khmer Christian song in honor of their accomplishments.  Of course what would a graduation party be if we could not celebrate with some ''to die for'' cupcakes'' made by the young women who work at this training center.

Cupcake Heaven!

Tonight as I stood watching all the graduates of this program sing, I couldn't help but think of what they have experienced and now here they are on a new journey, singing a new song -- a song of hope! They are a picture to me of what redemption looks like. God can take the most broken lives and as He restores, binds up the wounds and heals, a life is free to sing, to dream, to hope and to live a life of dignity and value.

Musings About Hope!

Gosh I can't believe its been over a month since I last wrote on this blog. I used to think one would have more time living in a 3rd world country but it just doesn't seem so. Days fly so quickly!

Its been just over two years since I moved permanently to Cambodia. Over this time there have been many lessons learned and as the years continue, I am sure there will be many more lessons to be learned. Life after all is all about opening our hearts to the Lord and allowing Him to teach us and mold us through the circumstances we face, the emotions we encounter, through the good, bad and ugly things we see, through the ups and downs of ministry. Every thing is part of our journey refining us, shaping us and hopefully enabling us to become a greater image bearer of the One who created us.

So often in my journey here I am asked the question how long will I live in Cambodia? When one is called by the Lord, the calling is irrevocable but where He leads us may not necessarily be permanent after all, the only permanent place is when we get to our heavenly home so we always need to be flexible and hold all things loosely. Nonetheless, Cambodia is my home and my dream and desire is to live out the rest of my life in this beautiful country and to invest in the next generation seeing them blossom and be agents of change in their communities. So I pray that the Lord will continue to grant the desires of my heart. I am praying He will continue to expand my language acquisition because I want to pray in Khmer----I'm not there yet but I have learned if the willingness is there, then there is much the Lord can do with a willing heart. It doesn't mean we don't have our challenges for I can safely say that while year one of my time here was relatively easy ie: I suffered little in the way of culture shock, I  had fun learning the language, I discovered that Cambodia had many of my favorite fruits from my childhood days in South America----I felt at home in the heat, it was like discovering my roots even though I never have considered myself Asian. I know that sounds crazy but this is what happens when one is a third culture kid....I always tell people I look Asian ie: yellow on the outside but white inside---I am a banana! (ok I digress).

My second year certainly has had its challenges on all levels. But when you know God has called you to a place and a people, you learn to embrace all these challenges and obstacles as opportunities. One of the things I have learned over and over again is not to look at the visible reality but to keep focusing on God especially when the challenges increase and victory seems so far away. I remember one pastor saying that people usually grow weary and tired not because of physical exhaustion but because they have lost hope. They have lost hope that a situation can change, or that their circumstances can change. They have lost hope because they don't see the light at the end of the tunnel---they just see darkness and so hopelessness can quickly overshadow their souls.  Here in Cambodia, the darkness is prevalent and we can feel attacks coming on all fronts at times both physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally on a regular basis and so our natural fleshly bent would be to loose hope.  BUT,  in all of this the secret weapon we have is our faith in Christ and what we believe in Him. The hope He continually gives us to press on despite the dire circumstances and the horrible tragedies of man's inhumanity to man enables us to press on, to endure and to not give up. This becomes especially true when we encounter young women who because of their traumatic past continue to be bound by their pain and you long to see them be free but, they make choices that keep them imprisoned in their spirit.  Romans 15:13 says: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I love this verse for it is a reminder that joy and peace comes from trusting the One who is the Source of Hope and as we do, we then overflow with hope that is released through the Holy Spirit. This is not a profound truth, its a simple truth that we learn over and over again as we work with survivors of sexual exploitation for if we have no Hope in Christ, we can easily be discouraged when we do not see any tangible results from our efforts or we do not see the visible fruits of healing happening.

So this afternoon I am going to meet with 3 young sisters. They are my spiritual daughters and I secretly hope and pray I will have many spiritual daughters and grand daughters for all the years God grants me to live in this land. :-) These 3 young women fuel my faith in Christ, they represent what is possible when we trust the Lord and the hope that can be restored in broken lives and be released in their lives and my life.Their journeys have not been easy but one of them in particular was a recent prodigal for reasons I can't share here. Yet, she is on a journey of hope again. When I met up with her recently, I felt like the the Father in the story of the prodigal son. There she was---a skinny little girl (she had lost a lot of weight since I last saw her, but then again young women here are so skinny its all relative)calling my name ''Bong Lisa'' and running into my hands, tears in her eyes and tears in my eyes as she held on for what seemed like the longest hug. No wonder the father in the prodigal son story had a celebration and asked his servants to bring the best calf to be cooked to celebrate the son's return. I understand those emotions better now for we can't help but celebrate a life that was once lost but is now found. Its times like this I appreciate the language lessons I have had to be able to share with her how we loved her,  had prayed for her, how we had missed her and were so happy to see that she is now safe again. She is still on a journey of hope  but we are walking with her as she desires to take responsible steps towards a new life of hope. Through her journey, I get to ''taste and see'' that the Lord is good, the Gospel comes alive, the words of scripture that I read and reflect on, become reality in this setting. What a privilege the Lord gives us to see the truths He speaks about laid out before our eyes!

As for the other two young women, they are now fully reintegrated, working and already experiencing the blessings of hope. I first met them 4 years ago when we celebrated their birthday party at the partner home that they lived in. Now they are both grown up, working and earning a respectable income, they are taller than me (that is not hard to accomplish) but I feel like a proud aunt or proud mama as I had a chance to engage in conversation with one of them recently. But the other person that comes to my mind is my boss Brian! He has carried some of these young women in his heart for years when they were part of a case he was working on regarding a Canadian pedophile. He has known them much longer than I. He has seen their pain and abuse on evidence files. It was their pain and suffering that God used to propel Him and Ratanak to get involved in funding organizations who were working to help survivors of trafficking.  I wish he could  be here to share this experience with me but as he often says he gets to live vicariously through my life:-). But this is privilege we all have --some of us sow, some of us reap but we are all in it together for the glory of God!

Nonetheless, this afternoon, I am looking forward to hearing how the Source of our Hope has been speaking into their lives over these years, what are the lessons He is teaching them and how has He been restoring hope daily to them. Indeed, I come back to a phrase that often rings in my ears when I read stories of atrocities or see young women being exploited. I hear the voice of Hope saying to me ''Jesus has the last word over their lives.'' May it always be so Lord Jesus! May it always be so!