With our ministry time at Daughters ending, four of our team members have gone south to Sihanoukville for some R&R for the weekend while the rest of us have chosen to stay in Phnom Penh. This afternoon I went to Svay Pak with Joy and Lois Cunningham who is here full time as an international worker. She also volunteers at Daughters.
Some of my young friends in Svay Pak
We headed into Svay Pak to meet up with Pastor Chantha, his wife Bunthan and Ratanak who live at Rahab's house. Pastor Chantha had invited us to come and see where the 50 kids go to school that our Newsong partners support. I love coming to Svay Pak---that sounds strange to say given that it is notorious as a staging ground for the selling of underaged children. But whenever I come here I see Jesus in the least of these. Many of the kids are those I have spent time with from last year's VBS and as our team has gone for the past two Sundays to the church service, the kids welcome us with open arms. Today was no different as they call out my name and several try to grab my hands. It is here for some reason I feel the love of God through these little ones, many of whom are at risk or have already been sold over and over again. Despite their loss of innocence, they look like ordinary kids that you would see any where. Smiles on their faces and yet hidden deep within are the scars they wear. There are a few young ones that I have a special heart for and I see one of them coming towards me but I am shocked as I look at her face. It is full of makeup---blush, eyeliner, you name it she has it on. She is only 6 years old and yet seems not bothered by it. It is me who feels uncomfortable as I watch her for I know she has either just returned from being sold or she is getting ready to head out tonight. She acts so nonchalantly, grabs hold of my hand and leads me to a mural painted within Rahab's House, points to it and says Jesus walking on water and goes on her way. What does one do with that? I'm still processing.
I see another young friend who always holds my hand when I am here. She is hanging out at Rahab's house and comes running out to greet me and gives me a hug as she calls out my name. In her broken English she asks how I am doing and then leads me to the Catholic church down the street to point out the statute of Jesus (Preah Yesu in Khmer). I ask her to stand there so I can take a photo of her there. We head back to Rahab's house and she leads me to the mural just like the other little friend and says Preah Yesu. She is one of the 50 kids that our Newsong partner's sponsor to go to a school in Svay Pak. There are at least 100 more kids that need to be sponsored to go to school but for now the poorest ones and the ones with single parents get priority.
Two of the kids who are sponsored to go to school in Svay Pak
We keep walking and head towards the beauty salon of two girls who used to be at the Newsong centre and have now been reintegrated. They have chosen to be back here in this community to reflect God's light. I take the opportunity to have a manicure and pedicure by them. A girl has to do what a girl has to do! It's hard work being out here some times!!!
Medical clinic in Svay Pak
We then walk towards the entrance of Svay Pak to meet one of the local Vietnamese doctors who runs a medical clinic here. Our friends at Newsong partner with Dr. Som Ang for any medical emergencies they may have with the families in the community. Dr. Som Ang has chosen to come to Svay Pak as business is very brisk because many of the girls who live in Svay Pak are in need of medical attention.
As we head back towards the main street in Svay Pak, Pastor Chantha notices a group of Asian tourists both male and female---they look Korean but turn out to be Japanese. He asks their driver why they are in Svay Pak---they say they are here to meet a friend but as Pastor Chantha said 'if they are not friends who are visiting Rahab's house, then there is only one other reason why they are here.' We walk pass them, me with 3 little ones dangling from my arms as I look at these 'tourists' and they look at me. I've decided that 'staring' has become my modus operandi in this kind of environment. And while I stare, Pastor Chantha is the one who God has raised up to be His watchman in this community. He indeed is watching over his little flock whom God has entrusted into his care. The more I get to know Pastor Chantha, the more I appreciate and admire the courage God has given him. In many ways, he is in the devil's play ground but he is standing firm on the promises of God despite the challenges of the visible reality. He is one of my heroes here on the frontline, literally seeking justice on behalf of the oppressed and giving a voice to their plight and representing Christ in bodily form as both the kids and their families see him as a man of peace, a man who they can trust, who they know is safe to share all their sufferings, who is their advocate and who has their best interest at heart. He is a man who is offering hope to those in this community who desperately need to know that someone cares about them. Please pray for him, that God will use him mightily and that the same spirit that resided in king David will reside in Pastor Chantha for each day he is coming face to face with Goliath. There is no let up in this war. The battle indeed is God's but it is long and it can be weary for those whom He has called to take a stand against injustice.
In the midst of the wind and the waves, the circumstances which are terrifying and which we cannot control, Jesus strides. As He walks, the wind still blows and the waves still churn - the circumstances have not changed. Yet He walks *on* them. He is their Master. He is sovereign. We don't always recognize Him. We cry out in terror, thinking He is a ghost - mistaking Him, seeing Him as part of the terrifying circumstances, still feeling abandoned and alone. And in the midst of the storm, He says to us: "Take courage. It is I. Don't be afraid." And yet the wind still blows and the waves still churn. Somehow, it is only when He climbs into the boat with us - when we have recognized Him, heard and heeded His voice, and invited and welcomed Him into our boat - only then does the wind die down.
ReplyDeletePreah Yesu, help us hear and heed Your voice today, while the wind still blows and the waves still churn, while children are robbed of their innocence and tourists come with evil intent. "Take courage," You tell us. "It is I," You remind us. "Don't be afraid," You encourage us. Preah Yesu, we are grateful that You come out to us in the middle of the storm, that You stand in the very heart of the storm, that You stand *on* the storm. We long desperately for the wind to die down, for the storm to be over.
Lord, we confess we don't understand Your timing. We don't understand why You don't climb into the boat right now, and end this long and weary storm in which so many children are sacrificed to the enemy's ends. But Lord, we say we recognize You in the middle of the storm. We say we will not believe the lie that You are only a ghost, either powerless over the storm or part of it. We see You walking *on* the water. And we do take courage and we refuse to be afraid. It is You, Lord. It is You.
Psalm 10
ReplyDelete1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
he is haughty and your laws are far from him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me;
I'll always be happy and never have trouble."
7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent,
watching in secret for his victims.
9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover;
he lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten;
he covers his face and never sees."
12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
"He won't call me to account"?
14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness
that would not be found out.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
amen.
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