Monday, March 12, 2012

Fueling My Holy Discontent

Today one of my Khmer friends texted me to ask if I had heard of a  recent story of a 7 year old girl who was gang raped here and spent 4 days in a coma. I do not know whether she is alive or not, or where she is now but upon hearing this news, I got enraged. Over here one journalist wrote that gang rape has become the sport of the young generation and an acceptable form of recreation. The  practice known as "bauk" - literally meaning "plus" in Khmer – where up to a dozen youths have sex with the same female, usually a prostitute. Bauk takes placed usually when two young men procures a prostitute or the affection of a young woman and take her to a guesthouse where their friends, between four and 10 youths, lie in wait or turn up shortly after for sex.   

As I thought about this little 7 year old girl,  I sat again wondering how such evil could exist and again the question of ''why'' ----why would anyone do such a thing? What would possess a group of young men to gang rape such a young child? In the face of such questions and such darkness, what is my response? What is our response? Do we shake our heads and move on to the next story? I feel compelled to write about this young life who I do not know because she has been made in God's image. Satan is doing all he can to destroy and devour this life but I believe God will have the last word on this young life, not satan.  Our organization was established because of a little girl named Ratanak who Brian McConaghy never met but whose suffering compelled him to respond. So it is in our DNA to not forget these little ones, to not overlook them but, to see every little girl as a Ratanak---the Khmer name for ''Precious Gem." As I think of the 7 year old girl, her pain, her suffering, her brokenness should not be silenced, it should not be forgotten. We need to keep bringing these horrendous acts into the light. We need to bear witness to the universal wrong of such acts,  for the day that we turn away, is the day that we value our comfort more than their pain. The day that we close our hearts from from entering into such pain is the day our heart is no longer broken by the things that breaks God's heart.

Stories of such horrendous abuse do not discourage me, they have the opposite effect. They fuel my passion to speak up for those who have no voice. They fuel my desire to seek justice on behalf of the oppressed. They fuel my Holy Discontent. What do I mean by that?   Bill Hybels describes Holy Discontent this way: if you expose yourself to all that’s broken in our world but neglect to view the brokenness from heaven’s perspective (which promises that everything is in the process of being restored), then you’ll get sucked into an impossible downward spiral of aggravation, frustration and anger. Once that frustration and anger is understood as being your ‘holy discontent’ through your spiritual connection to the God who’s working to fix everything, it’s as if an enormous wave of positive energy gets released. This energy causes you to act on the dissatisfaction that’s been brewing deep within your soul and compels you to say ‘yes’ to joining forces with God so that the darkness and depravity around you gets pushed back.   Your perspective shifts from that which your eyes can see to that which God tells you is true and it is in this reality that what is enslaved can still be set free, what is broken can still be mended, what is diseased can still be restored, what is dirty can still be made clean and what is wrong can still be made right.  It is that one cause or purpose or problem that grabs you by the throat and just won’t let you go. It is that “one thing” in your heart that God is stirring a passion for.  Your ‘one thing’ brings you to a place where you feel you simply must do something. When you have a deep desire to see things change, you are compelled to show up. Your soul doesn’t give you a choice in the matter. Ultimately you have no idea what the end results of your labor will be; all you know is that it is critical that you engage.

So friends I thank you for your support of the work we are involved in in Cambodia. For as you join us, you are not only feeding your Holy Discontent but even more so, you are ministering to Christ in His disguise as so eloquently described by Henri Nouwen: In these suffering bodies of people we must be able to recognize the suffering Christ. They too are chosen, blessed, broken and given to the world. As we call one another to respond to the cries of these people and work together for justice and peace, we are caring for Christ, who suffered and died for the salvation of our world."  In each one of them we see Jesus in disguise.

7 comments:

  1. My heart hurt as I read of the senseless acts of these young men towards a defenseless child. I too am angry that Satan is working so hard to destroy, kill, and steal these precious children. May we never turn a blind eye but always seek God as to our part in the restoration process.

    I will be in Cambodia in June with a group doing medical missions. It will be my second time there. The first time I said I'd never return but God has moved on my heart to go back. I'm fasting & praying now for the trip. I'm hoping to be able to see a bit of the works there that help these girls, such as Bloom. Any suggestions would be appreciated :) Praying for you, Ratanak, and others involved in the fight for these precious girls.

    Lisa Smith

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    1. Thanks for your prayers Lisa. Can you email me at lisa@ratanak.org and I can give you some suggestions. We love our friends at Bloom!

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  2. Redeemer, restorer, repairer... this is our God! Thanks for bringing this young girl to prayer and we join with you.

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  3. "Her past was beyond repair, if there was any good thing there to salvage I knew not how. But God showed me she had her future, and it was vast, unbroken, pristine, radiant. It was pure promise: a Glory that would be revealed in her, a Glory that outweighed her present troubles, the Glory of the One who was coming to redeem her and transform her. Her past was a tragedy to lament, but her future was an epic to anticipate which is simply to say: What will happen matters more than what has happened." Be her fortress, be her strong tower, be her tower, Lord God!!!

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    1. Thanks Char and Jess---yes her past does not define her, God does and therefore, His glory will be demonstrated in her one day. The good news is she is alive! Now the journey of rehabilitation, restoration and redemption begins!

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  4. wow. this organization is so inspirational.. i am currently at a research conference and i am meeting other college undergraduates who are researching sexual assaults and trafficking, and it pushes me even further to research and have a voice.

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  5. Thanks Christine. May you continue to be inspired to be a voice for the voiceless through your research!

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