Last Day at Daughters

Ruth Elliot, Director of Daugthers Cambodia

Our last day of Daughters was filled with many different activities as we wrapped up our time there. The morning began with some of us spending time in the prayer room with Samnieng, the centre manager for Daughters and one of the girls who I will call Miya. One of my co-leaders Genie had asked if we could pray for Miya specifically as she had observed Miya's leadership skills earlier in the week and sensed that God was raising her up to be a strong prayer warrior that would have a positive influence with the other girls. Our prayer time with her was somewhat emotional as Miya shared that she wanted to use the gifts God had given her to bless others. It was a special moment watching her and Samnieng pray for each other in Khmer---two different women, from two very different social backgrounds. One who was once caught in the web of brothel life, the other a Christian counsellor ministering to girls in the sex trade. Yet both of them now joined together in a common bond, a love for Christ and a desire to live for Him and to bless others in His name. Only Christ can intertwine lives such as these and bring them to a place where their paths would intersect, where they can stand shoulder to shoulder as testimonies of Christ reconciling power to remove the barriers and break down the walls of discrimination.

Samnieng and The Roses we gave to the girls

During my time here, I have had the privilege of sharing a few words twice at Rahab's house church service. On Friday, I was given the privilege of speaking to the girls on God's heart for the oppressed. Preaching in this context is not easy as there are translation challenges and so it is important to speak simple words and trust that God will plant the seed in each person's heart. Such was the task before me as I spoke on God's heart for the oppressed starting first from Exodus 3:7-9 where the Israelites who had been enslaved by the Eqyptians for many years were crying out to the Lord after enduring years of abuse and mistreatment. My comments were based on four points:

1. Jesus see’s us in our pains and struggles. He sees all the things that are done to us, the circumstances and environments we are forced to live in. He sees the pain in our heart; He sees the physical suffering we are forced to endure. He sees our hopelessness and helplessness.
2. Jesus hears our cries when others are oppressing us and hurting us. He does not close His ears to our pain. He hears our cries for deliverance. He hears the words that have been spoken over us that have crushed our spirits and wounded our souls
3. Jesus is concerned about our suffering. He is a God who not only cares but loves us so much that He takes on our pains, our sufferings, our shame, our hurt.
4. God will rescue us from those who oppress and hurt us. He is not a God who stands far off and ignores our pleas for help. He is for us and will do everything in His power to set us free from the hands of our oppressors so that we can have a new life of hope in Him.

We gave each girl a silver necklace with a pearl pendant to remind them that God sees them as His precious jewel, a pearl of great price. I exhorted them that whenever they wear it or look at it, that the pearl was a reminder of how much God values them and loves them. We also gave each of them a rose as a symbol that they each carry in them God's beauty and as they begin to discover the new hope and new life in Him, they will be like a sweet smelling perfume, displaying His splendor.

Church service at Daughters

Each of our team members took turns giving a rose and the little box with the necklace to each girl at the service. Below, a picture of Char and Genie waiting to hand out the roses.

One of the recipients of the rose

One of the exciting things to see was the 8 girls who came directly from the brothels each day and were taking Melinda's hair styling class. For two weeks they were trained on different hairstyles with some of our team members volunteering to be their 'hair models' to test out their newly acquired skills. On the last day, Melinda gave them each a t-shirt and a kit with various haircutting tools. These girls are not yet Christians but have decided to start coming to Daughters regularly as a result of this workshop. Their haircutting training will be supplemented by a local Khmer hairdresser who will come to do some more teaching.

New hairstylist display their latest hairdos

After the service the girls went back to work briefly as our team setup for the celebration party which included a few dances choreographed by our team members Stephanie and Joy who had been working with about 10 girls over the past two weeks, teaching them line dancing and different worship dances. They enjoyed entertaining the 'crowd' with all their dance moves.At the end of the party we handed it out a little food packet with dessert, some more necklaces made by teachers from Prem's school and some hand made crowns that several people from my home church had made to give to the girls.

It is hard to describe now my feelings from these past two weeks. God has been so gracious in unifying our team and giving us wonderful opportunities to connect with these who are so special to His heart. I wish I could show the photos we took with the girls as I think pictures tell a thousand words that words themselves simply cannot do. However, we leave Daugthers with a sense that God is surely at work in that place. He is touching the least of these and restoring the ruins of shattered lives and offering hope to the hopeless. It is His holy ground in the midst of the squalor. It is indeed a place of refuge and a place of hope and long after we have gone, my prayer is that His love well continue to saturate the hearts of each of those girls at Daughters that through our team, the many other volunteers who have passed through these doors and the Daugthers staff who serve them tirelessly, that the girls will have seen and experience tangible example of His voice, His hands and His feet reaching out to them. Jesus may you continue to be the healing balm as you bind up the wounds of these your precious ones whom you have created in your image.

Happy Birthday in Cambodia

Okay I typically blog about what is happening in our ministry here in Cambodia but today I had the wonderful joy of celebrating my birthday in Cambodia. At my age, I would rather not be reminded but my team members had other things in mind as they have been instrumental in encouraging others to wish me a Happy Birthday. It first started last Saturday when we were at the Place of Rescue monthly birthday celebration for the orphans. Char, one of my co-leaders told Marie Ens and within minutes I found myself sitting with a bunch of orphans infront of everyone receiving a gift for my birthday. Talk about one of life's most embarassing moments!

Then this morning as I got off the elevator of our hotel, the front desk staff greated me with birthday wishes. But it was this afternoon when we had all completed or workshops at Daughters that I got another pleasant surprise. It was all couched under the auspice that the girls were waiting for me to begin our usual day end dance ritual by dancing to the song 'No Women, No Cry' by Bob Marley. So as I ran into the room, I was greeted with several smiling faces who had formed a circle as one person held the cake below. These are one of the cake creations that the cake department makes at Daughters.

Stephanie, Vidya and Char handing out cup cakes to the girls

My team members also arranged for cup cakes to be made by the cake group within Daughter which we distributed to all the girls . We all had a wonderful time dancing and enjoying ourselves. Not exactly what people might expect on a mission trip. But that was not the end. One of the girls started putting the icing from the cupcakes on the face of one of my team members and proceeded to do the same to me. So a few of us decided to have an 'icing' fight. I understand this is quite a common thing to do in Cambodia---to put icing on peoples' faces. I am glad the girls feel comfortable enough with us to participate in these culturally acceptable practises! Nonetheless, it is times like this when I believe God begins to bond our hearts together. Tomorrow is our last day at Daughters and it will not be easy saying good bye to the girls. We have gotten to know them all by name and have spent time praying for them, teasing them and hanging out with them. I am preaching a message on God's heart for the oppressed and also using two visuals---a rose and a necklace with one pearl---to symbolize how God views us. More to come but its late and I need to hit the sack.

Lisa: Praying for the Girls At Daughters

This week we are repeating the workshops we did last week to a second group of girls at Daughters. Today's session was on Domestic Violence with my team mates Marty and Joy sharing from their own personal experiences. This workshop seems to resonate so much with the girls who come. They listen intently and when asked if they would like prayer, they all came up and we formed small groups with our translators nearby. I felt so blessed today as I had the privilege of praying for a few of the girls. I am struck by their heart of love despite all the bruises and wounds they have received. Many of them ask prayer for a family member. Given all that they have gone through it would be totally understandable for them to ask prayer for their own needs but like many Asian cultures, the extended family is important to Cambodians.

One girl in particular had her head down when I asked her what she would like to receive prayer for. She could barely look up and as I caught a glimpse of her face, she told me that her husband beat her all the time. To me she was the eptiome of what Jesus called a 'downcast' spirit. Her body language and her face reflected the pain of abuse, the loss of dignity and the brokenness of her heart. Her spirit no doubt was crushed from the abuse she had endured. As I was about to pray for her I asked her what her name was and told her to look into my eyes. I began to tell her that Jesus loves Her. That in His eyes she is beautiful and that He knows her pain, He hears the cries of her heart. He is not a God who is distant but who cares what happens to her and He will rescue her. She matters to Him despite what others think. As I shared this with her, she began to cry but I continued to look into her eyes, I wanted her to know that she is loved and valued as a human being. That God can still make something beautiful out of her brokenness. That her pain and suffering had not gone unnoticed. That even though she feels hopeless and helpless, this is not the way it has to be.

I feel so honored that she would share her heart so openly with me but I thank God for His Spirit that allowed our team to stand with these precious women and to say to them that we are their sisters and we share their pain. That we will walk with them just as Jesus walks with us. I am realizing more that the way satan keeps people in bondage is making them feel full of shame. Yet it is when we speak out and share our hurts that God's power is made perfect in weakness. For no longer does that pain have a hold on us but we can lay it down at the foot of the cross and trust that in Christ and with Christ, He will lift us out of the miry pit of shame and set our feet on firm places.

New Eyes and a new Heart:Char

How can I begin to tell you what God has been doing, and how can I express what I am feeling? Thank God for Lisa’s ability to write! I think I speak on behalf of the team when I say she is expressing what we are all feeling- and very eloquently I might add! It is difficult at the end of a very long day to then sit down and process what just happened! Lisa thanks for your diligence in this way.
I want to praise God first of all for allowing me to come back to Cambodia. I must tell you it is with new eyes and a new heart. Each time I come to this country I learn something new. But this year it has become more personal.
In previous years it was great to teach English to university students, and exciting to tour the country and see some of the Ratanak projects. It was exhilarating to run the Kid’s Camp last year but I feel like working with the young women and teaching workshops has been on my mind and heart since the first short term mission trip in 2002!
As you have read in the blog, a child that I met last year through the Kids Camp in Svay Pak and who I have been praying for was sold by her parents. It is unbelievable to me that a mother and father could allow or even bring about the sale of their daughter. It will take a long time for this to process in my mind if ever. This young girl named "L" is kind, and fun loving; she exhibited a real desire to be understood, and was so patient with my lack of language. Knowing that she is somewhere out there at the mercy of evil rips my heart into pieces.
There is another young woman’s story that has gripped me as well. “M” works in a local café that helps young women and men through employment and job training. Every time we come back to Phnom Penh we end up eating at this place because the food is awesome! I heard that this young woman was late for work and suspicion was building that her parents were going to try and sell her. Sure enough she wound up in a border town of Thailand isolated and vulnerable. By God’s grace she was securely brought back and saved from being trafficked into Thailand or beyond. I sat in the café looking at her- how close it all came!
Today yet another beautiful Khmer woman named "S" told me a bit of her story and how even though she is in great need she has taken in her sister’s son as her own lest he be tossed aside.
I am astounded every day and thankful with a grateful heart for my God who sees all of this and is right beside them. They are not alone. Without my faith that HE can restore these three lives I would definitely fall into despair. But that is not the case! I will sing it from the roof tops! I believe that God is moving mightily and will save the thousands that these three represent. we must see each one,pray diligently for them, and stand in the gap.

Budgeting Cambodian Style

Kolab our translator with Genie, one of our co-leaders

One of the workshops we are doing daily at Daughters is Budgeting. How does one begin to teach girls who have had limited literacy because of lack of schooling. This is not an easy task as many of them have grown up in the brothels---not exactly a place that cultivates independent thinking. We have been using skits and visuals to share the budgeting concepts. Today was the second lesson on how to make a budget and one of our co-leader's Genie led a session on what a budget is. The girls were asked to choose from a variety of pictures that describe items that are 'needs' vs 'wants'. They had to determine how to prioritize their monthly funds in terms of what they needed versus what was just a want. It was neat to see them get all excited as we split them into teams and they began to commiserate together over how to plan and spend their money. They enjoyed the game so much that when the time was up they did not want to stop. Who would have thought that dealing with money matters could be so much fun!

For myself, my teammates Genie and Prem, the greatest delight is watching the girls just soak up the concepts they are learning and in the process have fun. It has been such a delight just seeing them laugh and work together. We trust that the games and skits we have created will help foster a spirit of unity amongst the girls and as well, that they will learn to make wise decisions when it comes to managing their money.

Some of the girls identifying items that they consider 'needs'

Sex Tourists, New Friends for the Voiceless

Today began our second week at Daughters with another powerful time of intercession. One of our translators Kolab was sharing how much she benefited from Nancy and Peter's member care workshop on spiritual warfare as she was under attack last Friday from the enemy. Through that workshop, she shared how she came a way more equipped with new tools/weapons to fight against the attacks of satan on her life. The message she heard from Nancy was further reinforced at her church service this past Sunday and she felt so empowered by it all that she has felt led to share it with others at a conference she is invovlee at next weekend. This is just one of many items of praise that we give to God as we see His hand touching peoples lives in the midst of our daily activities

I wish I could say the same for what I saw at lunchtime at the Sovannara mall that we go to daily. Some of my team members spotted two foreign men with a Khmer girl. Since we've been here I have not seen much of this except for our first night. This was not the first time these two men were noticed by my team members as they seem to frequent this mall regularly and a particular restaurant where some of us eat. Picture two men sitting opposite each other in a booth with a girl trapped on the inside. Each time our team has noticed that they come with a different girl. This image is so symbolic of how many girls are trapped with no way out. This particular girl sits silently as the two men carry on their conversation but the voice of this girl is not heard. She is a trophy of theirs. This time round I decided to be a bit bold and began to snap away some pictures of them. One of them noticed that we were staring at him but I just stared back. This whole incident fuels my holy discontent and I find myself being a bit more 'in your face', not afraid. I stand outside the restaurant and pray that God would intervene and change the course of direction of this girl's life and convict these two men and block their plan to harm this girl. I figure a dose of heaven is a good way to fuel my distaste of this darkness. Back in the van, one of my teammates Peter suggest I pray that if these men should catch a glimpse of me staring at them, that instead they should see the face of Jesus staring back at them. I like that idea so I await to see if another encounter will come again.

Later this evening Char, Genie and I head off to a local restaurant to meet up with a new friend for the voiceless. Alli has just adopted a little Cambodian girl called Isabella and her other friend Ruthie are part of a team from Hardplaces, a new group of young people who have a passion to seek justice for child sex slaves. I feel that this is one of these divine moments as I had read and heard about Alli as she partners with our Newsong friends in Svay Pak. She has been running the outreach program for the kids in Svay Pak at Rahab's house since last fall along with Ruthie who is a school teacher. Through her ministry with our friend Ratanak and Pastor Chantha, both Alli and Ruthie have come to know many of the kids that we had spent time last year. They told us intimate details of some of the girls and boys we had come to know and pray for. Many of their stories were heart breaking as they mentioned how some of the girls we knew were being repeatedly raped at night. Ali shared how some of the young ones would come in the next day to Rahab's house and they could barely walk. Some had bruises on their thighs and one little 6 year old girl came in one day with full make up and false eyelashes. As I write this, I have a lot of emotions going through my head. I know these kids. I know their names and I have photos of them. I have hugged them and held them as if they were my own children, my own daughters. They have run up to greet me and call my name each time I have gone to Svay Pak. Some of them wanting me to lift them up so that they could give me a kiss. Others just wanting me to hold their hand and play with them. Each time I hold them I tell them that Jesus loves them and so do I. I cannot stand the thought of what is happening to them. Like Alli, I cry out to the Living God and ask that He will intervene somehow in their lives. This dark side of Svay Pak is always before us but I have a dream that one day Svay Pak will become transformed. One day the voices of the children of Svay Pak will be heard. They will not be silent. I believe this as I think back to the church service we attended again at Svay Pak yesterday. Watching several of the young ones perform and sing a song talking about following Jesus, loving Jesus because He had forgiven them and had died on the cross for them. And they sang, 'we want to serve Him.' I can't help but think of what goes through the mind of any one of these children as they sing these songs in the morning and yet when night falls, darkness descends upon their young lives. What a cross they are called to bear.

Another Normal Day In Cambodia---I Think Not!

Tara with Boket--one of the ladies at the Haven Night Shelter

Tonight my team members Tara and Marty joined Sotheary and myself as we went to pay a visit to the Haven Night Shelter that Ratanak funds. It is a shelter for grannies who have no place to go. There were only two old ladies hanging out at the shelter ---one was an 81 year old by the name of Boket. She had lost her husband and the rest of her immediate family during the Pol Pot era and was now living with a niece. At 81 years old she is quite a survivor. Her left arm displays marks of sharpenel that tore her arm when a bomb was dropped in Phnom Penh. My team member Tara began to strike up a conversation with her with Sotheary translating. We found out that despite her age, she would travel up to Takeo province to help with the rice harvest. Can you imagine an 81 year old picking rice in the fields. Cambodians are survivors but they have such an amazing resilience. Boket has no plans to stop working at the rice harvest. She says as long as she can walk, she will work.

Now she hangs around the local market begging. But less you feel sorry for her, she is a professional beggar and seems to have a good strategy when it comes to begging---yes I'm serious here. Boket makes good money out of it at around US$20.00 a day at least. Considering that teachers make around US$35.00 a month, Boket makes a good living off of begging. As the missionary who runs the night shelter had to say 'she makes more money than I do.' Boket used to sell fish before the Khmer Rouge era---as Tara said 'she was a business woman' but now she is a 'fisher of money' as Boket is currently helping her niece pay off her wedding expenses through the funds she receives through begging. She even shared with us that she is saving for her funeral so that no one will be burdened to pay for it.

But the story doesn't end there as I continued to talk to Rosalie the lady who runs the night shelter, Tara began to share the gospel with Boket with Sotheary's help. In about 20 minutes Boket had accepted the Lord and had said the sinner's prayer! It was incredible. God has been unbelievably gracious to us on this trip. We keep seeing fruit riped to be picked and this was one of those moments where we simply praised God. Each day in Cambodia, we are given divine moments to seize and God is simply surprising us beyond our wildest imaginations.