Here's Cambodia

Cambodia

I am sitting in South Korea on my way home. It is very hard to leave Cambodia, I love it though there is very little to love. (Have you ever just loved something but there is no reason why? Its a strange experience.) But I miss my sweet and wild kids and incredible husband. I can't wait to show him all the pictures and tell him what God is doing.

I believe Cambodia may be the darkest, most evil place on earth, where 90% of the foreign men are there for sex (mostly with minors) Yet, in the pitch black of evil God's brightness shines the brightest. I have reveled more in God as the Rescuer and Redeemer more than I ever thought possible. In the midst of FEAR, the place where just a few years ago 90% of mothers sold their pre-pubescent daughters for sex any given night, I saw hope. I saw peace. I saw joy. I saw God rescuing, teaching, saving. That statistic is now down to about 50%. In Savy Pak, 22 brothel owners and 3 traffickers (who kidnap girls to sell them for sex) have come to Christ. 

Awe 
"they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me." Psalm 129:2

It all started with a couple asprin

Here's one miracle story out of many.
A very young girl was being sold by her parents for sex. The authorities found out and she was taken to a center for 6 months. (This particular center only let girls stay 6 months.) She was let out and had nowhere to go so went back to her parents. Her parents were gone. Her dad worked in a brick factory and had a debt. So to pay his debt he sold himself, his wife and 3 other kids to the brick factory owner to pay his debt.

They became slaves.

The girls stayed with her grandmother. She didn't sell her but when she was not with her, the girl would be taken and sold and then returned. One day the grandmother had a headache and went to Rahab's medical outreach (which they have on tuesdays and thursdays). She was given asprin and the grandmother was so grateful and asked how she could repay. They invited her to church and when she went she heard Jesus cared about the children and didn't want their parents to sell them for sex. So she approached the church staff and asked if they could help her granddaughter. She was taken to Agape Restoration Center.

The dad snuck out of the brick factory, went back home leaving the wife and kids as slaves. He was a good worker and the brick factory owner told the wife to go get him and bring him back. He told her that he would not feed her kids until she returned. She left and never went back.

A sweet Cambodian girl who we taught with this week heard about it and snuck into the factory to gather evidence of the slavery. She got pictures, interviews and fed the kids. This evidence was taken to the ministry of affairs and the 3 kids got released. One of the boys was talking to the police and through his testimony they had enough evidence to go in and rescue the other 50 slaves and the brick factory was shut down and brick owner prosecuted

Just through the ministry of Agape International giving a couple of asprin, slaves were set free and lives were restored. The girl gave her life to Christ (and I imagine others have as well.)

Faith as a mustard seed.
Giving out a couple asprin in faith, and look what God can do with it.
God multiplies our little offerings into eternal fragrances.

Want to hear other stories from our trip? Check out the posts below.
Even Here
Honored
'Freedom for the Captives
Greater is He
What Can I Do?

Laura, the creator and host of Missional Women is married and has four kids, two of whom are adopted. Laura and her husband have been missionaries to college students for 11 years serving with Master Plan Ministries. Laura is the Staff Women's Development Coordinator and has discipled over 150 girls, led over 30 Bible studies and speaks 10-20 times a year. Laura is an award winning author of a 12 week Bible Study on First Samuel, Beholding Him, Becoming Missional, recently released Reach; How to Use Your Social Media Influence for the Glory of God, and A Devotional Journey through Judges, a devotional to accompany the free online Bible study at TheBookofJudges.com. You can find her on facebook,twitter, pinterest and youtube.

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