Okay, I am so homesick but I know now what just one more day in Cambodia is all about. Aimee and I met today with two current sex workers. One was Vietnamese and said she was 18 but looked not a day over 15 and the other one was Cambodian and 23. Their stories are so sad. The Vietnamese girl was sold to a wealthy Khmer man at 15 and spent a week with him at a hotel. She shared how she was so scared. The 23 yr old started at 15 because her mother is mentally crazy and she needed money and food. The 15 yr old has 8 siblings and she and her older sister were the ones sacrificed for the family. She gives her family money monthly for food.
Aimee asked them how many men they were with just last night - one said 8 and the other 10. The older girl shared how she shoots up heroin every night. Thearin was interepreting and her heart is so tender for these girls. She shared with them numbers of people who will help them when they are ready to leave. They both feel such loyalty to their families and how would they ever not work and send money back home. It was just the saddest situation and we spent an hour and a half in our hotel explaining to these girls that a mother and father should never sell their child for sex. This culture just is lost in a certain perspective. So we all are hugging these girls and tears are being shed but they are so fearful of not returning and what will happen to their families. I immediately went to Maries and poured my heart out. She assured that we did the right thing. We left them with 300 reil which is the price of phone call and two numbers of people that will help and intervene immediately. She said they really do need to think about and make the decision 100% on their own or it will not be successful. She said this is the most labor intense ministry and I know what she means. I wanted to just lay down and take a nap after that session in our room with these two beautiful young women who were allowing other people to define their life and destiny. I felt such demonic warfare of demons fighting to draw them back. I felt so sad when they left our room smiling and hugging us. I wanted more but I know that God is in control and they have to fight back and claim their own life I cannot do that for them.
Thearin and Theara are my new heroes. I cannot believe these two young girls in their early twenties and they have such a love for these sex workers. I see huge visions in their future of saving many souls out of the brothels of Cambodia.
I spent an amazing afternoon with Marie at Rescue. We just sat in her quiet living room and shared at the deepest levels the suffering of Cambodia. She reminded me once again that I am just to return and share the stories. She said her job is to empower her Cambodian staff and they will be the ones to change the heart of their people. I left feeling such clarity. I just am to share the stories and empower the nationals to love and embrace their country. I, as a foreigner, would just bring in my twisted western ideas and make a mess of things.
So, I have major fund raising to do to support all of these wonderful people in my life that God has blessed me with. Hats off to Bao, Marie, George, Albert, Thearin,Theara and the many others that are the true Barbarians on the front line fighting to save many lives from the enemy.
I am thankful for my trip and even though it has been hard and filled with very intense spiritual warfare, today I found clarity on the call of my life. Just tell the stories. Empower the amazing staff that God already has in place. Yes, that sounds like a plan to me. Thank you Lord for continuing to give me grace and endurance to carry on and fight this hard battle of injustice. These horrible acts of abuse and injustice against children need to stop. I can't bear the thought of while I was eating spring rolls tonight as my last night in PP, my new friends that I met in my hotel room were applying heavy make-up and preparing for a night to be spent having sex with at least five men which would be considered a slow night.
My prayer is that the angels will protect them until they can face their fears and say no more. I claim back my life that was stolen, TODAY.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Robbed of Innocence
This morning we hit the pavement running and I wasn’t sure if my old forty-five and a half year-old body was up for the day. I was sitting there thinking about how I really needed to take better care of myself and put ointment on my scaly elbows. With that thought still on my mind I looked up to see the Phnom Penh street-cleaning women hard at work—picking up the garbage with their bare hands. The Cambodian people work so hard here. There is an unlawful energy about Cambodia that I don't remember absorbing before this trip. Everyone seems to be recklessly driving and the sex industry is so in our face.
We went to meet with Don at Agape. He runs a shelter for girls rescued from prostitution. He is really cool and was so helpful to Aimee with facts and numbers. He has been working here for two years and has several Vietnamese girls in his shelter. He is working in a Vietnamese area and said that ten-year-old little girls “expect” to be sold when they turn ten. Chinese and South Korean men are paying more for the lighter skinned girls--so the Vietnamese girls are in demand.
He told us the story of a little three-year-old who had to be examined by a pediatrician-friend who was staying with him…you get the point--there was nothing pretty about our conversation with Don this morning. It was confirmation that TAL needs to become more involved with working in Cambodia. I am going to talk to Marie tomorrow and run some ideas by her. I don't know what all this means but I know God is laying foundation on this trip.
We went to one of the brothels that had been shut down about two years ago. It is a vacant building that looks like a storefront from the outside. But behind closed doors there were chambers that were six by six feet. There were about 14 little rooms down a long hallway. Each room had a hand-painted number on the outside of the door. Inside was a wooden slat bed and nothing else. The rooms were personally decorated with magazine pages glued to the wall, hand-drawn crosses of markers and poems. The poem tells of how men come and tell these girls they are beautiful but they know they are called “dirty girls”. One poem told of how she was so unhappy (I will try to get all the words of this poem from Don). It is the saddest thing. In fact, Aimee and I said that the prison cells at least had ventilation and these girls were truly prisoners and sex slaves of the worst kind. I think I will have nightmares of those little rooms.
Upstairs there was a room painted bright pink where the girls had to go shoot up with heroin and then be filmed for sex videos. I sat at the doorway of this room and looked at the pink paint and thought, how sad, every little girl should have a pink bedroom but not a pink sex room where she is to perform the cruelest of sex acts with men.
It is really beyond and out of control. There are white single men just combing the streets here along the river. I think Aimee and I truly can only take one more day and staying here on the river. Thank goodness we are leaving because Aimee does not hide the disgust on her face very well. I laughed at her this morning when she shot a pissed-off look to a guy flirting with the waitress. It is just dripping with disgust here.
I came home this afternoon and had to lay down because I felt the trip was catching up with me. I thought about those little rooms before I napped and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke up.
Well, I have to go. My workhorse of a writer said we must pound some things out this afternoon. She is really coming up with some neat ideas and ways of introducing each chapter. I am getting very excited about the book!
In spite of being tired and missing my family so much, I have to realize that God is not finished with me yet. I have one more day to see what all He needs to show me. Hearing the stories about little Vietnamese and Cambodian girls being tortured and robbed of their innocence is what I need to remember. I must find and keep a fighting spirit so that I might be able to do something about it. I can see Tay's little face in so many of these stories. I see MaiLia walking the streets selling books. I see young women like KeSey dripping in sexual body language. This is not acceptable that these men are coming here and these babies are being held prisoner.
Wait until you see the pictures of this place. It is the glue to all the stories I have heard through the years.
We went to meet with Don at Agape. He runs a shelter for girls rescued from prostitution. He is really cool and was so helpful to Aimee with facts and numbers. He has been working here for two years and has several Vietnamese girls in his shelter. He is working in a Vietnamese area and said that ten-year-old little girls “expect” to be sold when they turn ten. Chinese and South Korean men are paying more for the lighter skinned girls--so the Vietnamese girls are in demand.
He told us the story of a little three-year-old who had to be examined by a pediatrician-friend who was staying with him…you get the point--there was nothing pretty about our conversation with Don this morning. It was confirmation that TAL needs to become more involved with working in Cambodia. I am going to talk to Marie tomorrow and run some ideas by her. I don't know what all this means but I know God is laying foundation on this trip.
We went to one of the brothels that had been shut down about two years ago. It is a vacant building that looks like a storefront from the outside. But behind closed doors there were chambers that were six by six feet. There were about 14 little rooms down a long hallway. Each room had a hand-painted number on the outside of the door. Inside was a wooden slat bed and nothing else. The rooms were personally decorated with magazine pages glued to the wall, hand-drawn crosses of markers and poems. The poem tells of how men come and tell these girls they are beautiful but they know they are called “dirty girls”. One poem told of how she was so unhappy (I will try to get all the words of this poem from Don). It is the saddest thing. In fact, Aimee and I said that the prison cells at least had ventilation and these girls were truly prisoners and sex slaves of the worst kind. I think I will have nightmares of those little rooms.
Upstairs there was a room painted bright pink where the girls had to go shoot up with heroin and then be filmed for sex videos. I sat at the doorway of this room and looked at the pink paint and thought, how sad, every little girl should have a pink bedroom but not a pink sex room where she is to perform the cruelest of sex acts with men.
It is really beyond and out of control. There are white single men just combing the streets here along the river. I think Aimee and I truly can only take one more day and staying here on the river. Thank goodness we are leaving because Aimee does not hide the disgust on her face very well. I laughed at her this morning when she shot a pissed-off look to a guy flirting with the waitress. It is just dripping with disgust here.
I came home this afternoon and had to lay down because I felt the trip was catching up with me. I thought about those little rooms before I napped and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke up.
Well, I have to go. My workhorse of a writer said we must pound some things out this afternoon. She is really coming up with some neat ideas and ways of introducing each chapter. I am getting very excited about the book!
In spite of being tired and missing my family so much, I have to realize that God is not finished with me yet. I have one more day to see what all He needs to show me. Hearing the stories about little Vietnamese and Cambodian girls being tortured and robbed of their innocence is what I need to remember. I must find and keep a fighting spirit so that I might be able to do something about it. I can see Tay's little face in so many of these stories. I see MaiLia walking the streets selling books. I see young women like KeSey dripping in sexual body language. This is not acceptable that these men are coming here and these babies are being held prisoner.
Wait until you see the pictures of this place. It is the glue to all the stories I have heard through the years.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Tuesday in Cambodia
This morning we went out to the Killing Fields. Aimee is so into this. She said she just has to ground the book with all this history. She is in “intense-work-mode” and the pen is going to run out of ink. I realized that I had to let her call the shots on our plans and things we needed to cover.
It is great having Theara and Thearan (The Rapha House staff). They pick us up every morning and take us where we need to go. They also answer all of Aimee's questions about the sex-workers. They are so fun too. We feel like we’re hanging out with girlfriends.
We drove by where all the sex-workers live and saw them in the daylight eating breakfast together on their porches. T and T are taking us back tonight and I remember the transformation at night. It is heartbreaking to hear all their stories. One girl said she had a man take her to a hotel where five other men were waiting for her. It is sickening and twisted.
Aimee and I went for iced coffee after our trips out today. Aimee was sitting there and all of the sudden she was in a conversation with a man from England. Sure enough, he began bragging about how he spends his nights here in Cambodia and Thailand. He said, “I could never get a twenty-five year old in England! Here I pay 400 dollars and have one for two weeks!” It was all I could do to listen to him. Aimee is amazing and is able to transform into her “journalist-mode” where she’s very non-threatening.
Today we also went by boat to Women's Island. I took pictures of the big tree where all the women were tied, tortured and killed. Aimee ask Sokhan what kind of tree it was and he answered, “A Mango Tree.” We both are like, okay, in Africa you sit under the Mango Tree to share your visions and dreams: in Cambodia these trees mark the symbol of death. These are some bizarre things to process on this trip.
Tomorrow morning we are going to meet the Vietnamese girls who have been rescued from brothels. We saw many Vietnamese girls working in one particular area which was just for them. They are in demand here. T and T shared how little girls as young as 9 and 10 are forced to perform oral sex. They are not allowed to have sexual intercourse yet because they are being “saved” for a big spender whose desire is to “buy her virginity” It’s a common belief among Cambodian Buddhist that to have sex with a virgin will both boost your virility and cure AIDS. Young girls are on the auction block until they find a buyer with big bucks.
Needless to say Aimee and I are having a real hard time with men on this trip. Keep in mind that even Marie (a little precious white haired missionary) bluntly stated that “Cambodian men are just jerks”. I really see how the women of this country are the backbone. Every foreign man here alone makes a person wonder just what are doing here? Well, I think we know.
The next couple of days are going to fly by. We are both a little exhausted but need to finish up and keep the pace at least one more day. We are hoping to have Thursday to walk around and chill out before heading out on Friday.
It has been a great trip and I think I am excited to see what God has in store for TAL. I really want to work more in Cambodia so maybe it will be with the Vietnamese girls here. Sokhan did ask if the Vietnamese girls can come and live at the shelters because they do not know Khmer and need to go back home but there’s nota safe place for them. I feel that meeting with his wife tonight and then going to the shelter tomorrow morning may open some doors. We will see.
This is a very sticky keyboard. I am about to gag with the incense burning right next to me in the Buddhist shrine. Aside from urine I think incense is the worst thing to smell on my list.
Today we ate lunch at Sokhan's house and it was very true Cambodian (and fun). I have been eating Morning Glory until I think my hair will turn green. I asked, “What is the secret to this blend?” He answered “Snail oil and garlic.” I don't know if we can find snail oil but maybe I should try.
Okay right before lunch we went to a slum area where T and T work with kids and sponsor them to go to school. The homes are built on stagnant water because of the rains. They are absolutely nothing but a tarp covering with wooden slat floors. A guy came walking around the corner who was carrying a gigantic water rat! He started skinning it and I thought we were both going to lose it. He fired up the BBQ grill and he is fixed lunch. It was a crack up. We did manage to regain our appetite for lunch but it was questionable.
While we were having our iced coffee today at a little corner café when out of nowhere an elephant walks up and puts it’s trunk right under the canopy. It was so cool! I thought how Van and Tatum would have gotten a kick out of that. Aimee fed the elephant some fruit--and of course, he had a little boy with a can guiding him. Only in Cambodia would you see that.
It is great having Theara and Thearan (The Rapha House staff). They pick us up every morning and take us where we need to go. They also answer all of Aimee's questions about the sex-workers. They are so fun too. We feel like we’re hanging out with girlfriends.
We drove by where all the sex-workers live and saw them in the daylight eating breakfast together on their porches. T and T are taking us back tonight and I remember the transformation at night. It is heartbreaking to hear all their stories. One girl said she had a man take her to a hotel where five other men were waiting for her. It is sickening and twisted.
Aimee and I went for iced coffee after our trips out today. Aimee was sitting there and all of the sudden she was in a conversation with a man from England. Sure enough, he began bragging about how he spends his nights here in Cambodia and Thailand. He said, “I could never get a twenty-five year old in England! Here I pay 400 dollars and have one for two weeks!” It was all I could do to listen to him. Aimee is amazing and is able to transform into her “journalist-mode” where she’s very non-threatening.
Today we also went by boat to Women's Island. I took pictures of the big tree where all the women were tied, tortured and killed. Aimee ask Sokhan what kind of tree it was and he answered, “A Mango Tree.” We both are like, okay, in Africa you sit under the Mango Tree to share your visions and dreams: in Cambodia these trees mark the symbol of death. These are some bizarre things to process on this trip.
Tomorrow morning we are going to meet the Vietnamese girls who have been rescued from brothels. We saw many Vietnamese girls working in one particular area which was just for them. They are in demand here. T and T shared how little girls as young as 9 and 10 are forced to perform oral sex. They are not allowed to have sexual intercourse yet because they are being “saved” for a big spender whose desire is to “buy her virginity” It’s a common belief among Cambodian Buddhist that to have sex with a virgin will both boost your virility and cure AIDS. Young girls are on the auction block until they find a buyer with big bucks.
Needless to say Aimee and I are having a real hard time with men on this trip. Keep in mind that even Marie (a little precious white haired missionary) bluntly stated that “Cambodian men are just jerks”. I really see how the women of this country are the backbone. Every foreign man here alone makes a person wonder just what are doing here? Well, I think we know.
The next couple of days are going to fly by. We are both a little exhausted but need to finish up and keep the pace at least one more day. We are hoping to have Thursday to walk around and chill out before heading out on Friday.
It has been a great trip and I think I am excited to see what God has in store for TAL. I really want to work more in Cambodia so maybe it will be with the Vietnamese girls here. Sokhan did ask if the Vietnamese girls can come and live at the shelters because they do not know Khmer and need to go back home but there’s nota safe place for them. I feel that meeting with his wife tonight and then going to the shelter tomorrow morning may open some doors. We will see.
This is a very sticky keyboard. I am about to gag with the incense burning right next to me in the Buddhist shrine. Aside from urine I think incense is the worst thing to smell on my list.
Today we ate lunch at Sokhan's house and it was very true Cambodian (and fun). I have been eating Morning Glory until I think my hair will turn green. I asked, “What is the secret to this blend?” He answered “Snail oil and garlic.” I don't know if we can find snail oil but maybe I should try.
Okay right before lunch we went to a slum area where T and T work with kids and sponsor them to go to school. The homes are built on stagnant water because of the rains. They are absolutely nothing but a tarp covering with wooden slat floors. A guy came walking around the corner who was carrying a gigantic water rat! He started skinning it and I thought we were both going to lose it. He fired up the BBQ grill and he is fixed lunch. It was a crack up. We did manage to regain our appetite for lunch but it was questionable.
While we were having our iced coffee today at a little corner café when out of nowhere an elephant walks up and puts it’s trunk right under the canopy. It was so cool! I thought how Van and Tatum would have gotten a kick out of that. Aimee fed the elephant some fruit--and of course, he had a little boy with a can guiding him. Only in Cambodia would you see that.
Monday, October 22, 2007
A Day in Cambodia
As we post Pam's email, we ask that you remember to lift both Pam and Aimee up in prayer. We questioned whether or not to send some of the contents of this particular email, yet not to share it would be to leave out what "real" life is. American life is not "real"--it's incredible abundance and blessings. We are thankful for what we have, yet Americans are sheltered from things such as what you'll read--therefore it's important to allow Pam's email to paint a picture of everyday life in a third-world country:
We went to the Genocide Museum this morning. I had never taken the time to do it before and considering the Khmer Rouge Regime is responsible for the condition Cambodia is in today, I felt it was a piece of history we needed to absorb. Words cannot describe how moved I was. I have seen all the pictures Penny has taken there but until I was there--reading story after story—my mind could not grasp it.
Aimee was taking notes like crazy. She and I were in this trance of trying to comprehend what we were seeing. Aimee then says, “people go to a museum and call this history and then we are going to go and interview sex workers who are under the age of ten tomorrow”. It was paralyzing.
We then went to Marie’s (The Rescue Center) and of course it was so great to see her--and as usual, she was so funny. As we walked around the compound she shared with Aimee how Penny had emailed her the news of how TAL could donate 15 grand. She went on to explain how that was the start-up for the whole compound! It was just so cool to hear her side of the story. She then went on about how Penny and I had been reading The Prayer of Jabez during that trip and how the entire thing was such a miracle.
It was like a slice of heaven being there. I walked around carrying a little boy named James who had CP. He was loving on me like no tomorrow. His mother had died of AIDS. He is my favorite.
All the kids kept bringing us picked flowers and James was putting them behind my ear. Amongst all the sweat and greasy hair I was a “flowering princess to him”. It truly was a moment for me.
Then we went to meet a 22 year old mother who had a 7 year old little boy. She was skin and bones and will most likely not be alive much longer. She looked 55 years old. I stood at the foot of her bed listening to Marie encourage her. She was excited for her that she had been able to come to church in a wheelchair on Sunday. Marie made the comment (and I quote), “Men are Jerks. All they leave their wives is AIDS as they move on to another woman. They don't even tell them they are infected”.
It was gut-wrenching when a beautiful young child came up to Marie with another child to give her a big hug. She introduced us and then quietly said, “They are infected”. It was just so surreal.
Aimee is in love with Marie, of course. We sat under her porch and shared and shared. It was wonderful to just be there sitting with her.
We were driving home and talking non-stop with our driver, Sokah, who works with ARM. Suddenly he said, “Someone dying”. I said, “What?” He said, “Someone dying”. I looked up to see a young man—about 21 years of age—convulsing and bleeding in the middle of street. It was such a horrible experience! I said, “Stop! Can't we help him?” Sokah said, "No, they will call ambulance”. His friend who looked about the same age was hysterical. I was breathless. I cannot tell you how it affected me and Aimee.
We came back to our room and replanned our whole trip. We are not heading up north. We feel we need to stay here and finish up with the book. Thearan (our translator) is working with sex workers from Vietnam. Angkor Wat will have to wait until heaven. There is just no doubt that we are just supposed to stay here and see what God has in store for us. Plus Marie was like, we need more time. We feel we need to meet with Marie tomorrow. I want to ask her “Do Cambodians just really drive on by and hope an ambulance does come?”
It didn’t feel right.
We went to the Genocide Museum this morning. I had never taken the time to do it before and considering the Khmer Rouge Regime is responsible for the condition Cambodia is in today, I felt it was a piece of history we needed to absorb. Words cannot describe how moved I was. I have seen all the pictures Penny has taken there but until I was there--reading story after story—my mind could not grasp it.
Aimee was taking notes like crazy. She and I were in this trance of trying to comprehend what we were seeing. Aimee then says, “people go to a museum and call this history and then we are going to go and interview sex workers who are under the age of ten tomorrow”. It was paralyzing.
We then went to Marie’s (The Rescue Center) and of course it was so great to see her--and as usual, she was so funny. As we walked around the compound she shared with Aimee how Penny had emailed her the news of how TAL could donate 15 grand. She went on to explain how that was the start-up for the whole compound! It was just so cool to hear her side of the story. She then went on about how Penny and I had been reading The Prayer of Jabez during that trip and how the entire thing was such a miracle.
It was like a slice of heaven being there. I walked around carrying a little boy named James who had CP. He was loving on me like no tomorrow. His mother had died of AIDS. He is my favorite.
All the kids kept bringing us picked flowers and James was putting them behind my ear. Amongst all the sweat and greasy hair I was a “flowering princess to him”. It truly was a moment for me.
Then we went to meet a 22 year old mother who had a 7 year old little boy. She was skin and bones and will most likely not be alive much longer. She looked 55 years old. I stood at the foot of her bed listening to Marie encourage her. She was excited for her that she had been able to come to church in a wheelchair on Sunday. Marie made the comment (and I quote), “Men are Jerks. All they leave their wives is AIDS as they move on to another woman. They don't even tell them they are infected”.
It was gut-wrenching when a beautiful young child came up to Marie with another child to give her a big hug. She introduced us and then quietly said, “They are infected”. It was just so surreal.
Aimee is in love with Marie, of course. We sat under her porch and shared and shared. It was wonderful to just be there sitting with her.
We were driving home and talking non-stop with our driver, Sokah, who works with ARM. Suddenly he said, “Someone dying”. I said, “What?” He said, “Someone dying”. I looked up to see a young man—about 21 years of age—convulsing and bleeding in the middle of street. It was such a horrible experience! I said, “Stop! Can't we help him?” Sokah said, "No, they will call ambulance”. His friend who looked about the same age was hysterical. I was breathless. I cannot tell you how it affected me and Aimee.
We came back to our room and replanned our whole trip. We are not heading up north. We feel we need to stay here and finish up with the book. Thearan (our translator) is working with sex workers from Vietnam. Angkor Wat will have to wait until heaven. There is just no doubt that we are just supposed to stay here and see what God has in store for us. Plus Marie was like, we need more time. We feel we need to meet with Marie tomorrow. I want to ask her “Do Cambodians just really drive on by and hope an ambulance does come?”
It didn’t feel right.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
"Girl-Time"
Aimee and I decided to indulge in some “food adventures” during this trip. For dinner this evening we caramelized pear salad, calamari and squid crepes. Yesterday was wild boar chewing gum in curry sauce with fish intestine soup. We were scooping up this fish soup and pouring it over our rice and just loving the pineapple and vegetables when Bao dug down deep to scoop the fish out and said, “Oh no, they left the fish intestines in here”. She even turned up her nose! We laughed so hard! Oh well, it tasted pretty good.
Yesterday, we let the guys choose the menu. They were quite happy with their choices. Our driver and a pastor of the church were pretty funny at the end of the table--licking their chops all through lunch while Aimee and I were not sure if we brought strong enough dental floss to get the boar out of our teeth.
I cannot believe the work that Bao is doing over here. There are a lot of kids being empowered through her work.
We visited a shelter today with twenty kids and they all shared their stories. One little girl (around fourteen-years-old) started crying as she told of her father abandoning them. She said that her mother worked very hard as a maid but still was not able to feed them. She was so happy to be fed and going to school.
One little boy that would not get off my lap was four-years-old. The meaning of his name was “throwaway garbage”. We all voted to change that. I have it written down. His mother is a prostitute who was put in jail. He was being raised by a neighbor who he called “Grandmother”. He is gorgeous (and of course he was tribal).
There were four Cham boys at the shelter and that was cool. It is so sad to hear Bao tell how these tribal children experience so much racism because of their skin color.
Bao and Van are with us and they are in heaven. Van runs one of the shelters. She has around forty kids show up at her everyday. She, along with three caregivers, feed and take care of them. Her husband is a pastor. We are treating these two amazing women to some good “girl-fun”. They work so hard and it such a blessing to bless them.
Our room is right on the South China Sea--a little bungalow. It is perfect. You can look at and see the fishing boats tonight with their lights.
It is absolutely breathtaking.
Yesterday, we let the guys choose the menu. They were quite happy with their choices. Our driver and a pastor of the church were pretty funny at the end of the table--licking their chops all through lunch while Aimee and I were not sure if we brought strong enough dental floss to get the boar out of our teeth.
I cannot believe the work that Bao is doing over here. There are a lot of kids being empowered through her work.
We visited a shelter today with twenty kids and they all shared their stories. One little girl (around fourteen-years-old) started crying as she told of her father abandoning them. She said that her mother worked very hard as a maid but still was not able to feed them. She was so happy to be fed and going to school.
One little boy that would not get off my lap was four-years-old. The meaning of his name was “throwaway garbage”. We all voted to change that. I have it written down. His mother is a prostitute who was put in jail. He was being raised by a neighbor who he called “Grandmother”. He is gorgeous (and of course he was tribal).
There were four Cham boys at the shelter and that was cool. It is so sad to hear Bao tell how these tribal children experience so much racism because of their skin color.
Bao and Van are with us and they are in heaven. Van runs one of the shelters. She has around forty kids show up at her everyday. She, along with three caregivers, feed and take care of them. Her husband is a pastor. We are treating these two amazing women to some good “girl-fun”. They work so hard and it such a blessing to bless them.
Our room is right on the South China Sea--a little bungalow. It is perfect. You can look at and see the fishing boats tonight with their lights.
It is absolutely breathtaking.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Tuesday in Vietnam
I’ve had a wild day traveling in the countryside visiting all the shelters. There were seriously many times when the driver slammed on his brakes so suddenly that we all gasped. It was a typical day of traveling in Vietnam. These shelters are a great.
I’m amazed at how Bao is being used in the area of “prevention” here. She is setting up shelters where the kids come and eat two meals a day and they have a caregiver who is teaching them basic English and the alphabet.
Most of these kids were latchkey kids who were left alone all day while their moms worked. Unbelievably, their average age is four to six-years-old. It makes so much sense to intervene now by offering support to these working mothers. The kids are being cared for in a healthy environment while the mom’s can make a living to support them.
Most of them are tribal kids who have no paperwork and cannot even go to school because their mother is too poor to retain a proper birth certificate--without which they cannot attend school. We must start the whole process of retrieving documents for these kids.
I cannot stress to you how beautiful these children are. Once again I clearly see that these little ones are the “heartbeat” of Touch A Life. They are considered the lowest class of society--even in the countryside. They are “the least of these” spoken of in Matthew 25:33-46. It’s so perfect.
There are many visions being birthed on this trip. Bao and Claude have great ideas.
Both Aimee and I prefer the mottos over the SUV but had to endure the trip today. We are completely wiped-out and will head to Phan Tiet tomorrow morning to visit two more shelters up north--ne in Phan Tiet and one near Nha Trang. We will treat Bao to a little rest and relaxation and share some good “girl time”.
Aimee and I will head to Phenom Penh, Cambodia on Sunday and meet up with Marie. She has a group of twelve visitors there and I will get to meet her son, Rod, who is taking on more and more responsibility at The Rescue Center. It appears that he may follow in his mama’s footsteps (What mighty big shoes to fill!!!).
I’m amazed at how Bao is being used in the area of “prevention” here. She is setting up shelters where the kids come and eat two meals a day and they have a caregiver who is teaching them basic English and the alphabet.
Most of these kids were latchkey kids who were left alone all day while their moms worked. Unbelievably, their average age is four to six-years-old. It makes so much sense to intervene now by offering support to these working mothers. The kids are being cared for in a healthy environment while the mom’s can make a living to support them.
Most of them are tribal kids who have no paperwork and cannot even go to school because their mother is too poor to retain a proper birth certificate--without which they cannot attend school. We must start the whole process of retrieving documents for these kids.
I cannot stress to you how beautiful these children are. Once again I clearly see that these little ones are the “heartbeat” of Touch A Life. They are considered the lowest class of society--even in the countryside. They are “the least of these” spoken of in Matthew 25:33-46. It’s so perfect.
There are many visions being birthed on this trip. Bao and Claude have great ideas.
Both Aimee and I prefer the mottos over the SUV but had to endure the trip today. We are completely wiped-out and will head to Phan Tiet tomorrow morning to visit two more shelters up north--ne in Phan Tiet and one near Nha Trang. We will treat Bao to a little rest and relaxation and share some good “girl time”.
Aimee and I will head to Phenom Penh, Cambodia on Sunday and meet up with Marie. She has a group of twelve visitors there and I will get to meet her son, Rod, who is taking on more and more responsibility at The Rescue Center. It appears that he may follow in his mama’s footsteps (What mighty big shoes to fill!!!).
Monday, October 15, 2007
Vietnam: October 15--From Pam
Okay, we woke up this morning feeling like a million bucks. We have not been jet-lagged today at all.
Bao picked us up at 8:45 sharp as planned and off we hopped on our mottos loaded with toothbrushes and candy to conquer Saigon. It was the most freeing experience being on the back of a motto, breathing those exhaust fumes, inches from a big bus honking as my driver talked on her cell phone. I swear these Vietnamese women are Barbarians of the truest sense.
We visited four shelters and the kids are all amazing. There are Amerasians, Cambodians, Blacks…the “Least of These”. It was so awesome. Everyone who the world claims as throwaways are TAL kids.
The women caring for them are widows or their husbands have left them. It is just the saddest stories of abandonment and yet they have risen up to help others and with smiles on their faces.
We saw some pretty tough situations and living conditions in the slum areas today. We went to visit a widow who the TAL workers feed daily and she is living over water with pieces of tile for her flooring. She has her little home all neatly arranged with pillows fluffed on her bed, but one side of her home is exposed to a cesspool of water. I asked her if snakes were a problem and she said, “no, just the big rats”. She was so gracious and offered us her bed to sit on. She thanked me for the extra food that the workers brought to her three times a day.
The work that these women are doing is nothing short of amazing.
All the kids are happy and well fed--singing songs and playing and learning. They were all street kids left to take care of themselves while their mothers worked. Some of the kids are picked up at night so this is a huge blessing for working mothers to know their kids are being cared for through the day by these women.
Once again I am just blown away at the work that Bao has orchestrated with her connections.
The underground church plays a huge as a support system for the program. Many of the TAL kids are orphans through abandonment and/or their parents being in prison.
I am so humbled to see how these families are sacrificing for other children over here. We just flat don't get it in America.
One 17-year-old worker at one of our shelters said she was living on the streets taking care of her baby (a little girl about 6-months old) when Bao found her. Now she is happy and living in the home, working as one of the caregivers. She smiles from ear to ear and sings along with all the kids. Here she is so happy and grateful.
“Tu”, a 26-year-old and one of the first TAL girls rescued from the abused girls shelter, is Bao's “right hand man”. She is awesome and does all the marketing for the shelters. She drove that motto today like she was a Nascar driver! Here is a young woman who Satan had stolen her innocence and tried to destroy! She had been raped as a child—abused and wounded—yet now she is a warrior for these kids! She said that she doesn't even have a desire to date because she is living her dream taking care of the children.
Today it was almost too much for me to take in. I kept looking at the faces of all these children—so many chidren—and I am constantly reminded of what a blessing Van and Tatum (my Vietnamese children) are to us. I see them in the eyes of so many of these children.
I love this country. I stepped right back into my second home when I landed. This place is just so magical at times--even with it’s suffering.
Bao picked us up at 8:45 sharp as planned and off we hopped on our mottos loaded with toothbrushes and candy to conquer Saigon. It was the most freeing experience being on the back of a motto, breathing those exhaust fumes, inches from a big bus honking as my driver talked on her cell phone. I swear these Vietnamese women are Barbarians of the truest sense.
We visited four shelters and the kids are all amazing. There are Amerasians, Cambodians, Blacks…the “Least of These”. It was so awesome. Everyone who the world claims as throwaways are TAL kids.
The women caring for them are widows or their husbands have left them. It is just the saddest stories of abandonment and yet they have risen up to help others and with smiles on their faces.
We saw some pretty tough situations and living conditions in the slum areas today. We went to visit a widow who the TAL workers feed daily and she is living over water with pieces of tile for her flooring. She has her little home all neatly arranged with pillows fluffed on her bed, but one side of her home is exposed to a cesspool of water. I asked her if snakes were a problem and she said, “no, just the big rats”. She was so gracious and offered us her bed to sit on. She thanked me for the extra food that the workers brought to her three times a day.
The work that these women are doing is nothing short of amazing.
All the kids are happy and well fed--singing songs and playing and learning. They were all street kids left to take care of themselves while their mothers worked. Some of the kids are picked up at night so this is a huge blessing for working mothers to know their kids are being cared for through the day by these women.
Once again I am just blown away at the work that Bao has orchestrated with her connections.
The underground church plays a huge as a support system for the program. Many of the TAL kids are orphans through abandonment and/or their parents being in prison.
I am so humbled to see how these families are sacrificing for other children over here. We just flat don't get it in America.
One 17-year-old worker at one of our shelters said she was living on the streets taking care of her baby (a little girl about 6-months old) when Bao found her. Now she is happy and living in the home, working as one of the caregivers. She smiles from ear to ear and sings along with all the kids. Here she is so happy and grateful.
“Tu”, a 26-year-old and one of the first TAL girls rescued from the abused girls shelter, is Bao's “right hand man”. She is awesome and does all the marketing for the shelters. She drove that motto today like she was a Nascar driver! Here is a young woman who Satan had stolen her innocence and tried to destroy! She had been raped as a child—abused and wounded—yet now she is a warrior for these kids! She said that she doesn't even have a desire to date because she is living her dream taking care of the children.
Today it was almost too much for me to take in. I kept looking at the faces of all these children—so many chidren—and I am constantly reminded of what a blessing Van and Tatum (my Vietnamese children) are to us. I see them in the eyes of so many of these children.
I love this country. I stepped right back into my second home when I landed. This place is just so magical at times--even with it’s suffering.
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