My time in Cambodia has come and gone! My team and I left Phnom Penh Sunday night, and I now find myself in Bangkok, Thailand. The last week of outreach in the city of Phnom Penh was an excelllent time. We continued feeding the children in the slums with the Irish couple (John and Ann). 2 other days we were able to go to the slums and give the kids a good scrub. They rarely ever take baths, so it's nice to see them squeaky clean. It's very hard to teach them about hygiene, so a lot of the kids are sickly. There were 2 babies born just in the 2 weeks I was there, so I hope and pray that someone is able to educate them so that they can have a better quality of life.
We also worked with a local pastor and his wife that has a small church in their home. This couple is amazing. They started adopting Cambodian children and vowed not to stop until they couldn't afford to adopt anymore. They are currently taking care of 20 children! Please be in prayer for them because a lot of the children have been very sick. One of the boys was just diagnosed with Typhoid.
The couple run a feeding program every Friday for poor children in a local community. We were able to help them with this. We played games with the kids, fed them, and prayed for them. Also, the boys on my team painted the room they use for their church.
The remainder of our our time was spent teaching English and doing prayer walks in the Red Light District of the city. This is an area heavily hit with prostitution, and we simply wanted to bring light into the darkness of that place.
Now that we are in Thailand, we are going to be working with a lot of prostitution/trafficking situations. Today, we prayer walked the area that we will be working in; it was one of the heaveiest places I've ever been. Thailand is known all over the world for its Red Light District; want cheap sex and a beautiful Asian girl to "make all your dreams come true", then come to Thailand. If you've never been here it's hard to imagine. In the US, there is prostitution, strip clubs, etc, but this is a whole new ballgame. It's kept somewhat secret, but here, no no no. It has brightly shining neon lights welcoming you to its grips with absolutely no shame. You don't see English very often in the city of Bangkok...until you enter Nana, the Red Light District. It is catered to the Westerner; everything written in English, American music blaring from the bars, all Western type foods and drinks. You take one look at the men and know exactly what they are there for. Aging men that have lost themselves somewhere in their lives and are now searching to fill the void by satisfying temporary pleasures. How did they ever get to this point in their life? I don't know how a person comes to the place that they are capable
of lying to themselves so deeply that flying half way across the world to take advantage of young Asian girls is considered normal and morally sound. If I didn't know Jesus I'd say there is no hope for them or this world.
Tomorrow will be our first day working with a well known anti trafficking minstry. We will be doing outreaches into the bars and actually talking to these girls that are being prostituted. I am BEYOND excited; I'm finally getting a hands on experience in this minstry. Please keep my team and I in your prayers as it is a very difficult ministry to work in. The realities of it break your heart and leave you wounded beyond words. We should all think seriously when we sing "break my heart for what breaks yours".
Also, continue praying for my finances for this trip. The amount needed has dropped slightly to $1,336. If you are reading this please, please consider giving to me and the ministry I'm pursueing. I literally cannot raise this money without you. Even if you can only give $10, it helps! No gift is too small. The money is past due, so please donate now if you can. If you'd like information on how to give, simply click the tab titled "donation info" at the top of this page. Once again, thank you to those that have given! You have blessed me beyond words!
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