We're in Cambodia and can't believe how blessed we are! Despite an overwhelming, stressful, and bit of a confusing border crossing, we did manage to get a hold of Chomno-the director of CHO (Cambodia Hope Organization)-and get everything to do with our stay and what we will be doing organized. We're staying in a tiny town called Poipet, which is right beside the border crossing. Poipet has a population of 150, 000 people and is probably the size of Peachland (for all you Kelowna people) and the size of Bawlf (for all you Alberta people) ! Our day of arrival mostly consisted of relaxing, eating, seeing a bit of the town, we had to buy some modest clothing for our work, and dinner with Chomno and his wife! Thursday, we joined with a team of about 20 students from the UK. They're from a church called Soul Survivor, situated just outside of London. They run a leadership based program, where students take classes within the church. For the day we went to Safe Haven- which is place where children that have been at risk, through trafficking, are rescued and sent there to rehabilitate and restart their lives. We spent that day hauling brick, making bricks, and laying foundations for houses/buildings. Despite the heavy heat and the constant sweat, I thoroughly enjoyed the day. It's amazing to get an eye-opener of how they do work here. Their infrastructure is so poor, as you could imagine, it really makes you realize how blessed and grateful you are for where you live. Later that day we toured the site: saw the school, a place where the children learn to do woodwork, (WOW) and viewed the new water systems they recently built.
Having spoken to a lady, Yireh, who had spent some time doing work with the organization before, my heart is now broken for what trafficking is truly like over here. Most children use to be bought when they were 15-18, but now because desire for sex just among teens with boyfriends is so high, the age that is being bought has significantly dropped to 8-12. Lots of families that have many children will sacrifice a child, sell them for a week or two, and use the money earned to send their other children to school, as well as, to feed them. The child that was sold then comes back to the family and doesn't really understand what has happened. That's when CHO will rescue the child and place them into Safe Haven. For some of the older girls, they don't want to leave the industry, simply because the money is so good.
Friday, Nicole and I went to the school at Safe Haven for the day. There we went from classroom to classroom and taught the kids English. The first class aged from 5-6, where we taught them the letter W ! We showed them words that started with W so they could understand annunciations. The second class ranged from 8-11. There we played a spelling game for nearly the entire time. We would write words on the board in English, they would sound them out and say them in English - man are they ever smart ! Finally the last class aged 12-14. We played a similar spelling game, with harder words, and observed as they tried to have conversations in English! I just loved watching the amount of joy they have in absolutely everything. It's impossible to stop grinning from ear to ear. We also would walk around the class near the beginning to introduce ourselves to each child! It was so awesome to shake their hands, ask them their favorite color, and how old they are. There was a fairly long break after lunch, so we got the chance to hangout in the library with kids. There I read to many of the children and quizzed them in English of what was seen on each page. One girl would constantly repeat after me, per sentence, in English! They love to learn. Another observation with the children, is that they are so considerate and kind; they share and take turns, something I can't say about the children in Canada, ha! We played a game of "monkey in the middle" (which is the same as "piggy in the middle"), where the children's laughter was so contagious!
There is also a team staying at CHO from Kelowna! -SO CRAZY RIGHT!? They are from New Life church and a program run out of it is called, School of Supernatural Ministry. So they have been here since Monday. Some are leaving tomorrow and some are staying another week. They have been doing some really cool things in Cambodia! They went to the garbage dump Friday morning, where the Lord did some healing through prayer! He healed a woman with arthritis, and a blind man! Amazing! In the afternoon, some of them went to a Karaoke Bar, which is where most brothels are. So they rented a room and when the girls came in, they actually sung some karaoke! After that, they sat down with them and talked to them about the Lord! Some of them even accepted Jesus! Incredible or what! God is doing some amazing things here in Cambodia, through the open hearts of His people! Friday, a young boy, who was missing for a few months was also rescued and re-connected with his grandmother! It's one thing to hear about the ministry CHO does, but another thing that while we are here too! What a faith-building experience! God is so great! The Lord also set up a divine appointment for me last night. I talked to a woman from the Kelowna team named May. She is probably around the age of 50 and her heart is so huge for the Lord. She shared some of her testimony with me about how God called her to quit her job, sell a lot of her possessions and move from Ontario to Kelowna! She is living in such obedience to the Lord, it is so inspiring! Such a comfort to have familiarity and to share stories with those of similiar faith values! What a great bunch of godly people.
Saturday morning, Nicole and I went back to Safe Haven, where we sat down with about 25
children and taught them some bible stories!
We shared with them the story of Noah and the story of Moses. After that we attempted to teach them,
"The Lord told Noah, to build Him an arky arky..." (for you who know
that camp song about Noah's Ark!) And
then we taught them, "this little light of mine, I'm going to let it
shine" - which they caught onto a sung so well! Lastly, they already knew the song, "
Jesus loves me " , so we taught them the "we will rock you
version" -they loved it! Especially the "
na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-hey! (throw hands in the air)" part ! The
children sang for us, "Father Abraham" and they knew all the actions! They also sang, " I've got peace like a
river, I've got joy like a fountain, I've got love like an ocean in my
soul." I was so impressed! They love to sing!
Saturday afternoon, we went to the "Destiny Cafe" which is situated in the
building of CHO, and taught some of the staff to bake! We baked my momma's BEST
COOKIES(mom I did you proud :) )and we baked some chocolate cupcakes! The staff seemed to have a lot of fun, and
understood well. When we put all the
baked goods out in the cafe, most sold so fast - people loved them!
It's been
a great experience thus far serving and volunteering here at CHO, everyone is
so friendly and has such a heart to do God's work. Today, having been Sunday, is rest day so Nicole and I might get a manicure! We have decided to make tomorrow our last day, where I think we are going to teach more bible stories to children at Safe Haven and then get an in-depth tour of the rest of their projects going on! Tuesday, it's off to Siem Reap- woot woot!
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