Day 1: Rahab's House, Kids Club, & New Projects

Early morning thoughts...

Cars honking, engines revving, motorcycles cranking...it's interesting how cities in general, no matter how foreign, sound the same until you hear the people interacting.  I awoke this morning nearly forgetting that I was in Cambodia!  (photo from our hotel view of Phnom Penh)

 


Rahab's House (photo of entrance into Rahab's House)

 
We met up with Bridget, Don Brewster's wife, prior to heading out to Svay Pak where we would be meeting with Pastor Chantha at Rahab's House.  The Brewster's heart for Cambodia and the young women and children is nothing short of inspiring and courageous.  Bridget had shared with me that the community of Svay Pak was strongly opposed to them building ministries that inherently sought to destroy their corrupted foundation.  "Driving into town was scary," recalls Bridget.  "They would glare at us and some men would lift up their jackets to reveal the guns they were prepared and willing to use."  Thankfully, the Brewster's have been received more benevolently than when they first began, and many of the neighboring children are able to find some refuge in Rahab's House, particularly during Kids Club (where we were able to interact more with the children).

Rahab's House was previously a flourishing brothel before it was raided by IJM, who, after 5 years of disuse, leased the building to AIM to be a community center, offering medicine, education, and safe recreation.  Renee, an AIM staff member visiting from their Rocklin base, told me that the raided brothel was heavily infested with rodents.  "But when we all prayed over the building, all of the rats started running out!  It just gave us the chills!" she says. "The only things that didn't leave were the snakes..."  The snakes had been hiding in one of the rooms where little girls were imprisoned, locked from the outside in cement walls and open ceiling.  It's almost inconceivable that room #9 was once used to rape children and is now used as storage for arts and crafts; Pastor Chantha, however, makes sure that no one forgets.  "We keep the original bed (a wooden frame) in this room as a reminder," he says.  A reminder of how real this evil is that they're fighting, and how much more powerful is Christ in defeating it.

Kids Club  (photos of the kiddies at Rahab's House!)

I cannot even begin to describe how absolutely precious each of these children are!!  They have unparalleled energy; I wish I was able to get a shot of Kevin playing with the kids, or Jim being spun around into submission!  Or perhaps when Jim was first asked to be a Wise Man for Ruthie's lesson on the birth of Christ but was demoted to "shepherd"!   But those are on my camera, and will have to be posted later because I've forgotten my usb cord.  :)

Kids Club was led today by Ruthie Nickell, who absolutely has a huge heart for these children. "I had cried out to God, 'God, where are my children?'  It wasn't necessarily a biological question," she says. Ruthie knew that her calling was to minister to young children; she just didn't know where.  Back in the States in Kansas City, Ruthie came to live in Cambodia (now for one and a half years) after hearing about the sex trafficking from her friend and Director of Kids Club, Allie.  "I just knew I had to get to Cambodia...my heart breaks for God's children here."  And how could it not?  According to Don, nearly 80% of the children (below) who came to Kids Club today would be trafficked this evening; a few of the children we had met had been trafficked several times and their stories are terrifyingly painful.  "When we first started, we would have parents who would come into class and take their kids out to service a customer," says Ruthie. 

"I know it's hard to understand how these children could understand the love of God when in the evening they're being exploited, but it's amazing how the love of God is changing them and this community.  Before it was 80%, it was 100% of these children being trafficked."   It's true; progress is being made and an even greater project lies in the near future...

Building Faith in Svay Pak 

This above building was built with the intention of being the next big brothel in Svay Pak.  What men had designed to destroy the livelihood of young women and children will now be used to further serve and minister to them!!  Church, Svay Pak needs your prayers as AIM will begin construction on this building next month.  I unfortunately am unable to write all of the details here, but will hopefully be able to share more with you upon our return.

Thank you ALL for your continuous prayers and support!!  

- Beth Parawan