A group of people from our team has been going to a village church to help with a kid’s camp, construction, and praying for the sick people in the area. I went there the first two days we were here because my morning job at the Christian Café hadn’t started yet. What I experienced when I went there is hard to explain with words but I’ll try.
Immediately as we pulled up on our bikes the kids are yelling “Hello!... Hello!” (They love to show off the English they know). After we yelled “Hello!” back, we got off our bikes and I could tell they were sizing us up, wondering what we were going to do. After I gave the first kid a hug and picked him up they realized what were there to do and I watched as the floodgates opened. I was a hug machine/jungle gym for the next three hours. This started out as the fulfillment of everything I was hoping to experience on outreach; I was getting to show love to these kids who so desperately needed it (and who doesn’t love to be the center of attention for a bunch of little kids). But to be honest I began to get really annoyed and frustrated after about fifteen minutes to a half hour of this. Some of the kids became really territorial and would grab, pull, or even hit or kick the other kids I was holding or playing with (And I took my fair share of blows as well). I wanted them to chill out and stop jumping on me because there was times when I had up to 5 or 6 kids hanging on my legs, arms, and neck and they were fighting and yelling at each other. When I caught myself feeling this way my heart broke and I had to repent. I went from annoyed to feeling deep sadness. I couldn’t even speak their language yet they were so jealous for a simple hug and for my attention that they would fight over it.
I began to feel powerless knowing the statistics about how many of these kids are most likely not only being neglected, but probably physically and sexually abused on top of that. They were so hungry for real genuine love and all I could do was hug them and smile… I felt like I needed to do so much more but I couldn’t think of what to do. So, I began to pray over the kids as I was holding them. I began to pray protection over them and blessing and favor over their lives. I prayed for God to bring people who would call out the greatness in them and help them walk out the great plan He has for them. People who would tell the girls they were beautiful and valuable, and the boys they were strong and smart.
From everything we have heard about human trafficking in Cambodia, it’s villages just like this one where people come and buy, or sometimes just take, children from poor families because the families don’t feel like they can provide for all their kids. It was so surreal to think that it’s possible that next week some of these kids might not be at the Bible school because they've been taken and they could be on the streets being raped 5-10 times a night. This is a reality I have a hard time dealing with, especially after I see their innocent faces smiling and watch them dance to bible songs.
I’ve been thinking about all this a lot and been wondering how much good we are even doing with these kids and yesterday I had a conversation with Kelby, one of our staff, that left me feeling really encouraged. She shared how she also felt powerless at times and all she could do was pray, hug, and smile. But she encouraged me that God is faithful and He answers the prayers of His children that are according to His will. She talked about knowing that our prayers literally shift things in the spirit as we come into agreement with what God wants for these little ones and that we are literally changing the eternal destinies of not only these few, but the ones they will impact down the line as well. We have to trust that God is faithful to hear the cries of His people on the behalf of those who can’t speak for themselves. When we see injustice we have to be moved to prayer and we must believe that it is changing things. This is our inheritance and this is what we were made to do, change destinies!
So take a moment and pray for the millions of little boys and girls who are being trafficked all over the world, and believe that your prayers are changing the lives of real people with real emotions and real smiles… It’s such an honor to partner with God in setting the captives free in this way. Let’s never take it for granted!
“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” - Ezekiel 22:30
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