Hope in action!

Today was the first full day of working with projects. The team split for the morning sessions with some going to work in Svay Pak and the others working in Daughters. Daughters of Cambodia is a charity which seeks to train and reintegrate those people who have left the sex industry into life in community. Many of the people have no skill basis to work from which is why many found themselves working in the industry in the first place. Since Laura and I were last here, the centre where many of the clothes etc are made has relocated. I was blown away by the development within the project and how much has changed. Everything has become bigger and more professional and it was amazing to see peoples lives who had seemed down and out suddenly changed and finding purpose in their lives due to the hope and love of God being shared with them

Sons of Cambodia was a side project which was just started 2 years ago prior to our time in Cambodia. At that stage it was a small community of 3-4 lady boys who were training in new areas of skill and also hearing about the love of God for the first time. Today I watched many new lady-boys working at new high tech machinery and creating a whole brand of products to sell at the shop. These are just a few examples

Through selling such items at the Daughters shop and online the men and women now earn a living for themselves and have found a new purpose in life. Today I met with one of the men (Savet) from the last time who is now line manager and is someone who's life has been dramatically changed by God. Today he was so excited to tell Al his testimony and of God's goodness in his life. Hope in Action!

The rest of the team worked in Svay Pak, running kids clubs, video classes, medical teams and working in the "Lords Gym", a gym for men from the community (Pimps and traffickers included) which allows for relationships to be built and men's lives transformed, targeting the demand side of the industry. 

Many of the children which attended the kids clubs will still be sold at night time to paying customers. I was thinking tonight of how hopeless a situation that must be for many of them. We can't even begin to fathom the reality that many of these children face as they leave the fun they experience in club each day to face the fears of what lies ahead that night. I was reminded of the verse in Psalm 30v6 which says "Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning" or as the message translation says "The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter". This is the life lived out by these children that after the pain of what they experience at night, many of them look forward to the hope of a day of laughter and feeling like a normal child again, if only for a little while. Please pray for these children that as we share the hope of Jesus with them, that it will become a permanent reality in their lives and that many of them will be freed from the trafficking and hell which they frequently experience. Pray for the team as well that God will fill our hearts with his love and that we will live and act it out in everything we do during the next few days.

Hope everyone at home is well and enjoying the rain! 

Dave