Broken by Vada Smith
I go off the plane and I could already tell that there was something different about Cambodia. After going through customs, we get outside and climbed into these little things called Tuk Tuks (witch are the cutest little taxis ever.) It was late but the streets were still pretty busy. The leader in training I was riding with asked me what my first impression was. I was so overwhelmed by everything I couldn’t put it into words. Overwhelmed by the amount of trash, overwhelmed by the huge number of people sleeping on the streets, overwhelmed by the kids running around, half dressed, with no one to watch over them. Knowing going into this the seriousness of the sex-trafficking, I could not shack the thoughts running through my head. “What have these children been through? Where will they go in life? Why them?”I had only been there an hour and I had already caught myself thinking “Where is the hope?” And it hit.
Broken. This place is truly broken, and in need of a healer. That night it was hard for me to sleep, but praise God for the hope that was coming in the morning!
Hope…. The Hard Places ministry. A kingdom built organization that opens there doors, daily to the children of Cambodia. The place is filled with God loving staff that works hard and go against the grain of the society in Cambodia. You could see the love for those kids in the way they taught the word and the love of God. As we worked by there side I got to see the living hope at work. I got to see how even when surrounded by pure darkness there is joy. And I got to see that in those children! Children who have grown up living on the streets. Who are getting sold by there own families into the sex-traffic community. Even living in that type of reality, these child still had smiles on there faces. Not just “Oh I’m at church I have to keep a smile on my face” type a smile. It was a smile that could truly warm your heart one second and break your heart the next.
See at the beginning of this trip, I couldn’t see hope. I only saw brokenness. But when I stopped and looked around, I saw it. I saw the hope in the children. I saw hope in the Staff at The Hard Places. I saw hope in the women getting delivered from sex-trafficking. I saw that God (even though it didn’t seem like it) is in this country. Moving and working. Giving strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow!
Romans 15:13&14 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
