Trying to condense my many thoughts…
My team and I all got a gift at training. That gift was a book, “The Road of Lost Innocence.” This is a powerful memoir of a Cambodian woman named Somaly Mam who experienced Hell on earth in the brothels in Phenom Phen. This story is hard to read as you are forced t
o encounter the depravity of man in a painful and haunting way.
Somoly Mam has lived through suffering and injustice that I can’t even wrap my mind around. The devastating reality is that those same travesties that are happening to other women and children all around the world. But there is a lot of exciting work being done. Somaly has been a powerful voice for the abused and has saved so many children from the similar Hell she went through. Her work is amazing and yet in an interview when being praised for all she had done she responded by saying:
“I am dead inside.”
That statement haunts me and yet reveals an important truth. This mission of going to Cambodia requires so much more than simply getting the women out of prostitution and out of the brothels. Cambodia needs an experience with Christ so that lasting change will occur or else the women will remain dead inside like Somaly expressed.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
Satan wants to destroy everything that reflects God. He wants to rob children of their innocence and he wants to implant bitterness that goes so deep it turn into constant cycle of sin. He goes after the pure of heart and his intention is to murder, steal and take as much life as he can. The thing is he knows he has already lost but we are in a battle right now as he is going down with a raging fury.
We live in a world that is trying to choke out spirituality. Rape, sexual abuse, slavery. All of those things are pure evilness and come from Satan. They are a results of the spiritual battle we are in every day. We live in a world that is overflowing with suffering. So many people use suffering disprove God. I am thankful that I serve a God who could use suffering to make something beautiful. But why do we think that we don’t deserve to suffer? Did Christ not suffer extremely for us? And he is God’s son. I am not saying that God likes suffering, I think it breaks his heart. But we need to think about suffering differently. And we need to take the story of Christ and his suffering for us to the ends of the earth and share it with the world.
That leads me to the most important and valuable point that I have to offer. Hope. Not my hope but the hope that comes from Jesus Christ.
God made man out of dust and so why should we not trust him to make beautiful things out of the worst situations. I want to take Christ to women like Somaly Mam because I want them to experience renewed life. Only Christ can penetrate the pain that goes down into the soul and is usually associated with sexual sin. He is a life giver and promises to restore. He calls us to be Repairers of Broken Walls.
What is my life worth if I am not striving for the kingdom? I am ready to charge into battle with the confidence that I serve the winning side. This life is a temporary thing and I want to make the most of it!
