It seems that a lot of my team members have been having dreams relating to the ministry we will be joining in Cambodia. I think this shows that this is close to our hearts and our thoughts. I had one of those dreams last night, woke up and cried. 

In my dream I was sold to a brothel. I was waiting in a dirty room with five other girls. Every time a client would come into the room I would hide my face hoping that they would not pick me. The suspense of whether the client would choose me or not was terrifying and unbearable. And then there was the guilt that if it was not me, it would be one of the other girls. All I remember from my dream was old and disfigured men. I kept trying to think of excuses to get out of being chosen but then the brothel owner realized what I was doing and handed me over to a client saying I had to get it over with. And then my escape was waking up. 

That was a small glimpse into the reality of girl’s lives in Cambodia and all over the world. I wish I could emphasize that more and make it seem more real. I do not know what it is like to be forced to have sex multiple times a day. I don’t know what it is like to be abused into submission. The age of the girls is getting younger and younger. Men want to sleep with virgins because of the myth that they can be cured of aids, think about the ramifications of that. I just wrote about my nieces third birthday in my last blog. Every time I look at my nieces I can’t help but see the faces of thousands of other little girls who are abused and used as a commodity and I wish they could be loved the way my two precious nieces are. 

Since I am a recent college grad I hear the question, “So what are you going to do?” almost every day. I can’t tell you how many times the tone of the conversation changes drastically when I mention Cambodia and the sex trade. I have had a lot of encouraging responses but it is a hard topic and I am not surprised when people want to change the subject or forget about it later. And I don’t mean to focus on the sad and depressing part because there is the beauty and power of the hope that Christ has to offer. My point is that we need to step up and take this issue seriously. It can’t simply be a trend or a hot topic. We must make battle against the enemy. And we must talk about these things because life is so much more than being comfortable. 

There are girls out there sitting in the dirty rooms in my dream, but they cannot                                                     wake up. That is their reality. What are we going to do about it?