Today I woke up and asked Jesus what I should do before leaving from Cambodia to home. I have been thinking about this for a while now, but I felt in my heart that I should go to a small village called Svay Pak. Svay Pak approx. 11 km outside of Phnom Penh and is notorious for it’s sex tourists. I knew that if I was going to be in Phnom Penh and wanted to see things change that I needed to go to this place and pray.
In 2005 IJM conducted a raid on a brothel in Svay Pak linked here and found 30+ girls living in horrendous conditions and being sold for sex. Most of the girls had been trafficked from Vietnam and they were all very, very young. In fact, the youngest girl that they found in the brothel was 5 years old. Men had come from all over the world to this notorious spot in the middle of nowhere to have sex with these innocent, precious little girls.
So, there I was, a white dude all by myself asking my moto driver to take me to Svay Pak. I know this driver as I have used him many times so I tried my hardest with the simplest English that I know to tell him that I was not looking for boom boom, but was looking for some good people who had started up an orphanage in Svay Pak called the Rahab house and wanted to visit them.
When we drove into the town we asked around for directions to the Rahab house, a ministry that helps at risk children from being sold into the sex trade. No one knew where it was so I told them it was near the place where bad men go to have sex with girls. I felt so awkward and perverted, but I was determined to find the house. Eventually I convinced the driver to take me to an international school where I went in and asked one of the staff where the Rahab house was, she knew and gave us directions.
We drive a little bit down the main road then turned left and headed down a side road into a small area with houses and shops. Everyone was looking at me and I knew that they were thinking I was just one more Christian (cause of my skin colour) westerner looking to have sex with a child. We proceeded down the road and on our right we saw the Rahab house. I got off the moto and was greeted with reserve and frowns. I introduced myself to a man who proceeded to ask me many questions. What are you doing here? Why are you here alone? What are you looking for? Who sent you and who do you know? After explaining that Hagar International and IJM had sent me he told me that I was welcome to come in as it was clear to him that I was a good man, not a bad man.
Cont. tomorrow.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Phil Cunningham, Kjersti Andreassen. Kjersti Andreassen said: RT @PhilCunningham: Just posted on my story in Cambodia's sex capital. It's part one of 2 posts. You can check it here. http://bit.ly/4oW28t […]
Andreas…Eager to read part two of your story. I would love to converse with you through email about your experience with Rahab’s House. I’m Director of Development for Agape International Missions (AIM)and was notified of your link to our website. Thank you for caring enough to make the effort to visit Rahab’s House and see first hand the powerful work God is doing in Svay Pak through some of his amazing servants. My email address is reneeb@aim4asia.org. God bless you…Renee
Renee, I will contact you soon for sure, would love to talk.
Tears are streaming down my face. I am so touched by this experience. So heartbroken for the children and for the immediate caution the colour of your skin brings and the implications of seeing a white man in that area for those hurting people. I live in such a sheltered convenient place. It blows me away where you find yourself on a daily basis. I pray for your safety and for the teaching and sharing you do for others after seeing and experiencing what you do. May more of us comfortable westerners have our eyes opened.
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