Thursday, July 2, 2009

A Day in Svay Pak


Greetings Friends & Family!
First of all, thank you for checking in w/us. Thank you for taking the time out of your schedules to learn more about what we're seeing & experiencing. Of course we wish you could be here with us in person to witness the beauty of these children, to see the smiles on their face, to see the world they live in, to see the longing of love and attention - the RIGHT attention. But we hope & trust we are giving you as close to an accurate viewpoint of the situation as possible.

Go a little further w/us and imagine you are walking the dirt trails of Svay Pak with us, gathering more children to join us for another day of Kids Club. It's 10AM & some people are just getting up & eating breakfast. Most of the town looks like they're still recovering from a full night of activity. People are laying in hammocks still drugged out. Others are riding their bikes or hanging out in the "clubs" which look more like open-aired pool halls. We can only imagine what this place looks like at night. No one from AIM stays past 5. Even the pastor who is now living in Rahab's house stays inside. We hear the gangs come alive at night; young boys as young as 10, get on motos & start driving the girls off for a night of business. Others are bringing the pedophiles in. We get the creepiest feeling walking thru the town picturing what took place the night before.

But it's morning now & the light is shining thru. The kids now start running to Rahabs house when they see our white van. Alli, the amazing woman who runs the kids club program, tells us more children are showing up that they've never met before because we are here. And we dare ask, "What difference can we make in 2 wks?" God's love shines bright and we only hope to be the strong beacons of light that can begin to offer glimpes of hope and truth for these young children who already are being subjected to such darkness.

We get to walk the streets and meet the family members of these young girls. Today, some of us met Vaun's mom. She seems like such a nice woman but we hear she has knocked Vaun out in broad daylight. It's shocking. No CPS here. And yet, we're dealing w/a culture who thinks this is normal; this is how you discipline your children. We're dealing with a culture that thinks it's a win/win for the girls (and some boys) to be sold for sex: the client gets what they want & the family gets $$. Isn't that all that matters? It seems in the last year, the families aren't even selling their daughters so much just to make ends meet, but to get that extra $5 for who knows what. But it's okay, cuz it's a win-win & it's not wrong in their place. How do we argue with that?

Our team doesn't. We pray for this town to be changed; for TRUTH and justice to reign. For these uniquelly created individuals to come to know a life of peace where they aren't living on drugs, alcohol, perverse sex and a lifestyle that robs them of what Christ wants for them. We bring them the love of Jesus and trust the love that lives in us shines brighter than the darkness they experience at night. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for caring about these chilldren. Pray for a change to come to Svay Pak. Pray for young girls to be set free; that they might somehow know that despite all the pain and horror they've gone through, there is a God who cares for them and wants them to be in a safe place. Pray for these young boys in particular as many of them are coming to that age when they should be selling these girls. Pray.

Kim Jacobson & the entire 2009 Cambodia Team







-- Post From My iPhone

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for taking the time to post to the blog and let us know what is going on.

    I'm praying for strength and unity for the entire team. Strength, because I know how hot it can get and how blessed is each little breeze. Unity, because I know each personality is a little different and things become magnified in the heat.

    I know your light can overcome the darkness where you are. Stand strong in His love.
    Dawn

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  2. I too am praying for strength,unity ,power and the love of Jesus to just come pouring out all over these little ones and their families. Also praying for the people running Rahabs house and all that that entails.
    Stay healthy and keep smiling.
    Sue Batz

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  3. Thanks Kim! And thanks to all of you for being there to shed some Light.
    My heart just breaks when I read these stories. I'm praying for these kids.

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  4. This is old news. The brothels in Svay Pak have been out of business for years now.

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  5. OK, the kids in Svay Pak are safe from pedophiles now; all they have to worry about now is the God Squad brainwashing them (which may in fact be worse).By the way, what are you going to do about the kids who starve to death in the streets of cambodia? Nothing, because that's not the demon SEX so you dont care.

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  6. I agree with you ok it might be wrong having sex with kids but if it is the only way for them to eat well i think they must do i my self have never had sex with eny one under 16 years old

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  7. you really think km11 is out of business? you must be joking. go there at night and see when cambodian guys fuck all the girls there!!!

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  8. God Squad: respect the fact this is a Buddhist country. Don't ram your religion down their throats. Their religion is just a much to be respected as yours. How'd you like it if the Buddhists came to your front door, and told you that you should convert to their religion? No - I thought not!

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  9. You people did a good job in protecting kids from being sex slaves, but you have to recognize pedophiles who are not sex tourist but want to take a young girl or boy who has miserable prospect in life and love and take care of him or her, giving that child a much better life than what their possibilities are. That's just reality and it's time you recognize that instead of spreading your BS values that sex is bad, and 16-17 year olds are kids, you should focus on who is really harming kids, and you people should have more sex too.

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