Christmas Party!

We want to share a few pictures with you from last month. The last Friday before Christmas break, the church and school at Rahab's House Svay Pak hosted a Christmas party for all the children who attend these ministries. The best estimate was that 350 children attended!  The party took the entire month to plan, but was worth every minute of shopping and preparation. 

The teachers presenting a song

Praying before eating birthday cake

Singing Christmas carols together

Presents for the students

One of the leaders giving a message

A group of students performing a dance

*For the protection of the students, their faces aren't shown*

December Update

Follow this link to see our end of the year update.

December Update

Blessings!

On the Road to Svay Pak

Here are a few pictures that we took on our commute out to Svay Pak--a drive that takes about 45 minutes to an hour and is around 20 kilometers/12 miles.

First we must drive across the city of Phnom Penh...

...passing local trash dumps...

...the Independence Monument...

and wedding tents that take up half the road.

As we leave the city, the poverty becomes more noticeable.

The marginalized Muslim communities live on the outskirts of the city.

Then we arrive in Svay Pak.

This building houses a medical clinic, a church auditorium,  nine classrooms,  two offices,  two supply closets, two households, a kitchen and a computer lab -- all in five floors!

The view of the community from the back of the school/church. 

Becki having a meeting with the teachers.

And just for fun--never underestimate what can be carried on the back of a moto!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we are far away from the normal traditions and rhythms of Thanksgiving. The weather is a balmy 90 degrees, there are no paper turkeys and pilgrims decorating the aisles of our supermarket, and pumpkin pie does not abound. Despite being away from the normal American Thanksgiving, we find ourselves so thankful for the many things this year has held. We want to share with you a few things that we praise God for.

• We are thankful for the friends that we have made in Cambodia over the last eleven months.  Heather, Jen, Sopheak and Borey (and many others) have encouraged us and walked through this first year with us.
• We thank God for our language teachers. Moi Ding, Sopheap, Panha and Anin are endlessly patient and seek to help us speak the language well and understand the Cambodian culture.     
• We are thankful for fun package full of Christmas cards from Cornerstone Church in Arizona!
• We are thankful for our safe and peaceful home. It is a haven and a place of rest for us.
• We thank God for you and the many ways you have blessed and lifted us up. Your prayers have sustained us and we could not be here without you.
• We are thankful that God has been our refuge and rock as we have encountered both joys and struggles in this year.  He has been so faithful as we have followed Him into unknown territory.

“O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

  1 Chronicles 16:34

We hope and pray that you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Equipping and Expanding

November Update

Our latest news is of how God has been so faithful to plant us where He wants us. We have new positions with Agape International Missions! Agape International Missions (AIM) is a Christian organization that fights child sex trafficking and seeks to restore hope to victims.

Seven miles outside of Phnom Penh is a village called Svay Pak. Svay Pak is known as a place where men can go to have sex with very young children. AIM has been working in Svay Pak for several years now, planting churches, establishing a medical clinic, reaching out to pimps, traffickers, and parents, and rescuing children being sold for sex. A year ago, AIM opened a school in Svay Pak with the purpose of providing a quality education and giving students a safe place to learn, to grow, and to dream for a future. Many of the children are at high-risk of exploitation or are already being sold for sex out of their homes. The local Cambodian church partners with the school and is heavily involved in trying to transform this community with the power of the Gospel. We are excited to be a part of what God is doing in Svay Pak!

So, what will we be doing? The school is still very young and in need of continued development, and our collective background is in education. The three of us, in conjunction with the director (our good friend, Jen Morgan), will train the Cambodian teaching staff, build curriculum, and develop relationships with the community. We will work to equip, build up, and expand the school. Because of the poor education system in Cambodia, the teachers at the school have very little training in being teachers – they are learning on the job (and doing fantastic!). Currently, the school has three kindergarten classes and offers English classes for the community, with a total of about 300 students. One of our big goals is to expand the school by one grade level each year.

The needs of the community are great. The poverty is profound. Drugs, domestic violence and sexual exploitation are a part of daily life for many people. Just recently, a six-year old student at the school was rescued from being sold for sex by her parents. She is now safe in a residential after-care facility. The situation in Svay Pak is dark, but there is hope!

We will be transitioning into our new roles through the end of this year, and then will begin full-time at the school in January. Our positions with AIM are volunteer roles and we are still missionaries sent through International Outreach Ministries (IOM). Our financial support structures are not changing in any way. We covet your prayers to cover us in this new partnership!

Prayer Requests

• A smooth transition into work with AIM, especially as we are developing new relationships in the community.

• Spiritual alertness, protection, and wisdom as we work in an oppressed place. 

• Continued perseverance in our language study.

Chab Dai Conference

Last week we had the opportunity to attend Chab Dai's two-day member meeting in Phnom Penh. Chab Dai (which means Joining Hands in Cambodian) is a coalition of Christian organizations working together to end sexual abuse and trafficking in Cambodia and around the world. This meeting provided us with an opportunity to network with others in the field and to learn about strategic thinking for the future. There were a number of sessions: panel discussions, information about current anti-trafficking research being done in Cambodia, and conversations about how to care for ourselves well while working in difficult situations.

One current crisis discussed at the member meeting is the plight of Cambodian domestic workers in Malaysia. 20,000 maids and housekeepers are currently employed in individual homes in Malaysia. These workers have few rights and are often abused and exploited for labor and sex. Recently, Cambodia halted the departure of maids pending the Cambodian government's negotiations with Malaysia for improved worker rights. CNN and others have been following these development -- read more about this issue here and here.

Learning and Growing

Dear friends,

Fall greetings! We are sad to be missing the autumn temperatures in the States right now. The weather here remains quite warm, but we are becoming acclimated to it.

Thank you for your consistent prayers and encouragement over the past several months. We have now completed our internship with the Hard Places Community (HPC). Our time with the HPC was full of intense learning and hands-on service as we ministered to street children and their families; they live in extreme poverty and are at high risk of being sold for sex. Working with the children’s program at the park and the newly opened boy’s center were challenging and profound experiences for us.

Following this time of learning and growing, we decided to expand our education in the field of anti-human trafficking by partnering with new organizations. We are now focusing on three things. First, we are more intently learning the Khmer language, as this is critical to deepening relationships and engaging directly with those in need. Second, we are meeting with several other organizations that work in anti-trafficking in Phnom Penh to learn about their ministry and how to partner with them as we continue to learn and serve in this field. And third, we are volunteering to work on curriculum development with a few organizations in Phnom Penh. Given our background in education, we can use our skills to help advance the work of local projects that teach about preventing the abuse and exploitation of children.

The work of fighting human trafficking and sexual exploitation has many layers. Organizations often specialize and focus on just one or two areas in order to provide quality care. Then, by cooperating together, they can provide a complete spectrum of services to families. Some of these areas are: prevention, social work, rescue, counseling (aftercare), education, vocational/job training. Here are a few of the standout Christian organizations we have met with:

Daughters of Cambodia

http://www.daughtersofcambodia.org/

Daughters of Cambodia has developed a unique model for Cambodia, one in which sex workers come directly to the organization from the brothels by their own volition. Daughters is not a shelter, but they facilitate the girls' exit from the sex industry by providing a number of resources and programs that enable them to sustain healthy choices for themselves.

Agape International Missions

http://agapewebsite.org/

Agape International Missions (AIM) provides holistic care to rescued victims of sex trafficking through a residential shelter. AIM is highly involved in equipping and mobilizing the local church to take action and helps build church-sponsored community centers and schools in areas with a high concentration of sex trafficking.

Precious Women

http://www.facebook.com/preciouswomenministry

Precious Women is a Khmer Christian organization that reaches out to disadvantaged and vulnerable women who are working in brothels, beer gardens, bars and karaoke halls. Precious Women promotes value and dignity through counseling, job opportunities and life skills training.

Please pray for us as we continue to study the language, meet with organizations, and volunteer with various ministries. We hope to have more information in the coming weeks as to where our gifts and desires best match one of these groups and its’ needs. We remain committed to being in Cambodia and confident that God has us right where He wants us. Thank you for your continued partnership in our work here in Cambodia!

Much love,

Kimberly, Rachel, and Becki