A broken world

     Watching the children laugh and run and play, it occurs to me just how pure and innocent they were meant to be.  They were born this way, with no fault; but, they were born into a fallen world, one full of sin.  Some, from the time they took their first breath, were introduced to sin.  Each small child has their own set of scars, not ones that they committed, but ones that were given to them.

         Looking at the faces and smiles of the children, I sometimes forget that each child that I see everyday has a story; a past.  Why should this be?  Should children not be allowed to merely be children?

     This world is so dark and evil; but, the children are a light in the darkness.  Their futures are like a blank canvas, one to be shaped and molded.  The scars will never go away, but there has been redemption and healing through God.

     This is not the story of only Cambodian children; this is the story of many children all over the world.  A history filled with abuse and darkness.  Who will bring these children God, and hope, and a road to recovery, so they too can be healed from the evils of this world? 

Flowers

Many of the children pick flowers for us at Place of Rescue.  Right as soon as the flower is ripe and beautiful to pick, there's a chance someone has their little hands all over it.  Some of the kids here have AIDS and as one boy handed me some fresh flowers the other day, it made me contemplate the lives of the other sick kids around here.  I hope you do too.

 Untitled

The little boy picks flowers for me

And offers them affectionately 

Yet I wonder if he doesn’t know

The time it takes a flower to grow

Young petals that had barely spread

I hold in my palm already dead

So how do I respond or react

To this flower no longer intact

Blossom you barely had time to soak in

The sun, the rain and your life within

He plucked you from your sturdy stem

And no longer were you one of them 

Appreciation for such intricate form

A lot resolved before you were born

If he only knew your plight

You might have stood up tall upright

Why though is there such beauty 

In this flower he has picked for me

Foolishness I dare not say

For it was given life this day

He sowed some love at the expense

Of a timely act of providence

To demonstrate how much he cared

For in this bud his soul he bared

Its stalk was weak and so is he

But love in them is all I see

A life they both met underserved

A life, a love is now preserved 

He is the blossom that keeps on living

Though his sickness is unforgiving

And when I hold this tiny blessing

Christ’s love I am now possessing

Place of Rescue

      It was not until the day we were flying into Cambodia that the nervousness of teaching began.  I had never taught a class full of children, let alone English without a translator…  I really was not sure what to expect.
      Once we flew into the country, Jeremy and I spent 3 days in the city of Phnom Pehn, and after 2 ½ months of travelling from place to place, I was excited to see where we would call home for the next 3 months.  It was fun finding the different markets and grocery stores, and eagerness to learn the Khmer language kicked in.

     Arriving at Place of Rescue, which is an orphanage that was established by Marie Ens, we were impressed right away.  After spending much of her life as a missionary in Cambodia (with her late husband), Marie returned to Cambodia to "retire".  As a retiree, she saw the need to help those suffering during the AIDS crisis.  Many woman were left abandoned by their husbands, leaving many children without parents following the death of their mothers due to AIDS.  Marie started by first taking one child and her mother off the street.  They were given shelter, food, medicine and love.  The little girl, Ny, is still here..but she has grown into a young woman, almost ready for college.
Rescue is set up in a village-like style.  There are AIDS homes, where families can stay together in their own home, and receive the proper medicine and treatment they need.  There are trips to the hospital 2 times a week, as well as an on-site nurse.
As for the children who have survived their parents, there are a number of houses arranged in a family style.  Each house has a house mom, and about 10 children.  The children are expected to help with meals and chores, as well as eat as a family.
Marie has also set up a home for grannies who have no one to look after them otherwise.  This adds a great dynamic to the environment, as Recuse ranges from the little babies to the wise grannies.

     Jeremy and I (along side 2 other Canadian English teachers) are teaching English to elementary, junior high, and high school students.  There is an elementary school on the grounds, where the children attend Monday to Friday.  The Junior high and High school students ride their bikes to the local schools Monday to Saturday to study there.  After they return from school, they have English classes in the evenings.

      The children here are so happy and full of life.  The little ones bound towards us only to wrap their arms around our legs whenever we are in sight.  The young ones look for us to play with them, and still the older ones want to hang out.

      Since arriving, we have grown accustomed to faces in our windows (however, it is not always appreciated), our bucket shower, and late evening traditional Khmer dance practices.  There is usually much noise around Rescue, with worship, movies, dancing, and plenty of laughter.  Being the type of person who loves to be involved in whatever activity is occurring, but then finding quiet solitude to rejuvenate poses a challenge here.  At Rescue, there is always something going on, and quiet solitude is hard to come by.  Luckily leaving rural Cambodia to retreat in the busy urban dwellings of Phnom Pehn can actually offer the solitude i need to face another week.

     In saying all this, we are loving Cambodia, the people we work with and the people we don't.  I have fallen into a teaching groove, and it turns out that teaching is not as scary as i thought it would be…

If you want to know more information about Place of Rescue, check out the home site at:
http://www.placeofrescue.com/home/

The Chase

The Million Dollar Question

What would you do with a million dollars?  Undoubtedly one of the most popular of all hypothetical questions.  At one time probably a very creative quandary or ice-breaker, but now more of a silly conjecture for which there is neither a right answer, a wrong answer, or an answer that will appease everyone.  Cleverly spun by the media, this query is often posed to actors who in one instant can appear as heroic ambassadors of good will, or instantly lose any generous credibility due their name, based on what they assure us they will spend the money on.  Furthermore, whether its our best friend, a game show winner or a billionaire turned philanthropist, the answer offered in usually just a split second leaves us feeling skeptical.  A more natural reaction than believing the answer is to pull out our theoretical measuring stick and gauge it against what we deem to be a satisfactory answer.  Unfortunately our motives lie more in sniffing out an incorrect response than continuing a topic we are serious about addressing.

How do we know then that someone is telling the truth?  Can we offer an honest response to this question?  I think there is an honest response and I will share a couple examples that compliment each other well.  Unfortunately neither of them offer substantial evidence, but merely a humble call to action, which for this circumstance I will gladly call hope.  Maybe you will read these thoughts cynically and be left disenchanted, after all money has a more profound way of leaving us feeling pessimistic than hopeful.  Just remember, these honest replies are not muddled up in hidden agendas, political platforms or egotism.  They come from people who do need to dwell on such conundrums.  They come from the poor.

Jesus witnessed firsthand what someone would have done, as written in Luke 21.  Remember, this is not a parable.

“The poor woman at the temple treasury deposited two very small copper coins.  This represented her giving out of her poverty, all that she had to live on.  The rich man who approached the same collection placed a larger monetary amount,” one that did not set him back financially as Jesus explained: “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”  

One student at Rescue in Cambodia was posed the million dollar question.  Remember, many of these kids are victims of AIDS, homelessness and abuse, kids that didn’t have a dime to their name when they were scooped out of some very deplorable situations.  Same position as the poor widow, worse actually I’ll wager.  

Here was the response: “I’d try to help orphans and poor people find a place to live.”  I wasn’t in attendance for this class, but I’m sure I would’ve witnessed a generous round of head-nodding and murmured agreement.  We’re shocked by this answer.  The story about the poor widow is lost on us sometimes but this is 2012, there’s a lot of things you can do with a million bucks, especially if you need it like these kids, right?

What the “haves” envision a million dollars accomplishing is probably drastically different than what the “have-nots” would think.  The average North American might have that money spent by the time they’re finished answering the question.  I could tell you that these kids literally wouldn’t know what else to spend the money on and its because they never had it to begin with.  I suppose you could attribute their simple and generous answer to lack of education, or childish innocence, but is that really the path we want to take?  I have to say, I want to believe his answer, I do believe his answer.  I can search my heart and know darn well that if it’s my money it could be misused starting with the first dollar.  I know what its like to have money, to control my finances, to understand in theory how far a million dollars could go.  Alas, this is where the downward spiral comes into play, and many of us hope that we could do the right thing with the money but we would struggle greatly because we would not have in mind the things of God but the things of this world.  

To satisfy this dilemma, God gave me this verse.  The words stun me, because they give conformation and hope to what I’ve struggled to make sense of for a couple of weeks now.  It spoke perfectly to my heart because too often I am an outsider, too often polluted by this world and far from pure and blameless.  Its not about a million bucks, its not about five bucks, its about a call to action, God’s way, not our way.

James 1:27  “Religion that is pure and blameless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

OUR TIME IN ASIA THUS FAR (IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY READ THIS...)

A Canadian Mindset

     We have been at Place of Rescue for just over a week now; yet we entered into routine in less than a day, making it feel as though we have called this home for awhile now.  Coming to Cambodia, Jeremy and I were both very excited for a number of reasons, but one being that we could finally settle down into our own place.  Traveling to different places, experiencing new foods, cities, and cultures was an amazing experience, but it was also very tiring.  Thoughts of settling down caused me to look forward to cooking our own food… having spinach, grains, seeds, fruits…. Things we were missing from our street food diet.  We had heard that we would have our own kitchen in a “house”, so naturally visions of a counter, stove, and fridge entered my mind, as a part of our “house”.

     It was not until we entered the grocery store that I began to feel overwhelmed … we had no food to start from, so we literally had to buy any and everything we would need… but we couldn’t just buy everything!  The prices in the grocery store also surprised us…. Wasn’t this Cambodia?  The land of cheap?  The items that we were used to buying back home were suddenly higher in price (now they were foreign items, thus more expensive).

     It was also at the grocery store that we learned we “...do not have power.”  ???  No power… something that we were used to in Haiti, but we also did not cook in Haiti.  No power must mean gas stove (and it did), but what about a fridge?  I must sound selfish, but this stressed me out.  We would have an “icebox”.  In that moment I did not even know what an icebox was (it’s basically a cooler for anyone who is as naïve as I).

     (Our “house” is actually a bedroom off of the school office housing our bed, desk, closet, gas stove, sink, and cabinet.  Being a part of the office offers us little privacy, but in return we look at tiny smiling Cambodian faces peering in our windows a number of times a day.  If you have to lose privacy, this is a good alternative).

     After a week we have entered into a routine of ordering ice every 2 days for our icebox, and a jug of drinking water every 4 days.  We are growing accustomed to our “bucket shower” (which was a huge shock to find!), although it could never replace our love and respect for a real shower.

     During the days we have running water for our sink, but it was this last weekend we were surprised to find that we do not have running water on weekends.  Every now and then we will find a new surprise I am sure, but, this is Cambodia, not Canada.  It is different here… life is different here. 

The Great Wife

When You are Closer than Ever Before

We were sitting and waiting for a flight when the strangely familiar smell of a stranger’s gas wafted through our airspace.  Stacey gave me a curiously hopeful look that said, “I know that wasn’t you, but I would like it better if it was in fact you, rather than that man behind us.”  Sorry Stacey, it wasn’t me, it was 14F.

Lots of Room at the Inn

As Singapore drew closer, all we had heard was that it is super expensive.  If you know someone there, stay with them because hotels are a rip-off.  Well, the only couch surfing reply we received was from Melvin, God bless his heart.  Already had 3 couch surfers at his place but he was willing to take us if we stayed in his room on an extra mattress.  Sure why not, I thought, wives love doing things like that!  She agreed reluctantly, and sushi has a way of changing Stacey’s mind about anything.  Plus, sleeping in strangers rooms would be a lot weirder if you didn’t sleep and instead you just watched them all night, waiting for them to attack you.  But then you’d be the one with the problem, not the guy who invited you in.

Thrift Store

In Haiti especially, Stacey and I felt like we were in survival mode sometimes.  If a short-term team brought peanut butter or chocolate to the compound we devoured it!  Oddly enough though, one team left many of their clothing items.  Now I know something about Stacey.  She does NOT shop at second hand clothing stores, unless they “ have cute stuff like the ones in Vancouver.”  But this is Haiti.  Stacey shopped, looked great and wore it like she bought it.  Great story about overcoming fear. 

Foreign Mattress

Probably slept on 20 of these so far.  They all smell, look, feel and taste different.  I have proved I can sleep almost anywhere, just not through noise.  Stacey is the inverse, so much that she psychs herself out of being able to sleep on rock-hard mattresses.  Seriously, who can’t do that?  So, to express her displeasure at foreign mattress she will  kick her legs skyward, landing them with a disruptive thump and then violently swing her upper body from stomach side down to ceiling side up, while I have already started sleeping, dealing with my situation, but like I said, I hope for a firm mattress.  I turn to the spastic, straitjacketed earthworm beside me and firmly remind her, “Stacey when I am uncomfortable in my bed, as gently and quietly as I can I will reposition myself as not to wake you.  How do you repay me?  By thrashing around like a donkey inside a refrigerator box.  Please stop doing that.”  She didn’t budge.  I didn’t say donkey in a refrigerator box.

Asian Stacey

People love Stacey wherever we go.  She wears an eternal smile and graciously attempts to speak whatever foreign language people oblige her with, even though she has no clue what they’re saying.  She can’t bargain worth a cent because she doesn’t want the poor shopkeepers to lose out and she’ll always try to translate every single menu item before ordering, even when every alphabetic character is undecipherable to her.  When there’s no shower, she’ll use the bucket method and you won’t hear her complain about anything for much than a moment, because she’s already thought of a clever way to make do with the situation anyways.  There is a Thai phrase that people use: “same, same, but different.”  Stacey will always be the same sweet girl that many of you won’t see much this year, but she’s different and different is always better!

Longing

Clear blue waters are easy to look at; the crash of waves is easy to listen to; but the longing to be home with family is hard to hide.  It is not always easy being half a world away.

Unglamorous

Tranquil turquoise seas lining white sanded beaches; sea breeze blowing slightly against your sun-kissed skin.  New cultural dishes, all nicely priced so one can try one of each.  Landscapes that change upon entry to each unfamiliar country; ready to explore.  These are the thoughts that enter most minds when it comes to traveling, and rightly so, they are quite accurate.  But with each heavenly thought comes a sacrifice, of sorts… traveling is not always glamorous.

Instances, such as in Australia, when all you want to do is crawl up on your own couch and eat a home cooked meal.  No more cities, no more walking, no more pictures, no more restaurant cooked food.

Or in Bali, when the money exchange guy takes half your money right in front of your eyes, but you don’t even realize… until…. It happens a second time!  It is at that time that you realize you are another easy target.

In Java, being a white female in a predominately Muslim country brings out a feeling of discomfort.  Over time one does adjust to the layering of clothes.  One also becomes accustomed to the numerous daily Calls to Prayer that are heard throughout the streets, followed by a trail of Muslims showing up to the Mosques.

By Singapore you just long for western food of any kind, to help overcome to bug that has overcome your stomach… a gift from the Indonesian food.  

A closet to call your own, instead of the backpack jammed with wrinkled clothes, is also one the wish list.  Picking up and leaving every couple of days, never having a space of your own….

Eventually Malaysia hits, and so does the longing to see family and friends.  The thoughts of home so strong.   Skype, the only link to filling our desires, only Skype doesn’t truly fill the desires within our hearts.

Thailand…. Oh Thailand.  The experience getting here was one to remember.  Crammed in the back of a minivan, behind luggage, which helps to block the little airflow available.  Realizing your life and time is not as sacred as the packages and parcels that are needed to be dropped off first.  The supposedly 8 hour trip turned 10 hours.  This was our first encounter where knowing the country’s language would have come in helpful… but how does one learn this language when the alphabet is completely different?  

It isn’t fun hiking halfway up a mountain with a 18 kg bag on your back, looking for your pre-paid hotel - booked under one name, but after nearly an hour learning the name was changed!  How Amusing!

But when all is said and done, the cultural experiences, and beauty of a magnificent red Thai sunset captures your heart, causing the annoyances of the day to melt away.

Traveling brings new experiences, both good and bad.    Cultures have their loves and hates.  This is fact.  This is traveling.  No one said it was glamorous.

Modern-Day Slavery

     While in Malaysia, we stayed with a missionary family who uncovered new information to us regarding modern day slavery in the country.  I then borowed a book that was put together by YWAM Penang, and Raise Their Voice, called “Disappointed by Hope”, which outlines 30 different stories of peoples lives who have been involved in the abuse of modern-day slavery and/or refugee camps.  This book gave me much needed information regarding an area that has been looked past in so many ways.  

     “At least 1 in every 4 workers in Malaysia is a foreigner. Migrants have become an essential part of the country’s economic growth and productivity. Malaysia is also a country of refuge for tribes and nations from all over the world. However, despite their longing for a better country, migrant workers and refugees have not found an easy life. Malaysia’s laws, policies, and practices create an environment of vulnerability for both these groups in different ways. Unlike Malaysians, they are at a legal, social, and political disadvantage.

     The reality of life in Malaysia leaves many migrants and refugees disappointed by the hopes they had of a better life. Migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation and cheating. Because they are not given legal status, refugees are often arrested, detained in poor conditions, punished through imprisonment and whipping, and then deported.”

YWAM Penang website:  http://www.ywampenang.org/main2/?page_id=807

     In the streets here you see them, foreigners working on construction sites, as house maids, in street cleaning crews.  Many of these people are here after having fled from their unsafe countries or impoverished situations, hoping for a better life - for them; for their families.  

     Others are recruited by companies who promise their workers high wages to work in another country, offering hope to these people who long to change their situations.  In some cases, after reaching the airport, they are told their contract has changed: the pay is far less, the hours of work has increased, and their passports are taken away.  In other cases, woman, who believe they are on their way to a new career (in fabrics for example) are sold at the border into prostitution, and imprisoned by by their owners.

     Often employees demand that the workers continue working past their visa limit, and fail to fill out the proper paper work to extend the migrant workers visas. Without a passport, migrant workers are unable to leave the country at the time required for them, transforming the once legal migrant worker into illegal immigrants.  

     There are many refugees that come to Malaysia from the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, Thailand, Africa, Indonesia, and Burma.  These people are fleeing for their lives in many cases.  The Malaysian government has allowed the refugees who are accounted for to stay in the country (often they need to pay a monthly fee); however, these people are not entitled to healthcare and education, leaving many children uneducated.

     In Burma, the muslim people, known as the Rohingya people, have become unrecognized as citizens of the country, and therefore do not hold citizenship in any country.  Others in Burma have been terrorized by the countries brutal military rule and have fled out of fear for their lives.  (Fortunately, after nearly 50 years of of unethical victimization by the military, the government is promising new political reforms which will provide safety for the Burmese people). Because of the situation, many refugees have picked safe havens, such as Malaysia, to form a new life.

http://www.refintl.org/where-we-work/asia/burma

     Often the Malaysian government seeks to crack down on the number of illegal immigrants within the country and conducts raids, locking up the guilty in unethical and immoral refugee centers where the people are “disciplined” before deportation.  As some do not hold an identity or citizenship to their home country at the time of imprisonment, death sometimes occurs before deportation.

     While we were in Haiti, Trevor had sent us a link to an article outlining the modern-day slavery occurring in Dubai.  ( http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html). Although the article was lengthy, I could not stop reading as I felt like I needed to know all the facts that I felt like had been hidden from me.  After reading the article I felt sickened that humans could treat other humans in such ways. Hadn’t slavery been abolished already?  

     I said that I would never go to Dubai as I did not want to contribute to the economy of such a place (although my penny would be just a drop in the bucket).  Yet, it was not until we were already in Malaysia that I learned of the slavery occurring there.  I realized that it happens so many places without the average person knowing, or understanding all that happens.  Many large popular companies, names of which we have all heard of, hire out work to the smaller, “slave-like” companies to do their work.  These companies can claim that they have not part in slavery, as they pay the smaller company well in comparison to what the “slaves” are making.  It’s the smaller companies that don’t quite pay the “slaves”.

     While walking down the street, I started to notice the signs.  A burmese worker slowly working to sweep an small area, fatigued.  The name of a unknown (to me) company on his back. The lines of clothing hanging on the bottom floors of a local hotel/apartment that is still in the early stages of construction…. I had to wonder if the workers were staying there, in the concrete shell.  I passed a sign that said “INDONESIAN AND THAI MAIDS. FAST DELIVERY”…. Delivery?  Are we still talking about people or possessions?  Another sign “Indonesian maids” - the name of the company, ‘Servance’.

     These are peoples lives that are being destroyed.  People who live and breath and laugh and cry and feel pain just like anyone else.  I feel compelled to look deeper in to modern day slavery, and learn more about what I can do.  It is hard… so many large companies involved, where do you start?  Some locals help by teaching the refugee children in a put-together school.  Some have boughten new mattresses for the 12 men sharing a 2 bedroom apartment (because that is all the construction company provided for them)…. The previous mattresses full of stains, mold, and bedbugs.  It is through touching one life at a time in this horrific tragedy that occurs.

     What more can you do?  This is a question that I ask myself.

                        Isaiah 44:9-20

                             New International Version (NIV)

                                         ⁹ All who make idols are nothing, 

                           and the things they treasure are worthless. 

Those who would speak up for them are blind; 

   they are ignorant, to their own shame. 

¹⁰ Who shapes a god and casts an idol, 

   which can profit nothing? 

¹¹ People who do that will be put to shame; 

   such craftsmen are only human beings. 

Let them all come together and take their stand; 

   they will be brought down to terror and shame.

 ¹² The blacksmith takes a tool 

                and works with it in the coals; 

                       he shapes an idol with hammers, 

                            he forges it with the might of his arm. 

                             He gets hungry and loses his strength; 

                         he drinks no water and grows faint. 

                              ¹³ The carpenter measures with a line 

   and makes an outline with a marker; 

he roughs it out with chisels 

   and marks it with compasses. 

He shapes it in human form, 

   human form in all its glory, 

   that it may dwell in a shrine. 

¹⁴ He cut down cedars, 

   or perhaps took a cypress or oak. 

He let it grow among the trees of the forest, 

   or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. 

¹⁵ It is used as fuel for burning; 

   some of it he takes and warms himself, 

   he kindles a fire and bakes bread. 

But he also fashions a god and worships it; 

   he makes an idol and bows down to it. 

¹⁶ Half of the wood he burns in the fire; 

   over it he prepares his meal, 

   he roasts his meat and eats his fill. 

He also warms himself and says, 

   “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”

¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his idol; 

   he bows down to it and worships. 

         He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!”

¹⁸ They know nothing, they understand nothing; 

   their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, 

   and their minds closed so they cannot understand. 

¹⁹ No one stops to think, 

   no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, 

“Half of it I used for fuel; 

 I even baked bread over its coals, 

   I roasted meat and I ate. 

Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? 

   Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”   

²⁰ Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; 

   he cannot save himself, or say, 

   “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”