In the few days that we've been here, I've already built memories and sights that will last a lifetime:
The little boy, no older than eight years old, pulling a cart full of trash. A job that a full grown man shouldn't even have. Babies just at walking age without clothes because of the poverty that they live in.
We also saw many thing today at 2-21 and the killing fields... Above is a picture with Chum Mey. A survivor of a prison camp (S-21). He had been tortured. As a result he was missing one of his fingernails, he was deaf in one ear, and he had undergone many eye problems.
It's hard to even begin to describe what else we saw at S-21. Images upon images of victims. One of them really hit me hard. An older woman in her 50s-60s with a look on her face of despair. Beside her stood a little boy. She somehow reminded me of my old Ayi and her granddaughter. I just couldn't help but but feel the injustice of it all. The sadness. The darkness. The loss. The despair.
We went to the killing fields as the place where prisoners were taken to be executed. I don't really even know how to write about it, it's so inhumane. There was this tree that babies were smashed against and killed in front of their mothers own eyes. We listened to this music, the last thing the prisoners heard before they were killed. It's purpose was to drown out the sounds of the screaming. Truck upon truck would come full of people that would be executed that night. The prisoners thought they were just being moved. They signed their name confirming their location, but what they didn't know was that they were signing their death warrant. At least two million killed. In the center of the field was a glass tower filled with their skulls
There's so much heaviness here. But we've also seen the light God shines through the local church and the Grace and Peace Gals.
We have some specific prayer requests from the things we saw today:
-Our tour guide. For 29 years he's basically exposed the deepest part of himself day by day. Exposing the hurt he's been through. According to a psychologist he saw, he should really only have that job for a year. Please pray that he would experience peace, and come to know our Father, the ultimate healer.
-The Grace and Peace gals (and all the staff!) Prayer against any spiritual attacks, and also the processing of the things they see each day. Pray that there would continue to be confirmation of what they're doing there.
-The kids that are trafficked. Please pray that they would seek God as a refuge from any of the things they are going through. Pray for healing in any broken family situations, and for HOPE!
-And please be praying that we would really be filled with God's love that will explode into the kid's lives. Pray that we'd have the energy, and also that our eyes would open to any situations.
The pastor at church on Sunday talked about hope. There are no hopeless situations with God. In the midst of all that we saw we talked tonight about things that we saw that gave us hope. The survivors of the prison telling their story even though it is so painful. The smiles from the kids. The dedication of the Hard Places staff as they daily work with the poor. The stories of healed hearts. Our Tuk Tuk driver and his story of redemption.
Christy
