How Rahab's House Works to Prevent, Rescue and Restore Victims of Child Sex Trafficking...And Equips Others to Do the Same

A Holistic Approach to Prevention, Rescue and Restoration from Sex Trafficking

Svay Pak, Cambodia

VISION:  Jesus Christ through His church will defeat the evil of child sex trafficking.

MISSION:  Serving to meet the holistic needs of both individuals and the community, thus building relationships through which Christ can transform hearts.

CONTEXT: 

Cambodia continues to suffer the after affects of the unique genocide it suffered at the   hands of the Khmer Rouge.  Cambodia’s genocide is unique in that there was no winning side, and as a result the after affects are felt across the entire country.  Included among them are the following issues that feed the epidemic of child sex trafficking.

·         Abject Poverty

·         Lack of Education

·         Government Complicity/Corruption

·         Decimation of the Family Structure

·         Personal Moral Failure (Lack of a Strong Moral Compass)

In the recent past significant resources have been spent on the first two items with little, if any, significant progress made in defeating the evil of child sex trafficking.  While still early in the process, the progress seen in Svay Pak through the holistic ministry of Rahab’s House is very encouraging.  In addition, it can be argued that wherever child sex trafficking flourishes the same issues Cambodia faces, though may be not to the same extent, are present, just manifesting themselves in different ways.  This being the case the principles bringing success in Svay Pak can likely be applied in a wide variety of contexts with the anticipation of similarly positive results.

COMPONENTS:

The specifics of the components will be determined by needs of the community served;   however, generally speaking they will fall into three broad categories.  Most importantly these components must be delivered by an entity within the community itself, an entity that is part of the community.

RELIEF

Direct aid to meet immediate physical, material, and economic needs.  The needs to be met include protection and advocacy.  Relief should be temporary.

DEVELOPMENT

Providing an individual, family, or entire community what they need to move beyond the

dependency on relief into a condition of economic self sufficiency.  Development is far more

time-consuming, complex, and expensive than relief.  Development will provide access to

wide ranging opportunities such as education, job creation and training, daycare, heath care, athletics and the arts.

REFORM

Social reform moves beyond relief and development and seeks to transform the conditions

and social structures that fuel child sex trafficking.  It is resisting and changing the legal,

political, and social systems.  Social reform can address the deeper sources of hopelessness in

communities as it is applied on both an individual and communal level.

www.agapewebsite.org





Some days living in Svay Pak it can seem fighting the evil of child sex trafficking is a losing battle. Yesterday was one of those days...The bad guys seemed to be coming out ahead at every turn. I went down stairs to get some fresh air and just as I did one of the four van loads of kids (and I do me van loads) just arrived to attend classes at our Rahab's House School. This is what I saw...

WOW! I didn't think you could fit that many victories in one van!







BETRAYAL

Saturday I met with one of the girls at one of our aftercare homes.  She had asked us to protect her two little sisters from the horrors of child sex trafficking she had experienced.  Bravely she shared the details of her trafficking and abuse from the age ten until fifteen when she was rescued and brought to ARC.

It amazed me how she could share such painful experiences without shedding a single tear.  But things changed when I asked if her parents were involved in her trafficking.  Her immediate response was an adamant, "No!" Of course this seemed difficult to believe considering the young age at which she was first trafficked, and that she continued to live with her parents for the first two years of her being trafficked.  So I said, "If you really want your sisters protected you need to let us know everyone that was involved in trafficking you." 

This time, in halting words, she explained that it was her parents who first took her to the man who trafficked her.  It was her parents that took her to him over and over for the next two years.   Now the tears flowed.  And it was clear that of all the  unbelievably painful abuses she has suffered the betrayal by her parents was by far the most painful...the one most difficult from which to heal...the most difficult to forgive.

Please pray for her and all the girls of ARC as most suffer from this same betrayal.  Pray for their healing, for the grace to forgive.