The Road from Victim to Victory

On a recent trip to the state of Washington we were blessed to hear a poem written by a young women that very accurately expresses the feelings of a sex trafficking victim become victor.  Please share this moving poem that brings both awareness and hope...

"In A City With No Hope" 

     by Linzie Joerres

 "There's a girl who's all alone

in a city with no hope

All around her, girls are dying,

she sees it and she's crying

'cause it all started with their trying

to find a better world than the ones they'd always known.

She sits alone on the damp floor in the looming dark.

Her face has gotten hard and dull and painfully stark.

Her heart is growing cold here

as she fights the fear of growing old here,

forever trapped here in these walls, in this cage.

She fights the rage.

She was lied to and deceived

by the hope of something more.

She was tricked into believing

that there was something worth fighting for.

The woman and man,

they opened up their hands to her,

promised life to her dreams,

made her think that these things

were obtainable, reachable,

but as she reached, the shackles came down on her hands,

and all of her plans

went up in smoke as they forced her to smoke

to get her addicted.

Her life thus far has been depicted as

Pain.

All of her life's gains

are now worthless, pointless.

There's no point to her life,

in her darkness there's no light,

but in spite of the disappointment and pain,

stepping out of doubt's rain,

one flame of hope is sparked

inside her heart

and her mind starts spinning.

Maybe there's a chance of winning

the freedom she's been longing for, striving for, dying for, grasping,

Now she's clasping the hands of a man who's faceless, nameless, 9th man today,

meaningless in this seemingly endless display of insanity.

She's trying to keep her sanity as he's screaming profanities at her

because she doesn't please him.

She doesn't want to appease him

'cause she's frightened

that it will bite her, too,

this bug that's killing the others,

but it doesn't bother

or concern the man who's plan is just satisfaction

from her actions.

He doesn't have to use protection,

there's no protection for this girl in a city

where no one's going to pity her, save her.

She's got no saviour,

just accusers who want to use her

as an object for their pleasure.

She doesn't know that she's really a treasure

that should be guarded, secured, protected.

There's no protection for this girl in a city with no hope.

Her body

 is racked with pain

from thousands of beatings

Scars eating

away at her soul and her back

reminders of the lashes received

When she fought back

rolling and thrashing

around on the floor.

Now weak

She can’t fight this war anymore

She’s trying to think rationally, to think clearly,

But clearly, she’s become

A casualty

There's a knock at the door,

she gets up from the floor,

bracing herself for more.

She wishes it were over and done,

man number 12, the day's barely begun.

But this man doesn't have the same look in his eyes

as all the men who had come before,

all who shared a similar guise, before.

This man stretched out his hand

not to condemn her or harm her,

but to disarm her doubt.

He told her he wasn't there about that.

He was there to save her,

to be her Saviour,

to show her a hope she had never known before.

She falls to the ground in shock and disbelief,

so afraid that once again she's being deceived.

He picks her up off the floor

where she fell down,

then walks out the door,

his voice in her ear

drowns out

all her fears and insecurities.

She finally has security and protection

because this bold man took action.

For her sake, he put his life at stake,

and for once in her life of trying and striving,

she's now thriving,

experiencing freedom and a life of HOPE."

WHY DO I WORRY ABOUT POSTING PEDOPHILE PICTURES?

I only have one worry about posting pedophile pictures.  That worry is based upon the fact that we do it sporadically.  And the reason we only do it sporadically is that it is very difficult to get a good picture.  It’s not due to the lack of opportunity, foreign pedophiles come to Svay Pak daily shopping for children to abuse.  The difficulty is getting the picture of someone who does all he can not to be photographed.  So as you look at the picture below please remember dozens of men like him come shopping in Svay Pak every week.  And please pray for the success of our Cambodian staff as they are making a huge difference as fewer and fewer pedophiles are finding shopping in Svay Pak successful.

Encouragement from Dr. Rebecca Johnson, PhD.

Someone told me there are now over 200 anti-trafficking organizations in the USA alone, then quickly added, “and most of those are awareness raising only”.  In the midst of the explosion of anti-human trafficking organizations, how do we distinguish the dreamers from the doers, the good from the good intentions? 

            Don’s Blog this week is being (politely) hijacked. After being a short-term volunteer with AIM the past 5+ years (7 trips) and being here in Cambodia these past few weeks, I wanted to briefly share some thoughts.

            In recent years I have had the privilege of serving, both in the USA and abroad, with numerous agencies fighting against modern day slavery.  While each organization has its strengths, I am an enthusiastic cheerleader for Agape International Mission. 

            “Jesus moved into the neighborhood” is how a friend described AIM’s involvement in Svay Pak.  AIM’s work in restoration of the sex trafficked and in community and national transformation (education, health care, training, children’s programs, evangelism discipleship and more), is bringing the light and love of Jesus into unimaginable dark places of lust, greed, abuse, torture, poverty and slavery.  AIM is providing practical assistance as well as God’s message of hope to many, many despairing people. AIM IS making a difference.

            I recently wrote about AIM to some friends, “This is a front-lines, genuine, “doing-it” ministry, where the leadership doesn’t limit God, is humble, God-dependent, and every penny is wisely spent.”   This brief statement coveys my observations and sentiments – AIM is a quality, God-honoring organization.  (Dr. Becca Johnson, 12/14/11)

           

What Are They Thinking?

I have spent two of the last three weeks in Siem Reap, Cambodia.   It is there we are opening a new Rahab's House, but more about that in future blogs.  What I want to write about today is the experiences I had over those two weeks, and what they seem to revealed about those who benefit from the sexual exploitation of children.  Both of these experiences took place in five-star hotels along the main street in Siem Reap.

 The first involves 2 Western men somewhere between the ages of 45 and 55.  Every morning for five days these men would bring to the breakfast buffet 2 teenage Cambodian girls they had purchased to use as sex toys while they vacationed in Cambodia.  Each day as they arrived the men would be laughing and joking, all smiles.  However, the girls worked very hard not to make eye contact with anyone in the restaurant, but when that eye contact was made their eyes revealed deep shame.  That shame would grow every time the men tried to hug and kiss the girls.  But the men seemed to feel no shame at all, and absolutely no concern for the shame of the girls.  I wondered what are they thinking?

The second incident occurred in the lobby of the other five-star hotel.  I was standing there talking with friends when a Western man in his 60’s walked through with a teenage Cambodian girl.  Holding onto the girl’s arm he took her to the elevator and up to his room.  Certain that a hotel as nice as this would not put up with such nonsense I went to the front desk and explained what had happened.  To my surprise the front desk clerk said, “It’s okay sir.  The lady paid her $20.”  I relied, “What do you mean?”  She answered, “Our our hotel has a very strict policy about the ladies.  If the gentleman wants to bring a lady to his room the lady must pay $20.  You see it is okay sir because the lady paid $20.”

Is it that simple?  I'm beginning to believe it is.  Those who benefit from the sexual exploitation of children simply think it’s okay.  And the only thing that will change that thinking is a transformed heart…a heart that allows one to see others through the eyes of Christ.

Note:  Efforts to confront the men while not in the presence of the girls were unsuccessful.  But we’ve not given up.  To the contrary we are just getting started.

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.