I often question what my purpose is in this country. If you have been following along with my journey thus far, I never necessarily felt “called” to Cambodia. But, I know this is where I am supposed to be. What specifically I am here for, I don’t know other than to love all those I come in contact with and be obedient to the instructions I have been given.
If you have read my latest blogs, I hope you have learned a little more about sex-trafficking here as well. In my mind, I thought I would be a part of the hard core rescue operations. Going in to brothels, bars, clubs, guesthouses, cafes, and massage parlors busting the BIG dogs and putting my life at risk. That sounded compelling. That sounded exciting. That sounded like the only way to make a difference in the scheme of things.
Since I have been in Cambodia however, I have learned that many NGO’s fighting trafficking have a strategic model to help those that have been victimized. One of these models is to simply provide alternative employment opportunities. No alternative housing, no seclusion from the rest of the world, just providing employment. But Daughters is providing much more than that. They have set up a model of reintegration. Many of our clients are encountering loving relationships and acceptance for the first time in their entire lives. They receive counseling, have access to a free clinic, childcare, and best of all are offered to encounter the love and freedom found in Jesus.
I am working in the Sons of Cambodia program. It is a brand new program started for lady boys. Lady boys are men who dress and act like women. Like the clients of Daughters, they too have been sexually exploited and shamed. I am helping to manage and develop the screen printing program. In this program they do all the work. The cotton fabric is bought, cut and sown into t-shirts from scratch. The t-shirts are then screen printed and sent to the shop.
When I started volunteering for Daughters in December, the silk screening program was really suffering. Since then, the progress I have seen is exponential. We now have a team-leader who has been screen printing since it was introduced to Daughters in 2010. She is so good at what she does she is now responsible for teaching and passing on her skills to the lady boys who are new to it. She is a natural leader and it has been such a blessing to watch her step into her new role with ease and confidence. The quality of production is also consistently improving as we experiment and introduce new methods of production and began implementing quality control. We have goals of soon being able to start the fair trade side of our program and begin exporting our t-shirts around the world.
Even after seeing and having my hand in the improvements made, somedays I still feel the work I am doing is insignificant. I have felt that because I am “not on the front lines” directly rescuing these beautiful people, I am not doing enough. Then I am reminded that something as simple as a t-shirt is giving these friends of mine dignity and purpose. Daughters provides them with an opportunity to escape the life of chaos they once were living to acquire skills, learn responsibility and self worth. Then it all makes sense. Though my role may be small, I am assisting in helping the whole come together.
“…FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” Romans 9:17 NASB
no role is too small especially when God has asked you to play it. He sees and hears. He understands and he never gives up or walks away when we struggle with finding our place. You are doing great. (I know this is a late response to this post. :0) Am praying for encouragement for you all.)
Hey woman! I think about you and this ministry often! I wear my shirt with great pride…
The shirt helps tell the story!
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj