Picture yourself sitting at home. Next door live acquaintances, people who have shied away from getting to know you. Every night your curtains are wide open, and you notice the neighbor girl leaves with the same man. Pulling up in a nice car, he is out of place in your poor neighborhood.
She’s only a young girl, but this is the norm for the girls in your town. They are expected to go away with men at night, only to be returned after sex to their caretakers. Passively you accept it, day after day. SIghing, of course, you turn away. Until one night, something inside of you snaps. Instead of allowing the man to come and take the girl away you walk outside of your front door. Across the lawn, 10 agonizing steps left to right, you walk to stand in front of this broken man.
No more, you say, I will not allow you to buy this girl for the night. Instead of stopping he stares you cold in the face, pummeling you to the ground. Grabbing the girl’s hand, he leaves you with crushed bones and in a hospital bed for weeks. Without money for simple food, you are completely dependent on others.
The first night, you think it was no use.
“Why did I snap and stare injustice in the face, saying ‘no more’ if this was how it would turn out?”
Then your answer comes, in the face of that same neighbor girl you fought for. Freely, she walks into the hospital each night with food to nourish you into recovery. Instead of sleeping with a man for money, she cares for you.
A girl who had dutifully obeyed her responsibility to provide for her family, despite the intense trauma being raped nightly required, was freed. The simple beauty is that it just took one to open their door, walk across their yard, and say “No More” to her slave master.
When God’s people raise themselves up and battle injustice, this freedom happens.
This story has happened in Cambodia, and it will continue to happen.
The Khmer people are turning their faces to God, and restoration is taking place.
It’s hard work, lots of hands are needed and prayer is a constant to defeat the chains of silence, oppression, and hatred.
So I’m asking you to rise up and PRAY.
I don’t want just 5 minutes of your day.
I want an hour, I want hours, and communities praying together.
I want you to pray that this story happens twenty times over.
I want you to pray for strength and endurance for God’s people here to rise up
I want you to pray for restoration
I want you to pray for freedom.
I want you to lift your voice, and give it to the men, women, and children who have none.
Petition our God for justice, and praise Him for the transformation He is bringing.
*This is a story from one of the long-term missionarys in Cambodia my team meet with yesterday. We were able to hear more about where needed services are, and what our role could be in helping those who have come before us.
