Step inside for a moment;

let me depict a fake picture of normalcy.

You step inside a restaurant, beer signs marking the entrance with multiple hostesses. Each woman sits patiently, seemingly just waiting to assist you.  “10 more than in the U.S!” you think, pleased.

Everyone is wearing a pretty smile, happily beckoning you to come in.

With one step you enter a darkened tent, complete with mood lighting and one stage. A disco ball spins, hanging from the ceiling, while a band plays. After the song is complete, dancers begin to fill the stage. One male singer, who appears to be the lead, belts out a familiar song while the customers gaze. 

Looking around, you smile, seeing cute couples talking and laughing with one another. It makes you miss the one you love, and a twinge of loneliness creeps in. Everyone is drinking beer and chatting, some even eating late-night dinners.

Waitresses instantly show you to a table, offering beer and a menu. Looking around there are a few white men, but mostly Khmers, and you feel proud that you have arrived at an authentically local establishment.

Welcome to Cambodia, the land of The Façade.

This scene plays over again in countless beer gardens across Phnom Penh, and the rest of Cambodia. In a country with anti-prostitution laws for minors, there is a veiled sex-trade being run in each beer garden.

If you didn’t know what you were stepping into, it might be easy to miss.

It’s not just the beer gardens either. It’s the cheap massage parlors and

couples out on the town in one-night “relationships.”

Tonight, I stepped inside one of The Facades.

             Not to observe evil taking place…

                  Nor to pity the girls dressed up with fake smiles.

                       Attacking the men wasn’t really on my mind either.

I stepped inside because I see myself

in every woman working,

man sitting,

 and fake smile.

I went because if we reversed roles,

they would bring the Kingdom of God to me in the middle of The Façade.

Because fighting victoriously is not just for those who are already God’s children, but those who will soon be.

So, I will continue to fight, and I pray you continue to fight because:

“The prayers of a righteous man are POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE.”

So thank you, for stepping inside, The Façade.