I am one week away from leaving on my mission to Cambodia. Thanks to many friends and family members, I have reached my funding goal. I am touched by your donations and prayers. I will be blogging through my trip here.
For those that are just learning about my journey to go to Cambodia to volunteer with Agape International Missions, here is how I got here:
Earlier this year, I was invited to speak at Newsong Church's seminar on human trafficking. I am a School Resource Officer and expert on Internet safety and how predators use social media to exploit children. After my talk I listened to the other speakers who followed me. I listened to a speaker talk about what is going on every day in Cambodia. Just a few miles outside the capitol of Cambodia is the village of Svay Pak, a village that is known as the epicenter of child sexual slavery. Everyday, men go to this village to rape young girls for as little as fifty dollars. These children, as young as seven and eight years old, are sold into slavery by their own families with no hope of ever escaping their imprisonment on their own. I watched in horror, as an undercover police officer’s hidden camera footage showed two little girls, no older than five years old, led hand-in-hand up the brothel’s dark staircase to a waiting customer. My heart broke. Sitting in the audience, I said to myself, “I need to do something!”
I realize now that God put me there to hear that message. I called Evelyn, the church's event organizer, and asked her how I could get more involved with what is going on in Cambodia. She said, "We have a team going to go to Cambodia for two weeks in August, and we are looking for another male team member. Do you want to go?" I immediately said, "Yes!"
Myself, and 8 other wonderful people, will be going to Svay Pak, Cambodia, July 31 – August 16, 2014. We will be volunteering with AIM (Agape International Missions), a leader in fighting sex trafficking in Svay Pak and throughout Cambodia.
Over the two weeks our team will be running a Vacation Bible School for children in Svay Pak and minister to the full-time AIM people. Justin and I will be helping in a kick boxing gymnasium in the village. It is an outreach to young men in the village. Poverty and unemployment are extreme in Cambodia. Young men are sitting around and are tempted and engaging in pimping and trafficking girls. This gym is a place for them to go and get mentored by Christian coaches. I will be leading them in workouts in the morning, 0900 - 1100. We are going during the rainy season. It will be 90 degrees with very high humidity. It should be interesting!
Pray, pray, pray! Please keep me and my teammates: Justin, Tim, Mary, Kate, Shawna, Marissa, Cody, and Janelle, in prayer. Pray for smooth and safe travel, health, and opportunities to share Jesus and make a difference in people's lives there.
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