Where have we been the past week?

So it has been a while since our last post. That is not because we haven't done anything.. it's actually quite opposite, this week has been very busy and the few times we have been at internet cafe's we have been trying to catch up on emails and phone calls. So anyway, what have we been doing the last week?...

We went to teach at our second salon, and that went very well. They have one girl who is way more advanced than the others and we worked closely with her so that she could teach the other girls when we left. She was very eager to learn and was excited about the educational material we left with her. We also met with some more organizations to see what their needs are and if there organization would be one that God is calling us to help with long term. We know that we want to help from far away long term, but we are just not sure what that looks like or how were we should start. We have ideas and have been praying for God to bring clarity, so if you would like to partner with us in praying for that we would appreciate it. We went to a prayer meeting on Thursday (there are a few organizations that get together every 2nd and 4th thursday) and we prayed specifically for the issues having to do with human trafficking. It was cool to see the organizations come together to pray, and you could really feel the presence of God in the room.

Outside of the meetings and teaching we managed to go to an orphanage. This was something we had planned, but really didn't have much to do with the over all goal of our trip. Wally (from Christian Service International) had strongly suggested that we go, so we did. It was my favorite part of the trip. The lady who runs the orphanage used to be a missionary in Cambodia. She came over in the 60's and then had to leave during the war. When she retired, she was asked to take on this orphanage and she did. So she is somewhere in her 70's, and she is such a beautiful person. She doesn't have all the material possessions that many times I find myself striving for, but she is so happy and satisfied with her life just how it is. At one point she said "It is such a great responsibility having this many people love you so much" (I thought she was trying to be funny when she said that) but she then went on to say "you have to be careful and think through everything you do because it affects them and their emotions get hurt easily"... when she said this I was like wow, what a self-less women. She gave up everything to come here, and to retire here where it is always uncomfortably hot, to take care of these children... Anyway that is probably what you want to hear about, the children. They were so precious! We took a tour around the facility and got to see the different ages of kids...first we went to the elderly, then the babies-everyones favorite.. and i was looking at these precious babies and Marie (the lady who runs the orphanage) started telling us which of the babies had aids...that's when I lost it. Then there was a lady, probably about 35ish and she came up to us and showed us her leg and it had open sores all over it from aids. And we began to realize many of these girls that we have taught, and probably most-if not all-women who have come out of a brothel have aids. This is so heart-breaking for me. They have already endured so much, and if they are one of the lucky ones that gets rescued and has a better chance at life, they still will have life taken from them by disease. This trip has showed me many things that I maybe didn't want to see, but am glad that I did, because I have pictures of the people I need to pray for imbedded in my mind. If you would like to know more about the orphanage they have a website: placeofrescue.com

We will be leaving in 3 days I can't believe how fast the time flew by. This will probably be our last post, unless you are really lucky and we decide to put one more up before we come home. I can't wait to see some of you when I get home and tell you about it firsthand, and with many pictures.