While in Thailand and Cambodia, we plan to make 4 stops to learn about the issue from several different angles:
1) Bangkok! We don't actually have any contacts here. The plan is to go to the Red Light district and pray. It will be interesting to see who God brings across our path while we are there.
2) Chiang Rai, in Northern Thailand. Here we will work with a ministry which has a program for boys who work in the city. This stop will show us a little bit of the preventative side of sex trafficking, as our contact is working to provide support for kids who are at high risk of being exploited.
3) Phnom Penh. We will work with Transitions Global, an organization that runs a safe house here. We are raising support to help them put one of their rescued girls through an education and rehabilitation program.
4) Finally, we will visit Angkor Wat, a famous tourist attraction. The purpose of this stop is to explore the spiritual factors that influence sex trafficking in Cambodia. Angkor Wat represents many spiritual and brutal events in Cambodian history, and we can only guess that these events play a significant role in creating a culture that accepts sexual exploitation with almost no question. We have no idea what we will learn (if anything!) but we're praying for God to open our spiritual eyes while we are there.
Hi you guys! So I'm Jon's friend Marie (Kirsten I'll admit I kinda feel like I know you 'cause I've heard about you and met you on skype I think) and I just have to say I will totally be praying for you guys every day (and praying against my own jealousy...) I'm SO excited for all God is going to do in and through you and you totally inspire me. God makes such cool people. I was just praying that God will totally fill you with His own Spirit so you'd overflow with compassion, protect you, and strengthen and guide you... that His heart would just totally surround each of your own--and I kinda was hopin' for a verse and came across Psalm 31... basically the whole thing's good, so I'm not gonna pull a piece out. But if you're having a rough day, take a look and know somebody somewhere's prayin' it for you and the people you see :) Keep me updated, ya? Umm.... and Jon can testify that I'm kind of obsessive about being a networker (as in I'm horribly nosy and collect a ton of random information that I then spew onto innocent passersby;)), soo.... I know God's gonna lead you and it's super exciting and I don't know if you don't WANT a contact in Thailand, so you can totally ignore this and I won't be hurt at all, and I actually can't say that I've ever worked directly with them but I know people who have-- Word Made Flesh is a ministry with an outreach in the red light district, so if you're lost, you could probably look them up... (so I just looked it up and the guy's email adress I saw was tim.hupe@wordmadeflesh.org-his wife amy's the same thing only amy not tim) Another org is nightlight that tries to pull women out of prostitution-they're actually opening a new branch in atlanta soon, I don't know if you've heard of that place... ;)bkk@nightlightinternational.com They have really pretty jewelry... Ummm and then I actually went to high school with the guy's daughter who started this, but I've never had much luck contacting them, but anyway it's basically a catering livelihood thing to get out of prostitution I believe based in PP- cambodia@hagarinternational.org. Basically I think they're awesome 'cause one thing they do is sell fresh soy milk which is SOOOO good. And no it's not just 'cause I'm a health nut, I managed to get my whole family hooked (that and fresh soy bean curd, otherwise known as silken tofu. The milk's better with white sugar sauce, the bean curd's better with brown sugar sauce. Seriously, I promise. I ate it every day my sr year of hs. Ok, I know I don't really know you guys (other than Jon), but you're still my sisters (and Jon) in Christ and I love you!
ReplyDeletemarie