These Days Ahead | May 28 - May 30, 2008

I don't think i've ever experienced so many emotions at one time... nervous, scared, happy, excited, sad, angry, confused, overwhelmed, broken, compassionate, loving, desperate and completely unprepared. After a morning of filming and taking photos at Daughters of Cambodia, Ruth asked me to join her and a couple of her staff to go to a brothel for her weekly brothel ministry. First you need to understand that she is the only one doing this right now and she constantly puts herself in danger. So initially I was shocked that she wanted me to come and to take pictures! My hands started to shake nervously but there was a sense of peace and a purpose that I must do this. So I sad yes.

Arriving upon the brothel I was surprised to see that it looked like any other building and that we probably have unknowingly passed many many times. It was dirty, old, and dark. Walking inside my heart broke for what I saw were girls with lifeless stares... bodies with no life, empty eyes. But as soon as Ruth and the staff started saying hello there were smiles and sparks of life all over. Truly beautiful and inspiring to see love in action. These girls were so warm and inviting and did not hesitate when I pulled out my camera. To see the trust and relationship that they have formed with Ruth is amazing. I was even shocked to find out the brothel owner was there and enjoyed having Ruth there. The brothel owner clearly knows what Ruth's vision and purpose is but does not hesitate which my mind still does not comprehend. Perhaps it's because they offer medical assistance to the girls, but I like to believe it is because there is a sense, a feeling they don't understand and they crave... HOPE!

I stood there amazed and the rush of emotions hit me. Most of all I felt that I did not know how to help. I wanted to grab all of them by hand and run out of the brothel and set them free. But then where? That is what I admire about Ruth and the ministry that she is doing. This is her life... she has devoted everything she has to love the girls AND the brothel owners!!! I could not comprehend that at first but soon found out as God broke my heart. As I was taking pictures I noticed the brothel owner and I caught a glimpse into her eyes. Immediately my heart broke and I felt compassion so overwhelming for this older lady. I felt God literally break my heart and I knew I needed to hug her as well as I did the prostitutes. So I did and I can still can not fully explain to you the love I felt, the brokenness, the despair, the hope... God's heart is so amazing.

Never ever ever did I think I would step into a brothel and NEVER did I think I would hug a brothel owner. LOVE is the answer and hope is the key.



Into the heart | May 24-27, 2008

"Men are like gold, if it gets dirty you can wipe it off and clean it. Woman are like paper, if it gets dirty you throw it away." -Cambodian Proverb

These last few days Greg and I have been understanding more and more the struggles of the women here and in a lot of asian cultures. If you are tainted, you are thrown away. We got to meet with Ruth, the founder of Daughters of Cambodia. She helped explain to us the different aspects of surrounding the restoration and rehabilitation of human sex slave victims. Beyond raiding brothels and "rescuing" these girls, you can't just put them into a safe a home and hope that all will be ok. These girls, sometimes, have no other future ahead of them if they don't go back into prostitution. Ruth talked about how they have been also educating these girls and giving them jobs in order for them to make it on the outside. She wants to try and set them up with micro financing to help bring responsibility to their lives so they don't go back into prostitution because they have no other skills or choice.

Beyond education, Daughters are influencing the actual brothel owners by consistently meeting with them developing relations to help stop the trade. This is pretty shocking, considering their lives could be in danger for trying to shut down those places, so patience and a lot of prayer has been the key.

Yesterday we got to go into some of the new slums here in Phnom Penh. The government decided to rebuild in the middle of town and have been kicking out family after family in order to do so. They went as far as building "new" homes built of brick and cement. These new homes are the size of a one stall garage all sitting side by side, row after row. You can get a nicer one if you pay off the officials and add a second layer to your new home. Walking around you see a lot of children, some women, and almost no men. The men stay in town until the weekends. Most of the parents are now seven years old, watching over their sisters or brothers that are between the ages of 1 and 4.

On the lighter side of things, Greg got some prayer in a private Buddhist temple area! He was pursuaded by an old man and before he knew it, Greg was lighting candles, having prayers prayed over him while water was being sprayed on him ... a cleansing no doubt! We'll have to upload the partial video of that experience for you soon.



And to the East We Go| May 21-23, 2008

Today we embarked on a new mission. One that involves the highly diabolic trade of human beings. A mission to raise awareness and educate the world about human trafficking and the sex trade.

We had a long day and a half of traveling with two plane delays, one in Denver and then in LA, missing our connection in Taiwan to Phnom Penh. Within the first 10 minutes of being on a Chinese airline you start to see the immediate differences in our cultures. Perfectionism while smiling.

Flying over Vietnam and into Cambodia, you see a lot of trees and brown rivers, homes and small cities lined near the streams and major bends. Closer towards the major cities you'll notice a lot of over worked farmland, plot after plot which doesn't look like they're producing many crops. Stepping outside the airport your mind is still telling you you're at home in America, but your eyes are convinced its a different place. Then the heat hits you like brick wall, causing your whole body to start instantly sweating. It will take a few days to get used to the temperature.

Jannelle and I ending up crashing for a few hours before Anthony and his team got in later that afternoon. We already had word that in the morning that day, Samali Mam was interviewed by his team. Samali is basically the Ghandi of human sex trade, once being a victim to it herself, she's helped rescue and restore over 3,500 children. Anthony went on to tell us how hard it was to get into contact with Samali and then get documentation of her and a young girl's story. He also shared how we will be going with her next week to get some more footage and interviews and then spending a few days with the restoration orgainzation called Daughters of Cambodia, helping them develop a video for raising support in conferences and meetings.

Already we can start to understand the mission at hand propelling its way into our minds and hearts.



Human Trafficking | The Redemption Story

On May 24th-June 11th, Jannelle and I are taking a trip to Cambodia to document stories of redemption for children who have been abducted into child sex slavery.

We will be teaming up with a close friend of mine, Anthony Lee, who is leading a team small of videographers from Youth With A Mission here in Denver. Anthony has been developing close contacts for over the last year and is serious about ending human trafficking within our lifetime.

Our hope through this trip is to raise awareness globally by producing a documentary on the redemptive side of child sex slavery. Restoration is the most important piece after rescuing these children from harms way. With your help we can raise money to build more safe houses for these children to be nourished, restored, and have an everlasting and loving community around them.



Extreme Community Makeover | Denver

Over the last couple months, Greg and I have been able to help with Extreme Community Makeover, a local Denver organization.

ECM is an initiative designed to bring churches and companies in the Denver area into specific neighborhoods throughout Denver in order to assist the residents with identified needs such as painting, yard work, and other home improvement type activities. Building relationships with those living in these neighborhoods will allow other emotional, physical, and spiritual needs to be met as well, primarily through the efforts of Confluence Ministries serving as a bridge to connect people with community resources that meet those needs.

Part of what we've done to help is develop documentary type videos to promote and educate local churches and companies. We'll also be getting our hands dirty and help restore some broken homes this spring. We've already met some great people, heard their stories and have began to pray for the community itself.