Hope in the Darkness

Of all the things I saw while in Cambodia, the hope in the darkness shone the brightest.

The village of Svay Pak in this video is where we spent the majority of our time. These are the streets we walked. These are the buildings we entered. These are the kids we played with. These are the warriors we walked arm in arm with. Their story became my story. Our lives intertwined and I will never be the same.

Hope In The Darkness-Exclusive Trailer from J.E. Video on Vimeo.

In 2005, Don and Bridgette Brewster sold their house, belongings, and left their kids and grandchildren to aid in the fight against child sex trafficking. They moved to Phnom Penh, Cambodia "a pedophiles paradise", to started a center for girls who have been rescued from the trafficking industry.

The Agape Restoration Center specializes in not just restoring physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, but re-integrating the girls back into the society to make a positive impact on the culture. In the process of re-integration, a small village named Svay Pak (or "K-11") was found to be the epicenter of child sex slavery in Cambodia.

Without a sure hope of re-integration back into Svay Pak, it became clear that girls weren't the only ones who needed rescuing, but communities as well. The only way to make a dent in trafficking in Cambodia is to change communities as well as lives, and the transformation process is identical... from the inside out.

"Hope in the Darkness"

Coming 2011

I Need Words

I love this song by David Crowder! It has been my heart's cry at very specific times in my life.

I remember laying in bed on a spring afternoon in April 2005 with tears streaming down my face crying out to God. Loving Him and hating Him all at the same time. Hearing this song being sung by my husband on his guitar somehow brought some peace to me as it permeated through our walls. A few days earlier we had lost our second child through miscarriage. This second pregnancy was a "surprise" to us, but not to God. Through this pain and loss, Alf and I became closer. Through this anger and confusion, we came into a deepness with God like no other time before.

I find myself in this place again, but in different circumstances. I've been home from Cambodia for 1 week now. My heart is still there. A part of me wants to grab my husband, my kids, pack a few bags and head back to the airport. I don't have any words yet. I need God to give me the words to tell His redemptive story of Cambodia. I am pressing into Him and relying on His unwavering character to carry me through this time.

He is alive! He is active! He is there in the midst of the darkest darkness.

I don't have the words...yet. I know they will come. Until then, you get music that interprets my heart! :)

Thoughts on Washington D.C. - Part 2

Here are some more thoughts...

It sounds a little creepy at the end. Not sure what happened! :)




Here is the Sara Groves song I talked about:

Thoughts on Washington D.C.

The weekend of April 9th, a team of 12 flew to Washington D.C. for the annual International Justice Mission Global Prayer Gathering. I am still processing all I encountered there. Thank you for stopping by and watching me "process".

Here are some websites that I mention in the video:

International Justice Mission: www.ijm.org

Agape International Missions: www.aim4asia.org

Take some time and dig into these organizations. Grab God's heart for people.