New Ministry Bloomin’!

Many of you know that I (Nic) began working with a group called Operation Underground Railroad a few years back in efforts to fight human trafficking around the world and to set men, women, and children free from the bondage of modern day slavery. You can watch our episode of Old Fashioned Catholics about human trafficking HERE. (It’s not for the faint of heart, but worth learning about.)

Ever since we first knew we were headed to Cambodia, I’ve been hopeful that I’d be able to continue the same type of work here, and I’m incredibly thankful and excited to say that God has opened the first door for us to do just that!

Though prostitution and trafficking are technically illegal in Cambodia, it is nevertheless rampant and out in the open. It is very common to see foreign men of all ages with young Cambodian women around town. Just last week, I was walking along the sidewalk downtown and a young lady essentially begged me to hire her for a “special massage”, because she’d had no clients that day and needed the money. I was so caught off-guard that I only mumbled a polite “no thank you” and walked away. I started crying as I turned down a side street.

The road just outside of our house is called Khmer Pub Street, and is lined with at least twenty bars/clubs/karaoke rooms. I’d noticed that the entrance to these establishments are usually lined with a long bench on each side, and that at night the benches are usually filled with young women, dressed to the nines, if you will. At one point, I asked a friend of mine what the ladies were doing there and I was informed that you can rent one or more of the women for the evening to be your date and dancing partner. My friend went on to explain that you could take the women to another location for further “intimacy”. Apparently, it is quite common for married men to have families at home, but to also spend frequent nights at the bars with younger women. The karaoke rooms are also often used for more than just singing.

Once I’d been made aware of the situation for so many ladies, just out our front door, a restlessness started growing in my heart and mind. As I’d drive past club after club, the entrances filled with young ladies, I started to feel frustrated at not doing something, anything. So, I began making sure I purposefully drove past Khmer Pub Street at night when I was out. I’d drive past each club, quietly praying for each woman I could see, making eye contact and smiling when I could (whilst still keeping my eyes on the road, of course) 😊 

However, the heavy heart continued to grow until one day in December, I finally mentioned it to the entire team. I told them I wanted to do more, be more incarnational, but I didn’t know where to start. I’d heard of people going so far as actually renting prostitutes for an hour and simply praying with them, just to give them even at least one hour of peace where someone wasn’t wanting to use them in any way. I wasn’t necessarily suggesting we do that, but I expressed that I needed to begin doing more. There was a short, quiet pause and then Jacelyn said:

“We could give each of them a flower…”

And with that, a ministry was born and we all knew where we’d start. When we told our plans to our close friend, tutor, and translator—Ratana—she immediately said that we should for sure do roses because the ladies were worthy of the most beautiful flower. So, we picked an upcoming Sunday night, purchased 50 roses, and headed out with the whole team, even little Evangeline. We parked in the dark on one end of the street and set out.

It is difficult to describe what took place. When we first walked up, the ladies were all doing their best to look “ready for work”, poised on the benches with serious faces. Of course, when they first saw us, there was the expected momentary confusion as to what these crazy people were doing walking into a bar with a whole family and carrying handfuls of roses.

Then, the change happened.

When they saw the smiles on our faces and, yes, our adorable Evangeline, I watched their serious facades melt into giggles and screams of joy! These women transformed into girls in the matter of seconds. Hugs and smiles were all around. It was beyond moving, emotionally. However, we walked away from the first bar with a very noticeable problem: we’d given away at least one-third of our entire bunch of roses! In fact, after only three bars, we ran out and had to head home for the evening. We were so excited and moved when we got back to HQ that we were already planning the next night.

We decided that we’d do it once a month to start, and our next night was planned for when we would be hosting our first mission trip from America! For our second Night of the Roses, we purchased 100 roses, gathered the whole team, including visiting missionaries, and headed out. We parked in the dark on one end of the street and set out once again. This time, we made it considerably farther down the street than the first, but still ran out of roses!

Along the way that night, we encountered one bar where there were only a couple of ladies out front. We asked one of the ladies if there were only two women there that night and she informed us that all the rest were in the back, “working” in individual rooms. The reality of the situation hit hard, and we quickly asked if we could leave a bunch of roses so that each woman would have one waiting for her when she came out. They happily allowed us to! All said and done, we still ran out of roses, so we’ll do 150 next time. 

So, where do we go from here??? Good question!!!

I know that it’s such a small beginning, and I know that it can seem so insignificant, just giving a simple flower to someone, but it’s a start, and an impacting one, at that! The plan over the coming months and years is to begin attaching a small piece of paper to each rose each time. On it will be one or two simple statements, ranging from things like “God loves you and you are precious” to “you are wonderful”, and building over time to things like “God made you unique and loves you as you are”. We’ll let God lead it from there.

One of the priests here once told me that the Cambodian people have a deep need to hear the story of good news, the actual reality of a Creator who formed them, gave everything for them, and found a way to re-ignite the love of His presence in their lives. So, the intent is that each consecutive note will build upon what came before, eventually telling this gorgeous story of love that is Christianity. At least, that’s what I hope to piece together one rose and one sentence at a time over the next few years.

I have this mental picture of the ladies eagerly awaiting the next time those FreelyGiven folks bring a rose so they can have one more moment of love spoken into their lives. In the weeks between rose nights, we’ll be praying for each of them–each of The Roses–that the Holy Spirit will be calling them and bringing the pieces of paper to mind and heart. 

If you’d like to help us bless The Roses, you can donate by clicking the button below. For a point of reference, a typical rose night costs about $70, and I’m honestly hoping for the cost to grow as we reach more and more Roses!

And guess what??? Our next rose night is planned for Good Friday evening, just a few days from now; so get praying!

Questions? Contact us at:

freelygiveninc@gmail.com

218.506.8793