Girl's don't just line up on the street corners here, they line up on the entire side of the road. They don't come out around mid-night, but they were lined up by the time of 7. I saw the desperation in their eyes...15, 16, 17, 18, 19 years old. They are still children themselves, and they are being forced to offer their bodies for money. If they do not show up with a certain amount of money the next morning. Their pimp will beat them! Prostitution has changed in Cambodia. There are less brothels, and more "entertainment centers". This has greatly complicated things. Men can now show up at an entertainment center, buy a girl, and then he has to take her off the premises to use her. This is bad because of two reasons. The first is that it has become much more difficult for the brothels to be raided and stopped. The second reason is that now a man can buy a young girl and show up at a hotel where 6 of his friends are waiting. She is not only used, but gang rapped. This is much more dangerous for the victim.
The night after we explored the red light districts of Cambodia we went to a village that is world wide known for child trafficking. 100% percent of these little girls are sold. Girls are actually brought up in this village in order to be trafficked for money. It is a terrible terrible terrible thing. We had the chance of walking this street, handing out candy, and showing the Lord's pure love. These little girls are absolutely beautiful, and their eyes were filled with such emptiness. They had a glaze over their eyes that no child should ever have. They have seen and been through more thn I will ever see or go through in my whole life. I wanted to pick them all up, make a run for it, and rescue them from the deep dark danger that they are living in, but all I could do was pick them up, look them in the eyes and say "depwa", which means, "you are BEAUTIFUL." Upon returning to the car Amanda and I cried out to the lord with tears of sadness. How could someone be so cruel? My life calling is to these children. With the Lord's help I AM going to help them! I have seen the need and now I must help. God we cry out for your children.

Walking out of the airport I take in the smell of fried rice, B.O, and everything else that seems to remind me of this beautiful place. I immediately remember the overwhelming feeling of walking out of the airport into a sea of people waiting for their loved ones to appear from the sliding doors. I just stood their taking it in, and trying to spot my little brother. Amanda, my mom and I were all searching the crowd wondering what to do, or where to go next. I loved it. I loved the sea of people. I loved the smells. I loved the feeling of being sticky because of the humidity that filled the air.
The only feeling that I didn't like was the tightness that I immediately felt in my chest. I pushed that aside thought, so that I could enjoy everything else. I remember Amanda and I both squealing with joy to be home.
The next day, Friday, We met up with our team that we would be traveling to Cambodia with. It is such a diverse team ranging from all ages, background, and even languages. It's actually amazing! On Friday we were able to walk around a little and basically rest. We also went to an amazing celebration to celebrate what our Father has done in this country. The stadium was filled with thousands of people, and where do they put us....On the very front row! It was amazing. I felt so honored to be a part of it.
On Saturday, I got to go with my mom and a few other people to visit our children in one of our homes. My heart was overflowing with excitement. Walking in the doors of the house I was immediately throwing my arms around a handful of beautiful, not so little anymore, girls. We were all squealing as we reunited. I can't believe how big they all are. I remember being able to pick them up and throw them in the air. Now they are teenagers and so beautiful! I can't wait to spend more time with them next week.
After visiting the home we went back to our hotel. At this point I could not avoid the feeling my heart was physically making. It was fluttering almost to the point of where it hurt. It has not done this before so I was starting to get pretty scared. No one likes to be sick in a foreign land, especially when it might be serious. I always know when my heart is not working right because I had heart surgery when I was 16 because It was beating way too fast. I immediately called my mom and told her something was wrong. She made her way back to our hotel where she prayed for me. At this point I was trying to be brave, but I just started crying because the last thing I wanted to do was to have to fly home. I had waited years to return to this country and I wasn't about to leave before I even adjusted to the time zone. My mom decided to go out and get me some gatorade thinking I might be dehydrated. When walking out of the hotel she felt as though she was supposed to ask one of the men on our team to pray for me.
It was truly amazing because she ran into him when walking out of the hotel. She immediately told him that my health was not good, and it was something to do with my heart. Seeing as how this man didn't even speak english, he later told me that he knew that my mom was concerned about me and it had something to do with my heart. About 10min. later he came up to my room, put his hands on me, and prayed for me. He encouraged me and told me that all things happen for a purpose, and through this God was going to show his power to me. After praying for me I took a 4 hour nap, woke up and felt 90% better. My heart was no longer fluttering or hurt. The Lord is so good! I truly believe I was healed. Ohhh the power of prayer.