A Savior on Capitol Hill

Once again I find myself surrendering my joy to things unworthy of it.  I allow myself to become too consumed with the embarrassment caused by our nation's leaders and I allow myself to become too irritated by the ridiculous things I hear people say about said embarrassment.  As I have been studying for my sermon from Luke 19:28-44 my eyes have been graciously lifted above the fray.  I recall a story from earlier in Luke where some people tried to drag Jesus into a political debate concerning some poor souls who had been murdered by the Romans.  Not only murdered, but their blood had been mingled with the blood of the Temple sacrifice.  This was a blasphemous and tragic insult beyond our modern mind's ability to truly empathize.  Jesus (who's Father established every law broken by this travesty) completely side-stepped the issue.  He went directly to the spiritual jugular and forced their nearsighted eyes to gaze eternity in its glorious face.  "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."   Or, my paraphrastic interpretation, "This is the kind of heartache that happens on a sin-cursed planet, which is exactly why you need Me."

In my text for Sunday Jesus' disciples display a remarkable understanding of this truth.  After so many teachings, so many stories, so many miracles they finally get it.  They so totally get it that they don't care what the crowds think, what the religious experts think, or what the Romans think.  They praise Jesus will full voice in a lavish display that totally freaks the Pharisees out.  As the disciples call Him King and declare that He is sent from God, the Pharisees pull Jesus aside and beg Him to rebuke his guys.  They are probably expecting the Romans to sweep in and crush the rebellion at any minute.  Jesus says, "Nah, can't do it.  Besides, if I did, the rocks would cry out.  I am the King.  I am the Savior.  This is going to happen and nothing will stop it!"  Reflect on history with me for a moment.  The Roman Empire no longer exists.  Those particular religious sects no longer exist.  But the praise of the King continues to rise, and is not slowing down at all.

Why do I let myself get anxious, irritated, and opinionated about things that aren't going to last?  About things that aren't going to save anyone?  More importantly, why do I allow these things to rob me of the joyful praise of my King?

If you find yourself wrapped up in all the political nonsense filling the airwaves, this song is for you:

Thailand Update

We made it to Thailand!  See?

Chian Mai, Thailand.

We climbed this 300 step staircase to see a Buddhist temple,

Buddha on a hydraulic pallet jack, 

and Tim, stealing this puppy from a little girl.

I also had a snack.

Meanwhile, down in town, this massive, modern, high-end mall is almost complete.

The inside view of the mall with my Wawee coffee.

While the builders of this mall live here with their families, dogs, and chickens.

The reason we are here is to minister to the staff of the Cornerstone Counseling Center.  They exist to help missionaries, just like the ones we visited in the roughest parts of Phnom Penh, when the burden of mission work weighs them down.  

Missionaries, like the rest of us fallen creatures, face burnout, temptation, emotional trauma, and relationship struggles.  That is why Cornerstone is here.  But who takes care of the Cornerstone staff?  That is why we are here.  We will be guiding them on a retreat for spiritual growth and reflection on the power of the Gospel and the faithfulness of God.  Please pray for us for the remainder of our trip as we try to be the hands and feet of Christ for this team.   As is very common with ministry, I think they will end up being more of an encouragement to us than we are to them.  Somehow, in it all, we believe God will do wonderful things.

Phnom Penh Photo Guide

 These photos are in no apparent order, much like the driving.  Enjoy.

Typical power line configuration.

Some random white guy.

One of the difficult things for our Western minds is the stark contrast between the rich and the poor.  In the middle of all this poverty stands the Royal Palace with it's lavish buildings, rich lawns, and modern comforts. 

It's hard to see, but lady on the bike has an IV bag in one hand, and a baby in the other.

Full load.

Our tuk tuk driver's home.

Some of the prisoners at S21.

Street side view of the neighborhood where AIM is located.

The geckos were out in force.

The view from our hotel room.

Potatoes or some other root vegetable.

The government buildings are another example of the rich/poor divide.

Some Photos for "Trying to Be a Christian"

These photos will follow the previous blog post, providing some visual context for the places I described.  I would say, "enjoy," but there is nothing enjoyable here until the last few.

The first stop along the Killing Field audio tour.

These palm leaves have a rigid edge described as a row of shark teeth.  Bullets were too expensive for the mass executions, so sometimes these branches were used to cut throats.  Most victims, however, were killed with blunt objects or farming tools.

This stupa was constructed to house human skulls excavated from the sight.  At the killing fields like this one there are an estimated 1.7-2.5 million victims.  This stupa houses 8,000 skulls, displayed like this:

After the killing fields we visited the infamous S21, the prison where victims were tortured into confession, and then sentenced to death, driven to the nearby killing field, and summarily slaughtered.  There were transcripts displayed of interviews from countless men, women, and children, many of which included statements like, "I have no idea what I did wrong."

And then our day experienced a blessed and drastic change.  We traveled by tuk tuk to Svay Pak and visited AIM, a ministry focused on rescuing young girls from the sex trade.  For security reasons I could not take photos of the girls themselves, but I think you'll get a feel for the liberating power of the Gospel at work in this community.

In what appears to Western eyes to be a slum, AIM is revitalizing an entire community.  Most, if not all of the buildings you see here were formerly brothels, now housing a vocational school, kickboxing studio, elementary school, church, and a pastor's home.

From the roof of the main building we can see a safe house for several teenage girls.  The inside is beautiful and clean, and has a computer lab, library, kitchen, and counseling room.  A year ago it was a brothel.

Also from the roof we see the kickboxing gym.  Pimps are trained here.  Try this for innovation - they are getting pimps off the street by teaching them how to fight.  Several men (boys) in this project have advanced to become professional fighters, giving them income and prestige that will get them out of the sex-trade.  Many of them are coming to Christ.

A street view of the studio.  Don't mess with those Cambodians!

A Christian CEO of a Chinese company has partnered with AIM to put in a factory.  Right now about 50 girls are making t-shirts in the room above.  Soon there will be 250 filling this entire place.  Many of these employees have not been a part of the sex-trade, but the problem is systemic, not isolated.  By offering good jobs the community begins to transform.  This is just one peace of the really big puzzle.

The upstairs room of the factory.  To our right (outside the picture) are the girls busily turning that pile of material into t-shirts.  Behind the material are sewing machines waiting for new hires.

 This building was featured in the film, The Pink Room.  The upstairs specialized in "virgin sales," meaning prepubescent children.  After a police raid the "Pink Room" became the original building of AIM, turned church (as AIM expanded), and is now the Cambodian pastor's home.  If you look closely you will see kids toys, flip-flops, and grandma sleeping on a mat. 

This is where the girls receive vocational training that will prepare for work in factories, like the one above, or other employment.  They are given computer skills, language training, and trade skills, predominately sewing and silk screening.  Beyond training, they are paid for their work, given a free lunch, free day care, and their language training and a Bible study are considered part of their paid work day.

Companies in the states contract for clothing like this.

I can't give you a face, but when you pray, think of the girl with the pony tail.  There are many, many more like her who need to hear some Good News.  From the preschoolers in the kids program (which was way to vibrant to find a faceless picture to take), to the pony-tailed girls on sewing machines, to the former pimps studying Muay Thai, to the community church at the center of it all, Jesus is changing lives in Svay Pak.

One of the missionaries hard at work.  Pray for these guys who see the darkness every day.  One of them showed me a display of photos of little girls in the community who are stuck in the trade and they can't get them out... yet.