The sound at Rapha House is soothing. I don't think it is the compound, or the acoustics. It is just the girls. Anywhere they are, beautiful music is played. Their laughter is overwhelming. Hearing them laugh and play with each other brings so much joy.
It is an overwhelming sound of freedom.
Yes, the most important thing is that the girls were saved from slavery. They are no longer slaves to horrific master. That's a great thing. But the girls are given so much more than they bargained for. You see, other children in Cambodia (even children who are not in slavery) are not free. Most children that we came in contact with were still under a different kind of bondage. If they have younger siblings, they become caretakers.
Our group put on a Mother's Clinic one day. Two mothers in our group spoke to the Khmer mothers. They talked about being good mothers and the ways to do that. They talked about health, nutrition, and caretaking. They also told the mothers to be mothers and let their kids be kids. The mothers don't allow their older children to run and play and be kids. They expect them to take care of their younger siblings(something ironic is that one girl brought her little sister to the mommy clinic because she is her caretaker...) They might be free in the sense that they aren't slaves of sex trafficking or of child labor. But they are not free to be kids.
In America, we have opportunity. Seeing chilren playing on a playground or in front yards is not uncommon. The only place you see children playing in Cambodia is in the dirty streets, but that is only until their parents find out where they are.
I have mentioned the Kids Club we participated at. This place is freedom for the kids of the slums. As different as those kids were, they showed me a new sense of freedom. Watching those kids come through the gate is like watching them run into a candy shop or a water park. They light up. They wait outside of the gates just to get in to play for the afternoon and they become sad when 7 oclock comes and it is time to go home. Their freedom for the day is gone. The family that we worked with is Jesus to their neighborhood. They provide a way for kids to be kids.
Like I said, there is nothing like watching the girls at Rapha laugh and play with each other. They know they have been given freedom from sex trafficking, freedom from obligations to be caretakers for younger siblings, but most of all, Rapha House gives them freedom in Christ. They are given teaching about how Jesus died to set them free.
I still have a hard time understanding why God gave me the opportunity to be a part of something so great in a place that is overcome with darkness. I hope that by everything that I write you can understand how your prayers and thoughts are a part of a huge light in Cambodia.
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