You'll Come

Chains be broken, lives be healed, eyes be opened, Christ is revealed.

Those are lyrics to a Hillsong United song called "You'll Come". I love this song for a lot of reasons. Mostly because the lyrics are so full of optimism and hope.

At one point on my trip, I found myself on a 5 hour boat ride from Battambang to Siem Reap. Prior to leaving, we were told that we will past through boating villages and communities. We were told that sex trafficking existed even in those communities. So for a portion of this trip, Malia, Jessica, and I sat on the very front of the boat out from underneath the covering. It gave us a much cooler breeze and view of all of the people. I was thankful for this leg of travel because it allowed us to see yet another side of Cambodia: the people who choose to live on the rivers.

I eventually turned my Ipod on. I put the songs on shuffle. And I am pretty sure God chose what songs to play for me. There were a series of songs that had totally uplifting lyrics and helped me feel like there is so much hope for Cambodia. It gave me hope for the girls that I know are still in trafficking.

Eventually You'll Come came on. The very first words of this song are "Chains be broken, lives be healed, eyes be opened, Christ is revealed." As I am watching the people as we float by, some children wave and run as much as they can to continue to wave to us, some children look hopeless. So here I am, staring into the faces of children that are potentially in modern day slavery and the words "chains be broken" are being repeated in my ears. That moved me. I wanted to reach out to each child we passed and tell them that there is hope for them too. I wanted to tell them that even though their physical shackles might not ever be broken, they can obtain freedom. Even in modern day slavery, people can have hope, peace, love, and even justice.

We sang this song in chapel yesterday. It was actually the very first song we sang. That was hard. But it was kind of appropriate timing. Because when I am in chapel at 10 o'clock AM on a Tuesday morning, it is 10 o'clock Tuesday evening in Cambodia. This means that while I am freely worshipping God with my classmates on campus at my school of choice, thousands of girls are preparing themselves for the night of work that lies ahead. It's hard. It's hard to be surrounded by loving Christians singing words like "chains be broken" and automatically my thoughts are filled with the horrible night that lies ahead for thousands of girls.

So what do I do? Well I have to pray. There is no other choice. I have to automatically pray for the girls that are in bondage. I have to pray because I can picture riding our bus around Phnom Penh at night looking in to the shops, seeing the red lights go on and the girls come out. I have to pray that God will bring them some sign of comfort and hope that night if they won't be rescued.

I know there is hope for the 27 million people still in modern day slavery. I just have to pray that they can see the hope as well.

"I have told you these things so that in me you may find peace. In this world you will face many troubles but take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

How Great Thou Art

Disclaimer: For some of you, you are reading my blog because you received my follow-up letter in the mail this week. I just want to encourage you to read previous posts about Cambodia. I have already written about many stories that are dear to my heart. I hope you will go back to read those too!

Okay, end the disclaimer!

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Our first morning at Rapha House was particularly serene. I can remember touring the compound thinking about how peaceful that morning was. It was quiet, you could hear the slight wind... But mixed in with the quiet I could hear some of the girls singing. It was beautiful to hear nothing but their voices literally echoing throughout the buildings. I also remember it being particularly cool that morning which added to the peacefulness. Morning time in Cambodia are generally the hottest hours of the day. But God really blessed us as we saw the buildings and experienced the land for the first time.

But before we were able to tour the grounds, we experienced our first staff devotion with the incredible Rapha House staff members. I did not think a whole lot going into this time, but it turned out to better than I expected (as was every experience on my trip). My team was able to share a little bit about ourselves individually, then the staff introduced themselves to us as well. One of the first things we did was worship. They had hymnals to sing out of and we could join in when we knew the song, or participate by praying when we did not know the songs.

The very first song we sang was How Great Thou Art. As we began to sing with them my heart filled with a new gratitude toward God. Hearing the voices of our team worshipping in English mixed with the voices of the staff worshipping in Khmer was unlike anything I have ever experienced. At first our voices were distinct. The people there just sing in a different way. We rarely heard harmony and it became obvious that singing to them is not about the music what-so-ever at all. As we moved on from verse to chorus to verse, our voices meshed. It could have been my own ears adjusting, but personally, I think that God blessed me with a new view that morning. It's like he allowed me to hear what he hears. He doesn't hear Khmer or English, he just hears our hearts. I am still so thankful he opened my ears in such a way that I could hear the beautiful worship of his people from more than one place in this world.

I love how God weaves past experiences into new experiences. I say this because my very first Sunday back at home I was really excited to be back at church. Ironically, the very first song we sang that Sunday was How Great Thou Art. It was a very different sound than worshipping in Cambodia (as expected!)... but clear as day, I could hear the Rapha House Staff singing the same song in Khmer. I have a feeling that I will always be hearing that song in Khmer from now on. And that is really okay with me.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, how great thou art...