Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
John Cena
Cambodia is a broken country. Not long ago in its history lives the gruesome tale of genocide, which has scarred this country forever. In the 70's, many of the nations educated people were killed for the sake of social reform as Pol Pot tried to turn Cambodia communist. The effects of it are seen today as poverty thrives.
We entered Cambodia to the north, through a border town called Poi Pet, and stayed the night at a ministry there. As I was going into the building where we were staying, I was followed by a boy, who looked to be about 12 or 13 years old. He was following behind me and saying something in Khmer. I could tell that he wasn't all there, in his head anyway, and he was dirty and had some slobber around his mouth, that was forming a drip and making its way to his chin. I wasn't sure what to do because here was this street boy in the building with me, and I didn't really know the people in this ministry and I wasn't sure how appropriate it was to have this little boy wandering around with me. My fear was quickly absolved when a girl from the ministry rounded the corner, saw the little boy, and broke out a smile and yelled out his name. "John Cena!" A huge smile spread across his face, as the girl introduced me to the infamous John Cena. Thats not his real name, you see, as John Cena is a famous wrestler, it's just a nickname that he somehow earned, and I'm not sure of the story behind it.
I went on to learn that John Cena was actually 17 years old, and was a regular at the ministry. They told us about how when he was born, his mother gave him alcohol to drink instead of milk, and beat him severely for no reason. The scars on the back of his head told this story, as did his lack of motor skills.
But man could this kid smile. He's up there with the best of them, I'm sure.
It broke my heart to see this kid, who did nothing to deserve what he's been dealt. He spends the day begging, and makes enough to be able to buy food, and that's his life. As he sat with us at dinner that night I fought back the tears as I looked upon him and thought about the things stolen from this beautiful child.
John Cena was a beautiful, yet cruel, reminder of the state of this broken country.
We entered Cambodia to the north, through a border town called Poi Pet, and stayed the night at a ministry there. As I was going into the building where we were staying, I was followed by a boy, who looked to be about 12 or 13 years old. He was following behind me and saying something in Khmer. I could tell that he wasn't all there, in his head anyway, and he was dirty and had some slobber around his mouth, that was forming a drip and making its way to his chin. I wasn't sure what to do because here was this street boy in the building with me, and I didn't really know the people in this ministry and I wasn't sure how appropriate it was to have this little boy wandering around with me. My fear was quickly absolved when a girl from the ministry rounded the corner, saw the little boy, and broke out a smile and yelled out his name. "John Cena!" A huge smile spread across his face, as the girl introduced me to the infamous John Cena. Thats not his real name, you see, as John Cena is a famous wrestler, it's just a nickname that he somehow earned, and I'm not sure of the story behind it.
I went on to learn that John Cena was actually 17 years old, and was a regular at the ministry. They told us about how when he was born, his mother gave him alcohol to drink instead of milk, and beat him severely for no reason. The scars on the back of his head told this story, as did his lack of motor skills.
But man could this kid smile. He's up there with the best of them, I'm sure.
It broke my heart to see this kid, who did nothing to deserve what he's been dealt. He spends the day begging, and makes enough to be able to buy food, and that's his life. As he sat with us at dinner that night I fought back the tears as I looked upon him and thought about the things stolen from this beautiful child.
John Cena was a beautiful, yet cruel, reminder of the state of this broken country.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Mucho Agua!
Sorry it's been a while folks. For the past month a solid internet connection has eluded me and the times that I caught up with it, I wasn't very motivated to spend time on it. A lot has happened in the past few weeks. Many places visited and people met. It's been crazy, but so good. I will try my best to capture my adventures in word and the things that I have experienced and seen. The last phase of my trip is going to be spent here in Bangkok and the internet faithfully lives here, so I have no excuse, save my laziness. It's been interesting traveling to all these different places and seeing people on the ground, giving their lives to something beautiful, the redemption and restoration of fellow souls. It has challenged me and inspired me and I know that I will not be the same. I am excited to share these stories!
And so here we are in Bangkok. The rain fell yesterday as if it was a mission from the clouds to destroy earth. I could picture each little rain drop all kamikazied out, with their little bomber suits on and their bomber goggles on, fist forward like superman, heading towards earth with a mission. It assulted us for hours in the morning, and with nowhere to go, their little bodies piled up, until Bangkok was an ocean. A nasty ocean. There was a weird film on top of the water, as if an oil tanker had overturned and spewed its contents, and as I made my way through the water, it left me feeling like one of those poor little seagulls that you see at an oil spill, all covered in oil. Nasty. I'm praying that I don't wind up with some weird type of hookworm or ringworm or some other type of worm, cause my feet have spent plenty of time in that water so far these past few days. A guy told me that this has been the worst flood that he's seen in 9 years.
Anyway, I'm excited for our time here and to process the last few weeks. It should be interesting as we are working with a ministry that reaches out to the men that come to Thailand as sex tourists. Up until now the ministries that we have visited are reaching out to the women at the bars, instead of the ones creating the demand. I'll keep you posted.
And so here we are in Bangkok. The rain fell yesterday as if it was a mission from the clouds to destroy earth. I could picture each little rain drop all kamikazied out, with their little bomber suits on and their bomber goggles on, fist forward like superman, heading towards earth with a mission. It assulted us for hours in the morning, and with nowhere to go, their little bodies piled up, until Bangkok was an ocean. A nasty ocean. There was a weird film on top of the water, as if an oil tanker had overturned and spewed its contents, and as I made my way through the water, it left me feeling like one of those poor little seagulls that you see at an oil spill, all covered in oil. Nasty. I'm praying that I don't wind up with some weird type of hookworm or ringworm or some other type of worm, cause my feet have spent plenty of time in that water so far these past few days. A guy told me that this has been the worst flood that he's seen in 9 years.
Anyway, I'm excited for our time here and to process the last few weeks. It should be interesting as we are working with a ministry that reaches out to the men that come to Thailand as sex tourists. Up until now the ministries that we have visited are reaching out to the women at the bars, instead of the ones creating the demand. I'll keep you posted.
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