The First Day in Cambodia

This was the first journal entry I wrote the second day we were here.

“We made it! We are finally here in Cambodia! I still can’t believe we are in Phnom Penh! I want to journal about everything. I want to capture every moment. Everything is so new, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes. And I love it! Walking off the plane and out of the airport was so much fun! We immediately felt the hot humidity and it felt like paradise… I probably won’t continue to think of that word when the heat becomes a norm. We got to go on a tuk tuk (pronounced took took) which will be our daily mode of transportation. This I also love. Our first look at the city was on the tuk tuk ride form the airport to the house. There were so many things to take in and I wanted to soak everything up. Which I know in the next three months I will have time to do. I have ever seen anything like this city, this kind of poverty level. The streets are filled with trash; almost every house has some sort of shop in front where a family can make a living. The streets are filled with motos, tuk tuks and cars. No stop signs. Complete chaos, but somehow it seems to work. People continue to go, to move forward. We drove by a street lined with massage parlors and karaoke bars, places where a lot of prostitution occurs. I can’t even describe how it felt. It was just so weird because it is just a norm in Phnom Penh. After we got home and got things a little more settled in the house we went to Daughters of Cambodia (an organization that helps give jobs to women coming out of the sex trade) to eat lunch and to meet Alli, the director of HPC. I was so excited about going because I’ve read so much about what Daughters does. The restaurant was such a beautiful place. But walking into the restaurant was so hard. I saw, with my own eyes, the beautiful Khmer girls who were working, ones who have been set free from their prison. These are the girls I’ve read about, prayed for, dreamed of meeting. I was overcome with sadness because suddenly these were real women, right in front of me. Throughout lunch, I did everything not to think of them while we were eating lunch, otherwise I knew I would break down in tears. I wanted to, but the timing wasn’t good. After lunch we went upstairs where they have a prayer/worship room and we got to do some worship and prayer with some of the HPC and Iris staff. It was amazing! When we got upstairs, a HPC staff was praying fervently. She was Khmer and she was speaking in khmer. It was awesome to hear a sister pray in a different language to God. Then we all prayed together for God to revive the country of Cambodia. And that is when I lost it. I couldn't even say anything for a few minutes because I was crying to hard. I needed to release all of those emotions I was carrying throughout lunch. Then worship started and we eventually began to sing “Let it rain, let it rain, open the floodgates of heaven” This is the image given in Malachi 3:6-12, which is the same verse God has put on our hearts since day 1 of wanting to go to Cambodia. God telling us he can do more than we can possibly imagine and then He did through our fundraising. And now, as we were praying and singing for revival, God was reminding me that he can open the floodgates of heaven with this too. SO AWESOME!! We then split into small groups and I got to meet Steph, another HPC staff who is in charge of the deaf ministry which was so encouraging to hear about. God is going to use my major in amazing ways. I might also be able to help one of Alli’s daughters who has an articulation disorder. For the past 4 years, I was absolutely convinced that I would never really be able to use my major because God changed my passion from communication disorders to fighting sex trafficking. But because God is legit, He is going to make use of those skills directly to fight this evil. God is literally blowing up the box I tend to put Him in and I love it! This trip is going to change my life in so many ways. It is going to change my perspective on God is so many."


-Gretchen