(no subject)
I can stop thinking of the girls that I met through Hagar. I can't post pictures on here for safety purpose but if you could only see their beauty and resilliance you would just be amazed. How could anyone go back to being a child after wat they have been through.
We were told that we were the first group of people to EVER interact with these girls and there were going to be rules we had to abide by. No problem for us! So they tell us that the girls were going to perform a traditional Khmer dance for us and they had been getting ready all day. So we were off to meet them.
I had no idea what to expect and when we walked through that door I saw 4 and 5 yr olds. I kept looking at the floor cause if I looked into their eyes too long i would get overwhelmed with emotion. They were smiling and giggling. So we took them to go buy new outfits. They can't speak english so it was hard at first to make a connection with them other than smiling. They all knew what they wanted and were so excited about their new clothes. They were kind of stand offish still. We met back up after dinner at the house to color with them and hang out and then they started to bond with us.
We went back to our hotel and packed our stuff to take the girls on a mini vacation to Siem Riep. So the next morning we got on a big bus and went to a cultural village. It's like Epcott of Cambodia lol. They have plays and stuff about their culture. That's when I made a connection with my girl. She looked up at me and smiled. She was 14 yrs old and so beautiful. She held my hand from that moment on everywhere we went! We took them to dinner and watched them just be kids. They were all attached to us by this point!
The next day we took them to Angar Wat it's one of the 8 wonders of the world. It was amazing but the thing I will never forget was when my girl looked up at me and said Sobei which means happy. She was telling me that se was so happy. She took this ring off her little hand and put it on mine and smiled. I haven't taken that ring off since.
Later that evening we were planning a huge princess party for them. We had dinner and my girl got up in front of everyone and told her story through a translator how she was poor and her mother became terminally ill so she at 12 had to take care of her siblings and then her aunt sold her. It broke my heart. Then she said how she was so thankful that she was safe now and could know Jesus and go to school.
We bought them all ice cream and left to go surprise them. We had glow sticks and glitter and tiaras and when they showed up I will NEVER forget the happiness on their little faces. We had music and painted their nails and did their hair. My girl grabbed my hands and twirled around she was so happy. I let her put makeup on me. It was so much fun and of course I taught them the robot lol.
My girl grabbed a translator and came over to me and the translator said" She want to say, she wishes she was your sister."
Talk about an a-ha moment. Tears streamed down my face and I had the translator tell her that I love her and she can be ANYTHING she wants to be and everytime I look at the ring she gave me I will remember to pray for her. She put her arms around me and wouldn't let go for 30 mintues. She just kept looking in my eyes and hugging me.
We got a letter when we got back to the states saying that the girls were so happy. Because of language barriers it was hard for them to tell us how happy they were but they said it was the best week of their lives. WOW.
Then they said some of the girls haven't shown emotion since they've been rescued and they did with us. It was a break through. It wasn't us. It was God. There was a second of any of these precious moments that I didn't feel God's presence. He truly used us to be his hands and feet to be a light into the lives of these little girls.
Cambodia I love you. Little girls you are my heroes.
We were told that we were the first group of people to EVER interact with these girls and there were going to be rules we had to abide by. No problem for us! So they tell us that the girls were going to perform a traditional Khmer dance for us and they had been getting ready all day. So we were off to meet them.
I had no idea what to expect and when we walked through that door I saw 4 and 5 yr olds. I kept looking at the floor cause if I looked into their eyes too long i would get overwhelmed with emotion. They were smiling and giggling. So we took them to go buy new outfits. They can't speak english so it was hard at first to make a connection with them other than smiling. They all knew what they wanted and were so excited about their new clothes. They were kind of stand offish still. We met back up after dinner at the house to color with them and hang out and then they started to bond with us.
We went back to our hotel and packed our stuff to take the girls on a mini vacation to Siem Riep. So the next morning we got on a big bus and went to a cultural village. It's like Epcott of Cambodia lol. They have plays and stuff about their culture. That's when I made a connection with my girl. She looked up at me and smiled. She was 14 yrs old and so beautiful. She held my hand from that moment on everywhere we went! We took them to dinner and watched them just be kids. They were all attached to us by this point!
The next day we took them to Angar Wat it's one of the 8 wonders of the world. It was amazing but the thing I will never forget was when my girl looked up at me and said Sobei which means happy. She was telling me that se was so happy. She took this ring off her little hand and put it on mine and smiled. I haven't taken that ring off since.
Later that evening we were planning a huge princess party for them. We had dinner and my girl got up in front of everyone and told her story through a translator how she was poor and her mother became terminally ill so she at 12 had to take care of her siblings and then her aunt sold her. It broke my heart. Then she said how she was so thankful that she was safe now and could know Jesus and go to school.
We bought them all ice cream and left to go surprise them. We had glow sticks and glitter and tiaras and when they showed up I will NEVER forget the happiness on their little faces. We had music and painted their nails and did their hair. My girl grabbed my hands and twirled around she was so happy. I let her put makeup on me. It was so much fun and of course I taught them the robot lol.
My girl grabbed a translator and came over to me and the translator said" She want to say, she wishes she was your sister."
Talk about an a-ha moment. Tears streamed down my face and I had the translator tell her that I love her and she can be ANYTHING she wants to be and everytime I look at the ring she gave me I will remember to pray for her. She put her arms around me and wouldn't let go for 30 mintues. She just kept looking in my eyes and hugging me.
We got a letter when we got back to the states saying that the girls were so happy. Because of language barriers it was hard for them to tell us how happy they were but they said it was the best week of their lives. WOW.
Then they said some of the girls haven't shown emotion since they've been rescued and they did with us. It was a break through. It wasn't us. It was God. There was a second of any of these precious moments that I didn't feel God's presence. He truly used us to be his hands and feet to be a light into the lives of these little girls.
Cambodia I love you. Little girls you are my heroes.