My last short post was dedicated more to the struggle side of the last two weeks when it comes to my lupus and how I have struggled with that. It took a lot more to adjust to a foreign country than I thought it would. Even when I went to Peru four years ago, after two days I was in it and excited and going crazy with the kids I was working with. It took Cambodia a little longer to grow on me. Culture shock set in and took over for about a week. The new language, the strange food, the weird smells, the intense heat, the 11 hour time change...it was all so much to take in!
Now, I am happy to inform you that the joy has far outweighed the pain.
Now I feel fully rested and ready to take on my third week tomorrow. I feel adjusted and ready to take this summer and milk it for every little thing it is worth. I have a couple of sweet, small stories that I have already stored up in my heart, and I can't wait to share them with you.
Okay, so this one isn't so small...but it is certainly sweet. :D
The girls in the SHE Home have been going through a program called SHINE with a volunteer that has just recently left us. SHINE is a program that came to the rescue home through Hillsong Church in Australia. The purpose of the program is to teach the girls who they are in Christ and where their worth comes from. Since most of the little girls that I work with have been either raped or trafficked, this program was a huge gift to the home. The girls were able to see that they are beautiful and that God is not finished with them yet. It is such a great program!
I came into the country just as the program was wrapping up,and I had the amazing opportunity to see 12 weeks of this program come to a close as my 23 new little sisters graduated from the program. The whole day was absolutely a fairy tale.
I went to work on Friday morning and headed straight over to the SHE house with a box of makeup under one arm and a box of nail polish under the other. The girls squealed with delight when we came through the gates at the front of the yard and headed toward the porch to unload our goodies. The morning was so full of precious moments and ministries as I painted tiny fingernails and applied makeup to little faces. One of the littlest girls, only six years old, made it her mission to make my makeup and nails perfect. Let me tell you...it was not a pretty sight. My makeup was not too bad actually, but my nails were a disaster...and I loved every second of it. She even attempted to do french tips on one of my hands.
The morning was full of precious moments and memories. After the morning full of pampering and a lunch break full of last minute preparations for the graduation, we all gathered in the living room of the SHE house. Twenty-three girls all dressed in fancy tea party dresses gathered in the living room. Hair, nails, and makeup was all done, and they looked absolutely stunning. All I could do as each girl passed me was clutch her hand and whisper the only Khmer word that I knew at that point..."sa-a..." which means "beautiful" (how fitting is it that the only word I knew was the only one I needed?!).
The girls climbed up the large, spiral, wooden staircase and the room came to a hush as they waited for the program to begin. The two tuk tuk drivers and the van driver waited at the bottom of the staircase with a basket of tiaras for the girls and six roses for the six women graduates. Each girl's name was called. As her name was called, starting with the youngest, she descended the grand staircase to the cheers of her sisters. At the foot of the staircase, one of the men would bow customarily to her and place the tiara on her tiny little head. The girl would then move to the side where she would watch as the rest of her SHE sisters descended the staircase and joined her on the living room floor. Watching each little girl have her little moment to feel beautiful was precious and moving. Each girl was glowing!
After each name had been called, 23 girls with sparkling tiaras climbed into tuk tuks and vans and rode over to a local café. The place was set up with beautiful table settings, flowers, and china. There were goblets full of iced tea and a table loaded with sweets and sandwiches.
The girls were told a wonderful story about a tea cup who did not understand why the potter had stretched him and put him through the fire, but it turned out that God had big and beautiful plans for the tea cup even through all the hard stuff it went through. The story was very touching because of the situations that the girls have come from. Several of the girls spoke about what the program had spoken into their lives. One girl spoke about how she is no longer insecure and now she has confidence. It was so great to see the end of this great program!
The pure joy on the girls' faces was indescribable. Little girls came running up to me with goblets of iced tea the size of their faces and toasted their glasses with mine. They ate so much food and just had the time of their lives. By the time it was time to leave, many of the girls were crashing down from a sugar high.
It was such a beautiful afternoon, and I was so blessed to be a part of it.
It was such an incredible thing to see that the Lord had restored beauty and confidence to these young girls that were so wrongly used. I can hardly wait to see what other memories and precious moments lie ahead on this journey!
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