The Slums

The slums is a very Unique place to visit. The smell that fills your nose and the colapsing living structures in which so many live are some of the first things to great you as you approach. This is then followed by the curiosity of what the stench is causing your eyes to take in even more detail. Within this detail lies the answer; the remains of dead animals that havent been picked clean, the trash that fills the ground, the polution of scents from the market across the road wafting in that direction, human and animal waste that has no septic tank to hide in, and stagnant muddy water that fills so much of the ground this is the slums.

"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9)"

The Idea of poverty is not one that is foreign to Jesus as he himself was not of royal blood here on earth rather he was born of a virgin in what is belived to have been a cave with animals surounding him. This circumstance was probably not to much unlike that of the slums, it was probably smelly, Uncomfortable, and downright crowded with all the animals. This would not be your most ideal place to live, and deffinatly would serve as a prison of sorts when you have no other place to live. Living here would cause you to be labled as an outcast, and leave you unloved by anyone on the outside who passes by and dosent even care, even going so far as to belive they deserve it, traped here with no hope of leaving, this is what these people live with every day. Now imagine thats you.

In Phnom Pehn, Cambodia on a sunday afternoon me and my team had the opportunity to visit the slums and love on these people. We arived and within seconds of being noticed were surrounded by a mob of kids and looking for an open space to play. Through one of our translators the kids led us to the location where they spend most of their days playing, but i couldnt help to feel bad because this land had poop and garbage covering it except a small little dirt section. This is where we spent the rest of our after noon. We had brought Jumpropes and other toys for the kids that we left with tham after that day. They were all having a blast playing handgames and jumping rope. Part of our team split off and went into the slums with translators inviting everyone to come to the spot we were at and watch a drama. Once they had returned we had everyone sit down and Phillip, one of the team leaders, Gave a short testamony and explained to them about the drama. The group that was doing the drama went up to the front of where everyone was sitting and began the dram. A hush fell over everyone as they watched intently, curious why so many white people would come visit them and give them a free show. At the end of the drama there was an uproar of clapping that surrounded us because many people had begun watching from up on the bridge also curious as to what was going on. Phillip stood and went to the front again where he presented the gosple and told them all about Jesus. He also said that if anyone needed prayer to come to the front or find one of the people on the team to pray with them.

The Respnse was jawdropping as many people came and wanted to ask us more we did not have enough translators to keep up. That day 16 people decided to Give their lives to Christ, and many more asked for prayer. Two girls that were deaf wanted to be hear so a few of us started praying for them then decided to sing worship songs over them. The words "I belive that your my healer, and I belive your my portion, I belive that your my savior, and I belive your more than enough for me, Jesus your all I need" began to spill from our mouths as we moved from one song to another. Finaly we started praying again one at a time as the rest of us sang "The Stand" by Hillsong United durring this time they both began to get big smiles on their faces. Our translator began to ask them in sign langulage weather or not they could hear to which they responded with a very excited "yes!".

It was time to leave and head back to our base for the night to eat dinner and spend some team time. At this point we shared the stories of what God did that day and thanked him for his grace. We were all excited about going back and having the opportunity to Love on those kids again, because all of us had become very much so attached to some of them in one way or another that day. That night before foing to bed I prayed that we would see them again, and that the work that had started there would only continue to grow and bear more fruit.