So what's next?

After spending Christmas in Cambodia which was very nice but a bit weird to be honest....I mean the beach and BBQ sounds lovely but I really wanted to be eating turkey with all the trimmings, wearing a jumper and be with my family!  So I was very glad that I got to do that on New Year's Day instead after my return to the UK.

After spending some time with my family in Cornwall I will be heading back to sunny Salford to catch up with friends in the North West.  And then I plan to really seek God's face as I prayerfully consider what He has for me next.  As you might be able to tell by my last post about Cambodia I was really moved by what I saw so the future may include a return there.  To be able to use my professional skills, work for a great charity and make a real difference would be an incredible privilege.  Or maybe I'll return to social work in the UK which would also be a real privilege!

So thank you for reading once again - your support and friendship is so appreciated.   Please get in touch if you'd like to catch up and God bless you lots! Liz x

From Killing Fields to Living Fields

After my very fulfilling time in Mozambique came to an end, I co led an outreach with Seth to Cambodia, to work alongside our two Iris bases there.  What an incredible place.  Seth had to put up with 12 girls (!) and did a great job.  

Our first day in Cambodia really brought home the history and present.  In the morning we went to the 'Killing Fields' site where under Pol Pot's regime, about a quarter of Cambodia's population were tortured and murdered, all in the name of an extreme form of Communism.  As I stood on the mass graves and looked at the skulls I realised that on many levels I would have been first on his list. Middle class tick, educated tick, speak more than one language tick, professional tick, live in the city tick.  And what brought it even more home to me was that the killing started in the 1975, the year I was born and then stopped in 1978, the year my sister was born.  I felt chills down my spine along with a sheer sense of relief and great fulness to God that I had been raised mainly in the UK.

Later in the day we went to a cafe called Daughters of Cambodia.  The cafe is run by a Christian NGO who believe in helping women caught up in the present day horror of sex trafficking and prostitution.  All the girls who served us were once caught up in the sex industry but have since been been rescued and given new skills to make a new life for themselves.  From the Killing Fields to the Living Fields all in one day.

What struck me about Cambodia was how incredibly beautiful it is with lush forests and coastline and the people are some of the most friendly and welcoming I have ever met.  But there is another side, a much seedier side.  The brazeness of those involved in the sex industry is so 'in your face'.  The number of white much older men I saw with much younger Cambodian girls in 'massage' parlours made me so angry and the stories of children being abused and paedophiles having such easy access to children just made me weep.

So I was very glad to be part of an organisation that is restoring hope to children and women caught up in the darker side of life.  Children played with, women being taught English at their request and pamper sessions held for them and buildings being developed for children to have safe places to play and sleep as well as many other things beside.  All this being done in liaison with other NGOs and networks to ensure the best care is given and that the work is done in Jesus name, the name which brings real hope, freedom and love.