Update Letter

So I was asked to post my most recent update letter, so here it is. I know it's got some repeat information, but I hope it's not boring!

Well, even though Rahab’s House has been here and opened for almost eight months now, we are still trying to develop trust within the community. Right now, we go to one of the local karaoke clubs every week day and hang out with them while they play cards. We were hoping that by just hanging out with them we would be able to develop a sense of trust and show they that we don’t want anything from them. After three months of going almost every week day, we learned something very very important: the girls at the clubs think we hang out with them and bring them food because we are trying to bribe them into coming to our salon. When we found this out, I have to tell you, it was a bit of a shock. It really took me aback that after all this time, we had no idea that our attempt to give them cheaper (and slightly better) hair and make-up was being translated in their minds as a bribe.  So we decided to come up with a new plan where we invited the girls to a corner restaurant and bought them lunch, just an opportunity to talk with them.

Last week, we had a team from Korea visiting, and in attempt to get them involved in some outreach, we held our first karaoke lunch. We ordered enough food for forty people, but to be honest, the Khmer staff and I really thought that was really wishful thinking. But God was really good! We ended up having so many girls and their kids come during the course of two hours that we ran out of food. At first it made me nervous that we ran out of food, and was pretty sure that we would have some angry karaoke girls on our hands but they ended up being fine with it. Most of them sat down and ordered a drink so they could hang out with us. A few made jokes and left, but on the whole, everyone was really receptive to the whole thing. At the end, the girls were requesting food for next time. Next time! A week ago they thought we were trying to bribe them (and I’m sure some still do) and now they were trying to make plans for another hang out. Words cannot even begin to describe my excitement.

Since the community is still trying to decide whether or not they trust us, it has been exciting to watch the little progress every week. A month ago we had one message parlor that did not want us going onto their campus. After meeting the owner, he gave us open access to the message parlor and even helped facilitate classes for the girls while the team was in town. We’re hoping he will allow us access twice a week on his campus to teach English so we can reach more girls. One of the other message parlors has always been welcoming to a point. They allowed us to host monthly lunches on their campus, but last week the manager was recommending that the girls come to our salon and actually came in herself! That was huge. Finally there was one message parlor that would never grant us access to even pass out fliers for our clinic. We’ve always been turned away. They would take maybe 6-8 fliers and say they would pass out them to the girls, but that there weren’t many there, and then ask us to leave. Last week one of the managers seemed so annoyed that we were back, he let us go see the girls. I was expecting maybe twenty, after all they always told us there weren’t many. When we got in back there were close to fifty or sixty girls. They were shocked and excited to see us. I was stunned. I had no idea that it was such a big operation. When we were getting ready to leave one of the managers flagged us down. She was usually the one that rejected us, so I was expecting to get in trouble. Instead of getting angry, she asked when the next clinic would be and asked us to come back and let her know when it was so she could go.

There has been an outbreak here that has been killing children under the age of seven. As a result, most schools have shut down. Although they’ve figured out what was killing the children, and a vaccination, the schools are still closed. About three weeks ago, we had a different team from Korea visiting. While they were here, we had a large number of children start coming to their classes. We figured it must be related to the outbreak. After asking around, that’s not the case. These kids live near us, or a kids of karaoke girls and have nothing to do during the day. So we thought we’d see how things panned out. Well, it’s been three weeks since the kids started coming and they are growing in number, even without the teams, they are coming. Children we have never seen are suddenly here. And not like five or ten, we’re talking thirty or more. We’ve been talking on and off about starting a Kids’ Club since I got here; it’s good for the community, most of the karaoke girls have at least one child- why not? Well, to be honest, we really don’t have the means to maintain one. Things have changed within the last three weeks though. With the kids coming every day, even without a team, we decided we needed to do something. So as of this morning one of our Khmer staff and two of our girls that don’t go and study in the mornings are now running a Kids’ Club for an hour half every morning.  Since I am in charge of everything school related and outreach, I am working to help the girls get this up and running. With really no notice, the girls did a great job with the kids today, and we are working on a plan for the rest of the week. I think it’ll be good. It’s going to take some time to get it all in place, but then I think it will be good.

Wow. I know that is kind of a lot. I tried to condense. Sorry it is so much. I really need to be better about writing more often.

There is so much going on, and so much changing. God is good and He is faithful, but honestly it’s exhausting. A week ago, I was in tears about all the changes. Don’t get me wrong, I love to see how God is moving, but with such little staff, and such limited finances, it’s a little overwhelming sometimes. Since our American house mom has moved back to the states, there have been adjustments to the new house moms. During the day, the girls were coming to me with their questions while I was trying to teach the English classes. Trying to manage the girls, their schedules, market runs, drama in the house, outreach to the three different message parlors and the karaoke club and preparing for/interacting with the visiting teams and teach  has been a little overwhelming. I kept being reminded that it was all temporary, but that is a lot of temporary things at once. But God is good, and things in the house are calming down. The girls have more structure which helps, the teams are gone, and we’re getting into a rhythm with the outreach. So that is all good. And I’ve started going to bed earlier, which is really good. J

If you’ve made it this far into this letter, thank you. Sorry it’s so long. So let me wrap this up for you.

Our director, Steve, and his wife, Lygia, will be moving back to the states in November. We already have his replacement, Laura and she is amazing! We get along well and I think we will work well together. But if you could be in prayer for other staff we are going to be hiring. We are looking to hire counselors, teachers, and we’re going to be opening a training facility and a home for the girls so we will need not only locations for both of those facilities, but staffing for them.

Also, we have two girls that need heart surgery. One of them is part of our staff. Because of the type of surgery, they both need to go to Thailand for the operations. The girl in our program has known for most of her life that she has a hole in her heart, and the funds for her surgery are almost all raised. But Sauvry (our staff) was just diagnosed about two weeks ago. If you wouldn’t mind praying not only for the funds for her surgery, but for her as she is still trying to process all of this.

On the Other Hand

So we've been working to build trust in the community and with the girls at the massage parlors and karaoke clubs, and it has been a challenge. After three months of consistent daily outreach, the girls still aren't sure about us. Well, last week was the first of many bittersweet conversations.
We were sitting at the karaoke club near us with the girls while they were gambling. We brought them bananas to snack on. After many months of coming, they made their first joke with us. They began joking around about the different men they've been with and comparing them to the bananas. It completely freaked out Bella, and I was completely unaware at first. On the the one hand, it's a bummer that they can compare that many men, on the other hand, I am really glad that they are comfortable enough with us now to talk about it.

Today in English I was talking with some of my karaoke girls that speak more English. One of them was telling me how embarrassed she is by her job. She won't even tell her family (whom she helps support) how she makes money. On the one hand it was heart breaking listening to her, on the other what a blessing that she is open to change and open to being helped.

I was talking to another one of my girls. She wanted to show me a picture of a guy she really liked. She tried to show me once, and I never got to see it, so the second time she hurried home to get it and bring it back to me. She wad so excited to show me the man she had fallen in love with. When she handed me a picture of several men in the U.S. Navy in uniform. She pointed to the one she wished she could marry, but he was already married so they could only email. On the one hand, I was heart broken and angry to see those uniforms. I was saddened to hear that he was married and cheating on his wife, and even more upset that he had taken the heart of this beautiful young woman in front of me. On the other hand, what a blessing that she wanted to share something so precious to her with me.

We pass out protection of any girl that asks for it. While talking to two girls about giving them some, it came out in the conversation that one of the girls had already gotten pregnant before. After assuring me that she was not currently pregnant, she explained that she had five abortions and one child before learning how to properly use protection. I don't think I need to explain the saddening part of this story. The bright side on the other hand was a little harder to find, but I figure that God has plans for that little three year old boy. Thank goodness she finally learned how to use protection.

There are so many stories. So many great ones. So many sad ones. But I am noticing that as long as I look for Him, God's providence is in each one of them. I just have to look at both sides.

Photo Update

Yes, I am lame. I have not kept up with updating like I should. Do I get credit for having several drafts waiting to be finished and published? Probably not...
Well, whenever I talk to my daddy, he always asks the same question: "Any new pictures?" So this is for you Dad...

Our 4th of July celebration with the girls at Rahab's House
(celebrated with them on the 3rd but whatever...)

Seriously, how scary right? No joke, the girls almost caught Jayme and me on
fire at least two times each, but they had fun and that's what matters right?

Since we can't post faces online, I thought this captured the essence of the night
without revealing too much. This was a lot of fun!

Our 4th of July celebration just us American staff (actually held on the 5th...)
We got rained out and had to take the fireworks to my room and shoot them out of
the third story window. A few singe marks on the bed and floor, and my
room smelled like smoke for a week, but totally worth it!

The fireworks outside the window. We called the girls at Rahab's House, and they all went out
onto their balcony and watched them in the rain from down the street. It was a fun night for all.

Steve and Lygia shooting the fireworks. Moments later, the wick shot out of the
back end of this still lit into the room. The burn marks are still on my floor.
(Don't worry, no one was hurt during the production of this album...)

The beginnings of our newly developed Kids' Club. We've had between 20-30
kids everyday at Rahab's, so as of today, we have a Kids' Club. That's how we do here
in the bode.

Jayme's going away party. There was this really cool restaurant right by our house
that made really great food for a really good price, and had a great atmosphere.
Unfortunately, it ran out of food about two weeks ago and is now
permanently out of business.  

These are not actually our girls, since I can't post pictures of them, but
this is a really good representation of our massage parlor girls. I know
the picture is small (I did that on purpose), but if you notice the red circles
on the shirts, that is a number. A customer can go in and pick a girl based on her
number. It is the same in the karaoke clubs. Girls lined up with numbers and you pick one.
We've recently been granted access to two massage parlors we've never been welcomed at
before. In fact we're hoping to start an English class on one of the massage parlor
campuses!

Faces

At home I can go into a store that I frequent, or a coffee shop and recognize people. Even if I do not know them by name, I can go run errands around town and feel comfortable, seeing people that I know. After doing outreach in the community and teaching English classes, I am now at that place. When I go out to the market, on a jog or am running errands, I almost always see at least one person that recognizes me. It's so nice to go from place to place, and have smiling faces greet me. I may or may not remember names, but it is a very comforting thought to know that I am no longer a stranger.

He's in the Little Things

So it is officially the rainy season here. (Although to be clear, I have been told that rainy season lasts 8 months and this is the 'light rainy season' followed by the 'heavy rainy season')

We have begun doing daily outreach where we go buy some fruit and bring it to a karaoke club near us. There are often at least 10 girls playing cards and hanging out, so Bella and I go and visit with them. We do this five times a week, and have begun to be expected, and I would even go so far as to say we are welcomed most days.

This week, we have a medical clinic going on and needed to pass out fliers to the karaoke girls as well as to the surrounding community. So Bella and I set out on our bikes to pass out fliers, buy fruit and then go visit with the girls. We got about a block into our journey when it started to pour rain. We thought about trying to wait out the rain, but decided it would be better just to hurry on our bikes. As we were riding, the rain was coming down in huge drops. The wind was blowing hard, making it difficult to stay going in a straight path and making the rain sting. It was hard to see and if you can possibly believe it- it was getting chilly. Over the sound of the wind and rain, I hear Bella singing "Oh happy day! Happy day! You wash my sins away!" In the middle of what could have been a potentially discouraging moment, Bella was singing praise songs! I was so proud of her! We spent the rest of our bike riding trip praising God.

When we got to the karaoke club, we were soaked. Drowned rats might be too harsh, but you get the idea. The girls there couldn't have been nicer. I was warned it takes awhile for the girls to trust, and even longer for them to treat you normally instead of as a foreigner. I don't know if it was the fruit, the drenched clothing, or more likely the grace of God, but the girls did something that has never happened before- they didn't offer me the red chair, they had me sit on the ground by them! This may not seem like a big deal, but it has so made my day. As if that wasn't enough, Bella was able to join in their conversation a little and was sharing in their jokes AND they stopped their card game to talk to me in broken English!!!!! Oh God is so good!

I know it might seem like little stuff, but let me tell I have never seen God more than I have by watching the little stuff. I see Him singing in the rain, sitting on the ground, and the pause in the card game. He's so in the little things, and I am so blessed by it!

In one of the English classes I teach, we've been talking about how to have conversations about countries (you know, "Where are you from?" "What country is she from?"... that kind of stuff.) Rather than simply writing the names of the countries on the board and then having the students repeat after me a bunch of times, I thought this would be a good opportunity to make a project out of it. 

So, I brought in some paints and assigned each of the students a country. They were supposed to paint a picture of their assigned flag and write three sentences about the country and then were going to present their flag to the class. I was very excited about this, and even a little proud of myself for switching things up a bit. But I have to say, the wind was taken out of my sails a little when I was handed the flag that was supposed to be the American Flag. Instead of red, white and blue, I was handed an orange, white and purple flag-with no stars...

I was a little bit shocked. I'll admit. I looked at the sweet girl, Keany, who handed it to me and explained that what I was holding was not an American flag. Keany looked at me, then at the flag, and then back at me. "Yes it is." Was the response I was met with. So I began to explain that the colors were of the flag were not actually orange, purple and white, but rather red white and blue and that there were supposed to be stars on the flag. Her response: "No. That's not what the American Flag looks like. This is."

Flabbergasted.  It's really the only word that comes to my mind to explain how I felt. I couldn't help it. I started laughing so hard. I couldn't believe that I had just been told basically that I did not know what my own country's flag looked like. The two of us worked together, and after three attempts it finally looked like the flag I grew up seeing. 

I really love my job!

Worth the Price of a Cockroach

My day has been rather different so far. Well different than what a normal Thursday for me would be, but not different by Cambodian standards at all. Instead of going over to Rahab's House to teach a Bible study, English classes and manage the salon, I went over to help Jayme clean up from last's nights Khmer New Year Party.

When I got there, the whole downstairs smelled like rotten meat (a telltale sign that a Khmer party was a good one). Jayme and I set out to clean. I moved a shelf in an attempt to clean the floor thoroughly, but when I did a cockroach came scurrying out. Someone who sounded a lot like me screamed and jumped back. Jayme came running in to my defense, and upon finding out that it was a cockroach that had scurried past me, ran just as quickly back out of the kitchen. When Jayme came back, she was armed with a can full of Raid and held the can lethally close to the intruder as she released half the can on it. Meanwhile I smacked at it with the broom I was holding; both of us screaming. 

I know what you're thinking. "What a heroic story Brittnay. How incredible that two grown women killed such a vial creature!" And you're right. It never stood a chance. What can I say, we're legit...

No, but really. The cool thing happened last night. We held a party, an outreach so to speak, for the local community and the karaoke girls specifically. We had music, games and food out of the wazzoo. Since we've never thrown a Khmer party before, I'll admit, I was a little nervous at how it would turn out, but God showed up. We had several Karaoke girls we knew, and some we had never seen before come. Some students from our English school, and even a  random German tourist came (which was a little weird, but kinda funny). The night went so well! People had fun and felt welcomed. There was singing, dancing, games, a raffle and a lot of laughing. It was such a blessing to see the joy that people were experiencing and it was such a gift that it was at Rahab's House. Our salon was jammed packed last night, and people hung out for hours. I pray that this is only the beginning of things to come!

So after being apart of last night, and then also being apart of this mornings clean up of last night, I can safely say that last night's fun was definitely worth this mornings cockroach find.