Friday, July 18, 2008

Svay Pak - Day 3 (Lisa)

We have been so busy the past few days that I have not had much time to blog so am trying to play catch up on this end. Thursday we had an exhausting day but not because of the heat. Rather my exhaustion comes from playing with the kids especially the boys who I have been arm wrestling with. Some of them give off this image of being tough but as my school teacher teammate Genie said ‘you just have to play a bit rough with them and they actually soften.’ This is turning out to be true as I had a few playful shoving matches with them---and sure enough they all joined in trying to see if they were stronger than me. On Thursday, five of them: Hoa, Lap, Jahn, Chee and Dat helped us clean up after we had served lunch to the kids. They wanted to mop and sweep the floors for us so it worked out well as we sat back and just watched them clean. These rowdy group of young boys who range in age from 12 to 15 years old are the leaders in this group of kids. They eagerly want to help and so we are looking for ways to empower them. For now, we think we’ve found some helpers for our daily chores.

We had a second visit by the girls from the Newsong Centre in the afternoon. They spent the time teaching the kids in Svay Pak how to make bracelets and necklaces. One would think that boys would not be interested in this kind of jewellery making but they are. It was interesting observing the interactions between the kids and the girls. It was like watching an extended family gathering as they spent time playing various games together and teasing one another with a playful shove or push. While all this activity was happening inside Rahab House, a group of older teenage boys formed a circle outside playing with a hackey sack which kind of looks like a shuttlecock. One particular teenager’s face looked so familiar as he reminded me of one of the young pimps on the Dateline NBC documentary Children for Sale. In watching these young men play knowing what their alleged evening jobs were, I saw a glimpse of their playful side. God seems to be unifying the team’s heart for these young men. We have all felt a need to pray for teenage boys in this community knowing the impact they could have to influence others if their lives were transformed.

All this to say that Rahab House is in many ways a beachhead. It certainly appears to draw a buzz of activity both inside and outside when ever there is any event going on there. Indeed God is building His kingdom in this place in a rather subversive way using the weak and vulnerable in this community.

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