28 May The Fruit of Consistency
When we first moved to Cambodia, we invisioned we would be rescuing children and saving them from trafficking every single day. We thought we would see hundreds of children rescued each year. Although this is the dream and the goal, things looked a lot different than we expected. We personally didn’t see much happen in our first 1-2 years here. We were doing everything God asked us to do, yet we weren’t seeing the fruit, which became really discouraging. We had many testimonies and many beautiful things happen in those years, but it wasn’t the goal! It wasn’t what we expected. Then God started speaking to us about patience (always a fun topic with God) and consistency. He told us we are called to be a consistent hope for these children and their families. That really spoke to our hearts, because these children have no consistency or routine in their lives. People walk in and out of their lives continually and God asked us to be the consistent ones. The ones these children know they can count on for love, for attention and affection, for help and encouragement. Some days are really difficult, and others are light hearted and fun. Some days look like us just going and sitting with them, playing with blocks and coloring, other days children will cry in our arms as we hold them, and other days we teach lessons about Jesus, about hygiene, and about staying safe. It is slow and feels “useless” sometimes because we are just sitting there on the street, not doing much of anything. As Christian’s we often feel we have to be doing the big things, seeing thousands come to Jesus in a moment. Those moments are amazing, but much of our lives are compiled of a lot of small, seemingly insignificant moments. These little moments are when we get to see people and make them feel loved and seen. Although it could look like we arent doing much from the outside perspective, God is changing lives through our consistency. These children feel safe and they feel seen when we are around. They know we are there for them and they know we will be there consistently.
Sarah’s Story – We have been working in this one area for many years now. A ten year old girl called Sarah (name change), who regularly attends one of our children’s programs, decided one night to be incredibly brave and open up about the many years of abuse and trafficking she had experienced. The night before she opened up to us she was sold by a trafficker to be abused. For years she was being sold over and over again to foreign men and locals too. She just couldn’t take it anymore and had to talk to someone. After sharing her story and horrific experiences with the police and authorities; in a joint operation with our social work and investigation team we were able to come up with a plan for her rescue and to bring the perpetrators to justice. It took months and many long hours but through the amazing work of all parties involved the traffickers and perpetrators are facing justice and Sarah is now able to sleep safely at night in a warm bed and a safe environment. She is going to school, trauma counseling, attending church, and is surrounded by love. She is now free to live the life that she always deserved, to be a child again.
Through the consistency of our team going out with love as our only agenda, we are able to build real relationships with our children and families. Sarah knew she could trust us after years of us consistently showing up, and through that trust her life is forever changed. Heidi Baker always says “If you don’t quit, you win!” and this is just one testimony of how absolutely true that really is.
We hope this encourages you to keep going. Paul said it best, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” -Galatians 6:9
We want to thank each of you for your prayers and support.
You have helped make it possible for Sarah and others like her find hope and a new life!
Love and Blessings!
Mitchell & Jillian Stiner
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