Glorious Beautiful Mystery

Cambodia, Here I Come!
     The months are passing fairly quickly, and the time until I'll be in Cambodia is closing in.
     So it's for this very reason I feel the imminent need to write a note, for all of you out there who want to know more. Just what is it, you might ask, Jenée is going to be doing over there?
     I, Jenée Siems, am going to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for one month towards the end of May! Me and 4 other people from my church will be flying overseas to Southeast Asia to Minister and Intercede on the behalf of many children involved with the human-trafficking crisis.
      My church, Metro Christian Fellowship, already has two missionaries currently living in Cambodia. They are helping anywhere they can, from friendship, counseling, teaching, and facilitating a kids club, to training prostitutes for other employment (one of which being a coffee shop and bakery), adopting children, and hopefully starting an elementary school soon, to educate and equip children for a better and brighter future.
      So, as our team arrives in Cambodia, we're going to be giving as much help as possible, not just to activities they are already active in, but also to provide them with enough help to accomplish new tasks that would take weeks for them and only days for us. (One of which is gathering new information on kids in a new location our friends are hoping to spread influence to.)
      We're planning on helping them specifically with their kids club for at least a week or two. Most of the children who attend are currently victims of the human-tracking industry that plagues Cambodia (and many other countries around the world for that matter). The kids club is a 3-hour span of time where these children are safe, cared for, given a chance to relax and hopefully a good reason to smile. And as we do our best to show them, firsthand, what God's love looks like, we will also teach them about it, and how it applies even in their current suffering. This is going to be a huge and difficult task, but God has a way of making everything as simple as showing up and being willing to be used by him, in whatever he asks of us.
      And on that note, a couple of days ago, I felt inspired to compile a little list of the kind of things these children might be feeling. The kind of Lies they might have taken in at such a young age by the horrors that life has presented them with, in a place like the Cambodia. This is what we'll be up against.
They probably feel…
      -Valued only as an object
      -Not worth protection
      -Not worth knowing
      -Your opinion doesn't matter
      -What you think doesn't matter
      -Your heart doesn't matter
      -You're powerless
      -You can't even fight for Yourself
      -Your screams don't matter, or help
      -No one cares enough to hear you and save you.

.............

….and here's what we get to bring. ...FREEDOM from the Lies
     -God does love you.
     -He does want your freedom.
     -You are worth fighting for.
     -You are worth more than your body.
     -You are beautiful.
     -You are wanted.
     -You are worth knowing.
     -Your heart does matter.
     -You’re Worth More!

This is the gift we have to give, The Truth that's ours to wield.
     In a place like Cambodia, and especially with these kinds of kids, it will be in the smallest of actions that we take so much for granted here in the US, that the kids will learn about God's love through. We will show them their real worth through the simplest gifts of love, Smiling, Giving them our full attention, Treating them with respect, Listening to what their ideas are, and Doing things they would like to do.
     These kids need to know they're worth our time, effort, and respect. AND that we enjoy THEM. They need to know someone's fighting for them, even while still in the thick of their circumstances. That their circumstances do not define who they are. GOD does.
     Even as their circumstances scream the lie that they are not loved, that they're not protected, that they aren't worth more than their bodies, we will be there to contradict those lies with Truth.
So much is communicated through action, more than is with words. We want to fight back with our truth. God does love, and is good.

So, with all of that said, I hope you all feel a little bit more informed about my trip to Cambodia and why I’m so excited to go. (I mean, I get to be apart of God’s outreach to these precious children and their situations. Excitement is actually a very limited word for what I feel in response to being able to go on a trip like this to Cambodia.)

Also, I figure I should make it easy on you if you would, in fact, like to get involved or support me through prayer, finances, or any other way you can imagine. So, my email is naenae06@sbcglobal.net and my mailing address is
10717 E. 71st Terrace
Raytown, MO 64133
Messaging me through Facebook will also work, and I’ll be posting opportunities to participate through fundraisers as well.

And last but not least, if you want to receive updates about the trip, I’ll be sending out emails periodically for anyone who wants to know. You can send me your email address, and I’ll make sure you get added to my list.