Fully Alive.

"The glory of God is man fully alive"- St. Irenaeus

With Lindsey's hand in mine, and Cole less than an arms length behind us, we were ready to raid the Red Light District of Cambodia... The scene was alive and carried a heaviness that could not be mistaken by anything but Satan's leash. Men swarmed the streets with rage and lust in their eyes. They were angry, and looking for a quick fix to feed their earthly desires; any woman would do. The women were half dressed; little shorts and low-cut tanks... the look in their eyes told a very different story. A story of deep brokenness, a story that screamed for help. I could feel the beat of the music in my feet as I passed each open bar. To many, it was an invitation; to me, it was a reminder that there were women in that bar pleading for an escape. That was our mission. To create a night of refuge for these women; to give them the escape they needed... even if for just a moment. We snatched them from satan, and introduced them to Jesus; and here began The Night of Refuge.

Three days leading up to the Night of Refuge, Lindsey made her way to the bars of Phnom Pen's Red Light Disctrict. Each day she invested in the same girls of one bar in particular... She would tell them, "We are throwing you a party on Friday night! I am with a group of Americans and we would love to experience Cambodia, so we want you to come party with us on a boat! We are so excited to hang out with you!" Their response would start with a squeal of excitement and lead to, "A party?! Lindsey, that sounds so fun! We can't wait for Friday!" A relationship began to form between Lindsey and these girls. In no time there was a sense of trust; they looked at her as if they knew she would take care of them. It was like they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was different from anyone they had ever encountered... They were attracted to something about her, but they couldn't put their finger on it.

As we walked down the street, we searched for the bar with the girls that Lindsey knew. We knew we had found it when we heard the voices of the sweet women, "Lindsey! Lindsey!" We took 13 women out of that bar that night. Every single girl that was working in that bar came with us; unaware of the dream they were about to enter. We paid ninety-one dollars for thirteen women... seven dollars for each girl... for the entire night. As we told the Mommasons, female pimps, that we were throwing a party on a beautiful boat on the Mekong river their faces lit up. They said, "You don't have to pay for us, but can we come with you?"

We had been praying that we could reach the Mommasons with the message of Jesus.

The night consisted of loud squeals of excitement, endless chatter, silly dance moves and powerful dramas. As the women sat and watched our team present the drama of "Bondage" their walls began to fall, and their chains began to melt. They could easily identify with the girl in the drama who was being controlled by satan. He had a chain around her, tempting her with alcohol, money and men. As she struggles between the temptations and trying to get to Jesus, Satan continues to pull her chain back to him. Eventually she falls at the feet of Jesus and He takes her chain upon himself. He conquers the grave, and shows her that she no longer wears the chains because He took care of her. Now she gets to live in freedom, with Jesus, forever.

The women drank it in like a tall glass of water. They were thirsty of something real, something true. They had been deprived of anything with substance. They had been told their whole lives that it was their duty to sell themselves to make money for their families; but as they saw this drama, Jesus began to wash them of those lies. These women had dreams of becoming something big! They wanted to see the world. They wanted to get married, and to have babies by their husbands. They wanted to make clothes and style hair and apply makeup for other people... Each of them had talents and desires and dreams, the same way I do.

We are all the same. It doesn't matter where we grew up... We might look different, we might speak different languages, we might have different accents or hair colors or even styles of clothing. We might put our selves in categories based on where we go to school, or which neighborhood we grew up in, or even which country we call home... but there is a basic human principle inside of us all. We all dream, we all crave the feeling of love, and we all wish to be desired. It's the way we were created... As we told these women about the Man who wore white in the drama, Jesus, we held their hands and watched their eyes fill up with tears. Every single one of them said, "I hate my job. I hate the bars. I hate the men. I hate what they do to me, but I have a family that I have to support." Whether it was their mom, or their babies, every single one of them felt the responsibility of earning the money to support them. Seven dollars a night. Many of them asked Jesus into their hearts for the very first time; like never before, I saw a little piece of Heaven touch earth.

As we continued to explain to them what they were deciding to do, we told them that they were created to dance in white dresses, and that they are loved so deeply by the creator of the universe. We began to speak life over them, and breathe life into their dreams. We gave them cute notecards that had the numbers of rescue homes that would love to help them convert their dreams to reality.

The Night of Refuge was extravagant, classy, beautiful, pure, life-giving, and peaceful. It was the perfect ending to an incredible journey through the villages and streets of Cambodia... but it was only one little part that created a big picture.

Days before we stepped foot in Phnom Pen, we explored the villages of Kampong Thom. The land was full of beautiful, extraordinary Khmer people. With us were about 5 translators, our contact Sokhon and his wife, Esther. Each day we would wake up and head out to a new village. Outside of our van's windows were precious children, sitting on a tarp, patiently awaiting our arrival. They wore big smiles on their faces, loose clothing, and a joy that was contagious. We played, and face painted, and ran, and danced... We brought little trinkets to give to them to play with- among them were bubbles, hair bows, playdo, smarties...

I remember watching a little boy with a stick of smarties and three of his friends crowding around him... before we could get to his friends to give them their own stick of smarties, the boy was passing them out so that everyone got a few. He noticed as I watched, and offered me one... My heart broke. They have nothing, and they give so freely what is given to them. They care so little about their own well-being, and they would do anything to take care of their friend, or little brother, or mom. They truly embodied the heart of a servant.

The power of prayer is supernatural, and when we tap into the heavenly realm extraordinary things occur. As we prayed of each individual that needed prayer, we saw blind people see... People who had been in too much pain to walk, were dancing through the streets. Miracle after miracle was happening, and their expectation was replaced with awestruck wonder. Some had never heard the name of Jesus, but Jesus certainly knew their names. Now, we will have more Cambodian friends in Heaven... and because of their testimonies of healing, their friends will see the Glory of God.

Each part of the trip played it's part in the journey that the Lord had set before us. I encounted people that I would have never met, had I not been there. The Lord taught me things and opened my eyes that will forever remain with me. I will never forget those little faces that were blowing those bubbles, or the little hands that were hitting the balloons in the air.

I have never been more alive than when I was walking through the streets of the Red Light District, with exceptional women surrounding me. Surely, we saw the glory of God in that moment, and I will forever remember that experience as the one that helped me discover my divine calling in life.

I will be visiting many more Red Light Districts in the future; none of them are safe, in fact they may be some of the most dangerous places on earth. Afterall, we did enter hell for a moment to snatch those girls from Satan's chains. Jesus never said it would be safe, He only said "Go, and I will be your mouth. I will speak for you, and I will never leave you, nor forsake you."

Thank you for supporting me, and investing in the lives of so many Cambodian people. Your support introduced them to Jesus, and radically changed their lives forever. I hope you realize your impact on the world-

"God is not invisible when we come alive." - Jamie Tworkowski