Ponder these two words:
Men
Sex-trade
What emotions and stereotypes do you associate with these two words?
Be honest…
If you are anything like me, these two words might immediately arouse some not so pretty thoughts or feelings.
Ponder what God associates with these two words…
I imagine He might think about how He sent His son to die because He loves and wants to redeem all of His children whom He created in His image—even the man who might travel half way around the world to spend a night at a bar looking for ‘love’…because in His eyes that doesn’t define who that man is.
Just like you and me, that man has a story. He has a name; a mother and father; maybe a wife, a son or a daughter; friends; a job; a hometown; emotions, needs, and dreams, and (we can’t forget)…
BROKENNESS.
Really we are all broken in some way. We were all created to be in never-ending, close, intimate relationship with God our Creator. But then sin got in the way and ever since we’ve been searching for that intimacy and love in all the wrong places.
And when all one has known in the world is an abusive father, a broken marriage, a bulimic daughter, a suicidal son, an addiction to alcohol or porn…disappointment after disappointment starts to make one wonder:
Is there any hope? What went wrong? One might not know that the hole they feel is due to a lack of God in their life and they might go in search of something—anything—to fill that gap.
There are many unfortunate places one could end up while on a search like this. One of those places is in front of The Heart of Darkness Bar in Phnom Penh, Cambodia were one can easily buy what one might think will bring love and fulfillment, even if just for a night.
The MST Project (Men and the Sex Trade) is a ministry that reaches out to these men. They say,
“We do not look at these men for where they currently are but rather for where they can be with a transformed heart. The MST Project wants to reach out to these men and be an example of restoration and redemption. It is our responsibility to go to these men, when very few will, and bring the love of God to them in an area where they least expect it, by those whom they least expect it from. It is our hope that they will experience the love and the hope that is found in a relationship with Him. The Father’s love is available to all, in all places and at all times.”
Every other Friday night, a MST group heads out to talk with men (mostly foreigners) outside of bars. They ask questions, they listen, they learn the men’s stories, they listen, they offer to go play pool or get chicken wings together, they listen, they share their own disappointments and fears and hurts, they offer hope by sharing personal stories of the Lord’s restoration and healing in their own lives, and they listen some more.
Often this is one of the first times that someone has actually listened to that man’s story and heard the pain along his life’s path that led him to a bar half way around the world. No one hits anyone over the head with a Bible…it is just real people talking with other real people about real life and real hurt.
So no matter where the search for love and intimacy takes a person, there is only One who can truly fulfill the longings of our souls completely.
Please pray that more men (Cambodian and foreign) will be called out of their houses to listen to these stories and offer hope.
Join The MST Project in parying that “The hope we have in [The Lord] will cause a man to return to his wife and become a better husband. Will cause him to return to his children and become a better father. Will cause him to return to his community and become an example, not a statistic.”
Great blog Kelsey…. way to get people thinking. Especially about men’s role in the fight; because they are so key.
Very thought provoking ….so true…the men are at the heart of the problem so they must be at the heart of the solution. Praying for those who take on this ministry.
great blog kels. mst is such a great ministry to be a part of – i just love the heart behind it – not just fighting for the women but also the fight for the men!!
Kelsey,
You speak of agape love, the unconditional love that God has shown towards us. For this reason we can, through the power of the Spirit, show this same love to the men who are frequenting the bars. We have not walked in their shoes, we have not experienced their brokenness, yet God sees it and God loves them unconditionally. My prayer for the team is that you will meditate on what it means to love each other with an agape love,and then in turn allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with that same love for the broken men and women of Cambodia.
1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
In His love,
Kristen’s mom
thank you for sharing and spreading the word about MST project. I am glad you have been able to be a part of what they are doing in Cambodia!!
We are so so so quick to point fingers as humans to those we see as the offenders, but I love what you said about the brokenness of these men. They are in so much need of Jesus, just like the women and the rest of us!
I love what Jeremiah 29:11 says in the ESV it says, “I know the plans I have for you, plans for WHOLENESS and not harm, plans for a hope and a future.”
God desires our complete wholeness but we have to walk though brokenness to get there and he is the one who does the rebuilding and the restoring to wholeness. I am believing this for myself, the men, the women, the children, the nation of Cambodia, our team, and for everyone who is called by the name of Christ! Wholeness!!