Special people, real service

We met some extraordinary people during our time in Southeast Asia. They are using their talents and training to serve the Lord in some really tough, but really important ways.

There is the single woman trained as a social worker who helps oversee a home for girls from 14 to 19 who have been rescued from sex slavery. This is an intense responsibility. These girls need so much help in rebuilding their lives, finally being able to go to school, learning job skills, and being able to live safely and responsibly in society.

There is the lawyer who is working with a Christian advocacy group in a country where human trafficking is a huge problem. While we were there, he was involved in some “really nasty stuff”.

There is the woman who has a weekly English Bible study in one of the city prisons. She was asking if anyone had any old English-language Bibles to give her for the prisoners. When I asked why these men didn’t speak Khmer, she said it is because they are foreigners. Why are they in prison in Cambodia? They were caught and condemned there for pedophilia.

Orphan care appears to be a huge need in Nepal. Several of the pastors there have taken numerous orphans into their own homes, even though their income is very limited. One of them has welcomed somewhere up to 30 orphans into his home.

The Anglican Diocese of Singapore built a new hospital several years ago and was wondering what to do with the old hospital grounds. They looked at unmet needs on the island and saw the lack of facilities helping those suffering from autism. Even though they had little experience in the area at that time, they began plans for building an autism center. After 6 years of planning and preparation, the new center started functioning several months ago. We were present at the end of March for the official opening, at which the President of Singapore spoke briefly. After a $20 million renovation, this beautiful and functional facility is open, staff has been trained with more to arrive, and autistic young people and adults are receiving appropriate training in schooling, life skills, music, art and physical therapy, etc by a very dedicated staff.

God’s people see the hurts and try to help.

(I am including a couple of pictures of the autism center and the present staff)