A ministry supported by Samaritan’s Purse provides skills training and counseling to exploited women
Channa* was 14 when she was sent to Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh, to earn extra income for her mother’s medical treatments.
Desperate for work, she found a job at a bar. Channa had always refused lewd offers from male patrons, but when her family continually pressured her to earn more, she thought she had no alternative. For one year, Channa engaged in commercial sex work and desperately wanted out. Neighbors began looking down on her. And her dreams of a happy future seemed spoiled.
“I thought I was an animal, a slave,” she said.
Thousands of Cambodian women are forced into such work every year. A lack of education and skills training, the result of decades of civil unrest and instability, leave them with few options to support their families.
Vanak**, 23, began engaging in commercial sex work to provide money for her aging father. Her mother died when she was young and her three brothers had been put in jail for stealing.
“No one earned money for the family, and I needed to help my father,” she said. “I did not know how to sew or make jewelry.”
Samuel Heng, co-founder of Daughters, a ministry that aids exploited women, says cultural norms contribute to the problem.
“Many girls believe that the more they sacrifice for their parents and family, the better their next life will be,” Heng says. “They say parents are like a second god—Buddha is the first, parents are the second. So you should serve your parents like you would serve god.”
It’s not uncommon for parents to borrow money from brothel owners, keeping their daughters trapped in a cycle of debt and enslavement.
Samaritan’s Purse is working with Daughters to give these women a way out. The ministry runs a safe house and provides vocational training in sewing, cooking, fabric painting, cake decorating, and jewelry making.
Vanak has learned to sew and hopes to someday design her own clothes. She also attends weekly Bible studies and has become a Christian.
“I have a lot of hope in Jesus Christ,” she said. “I remember that God loves me.”
Channa now works as a cake decorator, with a special expertise in making delicate sugar flowers. Perhaps the sweetest part of her story is that Channa has come to know Jesus Christ as her Savior.
“When I prayed, I felt a peace in my heart,” she says. “I hadn’t felt that before.”
Both women go to weekly church services at Daughters and have found a community that provides encouragement and support.
“I feel that a lot of people love me at Daughters, that I have a big value and a lot of hope,” Channa said. “Before I had a big family, but with no love, no peace. Now I have a good father—God.”
* Name has been changed
** Name used with permission
How you can help:
PRAY:
• For sexually-exploited women, who struggle with shame and despair. Pray that they will hear the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness.
• For the women at Daughters, that they will have confidence in their new ability and skills.
• For emotional healing for those who have chosen to leave commercial sex work.
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