The Providential Call

The Providential Call

The shadows were lengthening on the cement wall in the corner of my bedroom.  “Why was he not returning my texts?” was the piercing question that continued to plague me through the evening. Kids were in bed, outside gate locked, laundry brought in from the line, but I still did not receive an answer. John had left early that morning with his Khmer undercover team to meet with the anti-human trafficking police to prepare for a rescue operation in the capital city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  His mission was to disrupt a child sex- trafficking ring.  We knew this would be one of the more dangerous missions since these particular establishments were owned by important and dangerous government officials.  The risk was high.  This and many other fears were racing through my frantic mind while checking my phone every few minutes.  My unread texts traced my growing fears… “Is everything going as planned?”, “Are you all done yet?”, “Is everyone safe?”....

It was a mere two years earlier when John transitioned out of traditional missionary work of Bible teaching and humanitarian efforts to pursue a challenging new position with a justice mission as their Director of Investigations in Cambodia.  Their primary project was fighting the sex-trafficking of children in Cambodia which had plagued this nation for decades and placed it on the Tier 3 watchlist multiple times.  We knew that this job would take a lot out of both of us and possibly our family as well.  We had lived in Cambodia for nine years already and were fluent in the language and culture.  This, combined with John’s 13 years as a police officer in Greeley, Colorado, his 4.5 years as an undercover narcotics officer and 7 years as a swat team member, created a Providential Call that made us say, “for such a time as this.”  We knew he was the perfect person for this job and if he did not do it, who would?  After much prayer, we were finally able to say, “Yes, Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

This was not without sacrifice, we had to significantly reduce our online presence, be aware of our surroundings at all times, and have a “bug out bag” for each family member in case things went wrong.  However, we had never, in our lives, had to dig deeper into our faith to combat fear, doubt and the sheer horror of mucking in one of the worst underworlds you can imagine.  And that made all the difference.  Faith, not fear, had to rule the day.  If it did not, we would be swallowed up.  But God was faithful.

In a state of emotional exhaustion, I sent up a prayer, breathed into peace, and was finally able to sleep.  The waiting was excruciating, but God gave me rest.  It was not until the wee hours in the morning, did I hear a ping on my phone.  I was startled awake and reached anxiously for the long-awaited reply.  The text just read, “All is well, 15 girls rescued, traffickers in custody. Brothels are shut down for good. Be home later.”  I breathed a sigh of gratefulness and relief and drifted back to sleep.  Tomorrow, fifteen girls would have a new lease on life, and my children would wake and continue the day as if nothing extraordinary had just happened. However, I would again be reminded of the tenuous hold we have on peace. 

 When we ended our time in Cambodia in 2015, John was able to leave the justice mission having known that he had been part of something spectacular:  He was able to assist the Cambodian National Police with investigations and operations leading to the rescue of 71 women and girls, the arrest of 22 perpetrators and the closure of 10 sex establishments. A concluding study showed that when John left his position, less than 1% of sex establishments in the justice mission's project areas were trafficking minors under the age of 14 years old which was down from 8% when he had started working with the justice mission.  The numbers confirmed that God indeed was able to use us and we were grateful to be his hands and feet. 

The following evening after the raid and rescue, together John and I pondered again of the Providential Call to this work and the sacrifices it required.  Again, with a great sigh, I watched the lengthening shadows creep along the walls, the front gate clanked and clicked as our guard locked up the home for the night, stifled laughter came from our little girl’s bedroom as they settled down to sleep, and I looked at John, “Fifteen girls have a safe place to sleep tonight, if we did not answer the call, they would still be in hell.  It is all worth it.”