Ree, the young lady in the bottom right of the bottom picture wearing the pink shirt, is such a joy to be around. During my first survey trip in 2006, I didn't even have to know Cambodian to see that she had a joyful spirit. Bro. Benefield led her, her mother, and her father to Christ.
I visited Ree's home three years ago with Bro. Benefield. She was embarrassed to have me, a "sophisticated American", in her home. Honestly, at that time she lived with her parents in a small shack in an ally similar to the top picture above. While most American kids have their own bedroom, Ree had her own corner of one of the two rooms that composed this house. There was no mirror for her to use to fix her hair. She had no closet in which she could keep her clothes. She had no computer. No TV. She had a corner. The only privacy she had was a bedsheet that was used as a curtain around her little corner of the room.
Although her father made a profession of faith, he still struggled, like the majority of men in Cambodia, with alcohol. Ree's mother came to church while I was there in 2006, but her husband's destructive ways kept her discouraged. Ree's older brother was arrested for threatening to abuse his parents if they did not give him money.
It seemed to me that Ree's only escape from this existence was the life she found at the "Grom-jom-nom Baptist Dom-nung La-awe" (The Good News Baptist Church). There, anyone who did not know her family situation would think that she did not have a care in the world.
Please pray for Ree. When I made my second survey trip, I only saw her at church one time. Obviously, she had become discouraged, and as a result had become less faithful to the Lord and to His house. I believe that God has an amazing plan for this young lady's life. But Satan has an amazingly destructive plan of his own.
Pray for Ree, that she would allow the grace of God to penetrate her heart, and that she will become all that God wants her to be.
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