Art Therapy
For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.
[9] The LORD has heard my supplication;
The LORD will receive my prayer.
Psalm 6:8-9 (NKJV)
Art Therapy
As the days fly by and I am nearing the end of my mission, I have been thinking quite a lot about prisoners. I see them daily here in Poipet. They are in the brothels, women who are owned as slaves. They are on the streets - children who are driven by fear to sell themselves for money. They are forbidden to speak of their captivity because the penalties for honesty in their lives is severe. This is what makes the effort to rescue them so difficult. Until there is validation of their captivity, not much can be done to change their circumstances. The children on the street are especially guarded. They have been taught through the use of violence that they must never speak of the adults who beat them, drug them, and sell them to foreigners on a daily basis. They live everyday of their lives driven by fear.
One of the things that has been most successful in breaking the silence and overcoming the fear that these children have is trust. This is why we come. We feed them, play with them, do their hair and love them... and they begin to speak. It is wonderful and horrifying all at the same time. It is wonderful because now we have a foundation of truth to begin rescue attempts but it is horrifying because now we live forever knowing what they live through every day. There is no more doubt.
One of our team members is trained in art therapy. During one of our kids night outreaches, she was able to sit with a few of the border kids and walk them through this process. The interesting thing about art is that it comes from the heart so the kids do not feel as if they are betraying a truth as they communicate the horrors of their captivity. At one point, they were asked to draw their fears. The pictures were heartbreaking. This is the man who sells me. This is the man who beats me. This is a ghost that looks like a vulture who haunts me. One boy who is sold to men drew himself in a skirt with the man who sells him.
The children are then led through a therapy process to help them process this fear. It is a small window of opportunity which gives them coping mechanisms that in a small but powerful way can help them get through their day.
As I looked through the pictures, and saw a tangible representation of their fear, I could do nothing but weep for them. They will rarely allow themselves to cry. They cannot. They have to be strong or they will be consumed by the grief.
The kingdom of Heaven is like this. We can cry for those who cannot. We can grieve for those who cannot. We can pray for those that cannot find words to pray for themselves. I don't know how much more my heart can break but I am willing to offer it as a sacrifice to break for them. I know that God hears my prayers. I know that he counts my tears and saves them and so I let myself cry for them because right now they cannot cry for themselves.
Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. [6] He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm 126:5-6
Love from the road,
Julie
