The Last Supper

After a couple days in Can Tho connecting with the local church community, we head back to Saigon for a BBQ with the girls. It would be the last time we would see them. I carried mixed emotions on the bus ride back to Saigon. On one side I was super excited to see the girls again, on the other side I dreaded the inevitable bittersweet goodbyes at the end of the night. We all know I'm an emotional person!

All through the night I find myself keeping a distance from the children. I couldn't bare getting too attached, even though I already was! I watch them laugh and play and I think to myself, "How could they be any other way than so innocent and playful as this?"

Many people ask what is the point of saving the children when thousands of other children will replace them in the sex trafficking industry. People say it is a never ending battle and organizations like One Body Village do not make a difference in the grand scheme of things. Then I look at these 15 girls who were once used, abused, mistreated, and exchanged like worthless merchandise and I say,

"How can we turn our backs on even one child living this way?"

These girls now have a home, sisters to call family, and parents to guide and support their dreams. Everybody has a dream, and everybody has the right to achieve it. I will never know how they feel or understand what they have been through, but I know that I am READY, WILLING, and ABLE to help them grow into the happy and successful girls that they deserve to be. If you have the privilege to meet just one of these girls, you will understand that making a difference in a single soul's life is worth fighting a thousand battles for.

"Let Children be Children" is a motto that OBV carries which has never touched my heart so deeply as it has after this last day with the girls.