Now that I have seen I am responsible.

(It's taken awhile to process and express my (Nai) response to the situations of prostitution  we saw in Thailand and Cambodia. Here is some of it now though!)

And then it happens...you get to that place where its no longer stories in a newspaper, photos of strangers, random names, films of situations far away. And you're no longer far removed from it, you can no longer brush it off as being a problem that doesn't effect you, a problem that you're far removed from.
That moment when the stories become reality, the faces belong to people who have names, the names are people you know, the films are situations that you've encountered. And the pain of these situations goes deeper, deeper than the surface emotions. The tears are no longer there, its penetrated deeper than that, your heart hurts for these people, these situations. The reality hits home like never before. What your head has always known about these situations and the people in them, now clicks with your heart and your deep emotions, because its no longer something you know happens, its something you're seeing happening. 
You see...
Yes, prostitution does happen, YES trafficking is going on, YES, under age girls are being forced by their families to be raped 20 times a day every day to earn money for them, YES, boys are being forced to be girls to make more money for their families than they could as boys, YES, women are being forced into prostitution by their husbands. YES people in these places are using their own people, YES English average,hard working, married family men are going for holidays, for a laugh, for a 'good time' to use these people. YES it is disgusting, traumatic, violent, upsetting, dark.
YES this harsh reality does truly exist, YES this ugly truth is there like never before. 

But the stronger, louder, more powerful YES is...
YES God cares, YES God rescues, YES God's power is greater, YES God's light is brighter, YES God's love is for them all, YES God's name is higher, YES God breaks chains,YES God is with them, YES God is Saviour, YES God sees, YES God knows, YES God suffers with them, YES God is their Father, YES God longs to know them, YES God pursues them, YES God's heart is for them, YES God never gives up on them.  YES God is hope!

But what does that mean for me?
I am responsible, now that I've heard, now that I've seen.
I'm responsible to not stay silent, to speak out for these people, these situations that are REAL. I choose not to stay silent for fear of making people uncomfortable, I choose not to stay silent for fear of talking about an awkward/taboo subject. I choose to speak out for the girls, boys, women and men who are trapped in this, both prostitutes and perpetrators.  I choose to help their voice/their cries be heard. 
I choose not to be overwhelmed by the problem but be overwhelmed by the one who has conquered all.  I choose to look to God as the answer. I choose to continue to hope in Him for these people and their situations. I choose to remember them and not forget them. 
I choose to pray, to act, to respond.