Father Martino quickly reminded us that the "normal" we saw in the girls on the outside is not homologous to how broken they are in the inside. The girls slept together, not with us, because at the end of the day, they do not trust us. They have been betrayed so many times before. The girls are able to be "carefree" as we put it because they are protected in the presence of their "daddy", Father Martino, and their "mommy", Sister Ngoc.
"D." had caught Duy, one of the male members of our group, staring at her during dinner. Admittedly, he stated he was in awe of her innocence and tragedy at only 7 years of age. She quickly called him on it, and without embarrassment, said to him, "What are you looking at? If you keep looking at me that way, I will tell daddy". Everyone around the table laughed, though in her eyes you can see distrust.
Endless hours of fun!
Beautiful sunset to end an amazing day.
Fun in the sun!
Sisters
Uncoordinated fun.
L.O.V.E.
M. model posing!
They loved taking pictures.
G. and I so kawaii!
What was really touching about this day was that during karaoke that night, "H.Y.", 20 years old, stepped outside in tears. I quickly followed her and asked her to come back in. When asked what was the matter, she was silent at first. She simply said, "I'm just emotional". Then she stated, "I have never felt a sense of family before as I do now with all of you here". This is coming from a girl who from the age of 9 to 19 was raped ruthlessly by her 3 older brothers and uncle. Her mother died when she was 13 years old, and her father suffers from mental illness. She never had a sense of love and family. She is damaged. At home she often climbs to the top of a tree to scream her lungs dry when she is angry, or when she has flashbacks of her past. I cried that night thinking about what she said and it affirmed my purpose on this trip. At the very least, I want to offer these girls my love. I will be their family and they will be mine.
Angela
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Every year, Father Martino leads many mission trips entitled "Lend A Hand" - One of them is a trip beginning in January 2013! Father Martino continuously repeat the purpose of the mission: “When you are on the mission with me – you don’t do a lot!! I want you to open yourselves, watch, listen, see and learn! The DOINGS begin when you return to the US!” so you can talk about it and do with passion to be the VOICE and the HAND of these children being sold/forced into sex slavery!
Here are some of their reflections.
OBV
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Hằng năm, Cha Nguyễn Bá Thông dẫn đầu nhiều chuyến hành trình với sứ mạng "Chung một bàn tay" - Một trong số đó là chuyến hành trình vào tháng 1 năm 2013. Cha Thông luôn lặp đi lặp lại một điều: "Khi tham gia hành trình sứ mạng cùng Cha - các con đừng làm gì nhiều! Cha muốn chính các con hãy nhìn - nghe - chứng kiến - và học hỏi! Việc "LÀM" hãy bắt đầu khi các con trở về đất nước! Khi đó, hãy nói và làm với cả tâm huyết để trở thành TIẾNG NÓI và BÀN TAY cho các trẻ em bị bán/bị bắt ép làm nô lệ tình dục!"
Đây là cảm nhận của các bạn gửi về sau mỗi hành trình.
Một Thân Hình
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Singer Nhu Loan
