Sold into Slavery - prayer point.

Slavery, sexual slavery, prostitution, abuse and neglect. These practices are all too common in Cambodia and demonstrate the desperate need for these people to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, who came to set the captives free.

Pictured above is Isabel, the school French teacher, and her son Matthew. I can't say her "adopted son", because that is, and may never be, the case. No one knows when Matthew was born, or how old he is. What we do know is that Matthew's family sold him to another Khmer family when he was a baby. He was to be brought up to live in their household as their slave. Before he was a year old this impoverished and beaten boy was rescued by an orphanage, where for the next few years he was withdrawn and cried every day. Isabel was invited to the orphanage to meet this little boy, but also was introduced to a little girl whom the orphanage hoped she would "adopt". She prayed about it and God clearly spoke to her during the night to take home the little boy not the little girl. Matthew is now about 5 years old and attends our school. He is a lovely child and has a gorgeous smile.

Isabel would like to adopt Matthew. In fact we know of a number of western families living here with Khmer children who would love to adopt them. The problem is that registered birth dates, parents, names and the like are not automatic when a child is born. Some children are not registered, others have been registered by parents, a secondary family and an orphanage all with conflicting information. The fact is that there is not the clear cut paperwork and consent to allow these children to be adopted by western countries with their strict regulations. Isabel cannot leave Cambodia with Matthew and she will not leave without him. You could pray for the many many families in similar situations. Families who cannot return to their home countries because, in some instances they have quite literally rescued a child from abandonment, are bringing them up as their own and are not able to adopt them legally.