Photo Above: My great uncle leading the way to what’s left of my mother’s birthplace–a foundation on a dirt road.
Currently in: Siem Reap, Cambodia
This was a difficult month. We slept on the floor of our hosts’ home in the company of spiders, mice, lizards, and insects that bite. We had bucket showers. We taught children English all day in sweltering heat. It may have been physically exhausting but that wasn’t the difficult part.
Most of you know that this month was extremely personal for me. I’ve never been here, but I have roots in this country. The Khmer Rouge played a huge part in my family history. My dad survived it in his teenage years and spent time working under their leadership, and my mom’s parents were victims in that time where millions were killed. I chose this route because of this country. And being the gracious God He is, He ended up taking just one team in our squad to Battambang, the very province where both of my parents were coincidentally born and where some of my extended family are still living, and it happened to be my team.
Faith wasn’t a primary concern as I was growing up. God made His presence known in my life a few years ago. I am learning more and more that He’s present everywhere and can do all things. However, it’s always been hard for me to reconcile what it means to have a Chinese Cambodian background and at the same time, a relationship with Him, because I haven’t seen it. Yes, God works there, there, and there…but not here. Not within my family. This was a difficult month because I brought a spirit of unbelief with me, and I didn’t even realize it.
Yet God is good and has revealed His presence to me in this country in the most unexpected ways:
Through the staff at New Hope School. The teachers, both believers and non-believers, show God’s love and passion for the children and invest so much time in them while getting very little compensation in return. Despite of the lack of resources, our host, Sarith, has not given up on this school and its vision, which is a huge testament in the way God works through the people here.
Through the students. When New Hope School first started, convincing parents to send their children there was like pulling teeth. However, as people saw differences in how the kids behaved after attending, it caught on in the neighborhood. These children genuinely want to learn English. They exhibit God’s heart more than I’ve ever seen any place on Earth through the way that they love and give freely with JOY.
Through the cross. The cross is powerful. I’m starting to realize that we don’t need to have a person hear the Gospel in words and accept Jesus in order to see Him working. He’s working, and He’s present in this country. When the kids see a cross, they can identify Jesus Christ. When we visited my great uncle in the village where my mom was born, there was an orphanage across the street in which he pointed to and said, “Jesu.” In this country with a heavy past and strongly held with Buddhist beliefs, it is AMAZING to see the many ways God is moving. It’s a subtle change but it’s a powerful one. Even hearing prayers in my native language was refreshing.
Through my team. This month, I’m teaching English—not going door-to-door and sharing the Word. Because of that, it’s hard to see the impact we are making. Sometimes He moves in ways that we don’t expect, and in many times, He moves in ways that we don’t see. Through our actions and obedience to Him, we have impacted the community without knowing it. I never said a word of the Gospel during an English class yet one of my students, Clinton, gave me a drawing of churches on our last full day at our site. It was accompanied by a note that said he loved me and the house of Jesus.
Despite of its hardships, I absolutely loved this month and couldn’t leave without choking up while saying farewell and shedding many tears in front of about two hundred kids. I’m leaving this country with hope—specifically “new hope.” Hope for the people here. Hope for my family. Hope for the ones that I don’t think could establish a relationship with Him. Hope for every single person I encounter.
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Updates:
I’ve made it past the 3rd financial deadline of $11,000! Praise the good Lord! Thank you to all who have supported me along the way. I am still in need of $4,517 by July 1 to be fully funded, so please be praying. I’ve never had to raise more than $300 in my life so this has been a huge act of faith, and it’s been humbling to see His provision through the people around me.
My squad of now 52 will be leaving for Vietnam in less than 7 hours. It will be two long days of travel for my team and I. Please pray for safety for us as we head into our last month in Asia. Because it is a closed country, I will be password protecting this blog right before I leave. My password will be cindylou.
