Cambodia- Month 6 of my World Race- the halfway point.
I have been traveling the world for half a year. My feet have touched the soil of nine different countries in the course of six months. In none of these places have I had to fight like I have in Cambodia.
Let me set the scene.
Our ministry location is a village an hour outside of Phnom Penh. Our host, Ra, lives on a farm here with his family. His ministry that we have been helping him with is teaching English classes Monday through Friday afternoons at his house. English classes are an opportunity to share the Gospel, educate the village, and form discipleship relationships.
(Our home for the month- where we teach, sleep, eat, and live our lives with the community)
Life is simple here- the kids ride their bikes to us after lunch for English classes. Our classroom consists of a white board, tables, chairs, tin roof, and a dirt floor. The backdrop is Ra’s ducks that wander through the yard. If it rains, which is frequently, class stops because of the loudness of rain on the tin roof. A lot of times we play in the rain instead.
Ra has a group of volunteers, teenagers from the village, who give their time to teaching kids English. We take over their classes for the month, they translate for us giving them a break and opportunity to practice their English. The volunteers are Christians, who came to know the Lord through Ra’s classes and participate in the Bible Study we lead for them two evenings a week.
Our team is living in our tents in the loft of Ra’s home. It’s a little tight, but we have made this place home over the past month: watching movies in the evenings on our little porch, quiet mornings reading our Bible’s, and afternoons in front of the fan taking a break.
As I summarize some pieces of this month and the work we have done, it sounds crazy to say that this is where I have had to really fight because there is a lot of beauty in the simplicity of life here.
However, there is also a heaviness I haven’t encountered before.
I look around and see a simple, agrarian society- but not by choice. This country is wounded. These people are still picking up the pieces of a genocide that happened less than forty years ago- killing 2 million people- to try to elimnate the educated class..
More than half the population of Cambodia is below the age of fourteen. That is mind-blowing, considering I didn’t know about the Cambodian genocide before the Race.
There is so much darkness here. Even a simple thing like teaching English, which the World Race does frequently in Asia, carries weight based on the country’s history. The Cambodian genocide targeted educated people- teachers, doctors, professionals, and their families. Pul Pot, the dictator of the Khmer Rouge, wanted Cambodia to go back to a basic agrarian society for control purposes. Millions of people were killed for being or ‘looking’ educated. People still live in fear of education.
I see that reflected here- as kids only go to school for a couple hours a day. A lot of the kids I teach English to are still grasping the basics of Khmer, the language native to Cambodia.
When our team walked into this village, we entered a battle field. Since coming here every one of my teammates and I have battled sickness to varying degrees. One of them was even in the hospital for over a week! We have suffered from nightmares and waking up in the middle of the night out of fear- for no specific reason. We have been abnormally exhausted considering the amount of downtime we receive. We have felt lonely and emotionally attacked.
Our whole Squad has taken a hit like this from the Enemy in varying degrees.
Spiritual Warfare- it is so real, and before the Race I would have accounted much of this to more ‘pracitcal’ reasoning. The thing is, when you actually get out here to places like this, and walk with people who know pain in a different way than I ever have, it changes things.
The Lord was specific with me in what I was supposed to do this month: Fight for Cambodia.
Fight for the people here, in the village you are serving.
Fight for the ministry of education and kindness and play with the kids here.
Fight for your host and the volunteers, because they do this every day.
Fight for your team and the battles of sickness, fear, and tiredness.
Fight for your Squad, because we are called to bring the Light to these people.
Fight for Month 6, because we still have half this Race to run.
Fight for Cambodia.
Despite this call, it is tempting to just let time slip by. To count down the days left till I get on a plane to South America, but that is not fair to these people, my community, or myself. Our living situation is challenging. It is uncomfortable to be so dirty, sweaty, and isolated.
But, God does not ask me to live out of apathy.
He asks me to wake up every day and fight. To my palms every morning in prayer and my mouth in worship. To ask His Spirit of peace, healing, and strength to enter this house and ministry. To take this Race one day at a time.
In the midst of the fight I have seen so much of His goodness, it is overwhelming.
I see it in the smiling faces of the kids who hug me, draw pictures for me, and hold my hand. I see it in the one-on-ones I have where I share the Gospel with a teenage girl who has never heard the name of Jesus. I see it as kids come every day from the village to learn, play, and be free. I see it in Noun- Ra’s wife- who daily serves green tea to the women across the street working at the brothel. I see it in my team who stands next to one another in the day-to-day -speaking life and truth and joy- even when we are puking and nueseous. I see it in the gorgeous sunsets every night over the feild across the street.
This ministry is a blazing Light to a place lost in a lot of darkness. The best part is Jesus has already won the battle here, He just wants us to join in the fight.
I am reminded of one of my favorite stories of Elisha. Israel is being attacked by the Arameanians with horses, chariots, and strong forces. Elisha’s servant comes to him and says, ‘Oh, my lord, what shall we do?’ Elisha tells him, ‘Don’t be afraid, those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prays and the Lord opens his servant’s eyes: he sees that him the hills are surrounded with horses and chariots of fire. (2 Kings 6:15-17)
Our God fights with us. He goes to war for us and comes equipped with chariots of fire. I am learning in Cambodia to believe that God shows up in our fight and brings His power and glory to a country broken by genocide and oppression. I believe Ra’s home is surrounded by His army daily in the fight for Cambodia.
His glory is being revealed here in Cambodia and I will keep fighting for it long after I leave.
