7 Memorable Moments from Cambodia!
- Khmer New Year!
Basically Khmer New Year is a huge party where you get sprayed with water and covered in baby powder! Thousands of Cambodians come to Siem Reap to celebrate the New Year (we were the only farongs in the crowd that we could see). The Khmer people totally embraced us by covered us in baby powder, taking zillions of selfies with us, and dancing their hearts out with us.
We had a chance to make our own ministry during the holiday as well and one of the most memorable moments for me was when we went to Angkor Wat and handed out little bags of popcorn to the kids working in the shops or picking cans from the garbage. Most of the kids were confused when we handed it to them, but then their faces would break into the biggest smiles over just a bag of popcorn.
2. Sitting with an elderly woman weaving a basket
We biked over to a neighbouring village one morning to help another missionary with a project she was doing. I ended up meeting an elderly woman who was off to the side working on weaving a basket. We were able to talk through a translator, and she asked if I wanted to learn how to make a basket. I watched her for quite a while. Her red lips curled over the few teeth she had left, and her eyes had this twinkle to them when she smiled. I felt a bit guilty about not being with the rest of the team who were with the kids, but Holy Spirit intervened and I couldn’t help but feel that what I did had value as well. By noticing her and taking an interest in what she was doing it was helping to validate what she does and who she is. She was the sweetest thing and even invited us to a festival that her village was having that weekend!
- Running & cycling in the rice fields
We were in Cambodia for their hottest month of the year, but my team has been training for a half marathon at the end of month 10. In order to keep training, we’d have to run before 7am otherwise it was too hot to run (you’d be drenched in sweat just sitting there). This meant that we’d get to watch the hazy sunrise as we ran by the rice fields and water buffalos. In order to do ministry in the neighbouring villages we’d have to bike for either 15 minutes or 30 minutes in the heat of the day. I love cycling and this was the first time on the Race that I got to do it pretty consistently, and I was at point where I didn’t even care about the heat! The bikes themselves were …interesting… the tires were usually flat and on the way home one day one of the pedals fell off one of the bikes! All just adding to the adventure!
- Angkor Wat
We ended up having more than one opportunity to visit this “wonder of the word” but two specific times stand out to me in particular. The first time we went we went to watch the sunrise behind the temple. We had God’s natural beauty and creativity displayed for us with the sunrise, but it was also in the ingenuity and beauty of the building itself. The second is when we went for Khmer New Year celebrations. Each night during the holiday, Buddhists would light floating lanterns and release them on the moat around Angkor Wat. We spent this time praying for Cambodia and the Khmer people, and even in the midst of all the spiritual darkness, I was assured that our God is victorious. He is love and He is hope. He is the light shining in the darkness.
- Family dinners
We ate dinner with our hosts, and each night was filled so much laughter and ridiculousness! Everything from cellphone lit dinners when the power was out to hilarious house rules about how to ask for the cat sauce or chili sauce to farewell dinners with no power to going out for dinner after church to a restaurant that has amazing fried rice for the equivalent of $1.50.
We also had an engagement party as a squad during debrief for our squad mentor. A chance to get all dressed up? Yes please!
- Post-funeral dance party
For probably 90% of the time that we were in Pouk, day and night there was a loud speaker coming from somewhere nearby that was either blaring Khmer music or Buddhist chant. Think about letting a toddler loose with xylophone and recording it and putting it on max volume on a loudspeaker. We usually didn’t know what it was for, but one night our host told us that it was for our neighbours who were having a 100 day memorial for someone who had passed away. She asked if we wanted to go to the party that night. Of course! If I hadn’t know that it was a funeral I would never have guessed that. The dance party was wilder than any wedding or celebration I’ve been too. Everyone danced, and I mean everyone. We did our best at dancing in the Khmer style and then every so often a song that more closely resembled Western music would come on and we’d let loose. Everyone would let loose. I mean we had a lady who must have been in her 70s completely breaking it down. Most people I know in their 20s in in West don’t (can’t) move like that! It was insane!
- Homeless ministry in Siem Reap
During our Debrief we had noticed all the homeless people around the pub street in Siem Reap. A group had been out late and had seen people digging through the trash at the bars once they closed. As a squad we all chipped in some money to buy single servings of fried rice, then one night we went out to hand them out and see where the Holy Spirit led. This kind of ministry is something that is completely out of my comfort zone, but thankfully I was going around with two squadmates who are particularly gifted with it.
Time and time again I’ve seen God honour when I step out of what’s comfortable; He shows up in incredible ways. One of the men that we met, I’ll never forget. He was a bit off the main street, and just sitting on the side of the road and had on no shirt and no shoes, but only a ragged pair of shorts. We sat down with him on the road and quickly found out that he was non-verbal. One of the locals who passed us spoke to us in Khmer and made a signal to tell us that this man was crazy.
When we first sat down with him, he was unsure of us. We tried to talk to him and communicate with him as much as we could. We got him a bottle of water, and just sat with him. Most of the time that we sat with him, we just sat in silence and smiled at him (meanwhile furiously praying). The longer we sat with him, the more we could tell he warmed up to us. We’d play with the elastic bands, or he would play with our watches, and we’d smile and laugh with him. Even though we couldn’t talk with him we tried to communicate the gospel to him, and even though I have no idea how, we knew that something was getting through. As he was told about God’s unfailing love for him, we could see he began to tear up. By the time we left him, he had the biggest grin on his face. We saw foreigner and local alike walking by, not even noticing that he was there, but he was smiling at them even if they didn’t notice him. At one point he tried on my squadmmates sandals, and he gave them to this man as a gift and walked back to our hostel barefoot.
However short this encounter may have been, it taught me a lot. It taught me about generosity. It taught me about stepping out of my comfort zone. It taught me that the God isn’t limited by things of this world, whether it’s language or time. All I need to do is show up and follow where He leads.
