Most of me wants to say the phrase that “Cambodia was a hard month.” But that wouldn’t be honest. That would be me putting off my emotions and struggles onto a country and onto a wonderful ministry that did nothing but love and serve us while we were there. SO, Cambodia was GREAT. Seriously, amazing. Partnering with the teachers at Shalom International School will be a memory and a time that I will forever hold dearly in my heart.
We talked, we laughed, and we loved. It was challenging at first. We had to get accustomed to a new culture and learn how to meet people where they were at, which was in a place we had never been. Cambodians are kind people. People who give without reserve. Full of love and desire.
One of my favorite things I saw happen and that really touched me was during our first trip into Phnom Penh. We were only there for the day. We had dropped off our ministry host and her niece, Elisa, at one of her friends’ houses and then continued on to the palace. We were supposed to meet our host outside of the palace at 1 pm in order to go into the palace. Well, we were a little behind on things so some of us didn’t end up outside until around 1:30. When we got downstairs we found out that Elisa had not eaten and the palace didn’t open until 2. So, we were deciding what to do when a random woman standing nearby gave Elisa a coconut and then a rice and bean mixture. In America this would not be okay. Food from a random stranger? Heck no. But, here it was good. It was acceptable and it was a neighbor helping someone out. It has stuck with me the past couple weeks. Something so simple but it felt like it opened my eyes to an entire people group.
After this we went to the Killing Fields. You see, Cambodia went through a massive genocide from 1975 – 1979. We visited the largest Killing Field, there are multiple across Cambodia, and took an audio tour. It’s one of those places where no one talks and the air is heavy of remembrance and reverence. You walk around listening to the story and see the areas where people were mistreated and ultimately, brutally murdered. I won’t go into a lot of detail about it because I’m not looking to break anyone down. But, I do encourage you, if you want to, to look into it. It’s crazy to me to know this time was only years before I was born. One of the main things that stuck out to me though was when the voice in my headphones said, “Imagine if one in every four of your friends was murdered. This is what it was like.”
This past Tuesday the man who founded Shalom Mission Cambodia came to visit us at the school. He was my initial contact coming into Cambodia and greeted us in Phnom Penh the first day we arrived. But, this was the first time we had seen him since then. Shalom Mission Cambodia has a collection of churches, kids clubs, gatherings, trains pastors, has one school (the one we taught at), and a few other things going on. So, Pastor Chhinho is a busy man. I was honored that he remembered telling us he would come to visit and he saw that through. I can’t speak for the rest of my team, but it made me feel very loved and seen. He brought us bread from a french bakery and then sat and talked with us. He shared part of his story and part of Cambodia’s. It’s another time I will always cherish. He lost his grandmother, mother, and a brother during the Killing Fields.
When Pastor Chhinho talks about the Killing Fields he tells about how there were 900 Christians in the whole country before it happened. During and after the genocide, people realized that Buddha and other gods were not there. They “did nothing.” The Khmer Rouge damaged and hurt sacred items and there was no vengeance from those gods. After the Killing Fields, Pastor Chhinho’s father decided his family was Christian and he came to know Christ through a radio broadcast from the Philippines that was in his language. Others found Christ while they were refugees in neighboring countries. Since the Killing Fields, Christianity has been allowed into the country and Pastor Chhinho said that it has grown a lot throughout Cambodia.
God wasn’t absent from Cambodia during this terrible time. And He has been working it for good ever since. Instilling in people truth and hope. Giving them love and community. There is hunger in Cambodia for good things, both in the physical and the spiritual. God is moving and meeting needs. He’s providing and He is relentlessly pursuing His beloveds.
