The month of October was spent in a small city along the river in Cambodia. Battambang one of the largest cities, is home of several universities, government offices, a large market and a majority of the population in that providence.
Team Zion had the opportunity to work with a branch of YWAM called University of the Nations. They have a deep-rooted place in the heart of the city, with networks reaching far out into the surrounding villages. We partnered with them to reach into the hearts and lives of the people of Cambodia. While we spent some time praying over hospital patients, and helping lead church services, it was our work with the students that had the largest impact on my life.
There are three main areas where they have been building relationships with the next generation. First, there is a beautiful governmental orphanage that is doing a stunning job taking care of nearly 300 children. Two YWAM staffers have been pouring hours of their week into teaching the children English. As a part of this education, they are building relationships and sharing the love of Jesus with stories used to help learn the language.
The second location was a part of the Battambang Christian Church ministry. They have established an orphanage with 30 children ranging from toddlers to mid-20’s. These children function as a family with Godly caretakers and a community that takes care of their needs as well as loves them as brothers and sister of Christ.
The third opportunity was the largest coming in at over 500 students from the community. University of the Nations has opened a youth center in their front yard. Their goal is to build strong relationships with students in the community, share the message of the Gospel and empower the youth of Cambodia to be wise, knowledgeable leaders for the years to come. Each afternoon, classes of all varieties are taught free of charge to the students, from beginner, intermediate and advanced English, to hip hop dance, Khmer cooking, jewelry making, Chinese, Bible, Guitar and more. Staff from around the world have come together on Cambodia soil to plant the seeds of the gospel into these young minds. And they are ready to hear it. Every afternoon at 4 o’clock you could find team Zion seated out front of the youth center waiting for students to show up. We would talk to them about their schoolwork, teach them new “American” slang words, help them with homework, or simply talk in English so they could better learn the language. Why? – because knowledge is power.
Several World Racers posted blogs about the recent history of Cambodia, and the terror that swept the land 30 years ago. During the rule of the Khmer Rouge, they wiped out the wise, the educated, and the leaders leaving the country to fend for themselves.
Today, God is moving in Cambodia to raise up a generation that is Wise and Knowledgeable and ready to change the world one small village at a time. As we would sit and talk with the students, we learned many things. They are hungry for anything you can feed them, not just English, but scripture as well. One girl asked my teammate, “How do you know that God is real? How do you hear Him?” She was desperate to know more about this One True God.
We had the opportunity to perform a drama written by one of these amazing students. He was the first to greet us at the youth center with a huge smile and passion to know everything we could teach him. In fact he wanted to know English Slang and Spanish. So each day it seemed that we racked our brains to come up with more words for him to learn. He asked us if we would be able to do a drama with him on Sunday morning for the church service. We jumped at the idea but really wanted to give him the leadership and empower him. The play was fabulous, a modern day story of the prodigal son, filled with English slang and high school humor. It was delightful, but also a powerful statement of the state of the students in this community. They are ready to learn all they can to move into the leadership of this country and bring it to a place where justice and respect rule and the Truth of God is the foundation of everything they do.
I will not be surprised that if in 20 years, Cambodia is leading the way in South Eastern Asia to remove corruption in the government, end human trafficking and establishing a strong democratic government.
Even as I move on to our next ministry, with new people and different problems, my heart will still cry out for Cambodia to be transformed by these young Christians ready to make a difference in their world.
RISE UP Youth of Cambodia!
