My team and I arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia about a week ago, after 30 or so sleepless hours and much traveling. I cannot believe this
starts month 7 of the race! For the duration of this month we will be living at
Cambodian Mission Outreach, which is home to New Life in Christ Church, as well
as New Hope School, at which 250 students (ages 3-5th grade) are enrolled.
Upon our arrival we were welcomed at the airport by Chhay, a
19 year-old that loves the Lord, who just graduated Bible College and is now
working for the church. However,
we were also welcomed with the news of having to wait at the airport for
three hours due to a fire near the church. The largest factory in Phnom Penh
had caught fire a few hours prior to our arrival and was only 100 meters from
the church building. Chhay was very worried and tried to mask his anxiety about
the situation, despite the consistent ringing of his telephone from people
relaying news to him. As most of my teammates went to grab dinner near the
airport, I stayed behind sitting with Chhay, wondering what in the world to
do. Selfishly, I was tired and hungry, and didn’t want to talk, much less think
or pray. However, I sensed his fear, so we prayed. Unfortunately, the fire had
caused major havoc in the streets due to onlookers and people evacuating their
families and belongings from their homes, leaving us unable to make our way
back. After a long wait, we did attempt the trip back, having to stop halfway
and walking the rest of the way, dodging huge crowds in the road, on the
sidewalks, everywhere . . with our 40 pound packs on our backs. It seemed as if
we were just as much of a sight as the fire that night.
Before getting out of the van I felt fear and sadness at the
sight of the burning factory. Especially after hearing that the factory employs *10,000 women, and possibly 2,000 women were on shift at the time of the fire.
Not knowing exact details, I could only think about these numbers I had heard.
How many wives, mothers, daughters, sisters etc. had burned alive in this
building? How many women were now out of jobs? How many families will go hungry
from the loss of these jobs? How many women will sell themselves into
prostitution as a means to make up for the lost wages? I cried as I imagined
the faces of these 10,000 women and their situations that had come so quickly.
The view of the fire from the roof of the church.
After dodging through crowds, alleys, and through people’s
homes, we made it to the church, which is beautiful. A sense of peace replaced our adrenaline, knowing we were safe. In our first few days of being
here at New Life, we continued to feel that sense of peace. The people
here are great and truly did welcome us with open arms. Within our first day, we were
invited to celebrate the pastor’s birthday with a surprise party of traditional
Cambodian food and games. We have also met people through the youth and church
services, as well as other missionaries who are currently staying here also. The first few
days in Cambodia excited my team and I and have us anticipating our last
month in Asia. I truly believe it will be a great note to end on. Although we will be
teaching English a few hours a week, be praying that God will show us additional
ministry options we can get involved in, whether that be around the mission, or
other places in the community. We don’t want to miss any opportunity to serve
the people of Phnom Penh.
Women outside the factory gates a few days after the fire, most likely hoping to speak to someone about their jobs.
* We still are not sure about the statistics of the women who died in the fire or lost jobs due to it, so these numbers may or may not be accurate. Unfortunately, there aren’t many news resources to clarify that with, and factory fires are common in Cambodia.
We survived week one of teaching English, so check back to read about
that!
