Joy and I returned two days ago from our week in
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia.
I don’t think I’ve been as excited about going anywhere as I have about our team’s time in
Cambodia.
Not only are there a host of ministry opportunities, but for the first time I have felt that the work to be done in Cambodia might be the realization of the original mission of World Race – to leave a lasting impact/ministry on the countries we visit.
The options are, potentially for the first time, innovative enough to allow us to be creative, entrepreneurial and impacting for a long time to come.
Cambodia is a beautiful place with an unfortunate past.
Not 10 years ago, the city of
Phnom Penh was littered with military tanks and the destruction of war.
Although
Cambodia is one of the oldest countries on the planet (it has been established for almost 2000 years), it has been through a host of changes and been the recipient of war for the last several centuries.
The communist Khmer Rouge was overthrown not a decade ago and the memorials of the Torture Prisons and Killing Fields still hold the bones of those massacred.
It has been postulated that nearly a third of the country’s population was killed during this time.
In fact, it is the only genocide in history that has seen a country turn on itself the way
Cambodia has.
Peers my age saw it – even experienced it to some degree.
Although the country is in some time of peace, the sex trafficking industry has moved in and is at an all time high.
Families (even those of Christian pastors!) are duped into literally selling their daughters into the industry with deceptive promises of success and education instead of the reality of sex slavery.
Unlike some of the surrounding areas such as
Thailand, the industry operates in secrecy and with the utmost of discretion.
Ministries serving prostitutes live daily with the risk of exposure and many refuse to accept outside involvement at all.
That being said, the Christian church (although currently only representing 2% of the population) is thriving!
Those associated with Christianity has doubled in the past 5 years and the following is continuing to grow exponentially.
Buddhism has been the norm for the country for centuries but has grown, like many religions, to complacency with many of the following.
The older generation still marries some Buddhist philosophies with other mystic practices such as ancestor worship.
That being said, a generation of Cambodians has arisen and with the influence of the Western world is beginning to question Buddhist beliefs and is open to new ideas and the hope offered by Christ.
The city is unlike anything I’ve ever seen – thousands of motorcycles roam the streets, magnificent temples litter the city at literally every turn and the people are some of the friendliest I’ve ever met.
English is coveted and a huge inroad to the ministry in
Cambodia (all of our teams will engage in teaching English at some point in time) as is the age old method of one-on-one relationship.
God loves
Cambodia and the time for ministry to this little country is at hand.
Praise God for the ministry that will happen as World Race ventures there in September and October!
