Here’s a blog about the rest of our ministry in Cambodia.
Cambodia was amazing, difficult, lifechanging, and heart breaking. The people have gone through so much. Cambodians are some of the strongest people that I;ve met, but also some of the most indifferent. Cambodia has had mass genocide that few know about; I was one of those who was in the dark. They’ve had to be in order to survive. It’s been a few years, but the country is still trying to pick up the remnants of what it was, while also creating something new. The culture feels like a big jig saw puzzle trying to find all of it’s pieces, but is all mixed and jumbled. Some homes have elaborately designed tiles on the floor, while not having furniture. Others have dirt floors and tvs. Even clothing is generally miss matched; you just wear what you have. It is chaotic survival. One thing that I loved and had really stuck out to me is that the people have this wide spread respect for one another. It does not matter if you are poor or rich. You would never know by the way they treated each other until you visited their seperate homes, and saw their living conditions. I feel like that is such a rare thing.
During ministry we did a lot of teaching, but the area I was more drawn to was the door to door evangelism. I know this almost sounds like a cliche in the Christian world, but we did things differently than the stereotype of eveangelising. Cambodians love having people come and visit them, and we would go to each house and they would immediately welcome us in to their homes. We sat with them and built relationships. We would ask questions about their life, families, children. We would ask if they;d ever been to church. Most were Buddhist, but a few were Christians. Many were Buddhist because it had been in their families for generations, and their own family would turn on them if they left the religion. There were a lot of seeds planted, but we only saw one woman come to Christ. It was enough. We don’t know which part of the journey we are on with them: it could be seed planting, or it could be in the middle, or we could be the ones leading them to him. The point is, it doesn’t matter if we see fruit. It’s not for us, or about us. But the Lord blessed us by showing us so much life and growth in Cambodia.
Personally for me and my team we went through some of the most intense spiritual warefare I have ever experienced in my life, but it brought our team closer together. The Lord showed us how to weild scripture and the prayer to edify the Kingdom and dispell darkness. Prayer has POWER! Never think it doesn’t. The Lord is good. Though it was a hard month, I already miss Cambodia.
Please pray for discipleship for this beautiful country. There are many Christians popping up, but they need training to learn and grow in their own walk with God and to be able to train others as well. Pray for long term missionaries to be sent. Additionally, since being in Thailand we have learned that somewhere between 80-90% of the girls from Cambodia get sent off to work in the red light district to support their families. It is a staggering percentage, but there is hope in it. We are working with a host this month in Thailand that directly works to help girls get out of prostitution and the red light district. My next blog will expaand more on what ministry here in Thailand looks like, so keep a look out.
Thank you all so much for the prayers and love!
