[First published on 3/20/2016. To view the original newsletter, click here.]
Hi family and friends!
Greetings from Cambodia! OK, no…I’m in Vietnam, haha
Yes, I know I did it again. I am behind in my newsletters that I still need to catch everyone up to last month before I can share on this month. But I have a better reason this time — I was in the middle of nowhere with no internet!
So again my apologies for this belated update…but here’s how my February in Cambodia went down!
MINISTRY
Our ministry this month was done in a province called Kampong Chhnang, about three hours north of Cambodia’s capital city of Phnom Penh. We worked with a couple named Samuel and Redika McCracken, who are members of Teen Missions International (www.teenmissions.org), an organization whose vision is “Training Tomorrow’s Missionary Today”.
Our team stayed with Samuel and Redika on their ranch property in the Cambodian countryside, about 30 minutes away from the nearest city. We lived out of our tents, cooked our own meals, took bucket showers and pumped water from a well everyday. So yeah…our team was the one with the “bush” experience this month — what a way to ease into World Race community living!
In terms of ministry, most of our days were spent doing manual work and repairs around the ranch. Teen Missions International uses the property to hold their boot camp program for local teens each summer and hopes to make this site their primary base in Cambodia in the future. So our work was to assist them in this effort, as our team installed and repaired barbed wire fencing around the 150 acre property, razed plots of land for future building sites and tiled existing tabletops and stovetops in the kitchen. Basically, we were there to do any and everything that they needed from us!
But in the midst of all the manual work, God still provided us with outreach opportunities during the month. In the afternoons at the ranch, a few local kids would visit us regularly so we would watch movies or play sports with them. And on Sundays, we attended local church services, where we would sing a few worship songs to the congregations and also lead games with the kids. Our team was so thankful for these moments to interact and be blessed by the local people of Kampong Chhnang!
So for my first full month of ministry, God absolutely pulled me out of my comfort zone and put me in a situation that was unfamiliar to me, having to live outdoors in a tent and using my hands for work that didn’t involve a computer. But it made me trust Him even more for my daily needs (and not wants) and to also be grateful for the needs that He does provide. So if you’re interested in reading and seeing more pictures about my month, check out my blog post!
http://sangpark.theworldrace.org/post/month-2-cambodia-ministry-in-kampong-chhnang
[Our daily living — tents, kitchen, bathrooms and water well!]
[Our daily ministry — barbed wire fencing, chasing out cows, tiling and sports with kids!]
[Our Sunday ministry — leading worship songs, attending service and games with the kids!]
OFF DAYS
Since our team was in the Cambodian countryside, we spent our off days driving into Kampong Chhnang city to run errands and use wi-fi mostly. Because really, there wasn’t much else we could do around there during the month. But fortunately, things worked out such that we were able to stay in Cambodia’s two largest cities for a few nights and take in the rich history and culture of the country.
To start off the month, there was a late change in plans with our host that enabled our team to stay in Siem Reap for two days. This gave us the chance to visit Angkor Wat and explore its many temples — how fortunate we were for that opportunity! And to end our month, we spent our last night in Cambodia enjoying the capital city of Phnom Penh. Our team used that time to learn about the painful history of the Cambodian people by visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum — and I urge you to do the same if you ever have the chance to visit this city. But we also used that time to celebrate the completion of our first full month of ministry together…by chowing down on some pizza, cheeseburgers and fries!
But also in the middle of the month, our team was gifted with a weekend getaway stay in Kampong Chhnang city by a mystery donor(s)! And while it was a welcomed break from our everyday country living, there was a particular experience from that weekend that became a personal highlight of my Race thus far, which I will share about in more detail shortly…
But first, if you want more on my off day experiences, read my blog post!
http://sangpark.theworldrace.org/post/month-2-cambodia-off-days
[Off Day in Siem Reap — Checking out the many temples of Angkor Wat!]
[Off Day in Kampong Chhnang — Enjoying a weekend getaway in the city!]
[Off Day in Phnom Penh — Learning Cambodian history at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and exploring the Riverfront area!]
A VERY SPECIAL SUNDAY
So the last day of our weekend stay in Kampong Chhnang city was a Sunday so our team attended a local church service in the morning before heading back to the countryside. Compared to the churches we had visited in the countryside in prior weeks, this church was much more familiar to what we were accustomed to back in the States. People were nicely dressed in their Sunday best and there was a full praise band with guitar, keyboard and drums. Even the worship was a blend of both traditional (ie. reciting of The Apostle’s Creed and The Lord’s Prayer) and contemporary (ie. praise band) elements.
But what made it even more familiar to me was the amount of Korean influence present in the service. Not only were there other Koreans in attendance, but the bulletin had the service order translated in Korean and even the pastor spoke some Korean in his sermon! And so the worship reminded me so much of my own church experience growing up, sitting thru this exact type of service as a child. The only difference was that it was in Cambodian instead of Korean! It felt like a piece of home.
And as I sat there through the service, I couldn’t help but think about what it took for me to experience this. From what I know about Korean church history, it was missionaries from America who first came to Korea to share the Gospel. And now here was the Korean church going out to spread the same Gospel in Cambodia. So being a Korean-American, it filled me with great pride and joy to see His kingdom moving from culture to culture to culture — and it also makes me excited and smile, to think of how His truth will continue to advance from America to Korea to Cambodia and to who knows where next! Praise the Lord!
FUNDRAISING UPDATE
And praise the Lord again! With your help, I was able to meet my third fundraising deadline and am now at $13,471 of my $16,362 total goal (82%)! All that’s left now is my fourth and last deadline of $16,362 total by April 29.
So that means right now, I am in need of $2,891 to be fully funded for my trip. Thus far, God has provided for me every step of the way and so I’ve been able to meet each fundraising deadline. Wow…even as I write that, I cannot believe how faithful He has been to me!
But I know money doesn’t just show up out of nowhere so I continue to ask that you prayerfully consider supporting me financially for this journey. And if you’re led to do so, please contribute using the link below!
[Select Support a World Racer and enter my full name, Sang Yeop Park.]
A FEW THOUGHTS AND PRAYER REQUESTS
To say that my experience in Cambodia was uncharted territory for me is an understatement. Yes, it had its physical challenges, but it was the internal struggles that were harder to deal with. To start off, three of my teammates (which is half of our team) were either sick and/or recovering from injuries suffered in Thailand. That left the other three members with the task of doing much of the manual work required on the property…and I was one of them. And while I fully expect and want to do a lot of physical labor on my Race, I just didn’t think it would be my entire ministry for the month. So to be honest, I was frustrated with God. Why did He bring me to Cambodia to dig holes and put up barbed wires — something that could have been done by hiring locals? And even so, why would He handicap half of our team with sickness and injuries?
As I wrestled with this during the month, I came to recognize that our situation may have been a blessing in disguise. By living and working together side by side everyday, it helped our team get to know each other much more quickly than normal. We didn’t have any walls to separate us, and our ministry was singularly focused and required all of us to work as an unit. And not having access to the internet was also a blessing, as it forced us to stay present with our team and in Cambodia instead of being glued to things going on at home. So the takeaway for me was this — to let go of my expectations of what my World Race should or should not look like and instead embrace it for what it is.
And as for prayer requests…
1. Pray for taking things one day at a time. Many of you know that I am very task oriented. That means that when I have a task set before me, I tend to put my head down and just work, work, work until the job is done. Sadly though, that often means that I don’t lift my head back up to see what else is going on. And I found that to be the case in Cambodia, as I was more focused on completing the task at hand than looking towards God that day. So please pray that I may slow down each day to see, listen and enjoy it by His leading.
2. Pray for vulnerability. One of the biggest points of emphasis of The World Race is to be open and honest with God and with your teammates. And while I believe I have done a good job of sharing things about myself in this first full month of ministry, I recognize that there is much more room to be vulnerable. Maybe it’s my pride, maybe it’s my fears — maybe it’s both. But please pray that I may grow in my vulnerability as I continue to share and live in community.
Thank you again everyone for your continued prayers, support and encouragement! It makes me happy every time I hear from any of you so please feel free to email me anytime! I will strive harder to get caught up on my newsletters but in the meantime, you can always subscribe to my blog at http://sangpark.theworldrace.org!
Until next time from Vietnam again (hopefully)!
By His Love,
Sang Park
