Cambodia has by far been my favorite month so far on the race, and for a number of special reasons. I have learned so much from the people I have met in this country, and am confident to say that God is moving in many ways here! I want to share with my supporters two of my favorite stories from the mission field in Kampong Cham.
Bung Snay
Although my team and I only visited the Bung Snay village a couple times during our month, a special connection was formed between an elderly lady and myself. This lady’s name is Paula and she has HIV. Paula runs a store out of her home and is growing in her relationship with God. The first time I visited Paula she opened up to Regina (our YDC friend and translator) and me about her current pain, suffering, and worry. At that time she had a lot of anxiety over her property which she recently sold off and could not purchase back. With her land sold, she lived in constant fear that the new owner would return and force her to abandon her everything, leaving her homeless. In addition to this suffering, she was being persecuted for her faith in God; the last time she visited church, village members ransacked her store out of hatred for beliefs. After sharing a message about God’s faithfulness and praying for Paula, Regina and I left that day trusting God to provide.
The second time I was able to visit Paula, I could immediately tell God had impacted her between our visits. She greeted me with a smile and asked Regina and I to come into her store. After asking how she was doing, Regina shared with me Paula’s great news! Between our visits Paula asked God to give her wisdom while speaking with the man she sold her land too. She visited him again and asked to purchase her property back, and he agreed this time! Because of God’s faithfulness, Paula had committed to the Lord to cut off all of her hair as her visual sign of appreciation. Then, when people in the village asked about her hair, she would share with them the story of God’s provision in her life. Paula also told us she plans to attend church this Sunday to share her testimony with the church! As we left, I could see the joy and peace in Paula’s eyes and her devotion to God in her trials; past, present, and future.
42 Houses
The other village we visited three times each week was 42 Houses. It is safe to say this village and the children we met here captivated all our hearts. During each visit we would bathe, brush teeth, pick out lice, comb hair, sing and feed God’s little ones. This month however, God led my team and me to reach more than just the children in this village.
About a week and a half into our month, my teammate Stephanie presented a great idea to our group. In order to cultivate the spirit of giving and service for future growth, we wanted to encourage the adults in the village to start taking ownership in their community. One of the practical ways we sought to do this was by encouraging the adults to serve their children the food we brought with us; this way the children could see their parents caring for them. God helped us in picking our first volunteer, the beautiful Mrs. Rasmine! Mrs. Rasmine is a sweet mother we befriended that loves God, and is a light to others in 42 Houses. She is one of the few believers in this community, and was delighted to assist after we presented our idea to her. As she served food to the children that afternoon, we couldn’t help but smile knowing she was impacting those children beyond the visible food that now filled their bowls.
Leaving 42 Houses at the end of the month was much easier than we anticipated, knowing these children now have a Godly role model they can look up to in their community. The encouragement we were able to offer the children and adults living at 42 Houses will continue to flourish despite our absence.
These two stories are among many that illustrate the visible ways God was moving through my team and the Cambodians we served in this beautify country. As always thank you for your prayers, and I look forward to sharing with you more stories from Malaysia shortly!
