In the month of November, my team will travel from Thailand to the country of Cambodia! I’m SO excited to go to Cambodia and experience the people and culture there! Here’s some facts I rounded up about Cambodia!
Official Name: Kingdom of Cambodia
Population: Over 14.8 billion
Capital: Phnom Penh
Official Language: Khmer
Official Religion: Buddhism
Possible Ministry Opportunities:
Teaching school, teaching English, working in a village doing construction, slum ministry…it could be anything! The country has been recovering from the Khmer Rouge rule, and it will continue to slowly recover. It was thrown back in civilization since the Khmer Rouge hunted and killed intellectuals and the educated. A lot of work remains to restore the country to its rich history.
Famous Landmark: Angkor Wat
Strange Foods I May Eat:
-Fried tarantulas
-Fried assorted insects
-Snakes on a skewer
-Skinned frogs
-Rats
-LOTS of fish…guess I better learn to like it!
FUN FACTS:
-The Cambodian flag is the only national flag that has an image of a building-the Angkor Wat
-During the four-year rule of the Khmer Rouge, one-fifth of Cambodia’s population was killed. They were mostly educated people, priests, and monks
-Half of Cambodia’s current population is younger than 15 years old
-Traditionally, birthdays are not celebrated in Cambodia. Older people might not even know their birthdays
-In Cambodia, the head is regarded as the highest part of the body and shouldn’t be touched, even in the kindest manner
-The birth rate is three times higher than the death rate
-Forty percent more boys are born each year than girls, but more girls survive, making up 64% of the population
-1 in 236 Cambodians is disabled, making it the most disabled country on earth. A large percentage of the disabilities are caused by stepping on a land mine. After the war, 4 million existing landmines continue to cause casualties. It will be another ten years before all the landmines are removed or destroyed. Each month, there are between 300 and 700 amputations due to landmine injuries
-The Khmer Rouge tried to restart history, to erase all trace of what went before. Even the ruins are not there to build on. Reconstruction has been a hard struggle and there’s a long way still to go before the benefits of peace reach ordinary Cambodians
-Only about 45% of Cambodian kids finish elementary school. The figure is much lower for children who live in rural villages
-Cambodian parents usually give their children symbolic names that rhyme with the name of another family member
Prayer Opportunities:
-Pray for the Cambodian people we will come in contact with. Their country has been through a LOT in the past decades, and we will meet a lot of impoverished people. Pray that they would have open hearts to hear what we have to tell them, and pray that we would be able to help them in tangible ways as well as spiritual.
-Pray for my squad, as I have a feeling that we will see a lot of hard things this month. Pray that our hearts will remain softened towards the Cambodian people and that God would give us His love for them. Pray also for our strength, that we would lean on God through the hard times.
-Pray for my squad and all of our families, as this month will mark the first holiday from home while on the Race. We will most likely be celebrating Thanksgiving in Cambodia! Pray for my squad and I, as I expect us to have some homesickness, and pray for our families, that they would be comforted during the holidays. Pray that all of us would continue to have a spirit of thankfulness!
