My Cambodia Journey

Cambodia has long been on my heart. I guess we need to go back to 2004-05 when Dave and Chris Manfred were a part of our church, to hone in on the beginning of my interest in this far-away land. While they were on home assignment from their missionary work in Cambodia, they taught us so much about their field. I loved hearing about how God gave Chris a gift of speaking fluently in Khmer (the language of Cambodia), about their love for the people of Cambodia, about the profound obstacles believers there had to overcome, and so much more. As Dave and Chris were getting ready to head back to Cambodia, a small group was forming through our church. The idea of the group was to pray for missionaries regularly and also to send care packages to them.  My friends, Chuck and Barb (and their kids) hosted the group in their home. Shortly after Dave and Chris were back in Cambodia, we got them involved. We asked them to help us get the names of Christian and Missionary Alliance international workers (missionaries) in Cambodia, so we could cover that country with our prayers. We prayed for other missionaries as well, but our focus quickly became Cambodia.

Meeting every month to pray over the requests sent by these international workers turned them into more than names on a sheet of paper (or in an email). Slowly, we felt like we were getting to know these people. Each had their own writing style and sense of humor. Each had their own ministry and set of needs. We got to know the ministries as well as the workers, and kept looking to our map to see if we could figure out the locations all these new “friends” lived.

As this internal evolution was taking place, our church was also refining its focus to the Cambodian mission field. Because of this, missionaries from Cambodia were asked to join us for our Missions Conference week in October each year. David Manfred made a special trip back once. Another time, we met Soeuth and Syna Lao. When they told their story of escape from the Khmer Rouge, and their respite in America, my heart broke. Then they talked about how God stirred in them a desire to return to Cambodia to minister to their homeland, and I felt a new level of love and understanding. We met Kent and Chris Copeland, back in the States with their five children after establishing a medical ministry in a country where medicine was often reserved for the wealthy or powerful. Somewhere along the way, we met Joyce Johns, a single woman who ministers to a very needy area of Cambodia (Mondul Kiri). We met Marie Ens, an amazing woman who left her home in Canada to go back to Cambodia and start an orphanage after her retirement from official missionary work. Bill Lobbezoo, who facilitates a college dorm ministry for Christian Cambodian students in Phnom Penh and organizes English camps every summer for his students, also came to visit our church and teach us about his area of ministry. He uses short-termers to help operate his English Camps, giving his students a taste of North American English and giving short-termers a chance to interact with Cambodian students.

Marie and me, when she visited my preschool class

Oddly enough, even social media has played a role in my connection to Cambodia. As I became Facebook friends with several of the missionaries from Cambodia, I got even more of a glimpse into their daily lives and their personalities.  By the time Marie Ens finally visited our church, I felt she was already my friend. It was even more a privilege to meet her and get to spend time with her. So on that level at least, I guess it’s not surprising that I would be going to Cambodia this summer on a mission trip with our church.

However, on a personal level, going to Cambodia is a crazy notion! I am not a seasoned traveler. I have never been on a transcontinental flight, and in fact, have only seen an ocean once in my life (rather recently, at age 45). I have never owned a passport, although I have been approved for my first one and it is in the mail and on its way to me. Cambodia is not a fluffy, tourist-y sort of destination for one’s first trip abroad. When our accommodations (guest houses, funded by our denomination) were described to us, it sounded something like this: “You’ve heard of a Super 8? Well, think of a guest house as an ‘All Right 5.’” Other advice from our first informational meeting? Never, ever drink the water, or even rinse your toothbrush with it. Get your immunizations (rabies, typhoid, hepatitis A and B, Japanese encephalitis, and anti-malarial pills for the trip). Public toilets –ewww – maybe do your best to not need to use them? There will be unrecognizable food. It’s up to you if you choose to eat it. The odors can be overwhelming – be prepared. It is hot, humid, muddy, and rainy, but don’t worry – everybody else has the same weather, so your wet/sweaty/dirty/smelly appearance will be “normal.” Sounds romantic, doesn’t it?

But guess what! I don’t want romance. I am going to Cambodia because a God bigger than I has been grooming me to do so. He has already placed a love for the Cambodian people in my heart. He has let me have the privilege of praying for many international workers in that country, to see some of the needs and also the great victories for the Kingdom that are there. And He has instructed me to go, so what can I do but obey? I don’t have any grand visions of what I can do for Cambodia, but I want to be of service in any way I can during my time there. I know that the rewards of this trip will far outweigh the inconveniences. I know that I will come back a changed person. I know that God has a purpose in wanting me to go, or He wouldn’t be sending me. Cambodia is like a present I have been waiting a year and a half to unwrap, and I delight in seeing God’s plan revealed.

Please pray for me that I will go to Cambodia hand in hand with God, listening to His voice every minute of every day I am there. And pray that when I return, I will be willing to use what I have learned to His glory.