Travels

I spent four days in a van this week, touring the provinces of Cambodia with a video crew and assorted World Relief staff. This prompted lots of fun, and lots of breathtaking views of Cambodia’s countryside. We also saw real problems, real people who are in need of grace and mercy, oppressed and in bondage to a fallen world.

Our week started out with a morning visit to the city dump. To be more specific, we started at the outskirts of the city dump, in the slums where people live. We walked through mud and trash to get to a cell church meeting. In this place, where people live within site of a garbage mound, we heard hymns and praises, witnessed a little hope. Kids played with my purse, and made faces at me. When we got to the actual dump, the smell was nauseating, and overwhelming. As rain blew in, we watched people sort through trash to find whatever they could refashion and sell at the market. We saw children waiting to help their parents. Children who should be in school.

These women called to me from where they were sitting. After telling me that I was beautiful, they asked me for my pants. Really. They wanted the pair I was wearing, or for me to go buy them some at the market. In that moment, surrounded by the stench, the kids, and the audacious demand for my clothes, I realized I have no idea what poverty means. I have no idea what hope is for that situation. I still don’t.

We headed out to the countryside, and met people with HIV/AIDS who have been cared for by the church in real ways. People brought them food when they couldn’t work. People braved a stigma which--(we learned later in the week) keeps HIV/AIDS children out of school and away from their peers--to show love and compassion for these individuals. On Tuesday, we saw another cell group, meeting on a farm, where chickens roamed through the service and dogs barked as we walked up the yard. As I conversed (via translator) with the members of this group, they told me that I was not following God’s commandments—I was not multiplying (i.e. having children)!! In Cambodia, marriage and family are a central part of life, and even at my age, it is odd not to have a spousal unit or children. I’ll have to settle for sinning, since I’m not planning on marrying anytime soon.

Perhaps our wildest experience was being invited to an engagement party. If being married is a big deal… imagine the celebrations! Out in this rural village, the party was in full swing as a man walked up to us, and in perfect English said, “I am SO DRUNK today!” It made me wonder about his ability to translate when sober. By virtue of our skin color, we were invited, and then dragged, to the party. We actually tried to dance (very little is involved in dancing, unlike American weddings) and were offered some foul-smelling liquor (we refused). After a few pictures, and much laughter, we headed out into the country again. At this point, I should clarify that I may or may not be engaged to any number of Cambodian men, all of whom were apparently being made to dance, if not with, at least near me! Some interesting talking was going on, and I’m not quite sure what I agreed to!

On Wednesday, we met some real hope. World Relief’s microfinance arm, CREDIT, was meeting with clients, and we tagged along to visit women who make bamboo baskets and sell them for less than fifty cents apiece. They are making enough money to pay back small loans, and to continue to take out more. We saw a family of potters, making clay into banks, vases, and jars to sell in the market. The father, mother, and their many daughters are all employed in this business. It was beautiful. It was here that I thought, “maybe we have a shot at helping people. Maybe they don’t have to end up picking up trash.”


By Thursday, I wasn’t sure I could process any more ministry. Yet, this was the day we encountered Hope for Cambodia’s Children, or the Hope Project. Every day, in villages throughout several provinces, our staff and volunteers sing songs, play games, put on puppet shows and dramas that teach kids about healthy living and following Christ. We watched over 100 kids scream “Hallelujah” under a bright Cambodian sun. Amazing.

When I started to write this, I wanted to convey some of the heartbreak I feel when I look around Cambodia. This is a beautiful, awful place. People are starving. Children beg in the streets. But there is joy, and there is hope. I have witnessed that this week as well. I met a group of girls who had so much fun with me, making silly faces that they followed us to our van and chased us down the road. I saw people learning, encouraged, and praising God for the ways He has worked in their lives. I met staff who love what they do, and see the impact that it has. Maybe I am too cynical, to keep seeing problems. Instead, I want to focus on solutions, on the ways needs are met, hope is restored, and lives are saved. I have seen despair and destitution this week, but also faith and life. My travels have taken me farther than just Kampong Thom province; they have changed my mindset, my thoughts, and my prayers.