Day 3

Friday 16 November 2012

This was our first full day in Cambodia! For me at least, it was still totally surreal to be there. Like, mentally, I was aware I was in Cambodia. It just didn't totally sink in yet. I kept telling myself, "We are in Cambodia right now." I mean, it was obvious; nothing looked like America. We had been preparing for so long, it was hard to process actually being there.

On Friday we woke up for our first taste of Gateway. This is an amazing restaurant that we went to every morning for breakfast and a couple of evenings for dinner. It was founded by a Canadian named Matt a few years ago.

Matt is awesome. He loves Jesus. He also has a Khmer wife that helps him run Gateway and at least two (I'm not sure if I counted all of them or not) children that play around the front all the time.

Gateway is special, because it is a Christian facility. So, they play Christian music. We walked in, an Chris Clayton (a member of my team) was singing inside. No, he didn't run ahead of us and set up a welcome concert; his CD was playing there. Which is awesome! He is famous in Cambodia. Haha!

After breakfast, which was entirely delicious, we drove up to the IJM office.

Driving. Let me spend a minute on that. Driving in Cambodia is NOT like driving in America. They still drive on the right side of the road (well, they are supposed to anyways), but there are not any real rules of the road (at least not that anyone follows). We had an awesome driver though! His name is Chanthorn. I traffic got so bad at times we'd hear him, "Oh my God!" It was so funny!

At the IJM office we met several people, and since I'm not absolutely 100% certain I can say any of their names, they are all remaining anonymous. IJM is International Justice Mission. They work to end injustice around the world. In Cambodia, they are working specifically with regards to sex trafficking of underage girls. They set up investigations to find out where the girls are that need rescue, they work with the police to put together busts (which is made difficult because of massive corruption), and they help to place the girls once they get out of the brothels. We heard from every department: investigations, legal, and police (I know I missed some...Oops!). The representative we heard from told us about the department and about challenges that they face.

We had heard a lot of these things before in our trainings, but it was way more impactful coming from the people who were actually doing the work every day. It was also incredibly encouraging. Hearing about the ways that God has been working in Cambodia for justice and about the changes that have occurred in the past few years was incredible! I have so much hope for the future of Cambodia because of what God is doing in these people.

Then, we got lunch with a few of the IJM team at The Living Room. I thought it wasan odd name for a restaurant, but it was one of my favorite places we ate for the entire trip!

Excerpt from my journal: "The way He is working in Cambodia makes me fall in love with Him every second! Seriously, you can feel Him here and see Him; especially with all of the staff that are doing justice in His name every day!"

Ready for a change of tone? Next we went to Tuel Slang, which I don't even have words for. One of my teammates said it best when she called it Hell on Earth. It was an old torture prison of the Khmer Rouge. People who were rebelling against the evil rule of the Rouge were brought to this camp and tortured for months before being brought to the killing fields for their death. Torture doesn't even seen to grasp the fullness of what went on there.

It's hard to process that God is there, too.

We went back to Gateway for dinner and a live performance by none other than Chris Clayton! It was breathtaking to watch and listen to Khmer believers praising my God! What a picture of unity to watch God bring the church together, from across the world, under one roof to praise His name! He is at work there!


Thought of the moment: Sometimes we get a little self centered as Americans. We forget that the whole world isn't just America. I challenge you to pray for Cambodia right now. Pray that God would be active there. Pray for salvation there. Pray for justice there.

Verse of the moment: Mark 16:15 "And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'

Song of the moment: God of This City // Chris Tomlin God showed up to me in Cambodia so many times; this day was an example, but he was there every second. He IS the God of that city.

You know it, but do you know it?

So, Christian or not, I bet you have heard Jeremiah 29:11, or seen it on a tapestry or a coffee mug or something..

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Well, this was my first big moment where God peeled open my eyes to one of His truths in Cambodia. I read this verse, but I wasn't focused on me -- I was focused on Cambodia. Get ready for this.

God says to me, "I know the plans I have for Cambodia! I will bring welfare to Cambodia and not evil! I will give this place a future and a hope!" Is your heart racing yet? Are you excited? God made a promise. Even in this dark, dark place, God, the light of the world, is working for good!

One of my teammates used the best analogy for this: When we were on the airplane, they dimmed the lights so that everyone could sleep. Every now and then someone would crack a window to see what was outside. White light would flood in and fill the entire airplane from the smallest crack in the window.

The darkness was slain by the light.

Back to Jeremiah. God is in Cambodia. His light is already slaying the darkness, and it continues to do so right now! He is flooding into that country like the light was flooding into the airplane from just a cracked window! Darkness doesn't stand a chance against my God! He is hope for Cambodia! There is a bright future ahead there!

I know this because God promised. I know this because I can feel Him there. I know this because I saw it in the faces and the hearts of the people He is using at IJM and at Rahab's House.

As I was writing this, a song came onto Pandora (my addiction). The Earth is Yours // Gungor

It goes like this:
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord // The earth is Yours // The earth is Yours

Praise God! He is in control! This was not a trip for me to do anything for God; this was a trip for me to watch what God is already doing. I got to watch an see how He is the God of this country -- how He has a plan, a hope, a future!

Here's another passage to read with a heart towards Cambodia:

"O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up ... You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ... If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,' even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as day, for darkness is as light with you ... I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well ... in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! ... Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see is there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"  Excerpts from Psalm 139

Days 0-2

So, I promised I would tell you what we actually did. Here is my experience leading up to landing in Phnom Penh!

Tuesday 13 November 2012

What a crazy day. What a crazy day. Packing. Studying. Testing. Testing. Lord, I am so glad that day is over! The beginning part of my day is all school and boring, so I'll skip right along to the fun end-of-the-day story...

After my last test was over, at about 7 at night, I got dinner with my dad to tell him goodbye! I love my dad so much! Then, I started driving to my mom's house so she could take me to the airport the next morning.

Anyways, on the way to her house, I made a pit stop at 121 and Glade. You see, Alf and Kelly had put their American fast food orders in -- a Chick-fil-a sandwich with waffle fries and a #1 with cheese plain and dry from What-a-burger. Challenge accepted. Chick-fil-a was first. I place my order and mosey on up to the window. My conversation with the drive thru guy:

Drive thru guy: Do you need sauce with that?

Me: Not today, but I have a question for you.

Drive thru guy: *Confused look* Uh, yeah?

Me: So, how do I keep this fresh for the longest possible time?

Drive thru guy: Eat it.

Me: You don't understand, I am taking this food to my best friend in the whole world, and all he wants is a Chick-fil-a sandwich. How can we make this happen?

Drive thru guy: Let me get my manager.

The manager, and the rest of the staff (all laughing), come up to the window and I explain my story to them again.

Manager: Put it in the over at 375 and check it every 2 minutes.

That was easy! Mad props to the Chick-fil-a on Glade! The same process happened at What-a-burger, but the drive thru guy kept kelling me to put it in the freezer...even though I was on an air plane.

I ended up listening to Chick-fil-a guy. I got it really cold in the fridge and put it in an insulated lunch box. Somehow, it made it through American security, Korean security, AND Cambodian security. God really wanted them to have their fast food! They ate it, enjoyed it, and, most importantly, didn't get sick! Praise the Lord!

Wednesday 14 November 2012

This was written in a letter from a  dear friend I read on the plane: "Today you set off on an incredible adventure with the Lord." Boy, if that isn't the theme of the trip, I don't know what is. The adventure part is obvious. My team and I traveled literally halfway around the world; there is adventure guaranteed when you do that! As far as the with the Lord part, you'll have to keep reading my future posts for how God showed up! Like I said in my last post, He is HUGE!

Today was a day of travel. And most of Thursday as well. We got to the airport at 7:30AM to leave for South Korea. By 8:30 we were through security, which I thought was incredible for DFW airport! And Sandra, my roommate for the duration of the trip, is a traveling pro so she made sure we both got exit row seats with TONS of leg room! I don't know what I'd have done without her and those awesome seats! The flight departed at 10:30AM (or 11:30PM Cambodia time, if you're keeping track of that).

Sandra and I had so much fun on the plane! We didn't sleep on that flight at all! (Maybe not the best idea? But we don't care!) We watched movies and talked for a while, but my favorite thing we did was play with an amazing app that Sandra had on her iPad! She bought an app called uTalk Khmer (pronounced like 'come-I') and we learned a ton of words on the flight! Talk about a productive trip!

Got to spend a lot of time in the word. A couple of my favorites:

1 Corinthians 16:11 "Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually."

Exodus 15:2 "The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him."

Side note, the plane food was awesome! I was so surprised! We had traditional Korean food (We were flying Korean Air); it was very well seasoned and hot! Speaking of hot, it was hot on the plane. Good Lord, it must have been at least 85F in there! Good prep for the Cambodian heat we were about to face I suppose... God is good!

Thursday 15 November 2012

We crossed the international dateline on our 15 hour flight to Korea and presto change-o, it is Thursday! Today on the plane, Sandra and I got into trouble for being too loud when we were talking to our teammates as they came up (We were sitting right by the bathrooms, so we always got to say hello!) and waited in line. It was super funny!

The rest of my time was spent in prayer. I prayed for myself, I prayed for my girls back home, I prayed for Cambodia, and I prayed for my team! I prayed for a long time for physical and spiritual protection for us! And God was so good! No one got sick until we were done serving in Svay Pak! Such a blessing! It is so good to trust a God who is so in control!

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

We landed in South Korea and made it through customs pretty fast so we could make sure and catch our flight to Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA! We met up with Christa for this flight! She is working with IJM in Cambodia and is completely amazing! God is doing huge things with her life!

We weren't so lucky with our seating on this flight -- no exit row! Sandra and I still got to sit together though! I was blessed with the middle seat and I got to talk to a really cool Khmer man next to me! He helped us with our pronunciation of a couple words we had learned from Sandra's iPad! What luck! Praise God! This flight was only 5 hours and 21 minutes, but it felt so much longer than the 15 hour flight we had just gotten off of. I popped in Dark Knight and eventually fell asleep. (Did I mention Korean Air is awesome? Dark Knight on demand!)

We landed at around 11PM Cambodia time, a full 24 hours after we left America! I saw Alf and Kelly from far away and the tears were already flowing! It was like being reunited with my parents after 9 months away. I love them so much.

We drove straight to our hotel. Praise the Lord! All we wanted to do was sleep in a bed. The road to the hotel was getting pretty sketchy, but the actual hotel was super nice! It was called the Moona Hotel. We went straight to sleep to prepare for an early morning.

More on that later...


Thought of the moment: So often we go on these trips looking to serve. Which is great! It really is! The way we do it isn't always great though! It is so important that we focus on letting God work through us, instead of trying to do God's will on our own! Praise God that His will is bigger than I could ever accomplish on my own! Only by His strength can I do His will! I LOVE that none of this trip was about me. All of this trip was about God, and for God, and by God.

Verse of the moment: Luke 1:37 "For nothing is impossible with God."

Song of the moment: Christ is Risen // Matt Maher So, keeping with the theme, we can't do anything without God and we can do everything with Him. That starts at the cross. That is the reason that anything is possible. My charge to you: Remember the cross. Be inspired by the cross. Live by the cross.

Is everything REALLY bigger in Texas?

So, today is my first day back to real life. Back to college classes. Back to car trouble. Back to cold weather. Back to America. Back from where, you ask? Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After 32 hours of travel, I'm finally back to home.

I spent twelve days living in Phnom Penh and Svay Pak Cambodia serving God with seven close friends brothers and sisters. During that time God taught us a lot of things, and as I reflect on everything that we did and saw, He continues teaching me. I kept a pretty detailed journal while I was abroad -- I filled up about half of my notebook -- and I want to be able to share everything with everyone! That's why I'm making this blog. I want to tell everyone what we did and what we saw; but more importantly, I want to share what God did and what God taught us.

I'm at school right now, and I don't have my journal, but I wanted to share something God taught me, just as an overall theme of the trip. God isn't big in America. God is HUGE in Cambodia. Now, before anyone starts yelling at me, let me rephrase. The way we see God in America is microscopic compared to the way the believers I met in Cambodia see Him. We don't see our need for God. We don't see God's blessings and provision. We don't see God's compassion. We don't see God's forgiveness. We don't see the need for prayer... I could go on indefinitely, but I'm going to stop there. It's gross to think about.

I left America thinking, subconsciously or not, that I was doing alright spiritually. Obviously, I knew that there are always areas to work on and things I could do better, but overall, I felt like I was really seeking after God. Let me tell you, I didn't even know what seeking after God meant before this trip.

Interjection: It's so funny. We go on mission trips to serve, to be a blessing to the people we meet, to share the love of Jesus, to encourage God's workers... I really feel like we were served, we were blessed, we were shown the love of Jesus, and we were encouraged by the followers we met in Cambodia much more than we ever could have done for them. But, I digress...

Where was I? Oh, yes! God is HUGE in Cambodia! Want to know how I know? Evidence: 1. What do Cambodian believers talk about? God. 2. What do they spend ALL of their time doing? Serving God and learning about God. 3. What do they ask us about? How we came to know God. 4. (Here's where it gets real) In whom do they place all of their trust? God. 5. What is the #1 thing I saw them doing all the time? Praying to God.

How many American believers do I know that do all any of those things well?

Reminds me of a story. (FYI: What you are about to read is my highly paraphrased version of Matthew 19:16-28)

One day Jesus was teaching (No surprises there). A rich, young man approached him and asked him, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get into Heaven?" Jesus answered him with a question (something He is famous for!), "Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."

The man questioned, "Which ones?" So, Jesus began rattling off the ten commandments that every Jew knew backwards and forwards, "You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.." The young man started feeling pretty good about himself. He'd never killed anyone. Check. He'd never stolen anything. Check. He tells the truth. Check. He says yes ma'am and yes sir to his parents. Check. He hosts dinner with his neighbors. Check. This guy is doing allllllright! (Sound familiar yet?)

Just to make sure he's covered to get in to Heaven, he tosses in a quick, "What do I lack?" Here's where Jesus throws down the hammer: "If you want to be perfect,

 go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." WHAT? This young guy is freaking out. He has to sell everything? Everything!? Did I mention this guy is rich? This guy's everything is a lot! So, he marches off with his tail between his legs. He was actually sad when he left. He wanted to get eternal life, he just wanted his money a lot more.

After he left, Jesus said this famous line to his disciples: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

So now I'm thinking about Texas, the greatest country in the world! They say everything is bigger in Texas. Bigger geographical size, bigger attitudes, bigger trucks, bigger population, bigger people, bigger everything. And BIGGER is better (At least that is your opinion if you are a Texan). 

But is what counts really bigger here? We have everything we need here. And we have enough (and even too much, in some cases) of everything we need here. That's good right? Well, think about the story I told you... "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

We have bigger stuff. We have bigger pocket books. We have a smaller God. So, when I said God isn't big in America, what I mean is, God isn't big to Americans. So, yeah we have big stuff; this time, I am saying that bigger isn't better (and I'm a Texan). We get so distracted by the bigger stuff here in Texas, we get distracted from the better God.

At the beginning of this post I said today was my first day back to real life. I wonder, though, if real life is what I just left instead...