C A M B O D I A

this post is terribly, terribly late. last march, my church embarked on their first missions trip to cambodia. these photos are just a small highlight of what was done. what an amazing experience this was to travel this land that has been rebuilding itself from the horrors of history.

on our first day, we went to one of the many killing fields, where there's mass graves where the brutalized murders of millions of people took place during the khmer rouge takeover from 1975 to 1979. the group's leader, pol pot, desired a "pure" society through agrarian socialism, killing about 2-3 million people (about 25% of the population). these killed people were the educated, the ones with soft hands (which meant "lack of work" because it wasn't agrarian), and even those with glasses.

truly a sobering day. i was glad though that we came here first as it gave us great insight into this country

our church, koinonia chapel (www.kchapel.org), got this opportunity to come to cambodia through another ministry called harmony outreach here in temecula, ca. (www.harmonyoutreach.org). they do a lot of work in the 10-40 window - the most unreached people in the world.

one of their new ministries they've just opened in phnom phen is a Learn2Work center where they give free english and computer classes to university students who couldn't afford it otherwise. it will open up great opportunities to build relationships with this new generation and show many the hope of Christ

we also attended the local church, lighthouse christian, on both sundays we were here. enjoyed praying with them in small groups before church started and the next sunday, pastor kevin taught and encouraged so many to live wholeheartedly for the Lord!

after church, we also split into small groups and went to villages outside the city. holy cow...amazing. to see even just a small group of people with NOTHING who were so passionately seeking the Lord in prayer, worship, and teaching. i don't think i've ever seen a group of people so heartfelt and united as they cried out with all they had as they lifted their voices in prayer.

this was a young boy with severe medical conditions, causing lack of growth and severe breathing problems. we have since found that this little boy has no cure - please be keeping all in prayer

we also went out to a village in kampung chnnang, where indonesian missionaries markus and ellie desire to plant a church, school, and children's home. we did a one-day vbs with them and it was lots of fun! please keep these two in prayer as they set out on a long road ahead to reach this group of people along with a couple other villages they desire to do work in.

how adoable is she?!?! we did the wordless gospel with them and i pray that it reminds them of what Christ has done for them

markus told the story of zaccheus climbing the tree to see Jesus. hence, the village baby boy was zaccheus and the tallest guy around was kevin. we were told to bring underwear for the village kids as they did not even have their own... as seen below... kevin got a slight surprise as that little boy was lifted onto his shoulders hahah. let's just say it was the WRONG kind of wash he was wanting in the humid heat

we also were blessed to go to esther's house, which is a home for sex-trafficked and at-risk girls. unfortunately, i can't post any photos of these beautiful girls, but here's a photo of the gang standing outside their home. the couple that started this ministry has gone through immense trials, but what a blessing to see the fruit of their work. they just got financed to build another bathroom, which will allow them to house about 30 girls!

kit carson is a missionary from fallbrook, ca and has been in cambodia for many years now. he has developed a school and orphanage that has been immensely successful over the years. the school system here is not good at all and cheating is a common thing, leading to a lack of real education. 

we also visited a state orphanage. john bentley, the founder of harmony outreach, married a young lady who actually used to worked here. the kids were loads of fun, doing traditional cambodian dance, eating dinner, and playing games

it was a great blessing to meet Roth Ta, a young man who has had a very serious heart condition that was potentially fatal. many ministries, people, and churches have come together, including koinonia chapel, to raise the funds for his intricate surgery that could only be done in china. praise the Lord it will be done!

after running around the phnom phem area and visiting lots of ministries, we took a few days to get some rest and do some site seeing in siem reap. this was pub street, an area with night markets, TONS of restaurants, and little shops. (oh - and gelato! soooo yummy....)

and of course, we found the coffee! this place was super good and even had non-dairy milk! #travelingallergyproblems

here's a few photos of some snapshots around cambodia

yup. that's real electrical life here. and it even gets worse than that hahah

we spent one day seeing angor wat, which was one of the seven wonders of the world. ancient ruins are always pretty amazing

this temple was actually where they filmed some parts of tomb raider. so yes, angelina jolie is a very famous person in cambodia. 

cari, our never ending source of laughter and entertainment :)

most people don't have cars unless they're rich. and even so, the streets are absolute CHAOS so really it's way more efficient to ride something small like a moped or motorcyle. they attach a little cart to it and call it a tuk-tuk. the photo below just shows the crazy things they can do with these motos. and not pictured - a moto with a family of five (yes, five) all squeezed on it

we fed pineapples to the elephants!

the infamous tuk-tuk rides

this trip was such a good reminder to me of the struggles so many face on a daily basis. the immense needs outside my own little american world. to be stirred once again towards missions (more on that on the next blog post).

i want to end with this photo that i actually didn't take but totally love. this is a little girl, standing next to a metal can with her father (not pictured) while they gathered drinking water from the pond behind her in the photo. yes, that's their drinking water.

i think of this verse, which is a sobering thought. so many of the ministries we saw and the people we came in contact with seem so small and little in comparison to the needs that are out there. yet Jesus himself says these words in matthew 25

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

the trip was amazing and i'm so excited to have this new season of opportunities open for our church! if you would like to watch a great highlight video that bailee, our pastor's daughter and worship leader made - click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-kbUiYORjQ