Cambodia overview

Chum reap sour! "Hello" in Khmer was one of the few phrases I picked up during my time in Cambodia.  I have been back in the States for almost a week now although it doesn't seem like that much time because of the jetlag.   Thank you to all of you who prayed for me and my team! Please continue to pray for the country of Cambodia and the incredible staff at the Hard Places Community.  As you will hopefully begin to understand, there are many challenges they face every day but we must cling to what scripture tells us in Psalm 10:17-18:
"Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.  Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.  You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them."

I wanted to give you a brief overview of what my trip looked like and I will post some other stories or things I learned over the next several days.

After 30 or so hours of traveling, we arrived in Phnom Penh late Friday night.  On Saturday, we headed out fairly early to visit the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, also known as the Killing Fields.  In case you are not familiar with the history of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge took over the Cambodian government in 1975.  They were led by Pol Pot and believed in a completely agrarian society void of any outside, especially Western, influences.  Their goal was to be a completely self-sustaining nation and any one who posed a threat or even seemed to pose a threat was viciously murdered using whatever tools they could find.  All of the cities were evacuated and everyone was sent to work at various camps throughout the countryside where they learned to suppress their emotions and individualism or else risk their lives.  Over 2 million people died during the four years of the Khmer Rouge regime.  The memorial center we visited is the site of several of the almost 300 mass gravesites around the country where bodies were deposited.  Our visit to the Killing Fields was very difficult but it was necessary to help us understand the people of Cambodia.

                     Mass grave of 400 victims

Killing Tree against which executioners beat children (before throwing them into the mass grave site found next to the tree where 100 naked women and children were found).

The sharp edges of this palm tree were often used to cut the throats of  victims.

This is a memorial stupa and from far away it kind of just looks like a normal building or perhaps part of a museum.

The inside of the stupa, however, holds over 9,000 skulls that were found in the Killing Fields.

On Sunday, we had the privilege of worshiping at New Life Fellowship Church which has a large congregation made up of both Khmer members and foreigners.  New Life has church plants in various provinces in Cambodia and truly believes in serving and spreading the love of Christ throughout the Buddhist country.  Many of the Hard Places Community staff members attend and are heavily involved at New Life and most of them came to Christ after participating in the free English classes the church offers. 

Since I mentioned the staff, I will go ahead and tell you a little about them.  Hard Places has almost 30 people on full time staff with 80% of them being Khmer.  God truly amazed me by the work that they do day in and day out.  They are so passionate as they work with kids who have such heartbreaking stories and they seek the Lord’s calling in everything that they do.  We had the opportunity to get to know several of them on a pretty personal level and it was incredible to hear how the Lord brought them to Hard Places and to watch them being used in magnificent ways for God’s glory.  Most of them are between the ages of 18 and 22 and all have excellent English skills that they continue to work on through night classes.  

Chhoengka and Borey worked with us on the River Front every day.  They truly have a heart for these kids!

Panha (20) and Veasna (21) are the head counselor and social worker (respectively) for Hard Places and do a phenomenal job.  The little girl is the director's adopted Cambodian daughter.

By Monday we were fairly accustomed to the 12 hour time difference and were not as terrified riding in a tuk-tuk or crossing the street amidst the crazy Cambodian drivers.  Our daily schedule for the week looked pretty similar each day.  In the morning, we were working at the Boys Center that Hard Places started two years ago.  There are between 60 and 80 boys between the ages of two and seventeen that come to the center on any given day and they all live within walking distance of the center.  The center provides a safe place for them to play, learn English, and hear about Jesus.  Their day is structured around rotations to English class, computer, playroom, and discipleship.  Our team assisted the Hard Places staff and led discipleship each day.  Two of our team members are dancers and so they choreographed a song and taught the boys one day during discipleship.  They loved it! By building trusting relationships, the boys feel more comfortable telling the staff if someone has abused or exploited them.  The staff has numerous trained counselors and social workers that can talk to both the boys and their families to help fix the problem or find the perpetrator and report him to the authorities.  The government is very corrupt in Cambodia but Hard Places has developed a good relationship with them and they are starting to see more changes and increased support. 

Tuk-tuks and motos (basically a mo-ped)

are the most common forms of  transportation. 

Only the wealthy people have cars.

In the afternoon, our team split into two groups and half would go to Wat Phnom, the main Buddhist temple in Phnom Penh, and the other half would go to the River Front.  I was on the River Front team and we would walk along the Mekong River, a large tourist area, and jump rope, kick a ball, work on puzzles, or play with play-dough with a group of 10 to 15 kids at a time.  Some of these kids lived on the streets but most were just out selling bracelets, books, or birdseed to tourists.  After we had a group of kids, we would sit down and do a little skit.  Our theme for the week was love so we had two caterpillars acting out love between friends, love between family, and love between a boy and a girl.  The butterfly, or God, gave them different scripture every day to help them understand that kind of love.  They laughed and laughed during the skits and on the last day, the kids even got to do some acting!  After the skit, we would do a craft that went along with the story.  Several of them brought their crafts back each day to show them off to other kids!  Each Kids Club we did lasted about 20 to 30 minutes and then we would walk a little further down the River Front and gather a new group of kids (and usually several from the last group that had walked with us down the River Front).  We ranged from 30 to 40 kids total each day between the three times we did Kids Club and the group that went to Wat Phnom had about the same number.  They did a more elaborate Kids Club with games and songs at the Wat because they stayed in the same place the entire time.

Our last Kids Club each day was here on the sidewalk in front of the Royal Palace.  We usually had a lot of adults watching at this location too.

 Along the RiverFront.  The Royal Palace would be facing the river from across the road, directly left of this picture.

My roommate, Katie, and I in front of Wat Phnom, the main Buddhist Temple in Phnom Penh.

The Pavilion at Wat Phnom where the other group held Kids Club each afternoon.

The River Front is a dangerous area for the kids because they are expected to bring money home and are easily tricked by men who offer them a large amount of money (usually like $5) to go with them.  The number of creepy, older white men wandering the River Front and hanging out at the restaurants and bars along the River Front is astounding.  It was so easy to be judgmental, give the stink eye, and wish each of them dead; but we were convicted by the unconditional love of Jesus and our mission to love our enemies.  It is also common for the families to exploit and sell their children because they are so desperate for money.  The Hard Places staff again works to build trusting relationships with the kids at the River Front to find out if they have been exploited and who is committing the crime to help get the child away from the situation or take action against the perpetrators through the police. 

On Thursday, we were able to watch and participate in the boys’ center’s monthly soccer tournament.  They even put together an American versus Cambodian staff game! Then on Saturday we took 138 kids (from the center, Wat Phnom Kids’ Club, and River Front Kids’ Club) to Dreamland, which is like a small amusement park.  All of us had a blast!  We spent some time at the market Saturday afternoon before we had to be at the airport to start our long trek back to America. 

Dreamland!

Because of the child protection policy, I am not going to post any pictures of the children.  
I will be glad to show them to you in person or via email though!

Some of the boys playing soccer during the tournament on Thursday.

This trip was probably one of the best experiences of my entire life and I am in awe of all that the Lord is doing currently and is going to do in Cambodia.  The staff at the boys’ center has a very daunting task ahead of them, as Hard Places is the only organization working in that specific high-trafficked area of Phnom Penh.  They are also planning to open a girls’ center in the next couple of months once they find the space and the funding is complete.  Please continue to pray for the Hard Places Community, the children, other organizations in Cambodia, and the nation as a whole.  I believe that one day every person in Cambodia is going to be jumping around and inviting the Holy Spirit to fill the atmosphere like the congregation of New Life does every Sunday morning.  If you want more information about Hard Places, please check out their website here.

Thank you again for your prayers and for partnering with me in doing the Lord’s work in Cambodia!!  More posts to come!