This morning we met at the mission office for orientation. Rev. Lo explained the many aspects of his work here in Cambodia, introduced the staff, and shared the mission purpose - Connecting people to Jesus through theological education, church planting & building, and human care. And there are wonderful opportunities and programs in place to address all those areas. We discussed how our congregations had come together to share with the people of Cambodia. We had all collected donations to purchase water filters for the people here. I was very surprised to realize we had collected over $5000 - a huge thank you to everyone who helped and especially to our East Coast churches! We will be able to purchase the filters and help to distribute them during our trip. Rev. Lo summed up the morning's meeting by saying, "We are not doing God's ministry. God is doing it and He allows us to come along and experience it with Him." This is appropriate for us here, but I believe it is very appropriate for all of us in whatever situations God has placed us in. Are you experiencing God's ministry in your life?
Our next experience was overwhelming. Today, we also visited the Genocide Prison (S-21) and the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979). The stories we heard and the photos and places we saw were heart-wrenching to say the least. The horrendous abuse and brutal murders of men, women, and children will be forever etched in my mind. The first question, how could they do that? The second, why would God allow it? Yet, we know that God is a good and gracious God. We know that all things work for good according to His purpose. And sadly, we know that we are all sinners and that God hates sin. Is my sin as repulsive to God as the sins I witnessed today? The answer is yes. But praise to God that He sent His Son, my Saviour Jesus Christ to cleanse me from it all!
From the Killing Fields, we had a complete change of direction in the day. Our next experience was the King's Palace. It is not just one building but a complete compound with many buildings and gardens. It glistens in gold. Gold roofs, gold crowns and clothing, gold seats and thrones, and gold statues. Everywhere the opulence is evident. Opulent and filled with decorations, altars, and statuary, yet so very empty. Although it was interesting to see the many Buddhist monks around town and in the Palace courts (especially those on cell phones) it was just disheartening to watch so many people stop to reflect and pray at the altars and to the Buddhas. Our guide was happy to point out the many styles of Buddha - his hand position always portraying some other part of his providence or personality. But I wondered what it means if your God has a sleeping position and a dead position? I'm glad my God does not need a nap!
Our final experience for the day was dinner. I'm not sure what it was called, and I believe that Jesse said it was Japanese style. But, it was soup. Different than many of us had prepared or tasted before, but still soup. It was cooked at our table in front of us and we chose from the many ingredients placed before us and added them to the pot. In the spirit of experiencing Cambodia and the culture, we ate tripe, pork fat, squid, tried many forms of mushrooms, tasty vegetables, and many other meats and items that I'm just not quite sure what they were. One new taste to me was morning glory - not our flower, but very good. The soup was excellent! Oh, it was also pretty hot if you added those pretty red peppers to it- they were cut up so small who would guess they were so hot :)
We send our love to all of you & especially to our families! We love and miss you and hope that this helps you to join us in this journey and experience a little of Cambodia with us!
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