DAY ONE: The People, The Heart, The Lessons Learnt

My first day in  Phnom Penh, I had interesting encounters with 5 people.

1. Breakfast with Bom

Bom is the office administrator at the Phnom Penh Life University office. I had pho with her this morning. She is Khmer, born in a town near the Vietnam-Cambodia border. For 3 years she worked as a teacher in a public school followed by a series of jobs in private companies and NGOs where she faced unfair working conditions.What she told me was my first impression on Cambodia. She would be the first of many who would air frustrations on Cambodia's corruption, disarray, the shoddy national school system and the numerous NGOs in this country - some good and some not so good. What struck me was that although she couldn't be more than a few years older than me, her eyes spoke of much more suffering than I will ever face and her hand tough with hard work. But Bom is considered part of Cambodia's middleclass. How many others live in poverty and hardship in the provinces?

2. Lunch with Mindy

Mindy strolled in looking chic in a sleek shirt/pant combo and with a binder in one hand and a helmet in the other. I think when I saw that helmet I knew that she would be my hero. You see, in Cambodia, people ride motos to get around. Mindy's only been here for a year and a half but she rides a moto and speaks Khmer (she ordered lunch for me in Khmer). She works in a local university teaching English and lived with the students in residence her first year here. She was born and bred Canadian but had such love for the people that it blew me away. Those little things like riding a moto and speaking Khmer pointed to her heart of what being a living sacrifice truly means. What love truly means. Her husband and her didn't see ministry to the Cambodians as just a few years in the country and then going home. It wasn't about giving up a portion of their lives. It was about living life to the fullest anytime, anywhere and being Jesus where there was need. They are here indefinitely. They want to raise their kids here. They are in it with the Cambodians.They are willing to rejoice with them and mourn with them.

Bless those who persecute you: bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. 

Romans 12:14-15

There's one thing that Mindy said that I remember. It's very simple: "I love Jesus. And Jesus loves Cambodia". And that's why she's in Cambodia.

Mindy taught me that I cannot not stare into the face of Cambodia and look away. I could live comfortably in an expat community for a year and teach my kids from my textbooks and leave unchanged. Or I could live radically and love radically in a place that so desperately needs a saviour. I am no saviour but I know Who is.

3. Yejj Cafe Guy

So at the Russian Market I went to Yejj Cafe. I met the guy who runs the place. He's Canadian. He used to live in Scarborough. This hit close to home ... literally. (I live in Scarborough too). He came to Cambodia 8 years ago with a missions organization with his wife (they both graduated from Tyndale). Now, he works running the cafe which provides jobs for Cambodians and also is part of a larger organization that equips and educates Cambodian youth on web design and small business management. It reminds me to a lot more that's out there. Ministry goes beyond just the typical. It's in education, it's in business, it's just in loving people around you anywhere, anytime.

4. Dinner with Gary and Bev

Gary and Bev are grandparents from Canada. But they're grandparents who are still willing to live their lives for Jesus anytime, anywhere. They have been in Cambodia for 3 years training pastors here in theology and leadership after serving as pastors in Canada for years. Truly a life of service from beginning to end. While Lyle and Mindy’s journey in Cambodia has been marked by a pioneering and adventurous spirit to take on and engage in the Khmer culture, Gary and Bev are an older couple steadfast, loving and dedicated. They portray a marriage marked by grace and endurance. They show what it’s like to be in service for the long haul and keep such a joyful spirit always.Throughout dinner and on the way back, it was enjoyable watching Gary and Bev interact. They still poked fun at each other and still called each other 'babe'. They were still so in love with each other. And still so in love with Jesus. 

Things that Bev said stuck with me:

"Sometimes there's nothing much you can do here. You just love them and they just love you back."

"You come here thinking you're going to do something great and you realize that you're just like everyone else doing a small part."

We may think we can, but we cannot accomplish much here with our own hands. But all that God calls us to do is love. And that's what I am learning to do here.

Words cannot describe all the people I met, the experiences I have went through and all that I have learnt in such a short time. There are some amazing people over here - Cambodians and other people, gathered from around the world because they love Jesus and Jesus loves Cambodia.