mission trip highlight: cambodia 1
By Virginia
In the blink of an eye, 17 years have flown by since my first international mission trip. My first one was also with ROLCC. This time, I flew to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, with six other ladies from all walks of life: Frances, Amy, Elizabeth, Arianna, My, and Yvonne. Our team ranged from a recent high school graduate to a grandmother who fled the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s.
Our general plan was to host Vacation Bible School (VBS) programs to the nearby villages during the day and teach English in the evenings. Prior to our trip, a couple of the villages subsequently informed us that they could no longer have us. This is because in Cambodia, school is all year round. In the end, God provided, and we experienced so much. We visited 3 of our ROLCC daughter churches, 1 in Phnom Penh and 2 in the villages. We visited a slum village with the global organization, Youth With A Mission (YWAM). We hosted VBS in all those places. We taught English for two hours each evening and also led a portion of Youth Group at ROLCC Phnom Penh.
It took us almost 24 hours to arrive in Cambodia: a 16 hour flight to Singapore, followed by a 6 hour layover, and finally a 2 hour flight to Phnom Penh. When we arrived early in the afternoon, Pastor Lim Lun of our ROLCC Phnom Penh church, along with Punlork and Sia, picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel. We had a couple of hours to prepare for our first English class of the week. Since the country is predominantly Buddhist yet education is highly valued, the English classes are a critical ministry to opening the doors to Christianity.
That first moment we arrived at church felt magical. One gate was only partially opened. Suddenly, both large gates started to turn inwards, as the kids pulled the gates open from the inside. We drove into a courtyard where many more little kids were smiling and waving excitedly at us. They gave us high fives as we stepped out of the car.
My English class with Elizabeth had about 30 students from upper elementary to middle school. The usual teacher for that class, Sokhon, was also with us to assist with translation. I realized quickly that the material I had prepared was too simple, as day 1 covered names, numbers, and animals, closing with the story of Jesus and the lost sheep. Their level of comprehension was higher than I expected. To practice their conversational English, I had them speak out loud one by one. This left the rest of the class restless after a period of time. Although initially discouraged, I was also hopeful to better engage with them the next evening. The other classes went smoother as I was able to adjust by covering topics like hobbies, culture, and God’s story through colors. We practiced speaking aloud in smaller groups.
The next day was our first full day. In the morning, we met YWAM at Sambo village. Majority of the kids there don’t have shoes to wear or toothbrushes to brush their teeth. We went through our VBS program, which consisted of the game 1-2-3 freeze (similar to red light, green light), worship songs, the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, making beaded cross necklaces, and the salvation prayer. While the rest of us led the VBS program that day, Yvonne volunteered to wash the children’s hair. The Holy Spirit led her to bless each child with prayer as she helped with the hair washing. Although Sambo means “plentiful” in Khmer, Sambo village is one of the poorest in the country. I am amazed and inspired how God has provided plenty of love and care to this community through the YWAM team, like Vandy and Saman, who visit almost daily to help where they can, while also working multiple part-time jobs to support their own lives. We even met a grandma, who once threw stones when they first came to the village two years ago and were unwelcomed. As she passed us by, she gave the team lead a big hug.
Going to Cambodia has encouraged me to be more bold in my faith. Here in the states, people are almost too familiar with Christianity, to the point where some have a negative reaction to it. Because of this, I’ve grown accustomed to sharing my faith if approached. I figured if they are interested, they will ask me. In Cambodia, every place we went, Elizabeth intentionally led the salvation prayer. And many children and youth accepted Jesus into their hearts. This also included our English class, which I honestly would not have thought to do, had she not been a co-teacher with me. It was a reminder that the harvest is truly plentiful, but the workers are few. I continue to pray for everyone I met in Cambodia.
轉眼間，距離我第一次短宣已經過了17年，我的第一個也是與矽谷生命河靈糧堂一起。這次，我和另外六位來自各行各業的女性同伴一起飛往柬埔寨首都金邊：Frances、Amy 、Elizabeth、Arianna、My 和 Yvonne 。我們的團隊成員包括剛畢業的高中生和 20 世紀 70 年代末逃離紅色高棉政權的祖母。
我們的短宣計劃是白天在附近的村莊舉辦假期聖經學校（VBS）項目，晚上教英語。在我們旅行之前，幾個村莊隨後通知我們，他們不能再接納我們了。這是因為在柬埔寨，學校全年無休。最後，上帝提供了其他不同的計畫。我們參觀了 3 個矽谷生命河靈糧堂分堂，其中 1 個位於金邊，2 個位於村莊。我們與全球組織青年宣教團 (YWAM) 一起參觀了一個貧民窟村莊。我們在所有這些地方都實行了 VBS。我們每天晚上教兩個小時英語，並帶領矽谷生命河靈糧堂金邊青年小組。
我們花了近 24 小時才抵達柬埔寨：搭乘 16 小時的班機飛往新加坡，然後轉 6 小時，最後搭乘 2 小時的班機飛往金邊。當我們下午早些時候到達時，我們矽谷生命河靈糧堂金邊教會的Lim Lun牧師與Punlork和Sia一起從機場接我們並帶我們到酒店。我們有幾個小時的時間來準備本週的第一堂英語課。由於該國以佛教為主，但教育受到高度重視，因此英語課程是打開基督教大門的關鍵。
我們到達教堂的第一刻感覺很神奇。其中一扇門僅部分打開。突然，兩個大門開始向內轉動，孩子們從裡面把門拉開了。我們開車進入一個庭院，那裡有更多的小孩在微笑著，興奮地向我們揮手，當我們下車時，他們甚至向我們擊掌。我和Elizabeth一起上的英語課大約有 30 名學生，從小學到國中。那堂課的常任老師 Sokhon 也和我們一起協助翻譯。我很快意識到我準備的材料太簡單了，因為第一天涵蓋了名稱、數字和動物，最後以耶穌和迷失的羊的故事結束。他們的理解程度比我預想的還要高。為了練習他們的英語會話，我請他們一一大聲說出來。這讓班上的其他人在一段時間後都坐立不安。儘管最初很沮喪，但我也希望第二天晚上能更好地與他們接觸。其他課程進展順利，因為我能夠透過顏色涵蓋愛好、文化和上帝故事等主題來進行調整。我們以小組形式練習大聲說話。
第二天是我們的第一天。早上，我們在三寶村遇見了YWAM。那裡的大多數孩子沒有鞋子穿，也沒有牙刷刷牙。我們完成了VBS節目，其中包括遊戲1-2-3凍結（類似於紅綠燈）、敬拜歌曲、耶穌餵飽五千人的故事、製作串珠十字架項鍊和救贖祈禱。那天，當我們其他人主持 VBS 節目時，Yvonne自願給孩子們洗頭髮。當她幫忙洗頭時，聖靈引導她用祈禱祝福每個孩子。儘管桑博在高棉語中的意思是“豐富”，但桑博村卻是該國最貧窮的村之一。我感到驚訝和鼓舞，上帝如何透過 YWAM 團隊為這個社區提供了充足的愛和關懷，例如 Vandy 和 Saman，他們幾乎每天都會來提供力所能及的幫助，同時還做多個兼職工作來維持自己的生活。我們還遇到了一位奶奶，兩年前，她第一次來村子時就被丟石頭，不受歡迎。當她經過我們身邊時，她給了團隊領導一個大大的擁抱。
去柬埔寨讓我更加堅定了自己的信仰。在美國，人們對基督教幾乎太熟悉了，以至於有些人對它有負面反應。正因為如此，我已經習慣了在有人接近時分享我的信仰。我想如果他們有興趣，他們會問我。在柬埔寨，我們每到一個地方，Elizabeth都會有意地帶領救贖禱告。許多兒童和青少年接受了耶穌進入他們的心。這也包括我們的英語課，如果她不是我的共同老師，我真的不會想到要去上英文課。這提醒我們，莊稼確實很豐富，但作工的人卻很少。我繼續為我在柬埔寨遇到的每個人祈禱。