What Cambodia Taught Me

(You’ll have to bear with me for this one, it’s going to be a little sappy. But I feel like it has to be because Cambodia was so beyond impactful to me.)

How do I summarize probably the most meaningful 6 weeks of my life into just a few paragraphs? I want to tell every story. Talk about every person. Copy down every conversation word for word. But I can’t; all I can do is try and pick the most important parts, and trust my memory and camera roll to remember the rest. So here it goes.

The first thing I learned in Cambodia is how to truly love people as Jesus did. Our host family works from dawn to dusk every day to serve their church and each other. They are the most selfless people I’ve ever met, and they never, ever, complain. We were only there for a short time, but from the second we arrived, they treated us like family. Let’s do a quick introduction, Necrue the mom (Khmer word for pastor’s wife), Lecrue the dad (Khmer word for pastor), and their four kids, Peter (16), Jonathan (19), David (21), and Rebecca (23). Lecrue cooked almost every meal, three times a day, seven days a week, for six weeks for us and did it cheerfully. David, Peter, or Lecrue drove us to every house visit. Rebecca did more than I could ever explain in just the way she treated us like sisters and became one of my best friends. They loved us so well, every day. It made me want to strive for that level of selflessness; to do all things really for the glory of God. 

The second thing I learned in Cambodia is that God is genuinely the only thing we need. We don’t need beds, we don’t need a bunch of cute clothes, we don’t even need toilet paper most of the time. Everything, everything, everything we have is a blessing and a gift. Our healthy bodies, our freedom of speech, our access to education or healthcare, EVERYTHING we take for granted in the U.S. is a privilege that most other people in the world don’t have. And you know what? These people, who have the hardest lives of anyone I’ve ever met, are the kindest, most generous, loving, and joyful people I’ve met in my entire life. They go through every day like it’s a wonderful gift, because they know it is. They rely on God in every aspect of life, and He provides. So when I wake up in six months and I’m back in my queen-sized bed, in my two-story house, with drinkable water coming out of the sink and a fridge stocked with food 20 feet down the stairs, I’ll thank God. I’ll thank Him and ask Him how I can be even half the blessing to other people that day that my Khmer family was to me every day in Cambodia; how I can share His love and strength with someone who needs it that day.

The third thing I learned in Cambodia is that everyone has a life you know nothing about, so always be kind. In the U.S. we’re always focused on what other people can do for us, so we often don’t stop to think about what other people are going through. “Ugh, that waitress was so rude, no way I’m tipping her now.” “Ew, that drunk guy just puked all over the sidewalk, what a deadbeat.” “That idiot just cut me off!” Whatever our thoughts are, they matter and they change how we interact with people every day. What if that waitress works 3 other jobs to provide for her family and has been getting rude comments from customers all day? What if that guy is drunk because his wife cheated on him? What if that idiot cut you off because they’re racing to the hospital because their best friend is being transferred to the ICU? I know that’s not always the case; sometimes people are just rude. But the point is that we never know what other people are going through, but they can always use some of Jesus’ grace and love. We’re all human, we all have bad days, sometimes horrible years, but every single person was made by the Creator and should be loved. It’s not our job to judge or try to change each other. It’s only our job to share His comfort and treat people like Jesus did, with a servant’s heart. 

The fourth thing I learned in Cambodia is that when God is your strength, you can get through any day. I saw people at church on Sunday whom I had just met at a house visit earlier in the week. They’re at church with a smile on their face, eager to hear His word even though their house is flooded and their family has been living in an abandoned apartment building with no walls for 3 years. They’re ready to praise the Lord for giving them life, even though their main food source is snails, crabs, and fish they catch from the lake nearby. Even though they lived through the Khmer Rouge and witnessed the most evil atrocities a human can witness. Even though she works every day to provide for her grandkids while her husband takes her money and her son spends all of his money on drugs. Even though he’s in his 70s, lives an hour away from the church, is the only Christian in his village, and has a heavily Buddhist wife who hates when he talks about Jesus. All of these people found Jesus later in life and had to fight against their culture to pursue Him. They don’t follow Him because it’s easy, or because it’s what they were born into. They follow Him because He gives them strength, comfort, and a tangible presence of peace through every situation. 

The last thing I learned in Cambodia is that God is very much alive and moving. Every house visit we went to had a different story of how God changed their lives. One woman was illiterate because she grew up during the Khmer Rouge. But after she became a Christian she prayed that she’d be able to read the Word so she could share God with her neighbors. The next day she could read. Even one of our host family members shared with us through tears how much our being there impacted their personal journey with God and was a clear answer to a specific prayer. One of my team members had a random Bible verse pop into her head, one that she would never normally read on her own, opened her Bible to that verse and read the verse. It related directly to a specific situation our team was going through the day before. Last but not least, I saw the intense change in my own heart and mind when I started pushing into Him, spending time with His word, and allowing Him to work in me. 

Whew, that was a long one. If you’re still here, thank you so much for reading and I hope I was able to share a little insight into how much these few weeks meant to me. I’ll post another blog soon about all the fun stuff we did, but I just had to get out all the deep stuff first. God bless!