My heart for Cambodia

So for your reading enjoyment here are some reasons why I like Cambodia. The first time that I went there was in the spring of 2005. I am pretty sure that as soon as I arrived I felt like I was a kid in Disney Land. I couldn’t stop looking around at the people, the traffic and the countryside. It was a completely different world than I have ever seen before, but I felt at home immediately. It was just this beautiful, hot, busy, surreal place.

I love the times that I have gotten to spend with teams doing outreach in Cambodia. Working on building projects, playing with children, praying over and around the country has changed my life for ever. I have learned so much from Cambodia. I have learned about family, hardship, joy, pain, loss, poverty and celebration. I will continue to go back there as long as Jesus allows, I would love you to join me.

One of the things that I was drawn to in Cambodia was the history. During the period between 1975-1979, in my lifetime, a third of the population was murdered, or died as a result of a revolution by the Khmer Rouge. I remember the first time I went to the prison that a bunch of the executions took place at. The feelings of rage and sadness were almost unbearable. I also remember walking through the Killing Fields where thousands of bodies were laid in mass graves. I can still see the shrouds of clothes and pieces of human bone that are sticking out of the ground as a raw remembrance of what happened. Jesus heart for this country is huge and he has give us the privilege to carry his heart and desire for the Cambodians to know him.

I remember the 4th time I went to Cambodia I met a girl with HIV named Kita, pictured below. Kita was living in an orphanage with approx. 100 more children who were either already sick, or about to be as they were all infected with the HIV virus. It didn’t take long before Kita and I connected. The second day I showed up she was the 1st person to greet me and we bonded the rest of the week. Kita and I never were able to speak to each other, because of language, but she did show me her room, let me know that she loved being flipped upside down and love to cuddle and laugh. I will always remember Kita. I wonder where she is today and how she is doing.

I would love you to come with me to S. E. Asia and meet more Kitas, and fall in love with Jesus in a new and adventurous way. I would love to build houses with you, paint churches, play with children who are orphans and experience Gods heart for his poor and needy in S. E. Asia. Jesus has called us to Do Justice (Micah 6:8), to look after the orphan and the widow, and to love our neighbors. Would you pray about coming to S.E. Asia with Mission Adventures doing Justice over there with me?

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