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As it usually happens, short term missions are more a time for growth for the team that went. This one was of no difference. As I was standing in the middle of the rooms of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, seeing the remains of the sufferings of the country Cambodia, my heart broke and suddenly I could not answer questions like, "If God is loving, why is there suffering?" Things I thought I already knew the answer to. No answer seem to be enough. However, I now realize that there was something
that God wanted me to see. Through the passion of the missionaries over Cambodia, and the unexplainable peace that God gives, I realize that when God is the passion and center of our lives, beautiful miracles happen that no man can explain. Perhaps I will never completely understand God until I get to heaven, but I relearned the lesson and importance of having God
as our passion for life. Cambodia is a country that has went through much suffering, if God calls you to go, will you go to reach out and show them God's love? What is your passion?
---- Eunice Poon
It is difficult to sum up what I remember about Cambodia to a restricted number of words, however I will try my best to choose one significant moment that will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. We were at Preahket Malia, the veteran's hospital, which is more accurately described as a warehouse for people- 52% of which had AIDS. These were veterans that were
injured in the war, and basically they and their families were deemed useless by the government. The living conditions were poor, and occasionally more than two families were crammed in a tiny room rationing what little food they were given. We walked around and talked to people, and prayed for them. It was heart wrenching to decline requests for Bibles and medicine, and it was difficult to see all the children living in those conditions.
In the courtyard I started playing with this little boy, and based on our extreme language barrier, it was interesting to think of how to communicate to him. I certainly couldn't understand him, and he couldn't understand me. I began drawing pictures in the dirt with his wooden stick, and soon I looked
up to find a small crowd of kids and adults surrounding the tiny little dirt area we were huddled around. We went back and forth naming objects in English and Khmer, and soon they would take turns drawing things, and we would all guess.
It was one of the most insightful moments I have ever had, to be surrounded by strangers and to feel so much compassion for them. With the help of some translators, we soon helped organized games for them, and it reminded me of a spontaneous Urban Encounter event. The crowd of kids also attracted their
parents, and soon we had an audience of adults watching us play games like Red light, Green light. Dave Everitt, the missionary we were with said he had never seen anything like it in the years he had served there.
These kids did not know or understand us, yet they listened and played with us. Lily came up to me, and told me that a translator had overheard two kids talking about us. One had said to the other, "Go play with Jesus." It was amazing to realize that God's love can truly work through anything, and the
fact that I was there experiencing it firsthand was also unimaginable and a blessing. The time that I spent at Preahket Malia, was one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done, and overall the time in Cambodia really changed my life. This mission trip opened my eyes to a reality that is easily forgotten in the day to day life in the states. I learned more about myself, missions, life, and God in that short amount of time, than I ever hoped to realize. Before I went, I could definitely say that my life wouldn't include being a long term
missionary, however, God touched my heart in ways that I could not have imagined, and now I can say with confidence that someday God's going to send me somewhere, and amaze and teach me even more. Thank you for taking the time to read this. God bless!
---- Julie Fu
This was my second trip back to Cambodia. It was like visiting an old friend. Particularly significant for me was sharing this trip with 3 college students whom I'd known and taught since they were in kindergarten.
I've always felt that short-term missions do its best work when they leave something behind for the existing long-term ministries. In this respect, God used us. We learned a Gospel skit (taught to us by a team from ECC) and shared it at two churches, at the Partners Int'l student center, and at the House of Hope. At the latter two places, we taught the PI students and the HOH girls how to do the skit themselves. Enthusiasm to learn abounded, despite the language barrier. We all had a lot of fun learning and teaching it. The HOH girls have since performed the skit to their own church and at a youth conference. Even though they didn't have all the right cues
and props in place, they were VERY expressive. I was moved watching them perform. It's been special to see God's story of salvation passed along through this unique medium.
---- Sam Cheng
First off I want to thank ECC for giving us the opportunity to go to Cambodia. It was an amazing trip that spoke volumes to our
hearts. Although a paragraph cannot suffice in summing up the trip, here are some things that I learned and will remember. Many people told me that my life would change after returning and to be honest, I didn't believe them. I didn't see how such a short trip could change my life. But God used my lack of faith to show me all the things He was doing in Cambodia and how those things affected my heart. My life has changed since I've come back. I see our society in a different way and my understanding of it has expanded from tunnel vision to a broad
spectrum. Oddly enough, these changes in my heart affect my daily decisions now. This trip also reaffirmed my committment to do whatever God commands me to. I'm thankful for the changes that have happened because I know God did them and is continuing to prepare and mold me for what lies ahead in the future. While in Cambodia we had the change to talk to some of the missionaries, which was a great blessing to me. There was a common thing that they all shared with us. While it was hard being in Cambodia and having to give up dreams of worldy success and wealth, God had given them so much more during the time they served there. And while it is still hard, they have chose to listen to Him instead of ignoring His calling. It gave me comfort to know if God calls me overseas, He will hold my hand and fill those places in my heart that will be anxious from
leaving a privileged life with things that are greater than money and status. It's exciting to see what God is doing there. I would encourage everyone to see what they can do in the mission field whether it be here in Seattle or somewhere like Cambodia. God can do so much with a willing heart.
---- Marian Tseng
I thank God and ECC for the opportunity to join the mission team to Cambodia. It has been over twenty years since my parents and I have been back. Being there brings back memories of how God has blessed us and loved us. Even though it was a horrible time in our life, He protected and delivered us out of the reign of the Khmer Rouge. It is amazing to see how God can use ircumstances and people to bring us to Him. While we were visiting Phnom Penh Bible School, we meet a missionary named Alice, who lead my parents to the Lord while we were in the refugee camp in Thailand. God used her to touch, not only my parents’ life, but from there all of my siblings. It was wonderful to be able to share with our relatives and the people there, about God and the peace and joy we can experience with Him. And also how He can change and touch all of our life in a very special way. It was even more wonderful to have them express a desire to know the Lord more and to accept Him as their personal savior. From fellowshipping with the students, to visiting and playing with the orphans and the children at the veteran’s hospital, and spending time with the girls at House of Hope, I feel blessed to be able to go and see the great love and
mercy God has for all His people.
---- Lily Chang
I've been praying for many years about going overseas as a medical missionary. While I've wondered if the Lord was calling me to this, I never knew it in my heart as a certainty. Now I do. The Lord has changed me over the years as I have delighted myself in Him, so that going overseas has become a desire of my
heart. I am hoping to go back longer term to Cambodia next year.
One of the ways the Lord touched my heart was through a visit to a hospital AIDS ward in Cambodia. There, I saw the difference between what I do and what God accomplishes. In Seattle, I treat many patients with AIDS. With medical care, we can prolong these patients' lives for decades. Unfortunately, many of them use their extended lives to frequent the gay bathhouses for sex with random partners or to continue abusing intravenous drugs. In contrast, the AIDS ward in Cambodia is a place where there are almost no medical resources to care for the patients. Imminent physical death is a certainty for all of them. Yet the
Lord is at work among the patients bringing some to eternal life. One such patient was a woman who contracted AIDS from her promiscuous husband. She will die in a matter of months to years. Yet with her time left, she is caring for someone
even more vulnerable than herself... a two year HIV positive boy whose parents both died of AIDS. She is a living sacrifice.
I struggle when I think about giving up my medical training to serve in a Third World country. I have invested ten long years, as well as thousand of dollars, in my training. Much of my hard earned knowledge will go to waste in Cambodia where there no resources to support advanced medical technology or to purchase
expensive medications. But I also offer myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord. I do this in the hope that my efforts will gain more than just physical life for people, but rather eternal life. I willingly put myself in a place of weakness
and inadequacy in the hope that I will see the strength and the grace of the Lord at work.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10: "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
---- Tina Chang
Through out the years, God has blessed me with many opportunities to share his love with others, with Urban Encounter and two Mexico Missions
being the prominent examples, and also probably some of the most important and life-altering experiences of my life. Through my missions
experiences, I have always found great joy in participating, yet I dreaded to consider ever becoming a missionary full time. Wouldn't I
miss my home, family, friends, television, computer, my life? I feared that I would not be able to handle so big a sacrifice. However, the
Missionaries we met in Cambodia, David & Moon-jung Ooi, Dave Everett and his family, Steve and Jill (Fisk), Missionaries who
have dedicated and sacrificed their lives in order to serve God and Cambodia, showed me how great a blessing it is to serve God. The
sacrifices they made are real, but through these sacrifices God granted them joy and peace, and it became clear to me that God's grace is more
than sufficient to meet all my needs and wants. I had heard this many times before in church and even experienced it in short-term missions,
but to see this grace in real life, and see how God uses it to touch his servants and those they serve, showed me just how boundless God's love
is. I believe now that if God's plan is for me to go to into the Missions field, then I am ready for it, and am eager to see how God
wishes to bless my life.
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