cambodia.

Cambodia. A region once covered by guerrilla warfare and landmines. A country still scarred from communism, corruption and mass genocide.

Poipet. The “armpit” of Southeast Asia. Poverty. Street dogs. Trash. One paved road down the whole town. Villages isolated by the perpetual flooding of their dirt roads. Children hocking postcards and talismans in wicker baskets. Men and women pulling carts piled with produce. Red mud spattering on the backs of calves and backpacks, cars, and bikes.

Here, in this town of faded clothes, floppy hats and second-hand wares, there resides a boulevard of casinos. Not casinos like in the movies, with plastered smiles and daring betters and women in stilettos sipping martinis. These are drab places, filled with room upon room of slot machines and tables occupied by empty-eyed people, glazed and numbed. Sitting, staring, heartlessly pushing chips back and forth. The house always wins. There are no sofas for lounging. No comfort, no place to sit but in front of the screens, the tables, the dealers. Piles of chips collect at tables. Each chip a token gambling away

    broken relationships, fights, feelings of inadequacy,
insecurity, fear, unmet expectations,
    pain, past wrongs, bitterness, unforgiveness, conflict,
poverty, suffering, abuse,
    lost jobs and lost investments, lost and broken people. 

They come to escape. For relief. For hope that maybe, just maybe, if they can attain enough money, they can finally gain peace. It is all empty; it is all meaningless.

And yet.

In the midst of the poverty, corruption, dust and destruction of this town, there is hope. There is light. 11 churches planted in 10 years. 700 children who attended an annual Christian camp. Sports ministries cropping up to help bring options and opportunities to those trapped in the cycle. Free clinics started up by the church. Training. Discipleship. Couples who love the Lord and are committed to meeting physical needs as well as spiritual needs. There is work being done. And the Lord has blessed that work with fruit. There is darkness, but there is also hope.

While we were in Cambodia we were singularly blessed to be able to meet some of these families. Families who have set aside comfort, safety and fear of rodents to engage the lost in this region. Some of them survived the killing fields only to meet the Lord and return to the place where over 30 members of their family were slaughtered. That is the power of the Gospel. [click here to read one of these men's, Soeuth’s, testimony]

I wish that I had a camera running during my stay with them, because I know you all would be blown away by the story God has woven through their lives and experiences. While I can't share everything, I do want to share one of the things Syna, Soeuth’s wife, said.

[Paraphrased from Syna:] The corruption you see here is from the top down. Almost every night you can see police in their 60’s showing up at karaoke bars, in uniform, with young girls of 14 on their arms. There is no shame. No conscience. You cannot fix the system. The people are corrupt and the system is broken. But, that isn’t an excuse to ignore the one person you can help. You can still invest and love one person. And that person can invest and love someone else. And it can’t be fixed from the top down, so we start from the bottom and are faithful. 

Praise God for people who are willing to serve both at the top, when it is possible, but also at the bottom, when it’s not. Wherever you are, whatever influence you have or don’t have… start serving there.

[For more details on the specific things we did during our day with these missionaries, see Steph's blog. She did a great job summarizing and photo-documenting our day and some of the ministries we were able to see!]