Mission to Cambodia 2013
from Morgan Higginbotham
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there, especially our moms that are half of a world away. Thank you for all that you’ve done for us throughout our lives, and a special thank you to Mrs. Taplin, Mrs. Blank, Mrs. Dryden, and Ms. Morse for being our Cambodian mommas during the trip!
Today marks one week since we flew out of Nashville International Airport, and there was no better way to complete our first full week in Cambodia than with a day of church and rest. We arrived at the church and were greeted with smiling faces and a band ready for worship. If you’ve never been to a church service in another country, no description can do it justice. To hear a song being sung in two different languages simultaneously worshipping the same Creator is a soul-shaking experience to say the least. I don’t know about you, but I oftentimes forget that God isn’t an American. He doesn’t exclusively speak English, and He didn’t only make the people that live in my country. Instead, He created this entire planet and died for every single person that has ever lived with an unconditional love. There’s a song our church friends love to sing with the following lyrics: “Can you hear them, hear them singing? The people they’re rejoicing; with one voice they are shouting. Singing halle-hallelujah, praises heard around the world.” This morning we had the pleasure of singing with one united voice to a God who carefully made all of us.
Without a doubt, this country is home to the poorest people I’ve ever met, but despite the poverty even within the church congregation, there was no hesitation to give obediently. As one of the speakers said this morning: “How do you know what to give? Whether it’s 10% of your wages or 100% of your heart, make sure to give to God what belongs to God.” Christians in Cambodia make up 1-1.5% of the population, but that 1.5% taught me more about faith than I have ever learned.
The rest of the day was free of obligations, and we made the best of it! We began our “Sunday Funday” as a collective group at a restaurant called “Friends”, an NGO that helps children that are in at-risk environments, such as orphans or homeless families, by training them to be cooks, servers, and artists so that they can break the cycle of poverty in their lives. Sounds amazing, right? Well, the food was just as great as the mission, so our tummies and hearts are equally happy. Then we split off into a few groups for exploration around Phnom Penh; some of us went to Art Street (a street filled with shops that sell…well, art), the Russian Market, massage parlors, and other shopping and sight-seeing destinations. A few hours later we met up all together again to go to our new church friends’ home. We were all excited to go to a home rather than a hotel and enjoy all of the amenities that went along with it, such as a swimming pool, pizza, and (best of all) English speaking conversation! We learned so much from this very inspiring family who literally sold everything they owned to move to Cambodia a year ago. And what a blessing they are to this city!
Tomorrow we set out to travel to Siem Reap, home to the eighth wonder of the world and elephants that will give us a ride up the mountain! Until then, enjoy your Mother’s Day!