Mission to Cambodia 2013
from Wendy Chambers

We got up, packed our things,  and ate a breakfast of fruit, bread, white rice, and hard boiled eggs with a spicy noodle dish. Then we boarded the Mekong Express bus to ride a 6 hour drive from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. The Mekong Express is titled “Limousine Bus Express.” There is a bus stewardess that wears a dressy uniform and serves us Wet-Ones packets and snacks in a box. The snack consists of two pastries and a bottle of water. The bus is wired for wifi, however on this trip the wifi wasn’t working. It is also considered a limousine because there is a bathroom on the bus. We set off driving down the main highway which happens to be the only two lane paved road that connects Siam Reap with Phnom Penh. The bus has air conditioning but today, this too is not working very well. In fact, hot air is coming out of the air vents. There is a consistent noise of the bus honking. In Cambodian culture you do not honk at other people because they cut you off you are angry at them. Here, you honk to warn the other traffic that you are driving up behind them and they need to move. It’s a safety rule. There’s also the noise of a clap or slap on the knee as many flies, gnats, or mosquitos,  are being killed. After driving for 2 hours we are all sweaty, tired, and a little miserable. We stop in a small town next to some roadside stands selling nuts, beans, mangoes, and crickets.

We cross the street to a buss stop restaurant/hotel and make our way upstairs to an air conditioned room.  We order sodas and iced coffees and share our snacks consisting of cookies, chips, and peanut butter crackers. After 30 minutes we board the bus again preparing for the four hour drive we have left. While sitting on the bus several of us start talking about the heat and before I know it we are laughing. I’m laughing so hard that I’m crying and we can’t stop giggling about how ridiculous we all are. It’s HOT! We are sweaty and sticky and a mess. This is not exactly the fun part about a mission trip. Its not the favorite moment we all want to frame in our mind and take back home with us. Although for me, it is. In this moment I realize that even though we are miserably hot and exhausted and probably suffering from dehydration, as a team we are sharing life together. The good, the bad, the in between. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing these past 11 days.

I enjoy road trips because they provide a decent time for reflection. Looking out the window I see rice fields, dirt roads, houses made of tarps and spare wood, half dressed children running around playing, small trash piles, and trash spread out in family’s huts. There are small farms, people working in the fields, small road side stands, and temples. Numerous Buddhist temples. Sometimes the temples have sides that are open allowing me to see a Buddha statues inside of them. Sometimes there are really big temples in the fields. The extravagant colors and fancy architecture do not fit in the surrounding poverty. Yet almost every home has a small temple at the entrance. My heart is broken for the people of Cambodia. My heart is broken for the impoverished. For the brothels in the cities where I know that sex trafficking is a prominent thing. For the begging and hungry children and their parents at the bus stops. My heart is broken for the people of Cambodia.

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'” – Matthew 9:37-38