Cambodia 07

On the 15 Sep (Sat), I had agreed to help the Khmer staff in the Children Ministry works in Kampong Speu. It was their bi-weekly ministry work in Kampong Speu. Since I was so free, I thought it was good for me to witness how they ran their CM and also in the hope that I was of any help. The start off was early. I had to be in church by 7.30am. When we set off, there were Nita, Lina and another lady (i think it was Raj's wife - Raj is one of the driver in CCOP) I was sitting in the front with Raj. I think we travelled for nearly an hour before coming to a stop at the church in Kampong Speu. It was a simple one room house with a shelthered shed as the hall. This is also where Pastor Joshua stays. And it was also my first time seeing his wife. I was actually very delighted for Pastor Joshua because I did remember that 6 yrs back, the concern was for him to get married quickly so that he could concentrate on his work in church. Hahaha! And now he is going to be a father very soon. I was told that his wife was Raj's daughter. Wahahaaha! Wah!
At the church, we picked up some people and children before setting off to the 1st venue. We travelled for about a good 1/2 hour. And it was my mistake not to go 'bong kun' (toilet in khmer) at the church compound. I was having high tide and the vehicle had to go through this stretch of dirt road, filled with potholes. My goodness! With every bump, it was antangonising for me. Haha! Finally, reached the place and I quickly found a good spot. (in the 'ulu ulu' area, the toilet is everywhere. just make sure you find a good spot) Under a good shelthered area, a piece of ground sheet and that's all it takes to have a CM. The children swamped over. There were easily 40 children. Nita and Esther (one of the youths in Kampong Speu) started off with worship. No instrument compliment, no fanciful things but just purely voices and actions and the children are worshipping the Lord. How amazing. Simple but yet so powerful. And after the worship, Nita taught on the story of Samson. Though I didn't know what she was saying but the children were very attentive. And at the end of the session, goodie bags and clothes were distributed. We break for lunch before moving to another 2 more areas. The girls were joined by another youth by the name of Sa Vey (my spelling) who is the elder sister of Esther.
I remember Esther during the Youth Camp. She and another girl were presenting their discussions answers. And both of them were very comical which made the session very interesting. A very bubbly and yet very comical young lady.
Sa Vey on the other hand seemed to be the quieter one. But she was very friendly. She just came up to talk to me. Can see that both she and her sister have a great passion for the children. She just finished her high school and I believe very much she does want to further her studies. But I am afraid it will be quite unlikely. The norm is to complete high sch and start working.
As for Nita, I think she has matured a lot (from my previous observation). I remembered I knew her about 4 years back. Back then, she was still a bit shy shy and wasn't very confident. Even as she taught on this day, I saw she taught with passion, with authority, with love, with confidence.
I really thank God for all these ladies who have put in so much effort and commitment to spread the love of God. May the Lord continue to bless them richly.

While talking to Sa Vey, she was saying that she learnt about Singapore in her school and she was saying that Singapore is a very good country. At that moment, I just agreed with her. When I was on my way back, I was thinking very hard what she said. A good country. What makes a country good? The prosperity, the safety, the infrastructure, the government, the living standard? I must say in terms of all these, we are definitely at a high standard. But if these are to be our considerations for a country to be a good country, then Cambodia has fallen way short of it. So is Cambodia a bad country? No! So, what then makes a country good? If it's not the physical or tangible things, then what is it? I was thinking hard until the Lord spoke. A country is good because of His goodness, regardless of how prosperous or poor the country is. So Singapore is good because the Lord is good to Singapore. So is Cambodia a good country? Yes, because the Lord is good to Cambodia.
My point at drawing this lesson is that our mind is still very much thinking like the world. Our thinking and consideration are very tilted to what we have and what we see. And we tend to hold on these things very dearly. And we do this, we find ourselves very unwillingly to let go and follow where the Lord leads us. Let us not look at the things we want, we have but let us look at the goodness of God for He will never shortchange us.

Where the Lord leads me, I will follow.
Not my will but Yours be done!