FECDB Cambodia Missions 2016
Thank you for your support!
Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support for our church’s short-term mission trip to Cambodia. It was a wonderful experience for all of us on the team, and I wanted to share with you some personal reflections about the trip now that we have returned.
We spent about half of our ministry time in the city of Phnom Penh with Redemption in Christ Church and the other half in Angk’jeay village about two and a half hours away. At both sites, we held a Vacation Bible School program for children in the morning and then helped with English classes for high school and college students in the afternoon. We also spent some time touring the city and the village, which provided great opportunities for us to learn about the history and current state of the country.
Some of the most memorable aspects of the trip for me were:
- Interacting with students of all ages (elementary through college) who are eagerly growing in their understanding of God, their desire to follow Jesus, and their ability to communicate in English. I think most about the college girls who excitedly asked us about various English phrases and even took notes on them; the high school girls who listened intently to our sharing about how to honor God in dating relationships; and the fourth-grade girls who could already practically translate between English and Khmer and sang every lyric of American worship songs with me in perfect English.
- Visiting the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, where we learned about the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime. This gave me a deeper compassion for the people of Cambodia – for the people who suffered through those years and lost loved ones, and for the younger generations who now hold a greater responsibility in rebuilding the country. The gospel of Jesus is definitely the needed foundation for healing and growth.
- Spending time with the missionaries we worked with. I loved getting to know them, hearing about their everyday triumphs and trials, and learning how to support them.
Lessons Learned
God used this trip to show me various things. I realized how much I live in an American bubble of sorts – I just assumed that people in other countries know a lot about America and always want to come to America. But most of the people we met did not know much about America, and their goals didn’t include going to the U.S. and pursuing the “American dream.” In fact, one college student who was very strong in English said her goal was to become an English teacher in Cambodia and use her teaching as an opportunity to share the gospel with other Cambodian people. This was an encouraging reminder that the U.S. is not the ultimate goal, that it’s not our “salvation,” per se. Jesus is our hope and security, and people need to hear about Him around the world – and thank God, He is working in the hearts of people like this young woman to move them to STAY in their home country and spread the message of Christ to others.
God also revealed my weakness by decreasing my physical comfort. Our hotel in the city was clean, but in other places in the city and in the village, facilities were often very different. One night, I broke down and cried thinking about how uncomfortable and homesick I was, and I felt convicted of how even this very, very small amount of “suffering for Jesus” was practically breaking me. I thought of how in John 13, Peter tells Jesus, “I will lay down my life for you!” and Jesus says, actually, you’re going to deny me three times. I felt like Peter – having thought I was such a solid Christian and how much I would sacrifice for Jesus – and yet just a handful of days having to use uncomfortable bathrooms fairly often felt like it was going to crush me. It was very humbling. I have so much more room to grow in my faith and so much appreciation for God's grace and patience toward me.
Missionary Brothers and Sisters
Some Final Thoughts
On another note, last year’s Cambodia trip was very hard for me as I felt like it was something very important to my husband and to our church that I could not be a part of. I’m thankful that God allowed me to participate in this year’s trip to widen my view of the world’s need for the gospel and to grow in unity with my husband through this special ministry experience. While my heart has now personally been touched for Cambodia, having interacted with the students and learned more about the history and state of the country, I am also much more enthusiastic about encouraging others in our church to go overseas and see and participate in what God is doing in other countries and contexts.
I also want to give a special thanks for your prayers for our family. By God's grace, all four of us Puns did well with our time apart, and my parents, relatives and friends took wonderful care of our kids. A very big thanks goes out to all of these loving family members and friends as well.
Thank you all again for partnering with us in this trip.
With love and gratitude,
Rachel Pun