I spent three weeks in this Cambodia, a place that challengedme and humbled me in so many ways. To summarize my cross cultural experience in one short article is impossible, so here is some insight on what I felt was the highlight of the trip.
“It’s a strange feeling to be walking around in place that I’ve read so much about. Sometimes the reality of suffering is gut wrenching. Humankind is profoundly deprived…of goodness, peace, rest and love. The perpetrators and the victims alike are living in severe depravity here. The older man preying upon the young Khmer girl is overcome by evil. So is the girl, but in a different way…”
I wrote this in my journal on Jan. 5, after being in Cambodia for only six days. Believe the people who tell you to go on the Cambodia trip because it is eye-opening and challenging; it certainly is.
To prepare for the trip, I read “Terrify No More,” a true story about a brothel raid done byInternational Justice Mission. The story told about girls as young as five years old who were sold and then rescued after months of careful planning and investigation. Then a few months later, I found myself standing in the very place where those young girls were once forced to have sex with men morethan twice their age.
It is impossible to describe the redemption of that place in Svay Pak. I was given an opportunity to see what God is doing in the lives of the Khmer people. Not only did He allow the brothel to be brought down, but God enlisted His followers to build a church and community center, the Rahab House, in the very building where Satan once ruled with greedy power. It was a profound insight into what justice truly means.
This is not the only notable experience during my three weeks in Cambodia. Our group also went to an AIDS orphanage, interviewed garment factory workers, saw Angkor Wat, met brave Khmer Christians, ate spiders, swam in the Gulf of Thailand, took food to families in a dump, learned to use a squatty potty, met survivors of the Khmer Rouge, talked with Buddhist monks, worshiped in a confusing but beautiful language and experienced jet lag from a 12 hour time difference. I am so humbled and blessed by what I’ve seen, by everyone in our class and by the Khmer people.
