Reflection on my time in Cambodia

While typing this, my friends at the Pizza House restaurant that I've come to know so well are preparing the same meal we had a few days after I first arrived in Cambodia. I now know that it means “cow walking up a mountain.” There are still so many things I don't know about Cambodia though, and two months here could hardly suffice to learn an entirely different group of people, way of life, language, and culture. I really feel like my time here in Kampong Chhnang was more of a blessing to me than the people I came in contact with while here. There is already an established church, although small, in many of the cities of Cambodia. Believers are able to worship freely with no persecution from the government now, which is a tremendous blessing and answer to prayer. A large amount of the population of Cambodia however lives in the countryside and rural areas. The fact remains that about 98% of Cambodia does not believe in Jesus, and there are many who have not even heard His name.

I was able to visit a few of the house churches that meet in these rural settings with my friend Sina and see how God has been moving through this movement. There are some powerful things happening here in the name of Jesus Christ that are bringing people to faith in Him. I heard some of the most powerful and miraculous testimonies in these settings, and this is how the Church in Cambodia needs to grow. The churches that have been established in these city settings need to focus their support and efforts on village missionaries like Sina, that will live like the people, talk the same language, and be the most effective at bringing the Gospel to a nation that is so dark and trapped in spiritual bondage to the enemy. As American believers who grew up in an entirely different setting, we can still come alongside and encourage and train these believers to fulfill this work, and I would love to come back and do just that sometime in the future.

My favorite thing about Cambodia at the beginning of my trip was the people, and that has not changed at all throughout my time here. The overall friendliness of just about everyone I came in contact with was overwhelming, and the relationships that I've been able to start have been a huge blessing to me. The amount of love I felt at a church I have only visited three times here and the prayers they spoke for me I feel could not be matched at churches I have spent years at in the States. I really am going to miss the people I've met here terribly. The question I've heard more than any other from them is when I will come back. I tell them all that I will as soon as I can, and it is my hope that God has the same plan in mind.

Please pray for the business that Mark has begun here, without whom I never would have come to Cambodia in the first place. His vision and heart for these people is just as strong as it was over a year ago when he left America. God has been blessing the Pizza House financially, and the meat packaging is set to begin very soon after I leave. Pray for Ellis and Rachel as they seek to help out in any way they can and have been learning the language and culture at a rapid rate. Pray for the Cambodian Church, that God would raise up national believers and leaders to go to those who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ in Cambodia and plant churches that will grow and multiply. May the name of Jesus be lifted high in this nation! Thank you for keeping up with all of my posts, see you all very soon.

-Brother (Baby) Mark signing off

Last time teaching in Cambodia

Party with the youth group at Pastor Vuthy's church

My best friend in Cambodia - Chan