Lessons from Cambodia Part One
I wrote an article for Tearfund about my time in Cambodia (actually, I wrote three – this one is the first one they’ve published! Stay tuned for more!). You can see the article on their website here! Do check it out!
It is a shorter version of what I originally wrote… So, if you want an expanded version of Lesson 1 from my time in Cambodia… here it is:
“You can count the seeds inside an apple, but only God knows how many apples will grow from one seed.”
I sat there, listening to the sermon on our very first morning in Cambodia, exhausted from the journey and apprehensive about the month ahead. My mind swirled with fears and questions: why had God brought me here, what is God going to do, what will he put me through? I felt so unequipped, so out of my comfort zone. I hated not knowing, feeling unprepared for what might lie ahead. But for a moment, my worried thoughts and frantic prayers faded to the back of my mind as those words were spoken. In that moment it was like God was saying to me, ‘Quieten yourself. I’m already speaking to you. See what I am doing here in Cambodia. I am planting seeds, and I know what fruit will come from it. You may not see it immediately, but trust that I know what I will make grow from it.’
This was the beginning of one of the biggest lessons God taught me during my time in Cambodia. He showed me the importance of being in it for the long-run, and not seeking quick fixes. We don’t need to know what fruit, or how much fruit, will come from the seeds we plant for God. We need to be okay with not seeing immediate reactions, or immediate change from our actions in serving the community around us. We need to trust that God will work and bring change as we faithfully invest in loving people in a way that looks at the long-term.
God taught me all of this by showing me living examples of what it means to be faithful to a call he has given. For the month I was in Poipet with the Cambodian Hope Organisation (CHO), God showed me people who lived this out with their whole lives. They were devoted and faithful, investing in their communities, striving to bring sustainable change from the roots upwards, praying as they did it.
CHO is based in Poipet, a city on the border of Thailand and Cambodia known for trafficking and gambling. There is a lot of need and brokenness – poverty is everywhere, and trafficking is a huge problem. CHO’s mission began with a call from God to rescue children from human trafficking, and through God’s provision, they were able to set up a safe house where the rescued children could be supported, protected and rehabilitated. This place was named Safe Haven and before their eyes, God was bringing transformation to the lives of the children who were saved from trafficking. But there came a point when Mr. Chomno, the founder and director of CHO, felt a nudge from God to change approach. The safe house was changing the lives of individuals, but its impact was limited to just those lives. It was too expensive to sustain long-term and didn’t deal with the root causes of trafficking in Cambodia. Chomno saw that if the whole of Cambodia is to be transformed, then the roots of the problem need to be dealt with and then change will grow upwards and outwards from there. This was when CHO changed from a short-term rescuing mission into a long-term prevention mission.
CHO seeks to tackle the root cause of trafficking: poverty. When people are in poverty, their need creates a desperation which can lead to people unknowingly allowing their children to be trafficked, in the hope of getting money. And so, CHO runs many projects that exist to help the people of Cambodia lift themselves out of poverty. These projects include agricultural and animal husbandry support, providing skills and resources to empower families to generate their own income; microloans, to give financial support to local businesses; health, sanitation and anti-trafficking education; and the education of children, through School on a Mat (free education in remote areas) and Safe Haven School (full-time primary education to vulnerable children). This kind of mission, going right to the deepest roots of the problem, is so valuable. It has a perspective that is more on God’s timeline than our own. When I had the chance to talk to Mr. Chomno about CHO, I couldn’t help but catch his excitement as he spoke of the vision God had given him for the whole of Cambodia. In particular, he would beam with joy when speaking about Safe Haven School and School on a Mat. “Children are the future of Cambodia,” he would say passionately. There is an entire generation of future leaders who have the potential to rebuild and transform their country, and CHO is dedicated to raising these children up into capable, equipped, and godly leaders of the future.
At CHO, they faithfully serve and love their community, investing in their people’s lives through their many projects. It may not be possible to see immediate fruit from their actions – poverty isn’t something that can be ‘quick-fixed’ – but they trust that God will use what they’re doing to bring sustainable transformation. Every day, they pray that God will continue to work in Cambodia through their projects and community churches, and they trust that God is at work. They take the seeds God has given them – their skills, resources, and projects – and they plant and nurture them faithfully in the communities and people around them, trusting that God will bring fruit from those seeds.
When I was with CHO, I was blessed to be able to take part in a snippet of their long-term acts of love for their country; and I was blessed to see the value of being part of such a long-term vision. Now, back home in Scotland, I want to bring that long-term vision and God-perspective mindset into my life here. But how can I do that? I can make changes to live more sustainably; I can invest in my education so that I can better help people in the future; I can invest in friendships in an intentional way. In its simplest form, it’s about being patient and steadfast, doing things for the long-run and loving people for the long-run. Taking the seeds God has given me and nurturing them in the hope that God will bring eventual fruit.
Scribblings by Kate 