Hope for Kampuchea
As I’m backing up my phone’s storage full of pictures and videos, I’m reminiscing about moments in Cambodia. Honestly, I did not know much about Cambodia before I went last year in June. South East Asia was not an area that had drawn my attention… until last year.
Learning about the Past
During my time in Cambodia, I took a journal with me to write down things that I considered important to know, places I visited, and people I met. I remember one night, I was playing card games with a few friends and they shared with me about the history of the Khmer Rouge (for some reason, I don’t remember learning about Cambodia’s history in school). It was heartbreaking to hear about deadly stories and so much injustice that happened during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1978. A local friend also shared about tragedies that happened to her grandparents, how devastating it was for her family and it still affects her in the present.
Healing and Restoration
As I was part of pioneering the first School of Worship training program at Battambang with Khmer young people, I was encouraged to see the passion that they had for Jesus and for their whole nation to know God. Many have faced challenging and traumatic situations with their families and society, but through their life stories, they share how Jesus has transformed their lives, bringing healing and restoration to their families.
Golden Land
The song called “Golden Land” by Life Band shares how the Khmer faced hurt and pain, but they are filled with hope that God gives them and the promise of restoration for their people through Jesus. This is part of the chorus that I would like to share with you:
“And we have this hope, the promise you gave
so walls now fall down, sons and daughters arise,
hold on to the words God said
the promises He made
and now we declare
to this golden homeland
come now all to worship Him
Jesus is Lord here”
ដែនដីសុវណ្ណភូមិ | Golden Land | LIFE Band (អធិស្ឋានជាតិ)
This year, 2023 – Cambodia celebrated 100 years since the gospel first came to their nation. My friends who are missionaries serving full-time with University of the Nations have a vision that says “one nation, one generation”.
Their mission and vision page says, “A recent statistic released by the Cambodian government says: 80% of the Cambodian population is under the age of 30.”
Young people are rising up and becoming the next generation of leaders to impact the whole nation. It’s a big vision and as I was able to spend 5 months in Cambodia, I was able to see the fruit of discipleship and championing young people as leaders. Their passion to see the whole nation worship Jesus really brought more passion into my own heart.
Redemption. Restoration. Revival.
During School of Worship, we prayed for Cambodia and worshiped in areas to welcome God into the lives of people in different provinces and bring healing to the land.
July 2022: Our School of Worship students learning about different topics on what the Bible says about worship
October 2022: Going on outreach to one of the provinces called Koh Kong to lead worship, teach workshops at churches and encourage believers
Sometimes we may not see the fruit right away, but we trust that what we did together last October, did a spiritual work that will impact the whole nation.
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