John 15:12

It would not be exaggerated to say that this is a trip that has significant influence in my life. So much thinking, processing and praying during this two weeks not only changed my perspectives on many things, but also helped me better understand myself.

 

One thing I’ve learnt from the trip is that people always need hope. I didn’t realize hope is so important in our lives until I saw so many desperate people in Cambodia. Through the trip to the Killing Field and S21, I could imagine the despair that the people experienced in Khmer Rouge. Also with the understanding of human trafficking and the sex industries in Cambodia, I saw the situation pretty hopeless. So I had to start to ask myself, what is the hope for them? For me, I always have God to rely on in whatever circumstances (I would say I still struggle in some circumstances). But for them, if they don’t know or believe there is a God, the hopelessness could be devastating, because it seems there is no way out, it seems there is no choice for these little girls who have to sell their body. But think about it, do they really have no choice? Can they survive without sinning? I think the only hope is that people would go and help them out and tell them about the powerful and merciful God that would exercise righteousness and justice. And it is awesome to see lots of NGOs are pouring into Cambodia for this goal.

 

During this service trip, I’ve learnt about myself is that I have more passion in serving young adults than kids. We spent most of trip teaching and hanging out with little kids, which was an amazingly enjoyable part of the 2 weeks. While most of our team got really exciting playing with the little ones, I realized I didn’t really have a great passion for them. In fact, I enjoyed hanging out and fooling around with them, but it wouldn’t necessarily fire me up. However, when I was around young men and women, I felt a greater compassion towards them. I found out that I loved to talk to them and hang out with them. I loved to engage them spiritually and encourage them to walk with Christ. During the whole trip I spent most of the time with Yuki, a graduate from TIS. Even though we grew up in very different background, we were able to bind together comfortably. I felt a deep compassion for him to know the Lord our God and prayed day and night for him, sometime even in tears. And I was so happy to see Jesus amazingly working in his life during this trip. Even though he still has some doubts, as all of us do, I really pray that he would leave the door open for God. Besides hanging out with Yuki, I was very excited to get to know a lot of the young men and women who were fighting for Christ in the frontier battle field of Cambodia to bring light and hope to people here. They were a great encouragement for me, and they might become the major motivation for me to come back to Cambodia in the future.

 

Regarding to fighting human trafficking, our contribution in these 2 weeks was very limited. But there is no doubt that these experiences had shaped me to be a better person, I think that is what matters the most to my heavenly father.

 

May His abundant grace be with the world He loves!  ~Bobby