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I didn’t mean to...

I didn’t mean to

I didn’t mean to pull the sink off the wall, or turn little angels into blood-thirsty pirates and sabre-tooth tigers. I didn’t want to eat deep-fried spiders or go without cheese for three weeks. I just wanted to know a little bit more about the work my friends were doing in Cambodia, and they happened to be the Field Directors.

So God prepared a way for me to catch a glimpse of their work, by going as part of a Serve Asia team to provide childcare at the annual conference for the Cambodia OMF team!

As a housewife, mother of two, and minister’s wife, this step into Asia was a massive leap into the unknown, but I was aware of God’s presence and purpose in every stage of the trip – from the long journey to Aberystwyth to meet the rest of the Welsh team (I live in Glasgow), to the uncanny peace of mind I enjoyed during three weeks away from my family.

Cambodia in August is hot, muddy and occasionally very wet, but we adjusted well to the heat, and I got a chance to really appreciate the rain – experiencing a tropical storm while immersed in a swimming pool, a fantastic perspective on a downpour!

Our first week in the country was spent in Phnom Penh, preparing the children’s programme and doing some touristy things. We stayed in the team centre and got to know some of the missionaries living and working there too.

The conference took place during the second week, at a coastal resort some four hours away by coach. The journeys were a great chance to see more of the country, to appreciate its size, physical beauty and fertility. The conference itself saw nearly 80 missionaries and their children, from all over the world, sharing fellowship and relaxing together.

Our team looked after the children every morning and some afternoons, usually finishing in time for a visit to the beach before the evening meal.

We shared with the children stories of people in the Bible who ‘went bananas’ for God. I was able to exercise my skills in balloon-sculpture and face-painting (hence the pirates and tigers), as well as dressing up as Zacchaeus and singing songs and playing games.

It was not a restful week, but we developed good relationships with the children, and it was clear that our presence and the programme we provided meant that the parents could concentrate properly on the conference teaching and sharing sessions.

After a weekend’s rest and recuperation we visited the Angkor complex in northern Cambodia.

It was a fascinating experience – jungles, ruins, monkeys and elephants, the Vietnamese floating villages on the Tonle Sap lake, and an afternoon in the ‘cultural village’ – a local tourist centre where I was enchanted by the spectacle of Cambodian families out for a holiday, laughing and clapping and enjoying themselves.

It’s wonderful to see that after so much suffering during the Pol Pot era, some measure of freedom and prosperity is returning, and not every family is locked into a bitter battle simply to survive.

We returned briefly to Phnom Penh at the end of our trip, and I was glad to see that the sink I had pulled off the wall had been wedged back on again, although no more securely than before!

We learnt a lot about the little daily hassles which are part of missionary life here – chronically bad plumbing and electrics are a couple of them. Simply living in Cambodia is a challenge, rearing children here an even greater one.

But the OMF team demonstrated their determination to serve God in this place, to share Christ at every opportunity with the people of a traumatised land; teaching about the healing power of forgiveness and the resurrection power of a God who can create new life out of ashes.

I returned to Glasgow tired, but content that I had done what I set out to do. I had seen my friends and had a better understanding of their work. Now I know how to pray for them more effectively.

It was worth all the little hassles, and going without cheese for three weeks did me no harm, though I still draw the line at deep-fried spiders!