Back from Cambodia

Yesterday I returned to Sydney after a mission trip to Cambodia.  It was an incredible blessing and an unforgettable experience.  In many ways I am still decompressing as I sort through the trip in my mind as I look through the pictures I took.  God provided bountifully and protected the entire team.  Though I am a foreigner in Australia, I do not always feel like one.  In Cambodia, I almost always felt like a foreigner!  From the moment pastor Hung drove our team from the airport, it was like being in another world.  The variety of sights and smells are more than I could possibly do justice through recounting.  I have returned from Cambodia not only rich in experiences, but also with new friendships with members of our team, translators, and missionaries who live in Cambodia.

People are people wherever you go.  But the biggest difference I noticed from countries I have lived in and Cambodia is how much effort is required for survival.  The American and Australian cultures I am familiar with pursue comfort and convenience:  survival is largely assumed.  In Cambodia, this is not true.  Clean water, sanitation, and good nutrition is often not available.  In some of the remote villages we visited (maybe only 20 minutes off a paved road) the most basic medical attention might as well be 200 miles away.  Many of these people do not leave the village and even if they could, they could never pay with cash because they are farmers who live off the rice they grow.  The magnitude of the physical and spiritual needs is truly beyond comprehension.  Praise be to God that we were able to meet some of those needs! 

Our Aussie team joined with small teams from the States and Mexico providing basic medical exams and medicine, dental care, and reading glasses.  But more important than the care provided by our trained doctors and dentist was the spiritual care provided through the Gospel.  To pull out rotting teeth and supply medicine is good, but it is only a temporary fix.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ removes the rot from a human heart and provides eternal salvation by grace through faith.  It was amazing to see people drinking in the words of life, tasting and seeing that God is real and good. 

I have included some pictures of four villages we visited.  More to come!