Love Cambodia

It has been a week since I am back from Cambodia. Personally I would like to thank all of you for your prayer over my fear of chicken since I came to know that we will be staying in the village and there are quite alot of 'them' around...

There were a few objectives for me to go for this trip with the Boys' Brigade Boys from our coy. One of them was to face my own fear. Courage is not the absence of fear but facing it and eventually overcoming it. I wanted to face it, confront it as I am rather frustrated with this irrational fear of mine especially if I want to do long-term mission work in time to come. It's a real fear and when the bus was approaching the Boys' Brigade Learning Center (BBLC), my heart was beating fast as I had no idea what would become of me. Will I go hysterical? Will I be a burden to the group? Maybe I should not have come to Cambodia... I could only pray and our God is One who hears our prayers. Amen?

Every day during the week in Cambodia, we had to walk a distance from BBLC to a house along the main road for our meals (lunch and dinner) and we would pass by the villagers' houses and I would never miss our dear 'friends' - cocks, hens and chicks. It was good training for me! Thank God I did not go hysterical and the team need not cast out any spirit of 'chicken' from me. You know why? The supernatural power of God was there and the love of God was evident. I am surprised that I could see the hen and chicks and enjoyed the scene of her motherly love over the young ones. The Officers (Amos, Narash, Lance and Charles), the teacher IC (Karen) and the Boys would keep a look out for me. They did not laugh at me but protected me. I would not say that I have overcome my fear completely (I would not dare touch or hug the chickens for sure at least for now) but I am really thankful for experiencing God in such unique manner. Our God is real if only you believe! [+]

To be honest, it became such a wonderful trip for me instead of one filled with fear. The stars in the sky and the fireflies at night were really so beautiful, the gekco and the spiders were exceptionally big and the people in Cambodia were simple, friendly and teachable. God's creation - awesome and amazing!!! Although we stayed in very simple lodging (Karen and I were on a super single bed with mosquito net for 4 nights, no light and fan in the night when we sleep, exactly 3 meals a day), I really felt like a princess.

This is not self-deception, ok? :) I had a hand-powered fan with me all the time (the weather is very very hot), my bed had a netting that protected me from the attack of the creepy crawlies, my plates were washed by the Boys (their cleaning duty) and once we even hired a tuk tuk (the Cambodia taxi) and were chauffeured to a town clinic as Karen's foot became swollen due to some bacterial infection on her blisters. We were chauffeured back to BBLC after the clinic visit. I was telling Karen when we were on the way back how beautiful the scenery in Cambodia was and how 'princessly' I felt. She had a good laugh. On the last afternoon at BBLC, we went to visit some families and their school and once again, the Boys and the Cambodian youth protected me from my 'foes'. My heart is filled with much gratitude to the Lord for His blessings!

Though the living and school condition in Cambodia may not be comparable to that of Singapore, the Cambodian youth whom we come into contact with became a great blessing to us, especially to our BB Boys. Their simplicity, friendliness and teachability caused our Boys to reflect much and learn to appreciate the things they have. We see our Boys gaining confidence over the 5 days in cross-cultural interaction, assuming leadership in leading activities and being more appreciative of life in Singapore. It was a truly a service-learning trip for us. My prayer, as I have told the Boys, is to make application on what they have learnt from the trip. I am also thankful for the bonding built among us, between Boys and between Officers and Boys. We may not be the best coy yet but the existence of this coy is really by God's grace since 2004. And I know He is watching over us and blessing us throughout. :)


To end my sharing with you is to give glory to our almighty God for the 3 salvations (2 Cambodian youth and 1 of our BB Boys) we saw during this trip. The 2 Cambodian youth were led by the worker at BBLC and he said that because we were there, he had the space and time to talk to them more. Our BB Boy was led to receive the Lord on the flight back due to divine seating arrangement. He was seated beside Pastor Amos. Praise the Lord indeed for these salvations! I pray for more. Truly His kingdom come, His will be done! We serve a personal and powerful God!


God is good all the time!


Angela Tan