A year and a half ago I attended a Children’s Pastor Conference and took a great workshop from Jeff Smith of Salt and Light Ministries. I have since used his materials and receive his e-newsletters. What I surprise to receive one last month describing his visit to Siem Reap, Cambodia at almost the same time we were there! He also visited Thailand. His reflections were poignant and he gave me permission to print them (see below). Visit his website for more and to learn about his creative ministry.
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Battambang, Cambodia
Normally, ten days is about all I can do on a trip like this, but I couldn’t be in Asia without taking advantage of the opportunity to work with Krissy and Steve Velasco, our YWAM missionaries in Battambang, Cambodia.
I’ve been to a lot of places in my twenty five years of ministry, but I can’t remember ever being in a place like Cambodia. From the moment I flew into the airport at Siem Reap, I knew this was going to be a totally different experience. The country is at the end of their rainy season and headed into the drier and eventually hotter season. The thought of a “hotter season” than what I experienced there is a little overwhelming. As Krissy so aptly reminded me, “Cambodia is somewhere to go if God is calling you there.”
Although just getting back into the country herself after the birth of her first child, sweet Alexa, Krissy had me moving in ministry from the moment I got there: We did children’s outreaches in several villages; youth after-school programs; programming at a government-run orphanage and work in their recently established Jeevit’s House, a support facility to help and support children at risk; whose lives have been affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Each and every opportunity made me feel smaller than the one before it and I was overwhelmed by God’s love for all people. Even traveling to the most remote parts of the city and into the surrounding villages, I was keenly aware that God knew every person by name. In these wonderful ministry settings, I became a student of ministry and ways to share the gospel to people so completely different from myself. It was an experience that continually took me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to consider these types of culturally diverse people groups as I develop materials for Salt and Light Ministries.
GoTell in Cambodia 