Cambodia Global Xposure
In May this year I was privileged enough to participate in a Global Xposure trip to
Cambodia along with Ian & Ali Elliss, Evan Morrish and Jess Evans. The team started in
the capital Phnom Penh and we spent some time with New Life Fellowship Church where
we participated in some of their youth and young adult activities, visited a small village
school and had the honour of helping out with an Operation Christmas Child distribution
in a local village. We were also able to visit many Christian NGOs throughout the capital
to find out about the wide variety of good work they are doing. This ranged from
helping and saving the vulnerable from the sex industry, teaching English and computer
skills, mentoring programs, clothing and jewellery manufacturing skills and the
establishment of many cafes and restaurants to help women gain vocational and
language skills. The GIA team shared with us about their work and the challenges faced
in Cambodia and we were also able to glimpse a little into how they lived day to day in
a place far removed from the comforts of Australia.
The team then travelled 10 hours north to Poipet near the Thailand border to spend
time with the other part of the GIA team. This place was a city of contrasts with the very
poor pulling loaded carts back and forth between Thailand and Cambodia through an
area containing casinos and hotels. One of the strongest memories I have is watching
the early morning border crossing as people patiently waited for the borders to open
before they spent the day toiling. It is a stark reminder of the immense poverty within
the country which has still not recovered from the genocide that occurred under the
Khmer Rouge regime more than thirty years ago.
This trip provided an opportunity to see God’s faithfulness and His work in Cambodia
and we hope this will be the first of many trips borne out of the RBC community. We
look forward to building partnerships with those in Cambodia and hope that it will
inspire and grow our young adults as they witness the impact Christians can have in a
fallen world.
Dan Pang