When the Youth Worship Service made the announcement for the Cambodia missions trip, I never thought I would consider involving myself in the trip. However,
my advisor and my friends asked me to join the trip. Thus, I went back and asked my parents. They gave their permission and blessings a few days before the due date of signing up for the trip. Thus I signed up. I did not expect that our pas¬tor would also approve for me to be in the team. I didn’t have much confidence in myself, but I told myself that perhaps God wanted me to learn something during the trip. During our team meetings before the trip, I felt rather blur as I did not have much knowledge about missions trips. Our brother Lui Siang told us to be still in the presence of the Lord and to prepare ourselves for the trip. “What am I going to do in preparation for the trip?” I wondered.
On the first day of the missions trip, as we prepared to check in for our flight to Phnom Penh, we realized that two of our members had pass¬ports with less than 6 months validity. The team gathered and prayed fervently as they had to go renew their passports immediately on arrival in KL. We were all nervous and anxious as we faced a number of obstacles and difficulties during this process, and risked not being able to catch the flight to Phnom Penh in time. However, God was at work and He carried us through each and every obstacle – the entire team arrived at the boarding gate with enough time to pray, rest and even recollect our¬selves before the flight! This experi¬ence reminded me of the power of prayer and to have faith in the Lord our God.
Prior to the trip, I had the impression that there was no electricity in the village which had very poor facilities – the idea of having to dig our own hole and wearing a sarong to use the toilet alarmed me. But I thank God for He is a God that provides. The facilities were better than what we had imagined. In light of this, I was able to focus on our ministry in the village as He had planned for us. I was in the Youth Ministry Team and Evangelism Team. In all honesty, I felt chickenhearted. I was fearful to talk and to share the gospel with the people. It never crossed my mind that I would be able to fulfill or complete any of the tasks that the team had planned because of this.
Jesus at the lead
But God is a comforter and through His reminder that Jesus is at the lead of the team, I felt less worried or burdened of my ministry. Under the Youth Ministry Team, my role was to teach the Cambodian youths to sing the carol “Joy to the World” in English. I was afraid that no youths would follow me to sing as I was not good at teaching and singing. Looking back, I feel ashamed because I had hoped that no youths would turn up for the youth ministry on the first night. However, God challenged me when a few youths came. I told myself to go by grace and do by faith.
I am grateful to be in this team as my team members supported me whenever I was stuck or unsure of what to do. Moreover, the youths were willing to involve themselves actively. In addition, we had the opportunity to go door to door to share and invite the villagers to our ministry as well as the Christmas celebration to be held on the last day of our ministry.
During the Christmas celebration on the final day of our ministry, I saw many children coming to church and willingly accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. I was overwhelmed with joy; and grateful that the pro¬grams went smoothly. When I found out that most of the Cambodians prayed to their ancestors as part of their culture and history, I had the answer. I prayed to God to lay His merciful hands on this land.
This missions trip was also the very first time for me to experience taking out the cows to the paddy field. “Ouch …. !!” was my ultimate response when the cows stepped on my foot. I really enjoyed the experience of tending to the cows and was glad to experience village life. It was sheer joy to be able to run free like a “kampong chicken”. Nonetheless, I was very careful when I walked in the paddy fields as I did not want to step on the “gold” left by the cows. What an experience indeed!
All our team members were encouraging. We prayed for each other and each of us took turns to lead in daily devotion and prayer. I thank God for giving me this golden opportunity to learn to lead. This missions trip has also taught me the power of prayer for He is the Lord who hears our prayer all the time. And nothing can separate us from our relationship with God. Furthermore, there was no internet or data service during our time in Cambodia. I was grateful for that as I was able to fully appreciate God’s creation without distractions. How perfect is His creation indeed. It was amazing for me. I enjoyed the simple village life.
Words cannot express all my thoughts. I pray and hope that all the Cambodians can be in the family of Christ. His grace is sufficient for all of us. Last but not least, I hope that more youths will take up the challenge to join in future missions trips. All glory be to God always! Amen.
By Declan Jin
Wesley Methodist Church, Sibu