"Angkor of Faith: Share our Story & Sing to His Glory"
Christians from Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, U.S.A., & Australia descend upon Siem Reap, Cambodia, for an International Christian Camp & Street Children Outreach.


Eyes opened. Hearts impacted. Lives changed. Without a doubt, taking a group of twelve Japanese young adults (four of them non-Christians) to Cambodia for what we called, "Angkor of Faith: Share our Story & Sing to His Glory," was by far one of the most incredible things that God, in His wisdom, put on our hearts to accomplish.


First of all, some of the "specs" of this mission trip:

*70 people, 8 countries represented.
*Daily Equipping Sessions: ("Preparing Your Hearts For This Week: Character is not a Surface Issue," "Missions 101: The Basics of Mission Work," "Let's Run the Race Together: Envisioning Asians to Expand the Kingdom Together," "Returning Renewed: Applying this Experience to Our Lives & Churches Back Home," "Knowing Who You Want To Be For God: Being Intentional About Growing & Helping Others Grow.")
*Street Kids Outreach: Ranging in age from 7 years to 18 years old, these are children who generally have homes and families, yet spend hours and hours each day on the street selling books, postcards, and bracelets to help support their family or so they can attend English school. Communication with them was in English, as most of them can at least speak a little. The Cambodian missionaries made a flier that we handed out to the children, inviting them to come and eat free food and enjoy some fun activities with us.


*Home Groups & International Groups: "Home Groups" are the people from your home nation. The purpose is to speak within your own heart language what you are experiencing and to discuss how you will apply these things upon returning home. "International Groups" are people from each of the different countries getting together to share the story of their faith & lives.
*Singing Class: For an hour each day, Jonathan & Joel taught us four songs (Shout to the Lord, God is Here, I Praise You Lord, and Ode Yen Koh) that we took to the streets and sang for the children & all the passersby (click here for the recordings: http://www.eggma.org/music/S2S4A/ ).
*Cultural Spots: Visits to Angkor Wat, Tonle Sap Lake & The Landmine Museum gave us a deeper appreciation of the Cambodians history, living conditions, and current challenges. Some of us were also able to visit children's homes and one of the schools.
*Evening Devotionals: Young adults lead these devotionals, as we focused on the theme, "Lord, I Want To Know You More." Surprisingly, some of the street children began to come to the devotionals from the second day on. They became regulars with us in just about everything we were doing.


Secondly, a story:

On the first day, we went out and met the street kids, gave them fliers and told them to invite their friends. There was lots of just hanging out and trying to get to know them. Some of them remembered those of us who came last year. They especially remembered Robert. That touched me. Of all the thousands of tourists that come through, how did they remember Robert? When we were in Siem Reap for the Asian Missions Forum, Robert would go down to the market to meet the kids. There he would talk with them, affirm them, and spend time with them. Is that so rare -- for someone to cut through all the "shop talk" and get to know who they are?


These children experience an adult life – a business of selling from noon to 1am, and most of that rejection from tourists. The rejection is easy to understand because these children are relentless in their tactics to get you to buy their “something.” People that come to Siem Reap simply want to buy a souvenir or relax in a restaurant, not be bothered by these children. I even saw one guy violently shake off a kid who was hanging on his arm as he yelled, “Get away from me!” Can you imagine being one of these children? And in the midst of all that, someone comes and talks to you. He has all kinds of questions about you. He compliments you, “Your English is very good!” He tells you that you have great potential. He says that you don’t have to sell books your whole life. You can be a tour guide, or work in a fancy hotel someday. He laughs with you and plays a game with you. He comes back the next day and the two of you talk. He talks to the other kids, too, and seems to enjoy them. He buys shirts for everyone and everyone wears their shirt from “Uncle Robert.” It’s a cup of cold water to a small child. You don’t forget something like that. They didn’t forget Robert, and since Robert brought some of us along, they remembered us too. For some reason last August, some of the children called me “Harry.” When we went back this time, a girl was asking Robert, “Where’s Harry?” Robert, in turn, asked me, “Who’s ‘Harry’?” And I remembered. Wow! How could they recall after so many people had been in and out of their city? Later I shared these thoughts with my Home Group. It occured to me: although many had been through their city, only a few people had been in their lives.

Our time in Cambodia was dwindling to a few precious hours. Ten children joined us in the upper balcony of our lodge for one final devotional together. "What song do you want to sing?" we asked. "Number one!" they said, and started to sing it, "Lord, I want to know you more...." There was crying from the very beginning. Ray, a young boy from Vietnam, tried to keep it light by making jokes, but it just turned into a strange mixture of tears and laughter. One boy was holding on to Joel, sobbing. Another little girl, Srey, collapsed into Judith's arms, a continual stream of tears running down her face. Earlier, one of the girls had said, "I miss you all. When you come back?" Now, emotions were raw because parting was so near. Jonathan said to them, "You know that we didn't come here just to buy something. We came here for you." "We know," a couple of kids managed to say. "We have to leave tomorrow," Jonathan continued, "but we want you to know that Jesus loves you and he will never leave you."


Thirdly, and finally, more on Cambodia:

Jonathan began a website called, "Shoulder 2 Shoulder 4 Asia." This is a place where you can see more stories from Cambodia, hear our song recordings, see pictures, and so much more! To view, click on http://s2s4a.com/ and continue to be inspired by what God has done, is doing, and will do! Thank you to all who were so diligent in prayer for this life-changing mission.

"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.'" John 6:35