December 2005 Archives

okies, the header is probably a lot more cheerful than i am right now, but that's because i'm sick :( please pray for me, i've got a possible combination of fever, sore throat, unsettled tummy, etc.

but nonetheless, have been taking loads of photos and i can assure you that the scenie shots are simply beautiful :) we're all having fun together, so please pray that we can get more rest and everything else will follow smoothly according to schedule =p

will check in here again if i can, tata for now! :)

cheerios,
drey :)

hey guys!!!

Just a brief note to let you know that i'll be away in aussie (melbourne and sydney)with some of my friends from the 14th of dec to the 25th of dec for a belated graduation cum break from nie trip.

My flight is at 8.10pm on the 14th, and i'll be back in singapore on the 25th of dec in the wee hours of the morning, like about 3 am =p

so i'll see you all in church on the 25th yah? :) until then, enjoy your holidays and i'll miss you guys!

keep us in prayer! thanks! love you all lots! *hug*

God bless,
drey :)

On the sixth day of Cambodia …

It’s all coming to an end …

Our last day saw us having devotions as usual at 6am, and during this time, we thanked God for our fellow travellers on this mission trip and for all He had done for us for the past 6 days. We also learnt that we are all fellow travellers in this journey of life and we had a common destination in mind, that is, our eternal glory in heaven. Hence, we knew that our purpose in life did not end when the mission trip ended. In fact, this was just a stepping stone for us to continue to run the race and fight the good fight. We all were greatly challenged to take what we had learnt from the trip: be it patience, be it serving in a new ministry, be it being thankful for what we had, be it witnessing to others around us about Christ, among others; back to Singapore with us.

Our Visit to Sunshine Orphanage

After breakfast, we cleaned up and did our final packing. Then, we had the opportunity to visit another orphanage nearby. Our journey there was a really bumpy ride as the road we took was full of potholes. Yet, some of us, overwhelmed with the little sleep we had the night before, still managed to catch forty winks on the way to and from the orphanage.

This visit to the orphanage may seem like an ordinary visit, but to us, we were filled with some fear about what we were to expect. Auntie Yvonne had planned this visit so that we could see the eco-farm set up so that the orphanage could sustain itself in the years to come and we were enthralled by the huge pigs, tame cows, adorable rabbits and chickens. However, what caused us to be somewhat wary on this visit was not the personal encounter with the animals, but rather our interaction with the children at the orphanage. This was primarily because some of the children at the orphanage were HIV carriers and some also had scabies, so we were unable to hug and play with the children there, as we had done at the SOH and Dumpsite. Most of us were also a little fearful of any possible transmission of AIDS through open wounds, so we were somewhat less at ease than usual. However, it seemed as if our prayers were answered when we heard that most of the kids were at school, and hence, we only had the opportunity to interact with a handful of kids, who had already been told beforehand not to go too near to the visitors. Nevertheless, we still managed to add a little spark of joy into their lives with the balloon sculptures and the goodie bags that we gave out to the children there.

Saying our goodbyes

At 11 plus am, we were back at the Anglican Centre for our last lunch there. We were a little reluctant to go, and as we said our goodbyes, the memories of the past 6 days just flashed past in our minds, making the whole trip a lot more nostalgic and close to our hearts. At 12.40pm, we finally boarded the vans, and made our way to Phnom Penh, memories, baggage and all.

In Phnom Penh…

In Phnom Penh, we paid visits to Reverend Chee’s Chinese Anglican Church and also to the Episcopal Church of Cambodia, before spending an hour at a shopping mall in Phnom Penh. Before we knew it, it was time for us to make our way to the airport and by 4.10pm, we had unloaded our luggage, said our goodbyes to Auntie Yvonne and her crew, and checked in our baggage.

The Journey Home and A New Beginning

At 6.10pm, our flight took off from Phnom Penh and we reached Singapore two hours later at 9.10pm Singapore time. After finally getting allour luggage from the plane, we said our final goodbyes to our team-mates and greeted our families and friends with joy.

Although this marked the end of our 6-day mission trip, all of us knew, deep down in our hearts, that every end means a new beginning for all of us, and we eagerly stretch out our hands to the Lord, willing Him to use us as humble instruments for His purpose once again.

On the fifth day of Cambodia …

The Visit to the Vulnerable Children Assistance Organization at Dumpsite

After our morning devotions and breakfast, we left the Anglican Centre at 7.45 am and headed for the school at Dumpsite. Arriving at Dumpsite almost 2 hours later, we were terribly excited because this was a new experience for us. Along our journey there, our fingers were kept busy making balloon sculptures for the children and we were eagerly anticipating Dumpsite, after having heard so much about it from Auntie Joyce and a few of our team-mates who had been to Cambodia on previous mission trips before.

Our visit to Dumpsite was really an eye-opener. Never did I imagine people actually living at a dumpsite, on mountain-loads of rubbish. In fact, we were told that the children who attended the school at Dumpsite all helped their families pick rubbish at the dumpsite and if they went to school in the morning, their afternoons would be spent working at the Dumpsite and vice versa. We witnessed throngs of people rushing to a dump truck that was unloading and makeshift living quarters on piles of rubbish, all from the safety and comfort of our van. Nevertheless, we opened the van door to take a whiff of the smell from the dump-site and found out that it was actually bearable after all!

At Dumpsite, we also put up performances and played games with the kids there and had a lot of fun indeed. I was amazed at how glad the kids were with the balloon sculpture prizes that they won, and felt good inside that I played a part in making these kids happy. The most memorable experience at Dumpsite can be summed up by what one of my team-mates commented, “Just stretch out your arms and the kids will come to you”. Many of us realized the beauty of this experience and even the younger kids of our team got the opportunity to carry even younger kids at Dumpsite. Some of our team-members even had 2 or 3 kids clinging to them at one go! Truly, this physical action of stretching out one’s arms and receiving the kids with open arms reinforced the notion of letting the little children come to us, and treasuring them like Jesus did when He walked the earth as a human being. All we need to do is to take that first step and open ourselves to what the Lord wants us to do, and leave the rest in His good hands.

On to the Tuel Sleng Museum of Genocide Suicides

While our experience at Dumpsite was one with much joy and warmth, our visit to Tuel Sleng was contrastingly different. It was full of gloom, despair and sadness. As we were brought around the prison cells and tombstones at Tuel Sleng, and as our guide shared with us the atrocities of Polpot and the Khmer Rouge, we couldn’t help but wonder how any one in their right frame of mind could actually carry out such monstrocities on his own people. Ironically, Polpot and his team were initially deemed by the Cambodians as the people who would free them and bring Cambodia to greater heights after Cambodia’s independence from the Vietnamese. Little did the people realize that their hopes and dreams were mistakenly placed in a dictator who indulged in ingenuous but mean torture methods and killings, leaving Cambodia in a state of disarray and setting Cambodia many years back.

The despair and hopelessness that we felt at Tuel Sleng even now, many years from when the atrocities took place, only emphasizes the dire need for us to continue to pray for Cambodia and to witness to many more people about Christ, whom the Cambodians can really place their faith in, because our Lord Jesus Christ will never let them down, as Polpot or any other human leaders would. This sense of urgency of spreading the Word of God was definitely heightened in our hearts and we yearned to be able to do more, to help these unhappy and bitter people, whose lives had been shattered by Polpot’s regime.

More shopping! And the rest of the Fifth Day …

After purchasing hand-made crafts such as woodwork and bags from Villageworks, a shop just across the road from the Tuel Sleng Museum, we left the unhappiness behind us and proceeded to the Russian Market for more shopping. We spent an hour at the Russian market before leaving at 4pm to return to the Anglican Centre to play with the kids. We treasured every moment at SOH because it was our last opportunity to spend time with them as we were leaving the next day. So many gifts were exchanged, photographs were taken, hugs were given, fond goodbyes were said and many promises to write letters were made. You should have seen the mix of emotions that day, with the happiness and the joy of the kids at receiving the friendship bands, sweets and stickers from us, intertwined with the sadness on our part and theirs at us having to leave.

Following that, we had pretty much a restful night and after dinner we washed up, had our nightly debrief session and proceeded to pack up our luggage, ready to leave the next day. As it was our last night in Cambodia, many of us stayed up late to chat and treasure every moment that we had left in the land we had called our home for the past 5 days.

On the fourth day of Cambodia …

A Landmark in PKH’s History: The Combined Service

It was during devotions as usual at 6 am when we learnt that as ambassadors of Christ, it was important that we should not be a NATO (No Action Talk Only) Christian. This was highly applicable for us that day because after breakfast, we were conducting the first-ever combined service for the SOH children and the Youths studying at the Anglican Centre. Apparently even though both these groups were separated only by one side gate, the children from SOH had never ever been to the Anglican Centre before so it was with great anticipation that the kids marched to the worship hall at 8 am on this historic Sunday morning.

During the one and a half hour service from 8 am to 9.30 am, we got a nice balance of both the Khmer and Singaporean aspects of church services. First, the Khmer pastor opened the service with a prayer in the Khmer language, after which, everyone was involved in singing a Khmer hymn. Following that, the time was passed over to our team to continue the service, and under the leadership of Huimei, we led the congregation in a series of songs and dances. Particularly poignant were the dance that we performed to the song “You are the One” and the sign actions that we carried out to the song “Through It All”. After dancing to the Lord in praise and worship, we demonstrated the dance steps and sign actions line by line so that the congregation could join in this form of worship to the Lord.

It was during this service that I realized something very important about the dances that we were doing. All along during the trip training sessions when we were rehearsing the dances, I was anxiously trying to learn the dance steps, because dancing has always been very difficult and confusing for me. I take ages to learn the dance steps and then proceed to forget them almost immediately. However, something Auntie Joyce mentioned on the trip led me to discover the difference between dancing as a performance and dancing for the Lord. It was during this service that I told the Lord that I would dance for Him, as part of worshipping Him, and it did not matter whether I did the steps wrongly or that I forgot certain steps. What was most important was that I had a smile on my face and just concentrate on dancing for Jesus. Needless to say, the dances were an ultimate success with both the children and the youths. Amazingly enough, I enjoyed myself tremendously dancing and the dance steps just came easily to me and praise God, I hardly made any mistakes at all. In fact, Auntie Joyce, who was taking photographs of it all, commented that all of us had this glow on our faces when we danced and it was definitely a time to remember!

What also struck me was the eagerness and excitement that both the kids and youths displayed when they were learning the songs and dance steps. This would definitely be a rare sight in Singapore and this love and excitement to worship the Lord is something that I pray our congregations and Sunday Schools in Singapore will be filled with and engulfed in.

After the time of praise and worship, Uncle Hali shared with the congregation about the Bible story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refusing to bow down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had built because they only worshipped the one true God. To accompany Uncle Hali’s sermon, our team put up two short skits to emphasise the folly of succumbing to peer pressure. It was a sincere and simple attempt at throwing the ball into the court of the congregation, asking them to make the choice whether to follow Jesus, or to follow the ways of the world. I felt that this very simple message played an important role in touching the hearts of many of the Cambodian children and youths, especially since they shared with us after the service, that many of them could relate to the skit where Isabel, the lead character was tempted by her classmates to cheat during a test. In fact, we were told that the peer pressures from their friends to cheat, steal and take part in other forms of illegal activities were very real and close to the hearts of the youths and children in Cambodia today.

When the service drew to a close after the closing Khmer hymn and prayer, we distributed goodie bags to the children and it really made our day seeing the smiles on their faces at such a simple gift of snacks and toys. Following that, we spent a most joyful hour at the SOH, chit-chatting and taking photographs with the children and revising the dance steps that they had just been taught. Needless to say, a great time was had by all!

Lunch at Phnom Penh and Shopping at the Russian Market!

After the service, we made our way to Phnom Penh for lunch and shopping. We were truly blessed by the Lord at lunch when we were treated to yummy beef stew and French loaves, as well as chocolate, durian and vanilla ice-cream with atap seeds and fruit cocktail served in miniature coconuts! The experience was wonderful and the ice-cream was just what we wanted down our parched throats!

After lunch, we were dropped off at the Russian market at 1 pm and we shopped till we dropped for the next 2 and a half hours, bargaining and buying US$4 Birkenstocks, Kipling bags, beautifully-made shawls, among others. At 3.30pm, it was time to leave and on our 1.5 hour ride back to the Anglican Centre, we were treated to huge goreng pisang, another specialty from Cambodia! We also spent our journey back comparing the loot we had purchased at the Russian market. Indeed, no one could match the smiles on our faces that day!

The rest of the Fourth Night

At 5pm, we reached the Anglican Centre, bags full of wares from our shopping trip. We rested and had dinner at 6 pm, following which we spent an hour from 7 pm to 8pm, teaching and revising the dance steps for “You are the One” and “Through It All” with the youths, who had specially requested for this session. You see, that’s why I found their enthusiasm so admirable! I mean, who in Singapore would request for extra practice sessions, especially when it is not compulsory to know the dance steps? So we taught with gusto, and the youths learnt with equal, if not more, gusto, and we just had a lot of fun praising and worshipping the Lord together.

After that dance session, we had our nightly debrief and snack and we all turned in for the night, thanking the Lord for such a fulfilling day.

On the third day of Cambodia …

To School with the SOH kids

After waking up at 5am, we joined the SOH kids in a breakfast of nasi lemak (fried fish and rice) and then walked with them to school at 6.30am. And so it was, a row of happy people, on their twenty-minute morning walk after breakfast, chatting and holding hands with the kids, all decked in their blue and white school uniforms. Along the way, we chanced upon many other kids also walking to school or being ferried to school on bicycles. We were also greeted by the sights of a dead rat, a flattened scorpion and a dead snake, creatures we all oohed and ahhed about, while at the same time being squeamish at the sights.

Walking in the fresh morning air, avoiding mud puddles along the way and looking at the surrounding houses and people, proved to be a good start to our day. We had the opportunity to form closer bonds of friendship as we walked and talked along the way. For me, I listened to Mom, a Cambodian youth, share with us about her friends and where they lived. I also linked hands with Srey Pouv, a small and adorable little girl, with whom I was fast becoming good friends with, even though she could hardly speak a word of English. Yet the joy in her eyes and her hugs just made me feel so happy just being with her.

When we reached the school, the kids brought us around the place and we saw the dark classrooms, filled with wooden benches and chalkboards, something we have not seen for a long time back in the Singapore schools. I also caught a glimpse of their canteen, which was just a row of makeshift pushcart stalls selling food, something completely contrasting with our school canteens back home. The kids also brought us to their playground and it was here that I was thoroughly impressed with their agility and skill. They climbed and jumped off trees and balanced on branches will the agility of monkeys, and they were not in the least fearful of injuring themselves. Funnily enough, it was us, the “kiasee” Singaporeans who were fearful on their behalf, lest they ended up with injuries.

At 7.10am, it was time to leave the school because the classes for the kids were about to begin. Srey Pouv gave me a bear-like hug and refused to let go. I too was reluctant to let go, but we had no choice because the kids had to attend classes. Hence, with promises that I would see her again in the evening, I reluctantly waved goodbye and joined the rest on our walk back to the Centre.

It’s Cleanup Time! Then comes practise, practise, practise!

When we returned to the Centre, we engaged in sweeping, washing and cleaning up our living quarters from 7.30 am to 9 am. Following that, we rested for a while before it was back to rehearsing our dances and skits. Some of us also helped with the sorting of clothes and shoes brought from Singapore, while others interacted and sang with the youths from the Centre and even taught them some of our dances. At 12 noon, it was time for lunch and after that, we all helped to get ready for the Youth Service which was due to start at 1.30pm.

The Youth Service

This 3-hour service was a memorable experience because we were treated to Cambodian praise and worship and a Cambodian sermon, and we were also given the opportunity to share with the youths some of our songs and dances. We also had a great time playing games like Freeze and Dog and Bone with the youths.

This youth service impressed upon my heart an important message from the Lord. As I sat there not understanding a word of the Khmer language, be it from the sermon or the songs, it dawned upon me how great our Lord is, and how wonderful His love is for His people, that it can transcend even language barriers! Even though I had completely no idea what was being said or sung, in my silence, I just worshipped the Lord with my heart and the experience was simply indescribable.

Visit to the SOH

We spent an hour from 5pm to 6pm with the kids at SOH, and I had the time of my life! Keeping the promise that I made earlier in the day to Srey Pouv, I spent quality time with her and her friends during this period. After bringing me around their dormitories, Srey Pouv and her good friend, Champar, busied themselves plucking flowers and decorating my plaited hair with them. Even though I was transformed into a walking flower garden in a matter of minutes, I thought that my hair was done up most beautifully. Srey Pouv also taught me how to play a hand-clapping game and a “Tiger Eats Cow” game, the latter of which is a variation of our Scissors, Paper, Stone game back in Singapore. We also sang Christian songs together and let me just share here, that the voices and sincerity that emerged from the voices of these kids, will put any Singaporean Christian to shame. The kids just unabashedly worship the Lord and if you hear them and see them, then you will truly know the meaning of worshipping the Lord with all your heart and soul and not caring about what others think about you.

During this time, I also managed to learn a few Khmer phrases from my good friend, Sauphuan (Rebecca). She taught me how to write my name in Khmer and shared with me certain Khmer phrases, such as “Kunyom Strauline Nyak” which means “I love you” in Khmer. She is an excellent teacher indeed, and I learnt very much from her. I am really glad that we will be writing letters to each other from now onwards so that I can learn much from her.

Movie Night and the rest of the Third Night

After having a good time with the kids form SOH, we had dinner at 6 pm and were then treated to a movie screening about “The 12 Dogs of Christmas” from 7 to 9pm. We enjoyed it tremendously and you could hear us singing the theme song of the movie to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas” for the rest fo the trip. In fact, some of our kids even came up with our very own mission trip version of the song! Just ask any of the kids on our team and they will be most pleased to share it with you! Following Movie Night, we had our nightly debrief session and late night snack and then it was off to bed by 10.30pm.

On the second day of Cambodia …

Sleeping and Waking

For most of us, the first night in Cambodia saw us sleeping and waking periodically throughout the night, what with the new and unfamiliar sleeping arrangements from what we were used to, and definitely no thanks to the rooster that crowed incessantly at 2 plus am and a team-mate’s snooze alarm clock that went off every 15 minutes from 2 am to 4 am. Nevertheless, we all got up at about 5 am and took turns to wash up and get ready for the day ahead.

As my team was leading devotions for the day, I got ready to meet my team-mates by 5.40 am. While waiting for the rest to get ready, I did my quiet time for the day and for one of the first times in my life, I sensed the Lord’s presence in the stillness of the morning. There was a stirring in my heart and a warmth enveloped my heart. At that point in time, I just knew that the Lord was there with us in Cambodia. I prayed for the Lord to guide my actions and words throughout the trip because I knew that with the lack of sleep we were bound to have, I would tire easily and end up being a grouch. Amazingly enough, He answered my prayers and I was excited and enthusiastic throughout the whole trip despite the lack of sleep.

Devotions: God has a mission and that mission is you

At 6 am, our team came together for devotions at the worship hall and I shared with the team on the topic “God has a mission and that mission is you”. This was something that the Lord had impressed on my heart a few days before we left for Cambodia, a very pertinent message for our team in the mission field as it stressed the importance of not only sharing our testimonies, our songs and dances, but also how we carried ourselves as ambassadors of Christ. The message was very much in line with what Auntie Joyce had shared with us during one of our team training sessions previously, that God had handpicked each and every member of the team for a purpose and that it was up to us to fulfill that purpose. In addition, as part of the body of Christ, we had to learn to work as a team, because each member is blessed with different gifts, and just like the different parts of the body that cannot function well without the other parts, so too we as a mission team cannot function well without the contributions of our other team members.

Be thankful for the food!

After devotions, we had breakfast at 6.30am and this meal came as a surprise to many, particularly because we had rice and a dish for breakfast. For me, this was an experience to remember, because back in Singapore, I usually do not have breakfast, and even if I did have breakfast, it would be a light one. Never did I imagine that rice could be served as part of breakfast. But well, we learn something new everyday, and during meal times in Cambodia, we learnt that food doesn’t come easily and that we were to finish everything that was put before us and be thankful for what we had. This made many of us realize how blessed we were back in Singapore when we could pick and choose the food we wanted to have, scorning dishes that were not to our liking. In Cambodia, we too were blessed with original and scrumptious dishes of food, and every meal saw us having rice and one dish, for example a dish comprising of vegetables and meat or vegetables and soup. Once again, this was something new to us, as back in Singapore, we usually have about 2 to 4 dishes on the dinner table, but in Cambodia, we had all the dishes rolled into one, pretty ingenuous indeed!

Phua Chu Kang Wannabes

The bulk of our second day saw us having some hands-on action at scraping, painting and sand-papering. Donning our cloth masks which protected our mouths and noses from settling paint dust, the youths marched out to the main gate of the PKH Centre and proceeded to take turns to scrape the old paint off the walls of the Centre using a hand-held brush covered with stiff metal hairs. This was no easy task, especially since there were more than 10 wall panels that had to be scraped before the repainting of the walls could take place. It was no wonder that quite a few of us were convinced that our arms gained some additional muscles after this stint.

When the scraping was done, we used roller brushes to paint the walls and smaller brushes to touch up the corners, a very fun experience indeed. You should have seen the pride on our faces when the walls stood proudly with their fresh coat of paint, after our 3 plus hour stint from 8 am to 12 noon. You should also have seen the state of our clothes and our arms, legs and hair when we were done. They were splotched with paint and covered with a layer of white dust, so much so that quite a few of us looked as if we had aged many years in the 3 plus hours.

While the youths were busy getting their hands dirty, the younger kids were roped in sandpapering the old varnish of the stools in the canteen. They worked hard all morning and were proud to show off the fruits of their labour when we all stopped for a short break at 10.30am, when we feasted on yummy bread with patte or peanut-butter and jelly. After the short break, some of the youths continued with painting, while others, under the tutelage of our very experienced kids on our team, tried our hand at sandpapering the stools as well. We sandpapered and sang as we worked, only stopping for brief moments to get the “quality-check” approval from our young teachers, before we continued sandpapering another leg of the stools.

This whole experience was an eye-opener indeed! I mean, where in Singapore do you get to be Phua Chu Kang for a day? After this contracting stint, we had lunch at 12 and proceed to pack goodie bags for the kids and youths that we would be interacting with over the next 4 days of the trip.

Packing goodie bags and Breaking the Ice at SOH

Packing goodie bags was a relatively simpler task after our contracting stint earlier in the day. In fact, with so many of us at work, the job of putting different sweets, snacks and toys into the 500 plus bags was completed in about an hour and a half.

Hence, at 2pm, the team got together to spend time practicing and polishing up our dances, skits and songs, so as to be prepared for the performances and services that would follow in the days ahead. This, we did for 2.5 hours before proceeding to have our first opportunity at interacting with the children from the Seeds of Hope (SOH), as well as having the opportunity to play with adorable puppies and to take turns going on short pick-up rides around Kampong Speu.

Despite us being unable to communicate in Khmer, and some of the children being only somewhat fluent in English, we still managed to chat, play and have fun together. This short hour that we spent with the kids served well as a good warming-up opportunity and it certainly broke the ice and laid the ground for new friendships.

Around Kampong Speu in a Pick-up

The pick-up ride around Kampong Speu left many of us in awe, as this was the first time we could actually see the surroundings and catch a glimpse of how the Cambodians lived, worked and played. This experience was eye-opening indeed, because quite unlike the comfortable living quarters we had in the Centre, most of the Cambodians we saw lived in wooden shacks and huts, reared really skinny white cows, squeezed a family of four or five on the back of a scooter and kids swam in muddy ponds. Nevertheless, the views of the agricultural aspect of Cambodia were something new to us from city-Singapore. It struck me particularly that despite the poverty and the many unfulfilled wants of the Cambodian people, they were happy. They were always friendly, waving and smiling to us despite us being strangers. And it was then that I learnt how important it was to always have a smile on my face, despite what I am going through, the joys and tribulations alike, because I was very blessed, in comparison to the Cambodians. I was not lacking in essentials like food, water or clothes, and yet back in Singapore, it is so easy to be dissatisfied with what we have.

Christmas Decorations and the Rest of the Second Night

After interacting with the kids and the pick-up rides, we had dinner at 6 pm and then proceeded to set up and decorate a Christmas tree to put in the worship hall. Others helped with sorting the clothes, shoes and other items that we had brought over from Singapore to share with the Cambodians. At 9 pm, we had our team debrief and shared about how we felt about the trip thus far. We were also briefed on the programme for the days ahead. At about 10.30 pm, we took our tired selves and snuggled in our sleeping bags for a well-earned rest. This time, we slept much better, for no roosters crowed and no alarms rang at strange times and we were slowly getting used to our new home.

On the first day of Cambodia …

How It All Began

It was twenty excited faces and a huge throng of accompanying family members and friends that met at the Terminal 2 of Changi Airport on the 1st of December 2005. These twenty faces made up the mission team of 4 adults, 9 youths and 7 children, that were about to embark on a 6-day mission trip led by Auntie Joyce and Uncle Hali to Cambodia from the 1st to the 6th of December 2005.

After checking in our luggage, taking our photos and waving our goodbyes, we walked in through the glass doors at 3pm, all ready to depart on our Silk Air flight to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. Whilst waiting to board the plane, we busied ourselves at gate E2 with mass friendship-band making for the new friends that we would be meeting in Cambodia. Before we knew it, it was time to board our plane and about one and a half hours from our fond goodbyes, our plane had taken off and we were en-route to Phnom Penh, for what would be the adventure of our lives!

En-route to Cambodia

On the two plus hour flight, some of us took the opportunity to get some rest, while others amused ourselves with chit-chatting, I-pod listening and yet more friendship-band making. Although the flight had much air turbulence, praise God, we had journey mercies all the way and by 6.30pm, we had arrived at the Phnom Penh airport, greeted by a very smiley Auntie Yvonne and her crew. Whilst loading our luggage to the van, and boarding the two vans that came to pick us up, we all tuned our watches to the Cambodian time (which is one hour after Singapore time) and as we did so, mentally prepared ourselves for the work that the Lord had sent us to Cambodia to do.

The Journey to Kampong Speu

Amazingly enough, the van ride to Kampong Speu was about as long as our flight from Singapore to Cambodia. It took us about 2 hours to get to our dinner destination at a corner coffee shop, which was just about 20 minutes away from the Project Khmer H.O.P.E (PKH) Anglican Centre, where we would be residing for our whole trip in Cambodia.

Nevertheless, the van-ride being one of the first glimpses of Cambodia that most of us had, we spent time peering out into the darkness from our van windows, trying hard to see what Cambodia was like first-hand. As we passed by wooden buildings, we were amazed to see that many families owned colour television sets even though their living quarters didn’t seem as modern. Some of us also chanced upon cows along the way. In addition, we realized that driving on Cambodia roads is an art in itself, especially because there were close to no streetlights, and one could barely see what is ahead, except what is being lit up by one’s own vehicle’s headlights.

The dinner that awaited us at the coffee shop was an experience in itself. The food itself was not bad and quite satisfying in fact, what with the soup, pork, vegetables and the black pepper beef, which was simply delicious! It was the coffee-shop environment and the reactions of the little kids that were really amusing. It was here that we got our first taste of insects flying around, and landing on our empty plates whilst we waited for food to be served. And you can be sure that throughout the dinner, there was no lack of jokes and quips about insects landing in our food or insects being cooked with the food, obviously not doing wonders to our appetites.

Our Home for the Trip: The PKH Anglican Centre

After our dinner, we proceeded to the PKH Anglican Centre and by 8 pm, we were unloading our luggage from the van, getting our first glimpse of the place that we would call home for the next 5 days and choosing which rooms we wanted to sleep in. The apartments that we stayed in looked just like the flats we have back in Singapore. The 14 females stayed in what most Singaporeans would recognize as a three-room flat in Singapore, fully equipped with a kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms and two toilets. The 6 males shared 2 smaller one-bedroom units for the trip, equipped with their own toilets. There was even hot water and electricity in the apartments and although these were available only between 7pm to 5 am every day, we were very blessed indeed with our living quarters and we were very thankful for such luxury in a country where most people stayed in wooden shacks or huts, and had no electricity and hot water to call their own.

The rest of our first night in Cambodia was spent showering, unpacking and having our first debrief session of the trip. By 10.30pm, all of us were ready to get some sleep and we turned in, eagerly anticipating the 5 days ahead.

This is the product of my 2.5 day Macromedia Flash course in NIE from the 7th to the 9th of December =p Nice right? *grin*

Anyway, of course the flash movie is also functional =p There is sound too, so make sure your volume is not muted =p First watch the animation until it ends, then click on the blue words "The 6 Days of Cambodia" and it will take you to my photo gallery for the Cambodia Mission Trip, that I was a part of from the 1st to the 6th of Decemeber. :)

As for the photos itself, they will be uploaded bit by bit because I am waiting for photos from everyone on the trip as we sort of shared our cameras =p But I will try to upload the photos on my camera as soon as possible =) With captions written too I hope!

As for the trip itself, I had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed myself! It was definitely an experience to remember because I got to grow closer to God and feel very very happy, especially when I was interacting with the Cambodian kids :)

I learnt that God's love knows no boundaries, despite language barriers and any obstacles that may come my way. We just have to be willing and obedient instruments of our Lord's Will and purpose for our lives. I am really glad that I was able to use the blessings that the Lord has given me to His glory! Plus I reaffirmed that my calling definitely has to do with kids.

Truly, what more can you ask for from a mission trip? Good friends, wonderful memories, new experiences, and a purpose fulfilled :)

I'll be writing a longer blog entry on the trip some time in the near future ... so do keep checking back here for it =p But now, too busy with learning Flash, so that will have to wait for now :)

Cheerios and God bless you all!

Love,
drey :)