Cambodia 15th-22nd December
This post will be a photo-essay of my first Cambodian experience, apart from the new fancy airport terminal that greets me when i step out of the aircraft, one might see Cambodia as a nation undergoing change, after having been ravaged by war and genocide, i'd ask myself the question how a nation full of potential can simply just shoot itself in the head and almost send itself back to the stone-age.
Fresh as it can be
Its a very cooling time in this part of the year in Phnom Penh, one might often treat the city as a haven for cheap shopping, however for me and the mission team i was attached with, shopping was not the main concern of our trip, part of our first day schedule was to visit the Genocide Musuem (Tuol Sleng) and the Killing Fields at (Cheong Ek) in which we conducted a prayer walk to pray for souls that perished during the reign of the Khmer Rouge and for reconciliation to take place, the focus of the prayer walk was to allow the remains that have been left behind to be given a proper burial so as to allow the past wounds to heal.
Such is the torture and suffering at Tuol Sleng that even suicide is prevented.
Its with a sheer sense of humility as I walked the sites where this atrocities have taken place, its so surreal as if such acts never happened, but the evidence was everywhere, you cannot ignore it.
The remains of the fallen still lay.
One of our guides from Antioch Missions based in Phnom Penh explained to me how he never got to know his father and mother, he was orphaned and taken cared for by his relatives following the tragedy that befelled him, he was fortunate, many more children of his time would have just been abandoned or recruited and brainwashed by the Khmer Rouge to continue their acts of barbarism.
My posting won't be the last of the many who have seen what i have seen, they share the same thoughts that i have written here, its up to the most high now to get this country back on its feet once again.
Later on and the following day was occupied by talks conducted by fellow members from the team, one such session was conducted at a Church named the "Church of Christ", i've got to meet kids from the pre-school that was being run at the church, it fills me with such joy to meet such innocent youth with so much hope in their eyes, it is this new generation of Children, spared from the atrocities of the past that will bring the new found hope Cambodia needs.
Children of Cambodia
With a reflective start to the trip the weekend was occupied with the team attending a local Khmer wedding of a missionary who graduated from Bethany International University (Formerly known as BSM) a few years back.
The lovely couple: Rasmey & Poline
And the team split up on Sunday to attend services being held at 4 different churches, the Sunday afternoon was spent at the Church Of Christ for a christmas event the church organised for youth in the surrounding neighbourhood, it was a time of song, sharing of the word and for fellow youths in the mission team to interact with the local youth.
Posing with the locals
With the weekend over, the team set off for the Northern town of Kracheh which was about 300 kilometers North of Phnom Penh, the initial half of the journey was dealt with the frequent bumps in the roads and the convoy of 3 vehicles managing to tolerate the rough conditions.
Local Transportation
Nice set of wheels
As the convoy neared itself towards the town of Kracheh, one of vehicles sustained a blown tire and they were delayed for a few hours, the members in that vehicle managed to spend the time mingling with some of the local villagers by the road where they were touched by the warmth and hospitality of the locals, such were the offers of a place to stay if they couldn't find a solution to the blown tire.
The aftermath
The entire team made it to Kracheh safely despite the events that occured, a late dinner at the Mekong Restuarant allowed for sharing of the day's events among the team.
The desired dinner place for 2 nights
Dawn arrived and the team moved on to conduct a day-seminar with the antioch mission based in Kracheh, the attendees comprised of local Christian Leaders.
The team prayed for the attendees before concluding the seminar.
It was here in Kracheh where i was again greatly touched by the children that roamed the centre, they were just happy, with the hope i've never seen in my many years in Singapore, it was just a different feeling to be with the kids.
The team came across a boy whom was recovering from complications from inhaling a dangerous dosage of fertilizer, the team prayed for him and the other children joined us in praying for the boy, may he recover soon and resume his normal activities.
Meet the locals
Ummm... Yummy...
Short was our stay in the town of Kracheh, time really passes by too fast sometimes, the next day was spent returning back to Phnom Penh, on the initial start of the journey the driver of the lead vehicle sensed that a tire was not in good shape and stopped to inspect the vehicle, his 6th sense was right and a rear tire was seen unfit to carry on the journey, such was the quick response this time round that saved a bit of time and from preventing a more serious incident from happening.
God was indeed watching over us.
We arrived at Phnom Penh just as the sun went down, the city once again greeted us with heavy traffic as the convoy made its way back to the hotel for the last night, after a short break at our rooms the team headed out for a last minute grab of some clothing before settling down for dinner.
The day came where we had to say goodbye to Cambodia, it was a great first trip and will be the foundation of my many future trips to come, i'll be back sooner than i expect it.
Aerial view of Phnom Penh's Airport
I hope to set up a gallery soon for this aren't the only photos i've taken on the trip, and definitely there are many more things to share from the other members from the team of their experiences in this short-term mission trip, it has touched me greatly and sure something is being planned for the near future.
As the year draws to a close i wish for us to reflect on the many things we have been blessed with, to humble ourselves with the many things we have and be content.
Have a blessed 2005 and may the Lord of the most high bless another good year in 2006.
Fresh as it can be
Its a very cooling time in this part of the year in Phnom Penh, one might often treat the city as a haven for cheap shopping, however for me and the mission team i was attached with, shopping was not the main concern of our trip, part of our first day schedule was to visit the Genocide Musuem (Tuol Sleng) and the Killing Fields at (Cheong Ek) in which we conducted a prayer walk to pray for souls that perished during the reign of the Khmer Rouge and for reconciliation to take place, the focus of the prayer walk was to allow the remains that have been left behind to be given a proper burial so as to allow the past wounds to heal.
Such is the torture and suffering at Tuol Sleng that even suicide is prevented.
Its with a sheer sense of humility as I walked the sites where this atrocities have taken place, its so surreal as if such acts never happened, but the evidence was everywhere, you cannot ignore it.
The remains of the fallen still lay.
One of our guides from Antioch Missions based in Phnom Penh explained to me how he never got to know his father and mother, he was orphaned and taken cared for by his relatives following the tragedy that befelled him, he was fortunate, many more children of his time would have just been abandoned or recruited and brainwashed by the Khmer Rouge to continue their acts of barbarism.
My posting won't be the last of the many who have seen what i have seen, they share the same thoughts that i have written here, its up to the most high now to get this country back on its feet once again.
Later on and the following day was occupied by talks conducted by fellow members from the team, one such session was conducted at a Church named the "Church of Christ", i've got to meet kids from the pre-school that was being run at the church, it fills me with such joy to meet such innocent youth with so much hope in their eyes, it is this new generation of Children, spared from the atrocities of the past that will bring the new found hope Cambodia needs.
Children of Cambodia
With a reflective start to the trip the weekend was occupied with the team attending a local Khmer wedding of a missionary who graduated from Bethany International University (Formerly known as BSM) a few years back.
The lovely couple: Rasmey & Poline
And the team split up on Sunday to attend services being held at 4 different churches, the Sunday afternoon was spent at the Church Of Christ for a christmas event the church organised for youth in the surrounding neighbourhood, it was a time of song, sharing of the word and for fellow youths in the mission team to interact with the local youth.
Posing with the locals
With the weekend over, the team set off for the Northern town of Kracheh which was about 300 kilometers North of Phnom Penh, the initial half of the journey was dealt with the frequent bumps in the roads and the convoy of 3 vehicles managing to tolerate the rough conditions.
Local Transportation
Nice set of wheels
As the convoy neared itself towards the town of Kracheh, one of vehicles sustained a blown tire and they were delayed for a few hours, the members in that vehicle managed to spend the time mingling with some of the local villagers by the road where they were touched by the warmth and hospitality of the locals, such were the offers of a place to stay if they couldn't find a solution to the blown tire.
The aftermath
The entire team made it to Kracheh safely despite the events that occured, a late dinner at the Mekong Restuarant allowed for sharing of the day's events among the team.
The desired dinner place for 2 nights
Dawn arrived and the team moved on to conduct a day-seminar with the antioch mission based in Kracheh, the attendees comprised of local Christian Leaders.
The team prayed for the attendees before concluding the seminar.
It was here in Kracheh where i was again greatly touched by the children that roamed the centre, they were just happy, with the hope i've never seen in my many years in Singapore, it was just a different feeling to be with the kids.
The team came across a boy whom was recovering from complications from inhaling a dangerous dosage of fertilizer, the team prayed for him and the other children joined us in praying for the boy, may he recover soon and resume his normal activities.
Meet the locals
Ummm... Yummy...
Short was our stay in the town of Kracheh, time really passes by too fast sometimes, the next day was spent returning back to Phnom Penh, on the initial start of the journey the driver of the lead vehicle sensed that a tire was not in good shape and stopped to inspect the vehicle, his 6th sense was right and a rear tire was seen unfit to carry on the journey, such was the quick response this time round that saved a bit of time and from preventing a more serious incident from happening.
God was indeed watching over us.
We arrived at Phnom Penh just as the sun went down, the city once again greeted us with heavy traffic as the convoy made its way back to the hotel for the last night, after a short break at our rooms the team headed out for a last minute grab of some clothing before settling down for dinner.
The day came where we had to say goodbye to Cambodia, it was a great first trip and will be the foundation of my many future trips to come, i'll be back sooner than i expect it.
Aerial view of Phnom Penh's Airport
I hope to set up a gallery soon for this aren't the only photos i've taken on the trip, and definitely there are many more things to share from the other members from the team of their experiences in this short-term mission trip, it has touched me greatly and sure something is being planned for the near future.
As the year draws to a close i wish for us to reflect on the many things we have been blessed with, to humble ourselves with the many things we have and be content.
Have a blessed 2005 and may the Lord of the most high bless another good year in 2006.
posted by Kao Wen Sheng at 12/27/2005 09:12:00 PM
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