Mission: Cambodia Short-Term 2025
A Singapore Prologue
JOEL: The team all had separate plans to arrive at the same time in Siem Reap, but Sam, Stephen and I left Sydney together. Our flights went through Singapore, arriving at 10pm for an overnight layover (leaving at 8am again). We were undecided on accomodation (>$160AUD pp) and seemed to be trying to outdo each other on saying “I’m easy”. In the end, Stephen’s brother (Ken, a pilot) helped us find accomodation in the city. We satisfied Stephen’s craving for frog leg jook, and we also stumbled into durian season. Great start to the trip!
On the flight to Siem Reap I sat next to two ladies. One was in her 70s and the other was 92 (but looking very healthy!). They were on the way to celebrate some building work that had been completed for the Mustard Seed school - a Christian school supported by Covenant Methodist church in Singapore. As we got to know each other, we found out the older lady had served with OMF a long time ago!
PART ONE - SIEM REAP
In the days acclimatising to Cambodia, Jonno and Jo led our team in some reflections and preparation for the week ahead. We met daily and prayerfully committed the TCKs in our groups, and ourselves, as we considered our personalities, our weaknesses and what we needed to ask God for. Simon and Ange briefed us on a bunch of cultural things. They shared their experience with giving, and the financial disparity within the country. It is very confronting. But, many people don’t see themselves as poor, unless you tell them they are. Some experiences in our trip reinforced this - as we realise that sometimes (sometimes!) our generosity implicitly communicates the disparity in our lives.
Angkor Hospital for Children (Jeanne)
Stephen, Jeanne, Jo met with Chern Chern, a dentist and OMF missionary (with her husband), from Malaysia. They have lived in Cambodia for around 30 years. Chern Chern manages a lot of cleft lip cases and comes to Siem Reap once a month. Usually she is based in Phnom Penh.
She showed us around the Angkor Hospital for Children:
Triage and Waiting Areas
Family Areas: Kitchen, Garden, Sleeping Area
Neonatal Ward
Surgical Areas
Dental Surgery Area
There is good equipment, in a very basic hospital environment. The hospital is largely funded by donations, but they have encouraged co-payments since 2020. The average wage per month might be around $300 USD. A visit to the hospital would start from $5USD, and then extra for x-rays and treatment.
Sightseeing in Siem Reap
It’s the first time Serve Asia Cambodia cleared a team that knew each other beforehand! Previous teams were from many different countries and spent time getting to know each other in 4 days prior to the conference. Given our team had done most of the conference prep beforehand, we were able to do our team bonding while sightseeing in Siem Reap! In two days we squeezed in a cultural Cambodian show, Tonle Sap (Sam fed a crocodile), Phare Cambodian Circus (amazing show that helps support local education) and Angkor Wat (apparently the coolest day the Porter’s have had to visit it…but still VERY hot!), Bayon and Ta Prohm temples in the afternoon.
DaHok Village
JEANNE: We visited DaHok village, outside Siem Reap. We tagged along with Abraham and Ny who visit the village weekly, and once a month on a Sunday. Ny brought her friend Bopa who is a university student. They rode a motorcycle in the heat because Bopa gets motion sickness in cars. Abraham is an independent missionary from South Africa. He brought his family in the back of an old pickup truck.
Ny and Abraham are able to gather the people together because of one woman who welcomes them to the village. She is a matriarch and a person of peace. She had considered becoming a Christian, but could not overcome pressure from her family who questioned: “Who will we pray to when you die?”
Ny and Abraham held a gathering, underneath a black tarp that provided shade, but radiated with heat. They sang some Christian songs and played some games. The laughter of the kids was magnificent. I honestly don’t think I’ve heard that kind of pure, raucous laughter in a whole group of kids for years.
Ny shared from the Bible: “The story of the Wedding Banquet”. “Who has gone to a wedding?” she asked the children. “What kind of clothes would you wear to a wedding?” and “Does anyone know a king?” “The King of Cambodia”, the children replied. Let me tell you the story of a special King, who had a very special Wedding Banquet …… He invited all kinds of people to come, all of you, and me, and even our visitors from Australia …. Will you accept his invitation?” I was encouraged by the passion, humility and perseverance of Ny and Bopa as they served others in the heat. Not only did Ny teach, but she brought food, as she always does - which everyone enjoyed.
This village was a place where Angeline and Simon had done pioneering work. On one occasion, after sharing the story about Legion, the man possessed by demons, they asked if there was anyone in the village like Legion. The villagers said there was one local man known to be troubled with evil spirits. He had spent a week living in the village temple only to become worse. He was very weak and terrified. Simon, along with other local Christian workers prayed for him for several weeks and he was completely delivered! He became physically strong and able to go and work. On this trip (ten years later) we visited this man’s wife, in her home. She said it was a difficult, horrible period in her life. She remembers Simon, and spoke to Ange to say “Thank You”. She is still grateful for the Christians helping them in their time of need, though they are yet to give their life to Jesus.
Ny’s Story
Ny is a local Cambodian missionary supported by FCC (Fellowship of Churches in Cambodia) which is partnered with OMF. She was the Porter’s househelper when they first moved to Cambodia in 2008. Angeline was pregnant with Reuben at the time. When the Porters moved to Neak Leoung for their first ministry placement, Ny moved too. It meant a lot to them that Ny was willing to go with them, as usually Khmer people find it hard to leave family and establish new networks. On the way to the village, Ange told us Ny’s amazing testimony which you can read on the OMF website: Ny’s story
“I had known love in theory, but I hadn’t ever seen it shown in this way. Our family had threatened to disown her, but she still said she loved us. That moved me.”
— Ny, about her sister, the first Christian in her family
PART TWO - OMF FIELD CONFERENCE
When we arrived, Jo was suffering from a bad case of vertigo. We prayed for her before the conference started, and the symptoms alleviated for Jo. But then, she lost her voice! Through the conference, we shared many tea breaks and meal times with missionaries on the field - they have a custom that they don’t start eating until every seat at a table is filled. We met people who are from Korea, USA, Brazil, Germany, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. I probably missed some.
TCK Program
We broke the ice with games of Bridge-Bank-River and King Caractacus which the kids loved. The TCKs (Third Culture Kids) are a great bunch. The OMF team has helped establish a great community within missionary kids.
Over the week we shared 4 stories with the kids:
Philip and the Eunuch (Acts 8)
Zaccheus (Luke 19)
The Woman at the Well (John 4)
The Thief on the Cross (Luke 23)
Based on the coaching we had back home, we were challenged to memorise these stories, to teach the kids to be able to recall them as well. It was hard work remembering the stories - but each team member did really well. Facilitating the reflection questions with the kids was a bit harder. We’re thankful for the older kids who came alongside to help.
JANICE: In preparation for the family service, we hoped that some of the TCKs would be bold enough to memorise AND present one of the stories of salvation we learnt during the week. We were hopeful that at least one person would be bold enough to do this in front of about 60 adults!Following the story of the Woman at the Well (John 4:1-26), Amelia (from the teens) and Abi (from the youngest group) had agreed to take on this task together.
With much discussion, they decided that they would prefer to be recorded rather than presenting live. Both Amelia and Abi worked together to memorise the story and to create visuals for the passage. It was encouraging to see that they both dedicated their Thursday afternoon free time memorising the passage and creating the pictures to accompany the story. Amelia had also simplified the script to help with memorisation, and she was a great encouragement to Abi as she memorised her parts of the passage.
Little Ones
JO: Stephen and I were with the little ones, with Jonno supporting most of the time whilst I had lost my voice. God was able to use my childhood Korean language skills to help talk to some of the younger TCKs who preferred to speak in Korean rather than English. We had a variety of craft ready for this age group and Abi helped to facilitate zoom band bracelet making and cat’s cradle string work. She had done a lot of research prior to the trip to expand her skill set to then teach others. It was a joy to see her getting along with and making friends with the TCKS; one even shared the same birthday as her on the Wednesday during the conference! There was the occasional tears from the very young ones, or tired legs needing a piggy back but overall our group gelled pretty well and we hope that we facilitated friendships that will last.
Upper Primary
JEANNE: Sam and I led the upper primary kids - aged 9-13yo. We won their approval the first day as they sought to bottle flip. We asked them to teach us: they told us to drink the water until it was about ⅓ full, and then flip. Sam managed to land a bottle on its lid, and I managed to flip three in a row. We earned enough respect to ask them to at least put the bottles on the back table during the sessions!
Between lego (mini brick) building, constructing minecraft cubes, drawing comics, making a puzzle, decorating biscuits, playing handball and going swimming, the TCKs enjoyed quiet construction time, working as individuals and as a team (constructing the minecraft wall) and the input we tried to give along the way included:
It’s not a race, you can work at your own pace
Since you have finished, help someone else. This was often received well by those who needed support to complete the lego building.
Give it a go
Let’s work together
They were a competitive bunch, but it was good to see them look out for one another, often saving seats for each other at mealtimes! It was good to see some of the quieter ones participating, and enjoying the lego and puzzle making. We were grateful to make connections with two of the girls in our group, who contributed to the Family Service on Friday. We were happy to support Elijah as he made friends with the TCKs.
The Teens
JOEL: I led the teenagers with Janice. We had been briefed that we didn’t need to inundate these kids with a Bible-heavy program. In the end, we found that the time slipped by, and we would’ve liked more time to engage the teens. But in small moments, Janice and I were able to have personal moments with each of the group.
Most of all I was encouraged by the way these teens could fluently switch between cultures. They could happily exist in a village, just as much as they could walk into a hotel restaurant. Simon called them chameleons. On the upside, they may walk into varied situations, less encumbered by whether they belong. On the downside, some TCKs might feel rootlessness: they don’t belong ANYWHERE.
On the first day, the OMF team held a Generation Forum where they held a panel of four people from different generations. They gave comments on 12 different statements. Then, the team/audience also responded with green and red cards whether they agreed or disagreed. Some of the statements: “Anything less than 10 years is short-term”, “A.I. should not be used in sermon preparation”, “Social media is an important part of communication, without it, you’re missing out”, “Missionaries should accept a lifestyle with only basic furnishings” (surprisingly - the Boomers were the most lenient on the last one). Reuben represented the younger generation, and he spoke with thoughtful clarity.
Family Service
JEANNE: One of the requests for us was to run a “Family Service” on the final day of the program. We had trouble visualising what that was - as we meandered between “a time of sharing” and something that felt more like a “Sunday Service”. The team went through some hiccups as we (quickly!) got to Wednesday afternoon needing a plan of what needed to land for Friday.
In the end we pulled together an encouraging hour for the OMF team.
The TCKs shared “All About Jesus” (Sovereign Grace) which they had learned through the week; a live performance of song and actions, with a music video. Jo taught the kids the song and actions, while Joel utilised his videography skills and love of music, to encourage the kids to rap and have fun. Joel also prepared another video, showcasing what the kids had enjoyed during the week with their song cover of “I Belong to God” (Big Daddy Weave).
Jeanne, Esther (Da Hyeon), Da An and Abigail, led the worship: “How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin, “10000 reasons” by Matt Redman and also an item “You Alone” by Trevor Hodge. They were supported by our music team: Joy (TCK on keyboard) with the encouragement of Sam (guitar) and Joel.
Jo shared her testimony and experience as an MK (“once an OMF MK, always an OMF MK”) - her story connected OMF generations from her parents, to her own generation and the current TCKs, and our team.
Joel spoke from Daniel 6 (Daniel and the Lion’s Den): encouraging all to remain prayerful, as Daniel did, even when the circumstances around us change.
Stephen encouraged the team members in their gifts, leading and chairing the service
Jonno provided the IT support for all the slides and videos.
Janice supported the kids during the service, and helped move them on and off stage for their items.
PART 3 - PHNOM PENH
JO: After the conference we joined a bus full of OMF missionaries to travel from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh for a 6 hour bus ride. Sam and I looked out the window and commented on how lush and green the land was; our visit coincided with the beginning of the rainy season. The cows in Cambodia roam around the roads unattended and are skinny by our standards; we could often see their ribs sticking out. After a few stops to 7/11 (a treat for the missionaries!) and a local food stop, we made it to the OMF Team Centre in PP. It is a bustling place always receiving and sending off OMF team members or visitors, hosting conferences and language studies. We were blessed to be offered a laundry service and a serve-yourself breakfast each morning. Before we left the centre we were able to purchase coffee beans roasted locally by a missionary associated with OMF. The Porters live about 20 minutes from there, and we enjoyed their hospitality on one of our final nights.
Fount of Wisdom
Simon is on the Board of this Christian publishing house. Fount of Wisdom began with translating books into Khmer, and in recent years, they have grown to publishing work by local authors. Their director was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and his son was undergoing surgery in Siem Reap. So it wasn’t the most ideal timing. But most of the team had been together for many years (10, 12, longer).
It is not easy to get books into the hands of Cambodians. There is the familiar aspect where our current generations are seemingly too distracted to read, but it is compounded by the relative cost of book production and the literacy levels across the nation. Pray for this ministry work as they persevere in producing local, Godly literature for the Cambodian people.
Kampong Chamlong
We visited a village church, which is being served by Pastor Roat and Buti. Ange taught Roat English among other things many years ago. This church is 10? 20? years old but has just a handful of people attending. One local woman is a key part of this church. They started the service without electricity and sang songs from hymn books with local tunes. Pastor Roat preached from 1 Tim 4, and he touched notes that our team from ECC had learned in the previous month from our own pulpit.
After the service, the team welcomed us for lunch. They pulled down a papaya from a tree in the back lot. While they prepared lunch, they showed us some of the new construction: they have been building some rooms for the church - all works done by local church members: musicians, dentists, pastors. They’re hoping to buy the building next door - no-one goes there, for fear of the spirits they think inhabit that lot.
I had a short translated conversation (thanks to Buti and Simon) with an older man called Luong. He told me about his grandkids, and two sons that don’t know Jesus. He had some story about visiting the doctor recently and sharing Jesus with him too. He had spectacular gentle and kind eyes - I don’t take this for granted given the hardships people of his generation faced.
Phnom Penh Bible College
We met with Son Vuthy, principal of Phnom Penh Bible college, who had studied at SMBC. There are much different challenges to raising local leaders in Cambodia: Most of the students here are studying part-time, balancing work, study and other commitments. One of the local challenges is to encourage city Christians (primarily in Phnom Penh) to spread the gospel to Cambodia’s villages. In Australia, over 75% live in city or suburban areas. It’s the opposite in Cambodia, and the number of people to be reached with the gospel in rural areas is vast. Pray for the leadership in Cambodia as they strive to equip workers for the country.
Tuol Seng S-21 Camp
Visiting this place known as the Genocide Museum is a stark reminder of the atrocities that occurred in the heart of this city. It is a confronting, heavy experience. We followed the audio tour which was excellent in sharing so much history with some original recordings of people and relatives who testified. Near the end of the tour was a recording of Comrade Duch’s confession - the only party leader to be convicted for these crimes. As I heard the recording (link here), I thought: that’s a really good confession, as if this man held repentance and forgiveness higher than trying to exonerate himself (as many confessions tend to do).
Later, we learned that Comrade Duch (Kaing Guek Eav) became a Christian while hiding out in a village. He was the only person to turn himself in. His ability to confront the truth was part of confronting Jesus: the way, the truth and the life. There’s quite a few official traces of Kaing’s testimony:
Learning Khmer
It might have come late in our trip, but we enjoyed learning Khmer with Tha and David at the OMF guesthouse. We learned the basics of introducing ourselves. David shared his story growing up in the time of the Khmer Rouge. His family has multiple generations of Christians. His family fled Phnom Penh for Kampong Tom. His memory growing up was that his mom was always very skinny. He survived as a toddler because his mom helped him hide among the pigs to eat with them. The family was on a list to be executed, and went through many stressful nights of hearing soldiers pass by their house. He says that some local village relationships meant they were spared on a few occasions. About a week later, the Vietnam army liberated his village. God delivered his family.
Leaving Cambodia
JO: During the conference Elijah made a new friend with a teenage missionary kid, named Hajin. The two became so unexpectedly attached that on the last day of conference, Hajin cried when he thought the next day would be the last day he would see Elijah. Thankfully, they had a few more catch ups in Phnom Penh as Hajin lived in the same compound as the Porters. He woke up early on our last day to accompany our team to the airport at 7am. One of my favourite photos from the trip is Elijah, Gabe and Hajin sitting in the back of the OMF ute surrounded by luggage on the way to the airport; a sight you would not see in Australia!
JOEL: Praise God for this opportunity to experience Cambodia. It’s a country where Christian faith still faces real pressure from Buddhism, and an active spirit world. The team left Cambodia in good spirits, already allowing ideas of another mission trip down the road. Stephen, Jeanne and I all wondered how we might be able to have our families join us in the future. For me, it was two weeks well spent - enjoyable and appreciated work, a number of experiences that taught my heart and the joy of fellowship in the global church.
A Singapore Epilogue
JOEL: God helped set up time with (Uncle) William Wan and (Uncle) Paul Choo on the way home. Both shared their wisdom and insight for the ministry of ECC up ahead. Uncle Paul shared about Goducate’s work in Indonesia and Philippines (suggesting work in the Philippines is better for short-termers).
On the flight back from Singapore to Sydney, there was a Cambodian man across the aisle from Sam. He kept looking over at us with a friendly smile. We got to use the little Khmer we knew - joom reap suah! We only got as far as learning that he was coming to Sydney for a holiday, and if we understood correctly - that he was visiting his “gon trai muoy” - his one son!