Cambodia on the mind....

So for some reason or another, God has really been putting Cambodia on my mind recently. Over the past few weeks I received a couple good emails from friends in my community updating me on their lives and the lives of my friends and host family in Phnom Penh. It's been Khmer New Year recently and i know it's a time of great joy and celebration for the entire country, one of the celebrations people look forward to throughout the year.

Craig, who was my mentor with Servants while I was there, was in Cambodia with his family recently to help with the orientation of some new Servants workers, attend Servant's 25 year anniversary in Thailand, and oversee some work with an organization he began in called Big Brothers and Sisters of Cambodia, where young adults from Cambodian churches take on a child orphaned by AIDS as their little sibling and bring them on outings and help mentor them as they grow. One of my good friends and my host mother's niece Serey, is now helping to run the organization. Craig sent me an email with some updated pictures of my community there. It's brought back a lot of memories.

Some great news is that Teara my roommate in Cambodia, and his sister Sunti, (both who lost their parents to AIDS) have now taken on their own "little brothers and sisters" to help share some of the love that they've received with others. It's amazing to see them wanting to give life to others after they've had so much taken from themselves, they're both a constant example to me.

It's been great to email Cambodian friends (one great thing about globalisation), and keep in some sort of contact. I still don't know when and if God will bring me back there. I'm planning on doing a medical elective next summer for a month or so, and am trying to see if God would have me go back to Cambodia, to continue relationships and learning, and gain some valuable medical experience, or if God's calling me somehwere else.....I don't know, but i know he'll make it clearer and that i don't need to know just now.... Anyway, I could ramble on and on about Cambodia, so i won't.

Here's some pictures that Craig sent me:



This is a picture of the big brothers and sisters group in my community, in our church. It's so great seeing all these youth from the community, supporting these AIDS orphans, also from our community. Serey, is second from the left in the back row. Teara, is 2nd from the right in the the row just in front of the back row, beside the girl in the green shirt.



This is just outside my house. That's Craig and his wife Nay with their daughter Micah in hand. Sunti is sitting beside them and then Heurn, my host mother is the one standing (wearing a great Calvin and Hobbes T-shirt).


This is Teara sitting on the bench in front of Vi, our next door neightbour,'s house. He's sitting with Vi's mother, who i only know as Yeay (grandmother). Yeay is one of those people who will just make you feel amazing spending a few minutes with her. She was probably one of the most welcoming people in the community to me when I was first in Cambodia, and struggling to learn the language, her patience at my poor grammar and lack of vocab and willingness to have a conversation, were huge blessings to me. It's good to see she's still doing well.