Cambodia Survey Trip
After about 24 hours flying from Huntsville to Chicago to Tokyo, we arrived in Bangkok, Thailand on June 1 at about 11:30 at night and managed to make it to a hotel without getting ripped off too badly. We then slept for about 3 hours and got up at about 5 am to catch an early morning train to the Thai/Cambodian border. The train was an open-window, no air-conditioned, wooden-seated (with very thin cushions) car that took 6 hours. D espite being hard, it was a good trip. We made it to the border around lunch-time and worked hard to get across the border without getting ripped off again. We fin
ally got through and made it into taxis to finish the journey to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We stayed there for a couple days visiting the local church and Angkor Wat, the ancient temples of the old Cambodian kingdom. We then spent several weeks traveling around Cambodia via bus, taxi, tuk-tuk, and motorcycle visiting all the missionaries a nd churches of any sort th
at we could find. The primary purpose of this trip was to show our potential teammates, Nathan and Laura Thomas, true Cambodia before they decide if they want to join us there. The second purpose of the trip was to take along a member of Central’s missions committee to provide them with another first-hand experience. We were blessed to be able to go again but going made it much harder to wait to move.
The Cambodian Church
We were very encouraged by going to Cambodia and seeing the churches there, but we were also very disappointed in the division we saw. It was wonderful to see real Cambodian Christians who truly believe and who are continuing in the Lord faithfully. We are even more convinced now that God is leading us there and that He has big plans for their future. Even with all these good things happening, everyone there has some tremendous hurdles to cross. The church of Christ in Cambodia is very young. The very first church of Christ missionary went to Cambodia around the year
2000, and already there are at least 5 different groups who do not really associate with one another. We are beginning to feel that one of our biggest ministries once we move to Cambodia is going to be working to build unity within the church. We believe it to be a tremendous disservice to the gospel to present a disunited front to unbelievers. Like Paul said, “Is Christ divided?†He is not, and we hope and pray that His church in Cambodia will not be either.
The Thomases
This trip provided a good opportunity for us to get to know the Thomases better. We had spent some time with them in the past but not very much, so it was good to be able to spend a lot of time with them. We believe they now have a clear picture of what life and work in Cambodia will be like. The decision is now up to them if they want to go or not. It was helpful for us all to be together in Cambodia and to think through what some of the difficulties of being there and working together will be, and I think we now have a head-start on some of those difficulties. Please be in prayer about the Thomases plans now and their decisions for their future in Cambodia.
Back Home
Now that we are back “home†in Huntsville, we feel like a lot has changed. Not much has changed here, but a lot has changed within us. Our desire to go to Cambodia is now much greater than it ever has been and our feeling of homelessness is much more acute than it ever has been. It is pretty hard for us now to keep our heads out of the Cambodian clouds, so to speak, and to focus on life here again. We are excited and challenged by the prospect of going to Cambodia , learning the language and the culture, finding a home, and making friends. We love and enjoy Central so much, but we are ready to go to Cambodia and are looking forward to the day when that dream will come true! Please keep us in your prayers here at Central and as we prepare for Cambodia.
Maggie Update
With such a quickly changing member of our family, we think it is pretty important to include her in the news. She now has seven teeth and is almost walking. In our next newsletter, we will probably be describing how
she runs all over the house and gets into everything. Well, she already gets into everything, but she just crawls a ll over the house to do it. Anyway, she is so much fun now. She is really playful and loves it when we chase her and tickle her. She also is very good at obeying. We are surprised sometimes at how well she understands us and actually does what we ask. We are excited about our ministry in Cambodia, but this little girl right here and any more little ones God gives us are going to be our biggest ministry ever. What a joy!
We love all of you. Thank you, and may God bless you! We’d love to hear from you!
