Cambodia Love Part 2 :)

This is the second part of my Cambodia Love series (because I believe a single blog post for it is not enough hehe). For this one I will be sharing more about the team that I am part of when I went to Cambodia this year. :)

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There's no 'I' in 'team'.

That would mean that when you are part of a team, sacrifices on your part should be made. It's not "me" but "we". But it's not just also "you" but "us".

When I went to Cambodia last year and even last month for a trip, I was also part of a team. They were part of this journey that I had going to Cambodia. We are different from each other and from different backgrounds. Some of us are working, some of us are still studying. We look different from each other (of course haha!) and have different personalities. But we have someone and something common in all of us-- that is Jesus and love. :)

Team Love after our morning devotion :) (Photo from Dax Tapay)

I am thankful to God that I am part of this team. Though I know that this is not a perfect team (because we are all imperfect persons), yet by the grace of God our imperfections and differences did not put our team's unity in jeopardy. Of course a team should be lead by someone. I think a team is not really a team if there is no team leader. :) So our team leader (who is also a church volunteer like all of us), during our first meeting shared something to us. Yep, it's about love!

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13:13

It should be love that is our driving force why we are going to Cambodia. Love for God. Love for Cambodia. Love for the team. So our team for this year we called it (yes, it's easy to guess) TEAM LOVE! ;) It may sound corny or cheesy to some but I think whatever team that goes out on a missions trip should be called Team Love because you are going out there because of your love to God and to people.

I don't know most of the team members when we first saw each other. I just know a handful of them, others are familiar faces and some I even haven't seen before hehe. But every month we regularly see each other, not just for admin purposes in preparation of our trip but also to bond with each other and to devote our time to the Word together. We build relationship with each other by spending time together. It is a deliberate effort. Because we believe that if we bond with each other as a team and be united, the tasks will be easier to do and the burdens will be lighter when we go to our field--and that is Cambodia. Though I am not saying that there will be no challenges, there will be. It is also to prepare us to the challenges that will come and be settled that we will maintain unity no matter what the cost. That would mean overlooking offenses, stretching patience, look past our differences and being more selfless. It is also praying for each other and praying together.

Sabbath day at Siem Reap with some of our local friends :) (Photo from Dax)

I will always remember those times when we just encourage and pray for each other, because there are times during our preparation that we were discouraged or we doubted if we will really go to Cambodia--may it be our challenges in raising our support, in studies or at work. I myself have doubted before and I almost gave up for this missions trip. But thank God I am surrounded with people who compelled me to not give up. We are also thankful for our team leader, Kuya Mik who lead us well by relying in God's grace (like what he always say, he can always tap on God's grace specially in leading the team ;) ). I'm sure I will also going to miss when he treats the whole team with food during our meetings! Great job Kuya Mik! :D If you are going also on a missions trip with a team, please pray for your team leader. The task and the pressure is always greater for the leader so the team should be also united in praying for him/her. :)

So it was really a joy when we were there in Cambodia. We shared our laughs, our tears and our realizations to each other during the trip. Though all of us lacked sleep during those days (because we have to stay up late and get up early the following day), we thank God for the grace and for the strength to do what we have to do. It was also a joy when we spend our time with our Khmer friends and with our long-term missionaries there. It was more joyful serving and blessing the nation of Cambodia because I'm part of a team who loves God and Cambodia, who loves to laugh, who loves to cry (with tears of joy), and who loves our team. :)

Cambodia Love

Cambodia.

Angkor Wat by sunrise :)

Just a mention of its name, number of thoughts starts running in my head. Before, I just know this country for its Angkor Wat, which is one of our UNESCO World Heritage site. I think it was roughly 4 years ago when I saw this nation on a different light. It was during the time when I watched at the 700 Club Asia its dark history under the Khmer Rouge regime during the 70's. From then on I already had a heart for Cambodia and it's been my prayer that someday God will let me come to that nation and be a blessing there. I have friends who went there before me and hearing their stories just made me pray more to God that He will let me come there someday just like them. God answered my prayer, because years after praying He let me come to this nation for a short-term missions last year! I was really joyful when at last God answered my prayers! It was a great time and my love for Cambodia just got deeper that after my last year's trip I have decided that I will return the following year.

Just this October, I'm thankful to God that He again honored my prayers and enabled me to return in the Kingdom of Cambodia. One of my goals this year was really just to see the fruits or the growth of the local disciples that we met from the last year's trip, since we conducted a team building there on having a small group. Even just before this month, we already heard some good reports about our church there, Every Nation Church Cambodia. One of these are they have transferred to a bigger venue and the other was they have sent many delegates at our Ignite Conference 2013 last summer. It was different seeing them here in the Philippines for it's also a proof of God's faithfulness to them because He made them come here in the Philippines.

Ignite 2013!

Some of our Khmer delegates :)

I think until now, I'm still overwhelmed with God's goodness from the trip. Other than seeing my friends at ENCC, I also had chances to see again my friends whom I've known from Korea when I attended a conference there last year.

With Chantra and Sinat :)

Maybe a single blog post is not enough for me to share my experiences and thoughts for the past trip that I had. It was a long but exciting journey by the way... since I applied again for this trip late last year, met the whole team who were with me in this journey (I will also miss those the monthly meetings that we had before the trip) and arriving again in the Kingdom of Cambodia. I pray that those who read this will also be inspired to go and be a blessing to the nations and also see the bigger picture of God's plan to spread His love to every nation. :)

The future is bright for you, Cambodia