Yesterday, I had the first of my travel inoculations for Cambodia. I despise injections, and this morning I woke to find my arm incredibly painful where I had the jab. Why am I going through with this? As I’ve been researching Cambodia, the situation I’m throwing myself into seems more uncertain and unpleasant. It will be uncomfortably humid and hot. Poipet is a high risk for mosquitoes too, so we’ll be covering up, spraying repellents and using nets in an effort to keep the malaria-carriers away. The flight is about 11 hours long, and every time I’ve flown I’ve felt miserably travel-sick. Official advice to visitors is not to stray from marked paths. Why? To avoid landmines.
The guide books are as full of beautiful pictures as they are full of safety warnings. The front cover of Rough Guide to Cambodia has on its cover an ancient and intricate carving of a woman who smiles exotically. After looking at the pictures, I immediately looked up Poipet, the town we will be spending almost all our time in, and the focus of our visit. Here’s what the Rough Guide says:
“Poipet is not a good advertisement for Cambodia, lacking either charm or friendliness. The pushy transport touts who ply the border do it no favours, while the clouds of dust kicked up by trucks and garbage strewn along the roadside add little to its attractions. Unless you need refreshments, have missed the border opening times, or have a yen to gamble at the casinos, there’s really no reason to pause”. Information about the stresses of border crossing fills the rest of Poipet’s single page entry.
Hoping that Rough Guide’s travel journalist had just been having a bad day when he visited Poipet, I looked it up in the Footprint Travel Guide to Cambodia, and read the following:
“Poipet is not a good introduction to Cambodia. To say the place is an unattractive town is a major understatement. The dusty streets are pockmarked by casinos, brothels, massage parlours, karaoke bars and all with an overriding sewer stench. To make matters worse, more than Cambodia’s fair share of corrupt officials, hustlers, thieves, pimps, scamming touts, beggars, gamblers and prostitutes have chosen this mini hell as their haven. ”
If I was planning a holiday to Cambodia, I’m sure I would take the first bus out of Poipet just like the guide books advise. Siem Riep with its amazing temples at Angkor Wat is about two hours away if you catch a bus from Poipet. But I didn’t sign up for a holiday. Instead I volunteered to do “mission”.
I’ve been learning a lot about “mission” over the last couple of years. Mission has picked up some misconceptions over the decades; in popular culture a ‘missionary’ is a white man in a pith helmet brining western religion and colonialism to poor foreign natives. But mission is actually about God. He has purposes that are being worked out in the world, plans for humanity’s hope and future. Mission is about people allowing God to use them in the work that He’s doing.
So what is God doing in Cambodia? The guide books say that Poipet is an unappealing place to visit. But people live there. The books called it a ‘haven’ for thieves, beggars and prostitutes. These people are loved by Jesus. And He has not been ignorant of them. The Cambodian Hope Organisation is a shining beacon of love, doing amazing work to better the lives of people there and introduce them to Jesus. CHO is an agent of God’s mission. Then there’s us. Here in England there’s also things to be done for God’s mission. So why not stay here? The CHO staff already know what they’re doing, and have God behind them, equipping them. Why should we butt in?
The guide books are as full of beautiful pictures as they are full of safety warnings. The front cover of Rough Guide to Cambodia has on its cover an ancient and intricate carving of a woman who smiles exotically. After looking at the pictures, I immediately looked up Poipet, the town we will be spending almost all our time in, and the focus of our visit. Here’s what the Rough Guide says:
“Poipet is not a good advertisement for Cambodia, lacking either charm or friendliness. The pushy transport touts who ply the border do it no favours, while the clouds of dust kicked up by trucks and garbage strewn along the roadside add little to its attractions. Unless you need refreshments, have missed the border opening times, or have a yen to gamble at the casinos, there’s really no reason to pause”. Information about the stresses of border crossing fills the rest of Poipet’s single page entry.
Hoping that Rough Guide’s travel journalist had just been having a bad day when he visited Poipet, I looked it up in the Footprint Travel Guide to Cambodia, and read the following:
“Poipet is not a good introduction to Cambodia. To say the place is an unattractive town is a major understatement. The dusty streets are pockmarked by casinos, brothels, massage parlours, karaoke bars and all with an overriding sewer stench. To make matters worse, more than Cambodia’s fair share of corrupt officials, hustlers, thieves, pimps, scamming touts, beggars, gamblers and prostitutes have chosen this mini hell as their haven. ”
If I was planning a holiday to Cambodia, I’m sure I would take the first bus out of Poipet just like the guide books advise. Siem Riep with its amazing temples at Angkor Wat is about two hours away if you catch a bus from Poipet. But I didn’t sign up for a holiday. Instead I volunteered to do “mission”.
I’ve been learning a lot about “mission” over the last couple of years. Mission has picked up some misconceptions over the decades; in popular culture a ‘missionary’ is a white man in a pith helmet brining western religion and colonialism to poor foreign natives. But mission is actually about God. He has purposes that are being worked out in the world, plans for humanity’s hope and future. Mission is about people allowing God to use them in the work that He’s doing.
So what is God doing in Cambodia? The guide books say that Poipet is an unappealing place to visit. But people live there. The books called it a ‘haven’ for thieves, beggars and prostitutes. These people are loved by Jesus. And He has not been ignorant of them. The Cambodian Hope Organisation is a shining beacon of love, doing amazing work to better the lives of people there and introduce them to Jesus. CHO is an agent of God’s mission. Then there’s us. Here in England there’s also things to be done for God’s mission. So why not stay here? The CHO staff already know what they’re doing, and have God behind them, equipping them. Why should we butt in?
Just because we are almost six thousand miles away, it doesn’t mean we don’t share the responsibility of caring for those less fortunate then ourselves, especially in this age of globalisation, where we can’t help but be aware of the world’s need (remember Matthew 25:44 ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’). We already as a church send loads of money overseas to good causes, but the need was felt to do something more, and so we sought God’s guidance. He has slowly but surely guided the church into sending this particular team to this place. So we, not trusting in our own gifts, power or wisdom, but in the humble knowledge that God has guided us into this and will put us where he can use us, are going to Poipet to find out how we can help our sisters and brothers in Christ to serve Jesus.
That’s why I’m going to tolerate having three more injections before we go, and I’m packing sick-bags for the plane and stocking up on mosquito repellent. We’re going to stay in Poipet. God has a purpose in sending us there, and I trust him.
Maria
