Journey to the East

About one year ago, a conversation about BRBC establishing an ongoing relationship with a Christian organisation overseas started this journey to the east. After a series of meetings and e-mail exchanges, it became clear that BRBC was to become a connected church with Cambodian Hope Organisation in Cambodia. This is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate the value of one church, to share the vision of responding to a community's spiritual and physical needs around the church. In order to make this happen, it was decided to send out a team to Cambodia to first understand CHO's work and secondly to explore how in practice BRBC can work with it in partnership.

At the start of 2011, this opportunity was shared with the congregation and received a very positive response. Many people showed interest and some signed up to this exploring trip, and more are supporting it through faithful prayers. By May, a team was formed. Tickets, team building meetings, jabs, cultural orientation and commissioning on Sunday service were done, and the team went and spent two amazing weeks in Poi Pet, Cambodia with CHO from 16 to 28 October.

Looking back, this has been a journey of personal callings. For each individual on the team, there is a deep sense of calling. For some, the journey to respond to this calling may have stretched back many years, and for others, it meant saying 'yes' to God followed by a Google search to see where Cambodia is on the map. Which ever route brought us to this point, the important thing is we said yes when we heard the call.

The two weeks in Poi Pet was a journey of intense emotions. We learnt what it means to be a country on its way to recovery and development. We were confronted by day to day difficulties from bumpy and muddy roads to water logged homes after the floods, and yet amazed how enduring the locals are by carrying on their life as normally as they can. We shed tears when we saw the victims of HIV and human trafficking. It was heart breaking to see and hear how life can be so hard, unfair and unjust for some people who are made the same way as you and me. It has been uplifting to discover that what CHO is doing transforms people's lives and gives them hope. All done in the name of Jesus. As CHO puts it, 'the night is nearly over, the day is almost here.' (Romans13:12)

As a team, we adventured together on a journey in a different culture and climate. We soon got accustomed to the local greetings and taking our shoes off  by the door. The team enjoyed local food - Graham and Doug even tried chicken feet and stir fried frogs. The sheer scale and intricate craftsmanship of Angkor Wat stunned us all. Our various shaped hats kept people from getting a 'overdone' tan and being in a 'Turkish bath' all day long didn't put us off from venturing into villages to meet with children who study at the school on a mat, or with ladies who set up their own sewing business after receiving training and a loan from CHO.

As ambassadors from BRBC, we brought greetings and relationship to Cambodia. We thoroughly enjoyed the connections with staff in CHO as believers of one God. Each morning, different people shared different messages in the staff devotions. We prayed and sung worship songs together in our own mother tongues.

Looking ahead, the journey to the East has just began for BRBC. What we have seen so far is just a tip of the iceberg - what God has in store in this relationship with our sisters and brothers in Cambodia is yet to be discovered by us, together as a church.

Liu Liu (31st October 2011)