Extreme Operations: Conclusions

Wednesday, 27 November 2013

Conclusions

Reflecting on this trip, I have wondered whether it is worth it - the high financial, physical, and emotional cost. Sometimes I think that I should just send money and stay home.

But then I think about the things that happened in such a short time, and of Patricia King's 'The Light BELONGS in the Darkness', and I realise that it is very good that I go in person, both for myself and for others.

What were the highlights for this particular trip?

* Spending time with Andrea Aasen who heads up XP's Operation Justice, Cambodia, and meeting Shelly Boer, Amy Learn, and Jen Jewett of IRIS Cambodia; there is something incredibly precious about being in the presence of such laid-down lives.
* Being part of an incredible team that was composed of citizens of many nations: Mark & Sharon from Australia, Suzanna from Hong Kong, Rome, Cynthia and George from Canada, Rachael, Jenn, Christen, and Lorraine from the USA....
* Re-connecting with my amazing and much-loved Khmer friends - Sambo, Rose, Sophi and Kim
* Narith Chhoeum coming all the way from Palin to see me, and us all going out for supper together
* Delicious food, especially the salad I had at 'Daughters of Cambodia''s restaurant, and my meal at the Khmer restaurant
* Coconut!

* Visiting Phnom Penh for the first time - a city that had captured my heart and my imagination since watching 'The Killing Felds' so many years before.
* Visiting the Killing Fields and S-21 prison; a difficult but important experience
* Hearing Sambo's testimony
* Visiting New Life church
* Visiting 'Daughters of Cambodia's restaurant and shop and seeing something of this wonderful ministry at work.
* Meeting Pastor Chuck not just once, but twice, when circumstances dictated that I would not see him at all (I had asked God about it though!)
* Hearing and receiving from long-term missionaries like Eric and Ginny Hansen, Steve and Molly, and Alice Collier
* Our daily 'God Times'

* Singing the Creation song with yet another group of Khmer children
* Praying for the teenage boy in the hospital with the incredibly sad eyes - praying for joy. I had faith for this, because I saw God do it with a boy in Brazil.
* Visiting with the elderly couple in the village where we washed feet
* Seeing Johnnie and Esther in the Safe House and being with Lorraine when she bought and delivered their bikes

So many precious things, treasures, collected in one short week. It is this that keeps on bringing me back to Cambodia.

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How to Use this Blog - for new users

This blog describes thoughts, experiences, discoveries and impressions during short term assignments in Brazil, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. These are entirely my own perceptions, and as such, may be inaccurate or misinformed at times. In no way should any of the agencies or people I work with be held responsible for any errors of information. As far as possible I try to make sure that inaccuracies are addressed when they are pointed out. Meanwhile, please forgive my ignorance.... I have so much to learn.

There is a lot of information about poverty, street children and human trafficking in general, and about the work of specific charities and organisations working to address it.

I have also included my notes from the various teaching sessions we had during XP's training schools: 'Operation Justice' (Cambodia) and 'Operation Extreme Love' (Thailand) of 2012, along with some notes from training sessions with Richard & Ingela Larsson Smith, who run 'Horses for Orphans' in Brazil.

Unlike websites, blogs run back to front, so if you want the whole story it will be useful to use the Blog Archive and read in date order, beginning in May 2012.

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