Cambodia

Hello Saving Susan and Sanctuary Church communities! It’s Sunday evening in Cambodia and our team of 15 just finished a couple of tiring but incredible days. Our flight left Friday morning and, praise God, everything went smoothly and we arrived on time after about 24 hours of travel. Jay and I haven’t lost anyone yet.

After getting to our hotel in Phnom Penh late last night, we started this morning with a team breakfast and then headed to the Killing Fields. This was my first time going, and the first for several of our team members. It was a sobering reminder of the tragic past of the Khmer people and will help us understand them more deeply as we connect with them. Seeing the gravesites, Killing Tree, skulls, and other grim reminders made the impact much more tangible. Knowing that one quarter of the population was killed in this genocide is sobering, but seeing and hearing about it at this killing camp really struck home. What a powerful reminder of the depravity of our human nature.

After experiencing that dark end of the spectrum, we drove to Pastor Sihok’s church and experienced the other end of the spectrum. What a breath of fresh air to see the light of Christ in his church! The congregation was so welcoming. We sang worship songs, heard a moving testimony from a young lady in the congregation, recited scripture, and received a message from Sanctuary Church’s David Delk, who spoke on living out Christ’s calling to share the good news with others. It was amazing to see how God is at work in Cambodia in churches like this. The country is 95% Buddhist and the people are so thirsty for the gospel.

We ended our day with dinner with the Sihok family and two of the students that Saving Susan Ministry funds in college, Pov (shown in photo with me) and Sona. These two young men are going through intensive studies as they attend medical school. They are amazing young men of God and are making an impact where they are now. It was wonderful to encourage them and the Sihok family while breaking bread together.

Tomorrow we drive to Bileg in Kampong Thom to see our orphan children! Please keep our team in your continued prayers.

God bless,

Adam Reiley

Click on the link below for day 2 update.

Cambodia update 7.21.19

It’s Friday night here in Cambodia. One week in for me and 4 for Tara. Our Irish friend Nigel joined us Tueday and we’ve spent the week together. Who is Nigel? He is this guy from Northern Ireland who I met in Venezuela about 8-10 years ago. He lives a missionary life. I love him dearly and getting to spend almost 2 weeks with him is like this amazing great thing.

The highlight of the week was probably Tuesday, we spent most of it at the dumpsite. Highlight- yeah kinda weird, but it is hard and fun all at the same time. Imagine a dump where people (adults, kids, everyone) pick through the trash to find plastic, metal, etc. they can sell to the recyclers. They live, work, go to school, and church in the middle of this mess…

But in the middle of the filth I think we get to see Jesus in face of the kids. For whatever reason, this might be my favorite place in Cambodia.

Second place might have been a house church Thursday. We sat on the floor, sang songs, had a Bible study and Tara told the story of getting here.

Matt and Steve are on the way from Korea. The second leg of the journey which will complete almost 21 hours in the air for them. The will be tired and messed up from the time change, lack of sleep, and time in an airplane. Pray for them.

Tomorrow we let Steve and Matt sleep a little late and then visit the Killing Fields- the Choeung Ek Genocide Center. It is really the Auswitch of Cambodia. It is awful and terrible and I don’t even want to go near there again. This country is dominated by the murder of 25% (yes that number is correct) of its’ population in the late 1970’s. You just can’t imagine…but you need to see it to begin to understand this place and tomorrow we will take Steve and Nigel. Prayers really are appreciated.

From ½ a world away…Tara and Matt Hambrick, Nigel Burrows

I’ve been here for 5 days now and am finally starting to get settled in. The first few days were incredibly hard, more so than I could have imagined. I would wake up in the middle of the night and just cry while I talked to my parents on the phone. I was exhausted, jet lagged, and alone. I missed my family and the comfort of America so so badly. But then Monday came and I got to work in the hospital, and teach little kids English, and spend time with the coolest people from the Philippines, and do a devotion with the kids. And suddenly, I didn’t find myself crying anymore. I found myself having fun, being grateful for the opportunities that I know I wouldn’t get in America (I mean I get to run blood tests on my own, with no training). They days aren’t hard anymore and the nights aren’t lonely. I still miss my family and it would be nice to have the commodities if America but I don’t find myself dwelling on those thoughts. I just go out and have fun and love on the people here as best as I can. I’m not sure what the rest of the trip will look like, but I’m hoping I enjoy it as much as I’m enjoying myself now.
Tara