Go Beyond | Cambodia

This song has been my anthem for 2022 and going into 2023. I first heard this song at church on a Sunday morning and immediately grabbed my phone to add it to my worship playlist. From that day in early 2022 until now I have played that song many times every. single. day. I have sent it to numerous friends and groups. I sing it loudly in my house and in my car. The message of this song is the anthem of my life and perfectly articulates how I want to live.

My family knows my great love for this song and Avery excitedly called me just before we left for the mission trip to Cambodia and shared that one of the writers for this song, Jesse Reeves, is the father of her friend and sorority sister at Baylor, Rachel Reeves. This only made me love the song more. The Sunday after we left for Cambodia, Pastor Omar shared a group photo of our team and the song that played was – you guessed it – I Speak Jesus.

There is something about this song. There is something about this name. No matter what problems, situations, impossible decisions or diagnoses that we face, there is one name who offers peace. There is one name who offers hope. And there is one name who offers joy, even in them midst of suffering. That name is JESUS.

As our team walked the streets of Poipet, Cambodia and came face to face with the rampant lack of clean water, extreme poverty, sickness and disease, we offered what we had. We sang songs that brought smiles to the faces of women and children, our nurse, Carol Soechting offered medicine to the sick, our dentists, Joe Estes & Derek McKaskle, offered dental care and our team offered eyeglasses to improve the daily life of those in remote villages. Most of all we offered the only real hope we have which is Jesus.

No matter what your streets look like – dusty roads or well built highways, if we know Jesus we must speak His name. There is a hurting world needing hope and healing and they are counting on us to offer something lasting. And while we offer eternal hope in the name of Jesus, we will also offer time, money and our resources to meet physical needs while we are here on earth. Why? Because that is what Jesus did and that is what He asks us to do. And as you meet us in hospital rooms, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in our classrooms and on the streets may you always finding us speaking Jesus.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus
Over every heart and every mind
‘Cause I know there is peace within Your presence
I speak Jesus

I just want to speak the name of Jesus
‘Til every dark addiction starts to break
Declaring there is hope and there is freedom
I speak Jesus

Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire

Written by Lisa Quiring

After many trips to Poipet, Cambodia going into the villages hit me a little harder this particular year. Seeing the hopelessness can be overwhelming. You see so many needs that you want to meet and can’t.

I remembered a recent devotion from Acts 3 and it helped me to regain perspective. When Peter and John were asked by the beggar for money, they said we can’t help you with that BUT here is what we can give you – Jesus!

Hope has a name and it is Jesus. Realizing we can’t meet every need people have, although we did our best and will continue to try to meet their physical needs, we will always share the hope of heaven. I will continue to pray for the physical needs to be met and do my part to make that happen, but more than anything I pray that all people, despite their situation, realize their only real hope is in Jesus.

Jesus was and is all about those who other deem unimportant. The sick? He headed straight towards them. The leper? Jesus touched him. Women? He spoke worth and value to them. The poor? He blessed them and said it was easier for them to get to heaven than the rich! The children? The children have the heart of Jesus. ❤️

In Matthew 19:14 Jesus says to let the little children come to Him for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus esteemed children.

We look more like Jesus when we love those He loves. And scripture says “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not die but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Let’s love others well starting with the little children. In that others will know that we follow Jesus. It is by our extravagant love for those the world deems unworthy that we show a hurting world a loving God who desires not just life for us but abundant life here on this earth and eternal life in heaven.

Look for those that society deems unloveable, unimportant, less worthy, a bother and head straight to them. You will never look more like Jesus than in those moments.

Our team arrived refreshed and ready to go on Friday afternoon. We flew Eva Air from Houston through Taipei which shaved off over 10 hours from our typical travel route and allowed us to hit the ground in Phnom Penh ready to soak in the sights and sounds of this familiar country. Our team this year is made up of 14 people, seven of which have never been to Cambodia and one is our dear friend Nel from Australia whom we met in Poipet in 2020.

Upon arriving in the capital city of Phnom Penh we dropped our bags at the hotel and made our way to the Genocide Museum otherwise known as S21. This place is a horrifying reminder of a dark time in Cambodia’s history when the Khmer Rouge tortured and killed millions of their own people. S21 was a ordinary school with playground equipment, classrooms and a lovely courtyard for children to play. The Khmer Rouge changed all that in 1975 when they arrested and systematically tortured Cambodians in the very classrooms meant for children to learn. S21 is a grim reminder of just how depraved a mind can be apart from Jesus.

Classrooms now bear the items used for torture and the pictures of those who died needlessly within there walls.

Those of us who had been to Cambodia many times before found ourselves crying fresh tears over the atrocities that happened during the time of the Khmer Rouge. The first time we saw S21 it was more a history lesson. This time, 12 years later, this was what was done to our friends. This was what changed the course of history forever imprinting Cambodia with evil and horror. We stood with our friend Noit as she recounted the day her father was killed and they took her, her mother and her siblings to the work camp where she would barely survive and watch the rest of her family die over the next 3 years. It is almost unspeakable.

We found our way to the exit of S21 and stopped to buy the books of 3 survivors. Three men who lived through all the days, weeks, months and years of torture and miraculously lived were seated at the exit selling books that told their stories.

Leaving this place of horror left us feeling the weight of the country’s darkest days and understanding the importance of sharing the love of Jesus with those we encounter while we are here.

The mood shifted as we arrived at a busy celebration in the center of Phnom Penh. Steve Hyde explained to us that their ministry, Antioch, was part of a celebration of 100 years of the gospel of Jesus in Cambodia.

The current Prime Minister, Hun Sen, is the first leader of Cambodia to allow religious freedom in Cambodia. Christians have been in Cambodia for about 500 years but every time there gets to be a sizable number of believers there was a massacre and all were killed. It has been under the leadership of the current Prime Minister, despite the fact that Cambodia is still a communist country, where the gospel has been allowed and today we got to celebrate with our Cambodian brothers and sisters in Christ.

It was a beautiful reminder of beauty that has come from the ashes of millions of people killed where evil reigned. This day we celebrated that from only a few believing families in 1923 there is now approximately 3% of the Cambodian population who counts themselves as believers. While we celebrate this great day with our Cambodian friends it is a sobering reminder of the work left to be done. We are here for a purpose. We have the privilege of standing alongside the believers who are here doing the hard work of ministering to the poor, the widows, the orphans and those living without hope. Jesus is the only way to live with hope and sharing that hope is the purpose for our trip.

Steve and Noit are running their race well. They live with unbelievable hardships and challenges that they have considered and counted worth it. They persevere because they know that hope in Jesus will bring healing to Cambodia and healing to each person who chooses to believe in Him. They will find at the end of their life Jesus waiting for them and saying well done my good and faithful servants.

The question for today is how is your race? Are you running? Do you know what you are running towards? We each have a unique race that God has set for us. Those who haven chosen to place their faith in Jesus believe that whatever difficulties and hardships we encounter along the way we count as worth it for the sake of the gospel. We believe the price at the end, eternal life, is worth it. And for all those that we get to take with us that we meet along the way – they are worth our time. They are worthy of any sacrifice we are required to give.

The Apostle Paul reminds us to run well. He wrote in Hebrews 12:1-3 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Cambodia holds a special place in my heart. Ten years ago, I fell in love with the people of Poipet and the beautiful children at Imparting smiles. When we first started going, Cambodia was only about 1% Christian. Over the years, I have watched Steve and Noit’s ministry grow and have seen Jesus bring light to darkness. When I am in Cambodia I feel super close to God. I can set aside the business of my life in Katy, and truly focus on Jesus.

These memories popped up today on my Facebook timeline. Last year’s mission trip to Cambodia was very special. Steve and Noit were in the process of building the Antioch school in Cooper Pott’s honor, and our team was able to see this elementary school for the first time. Steve and Noit had a special painting of Cooper hugging Jesus hanging in the entry way. I will never forget walking into the school that day, and that painting was the first thing I saw.. At first I could barely bring myself to look at it. It brought an overwhelming wave of sadness which made me want to run right out of the building.

However, after a few moments, God gave me a sense of overwhelming peace that I had never really felt before. In the months following Cooper’s death, I had watched that peace completely cover Kara and her family, but I had struggled to feel it myself. In that moment, I was finally able to let all of my doubt go, and I decided to truly trust in Jesus and the hope of Heaven. I then started thinking about the hundreds and thousands of the kids that will walk through those doors in the future and learn about Jesus’s love for them. Surely many of them would ask about the boy in the picture. I can only imagine how the story of Cooper’s life and his amazing love for Jesus will instill hope and peace in generations of Cambodian children.

Fast forward one year…….This year’s trip was very special! Our team was able to witness the vision I had come true. The Antioch school was open and full of energetic kids and teachers. We sat in several classes and watched the teachers pour into the students. We could all see God’s hand at work in these classrooms. The sadness I felt the previous year was gone and transformed into pure joy. I looked at Cooper’s picture this year and felt true hope. I can really see Cooper’s legacy raise the next generation of children in Poipet to follow Jesus and love others like Cooper did (#livelikecooper). I now truly understand how God turns ashes into beauty. I read somewhere recently that hope is like a star. Stars are amazing but you can only really see their full splendor in the dark. I now really understand what this means.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15-13

Americans are very polite pray-ers.  We say a cursory prayer before meals and at the appropriate times in Sunday services.  We pray at the beginning of football games, at least in Texas, and we pray when our lives are spinning out of control.  But when we pray, we pray politely.  We take turns if we are in a group.  We predetermine who will pray at specific times.  The entire idea of planned, polite prayer is quite possibly not what Jesus had in mind when he commanded us to pray.  

I first had a Cambodian lesson on prayer many years ago when our team hosted a women’s conference.  Hundreds of women came to the conference.  Some came for discipleship and teaching, but many came because we offered free meals and they were hungry.  At the conclusion of the conference our American team spent a few hours washing the feet of the women and praying over them.  The first year we did this we each had an interpreter with us and so she translated our prayers to the women.  The second year we did not have translators in the room so we prayed and something remarkable happened.  The women whose feet we were washing started to pray in Khmer, the Cambodian language.  They prayed at the same time we were praying in English.  They prayed over our voices.  We could not understand each other’s words, but yet we understood what was taking place.  It was a sacred moment and one that I will never forget.

This year I had another poignant lesson on prayer but this time it was from a sixteen year old teenager at Imparting Smiles Children’s Center.   I first met Peak and his sister Ry when they arrived at the center in 2012.  Their only living relative was their mom and she had recently died, so the orphaned children were brought to Imparting Smiles.  I instantly fell in love with them!  Ry was the same age as Avery and Peak was the same age as Cooper so they had my heart from the first time we met.  Over the years I have watched these shy children become confident teens.  Ry has graduated from high school and Peak is in 11th grade.  They both love Jesus, speak English and smile often.

Last week when the team visited the new Antioch School where Peak is in English class, we asked the kids if we could pray for them.  Many raised their hands and asked for prayer and I asked team members to pray for each student by name.  In typical American fashion, I suggested that I start the prayer, team members could pray for one of the student’s prayer requests and another team member could close the prayer.  

As I began to pray I heard someone praying loudly at the same time as me.  Soon another teen began to pray.  I was startled and looked up to see what was going on and it was then that I realized that Peak had put his hand on the student that I was praying for and he had joined me in praying.  He prompted others to begin praying so there was a beautiful combined prayer being lifted up.  I knew instantly that this was a prayer that touched the heart of God.  

The last night we were at the children’s center, Steve Hyde asked the American team to get in a circle which we did.  Immediately we were surrounded by all the children and teens as well the Cambodian adults and they all began to pray.  They put their hands on us and prayed and prayed.  All at the same time!  It was a moment I will never forget.  We think that we go to offer what we can to them, but the reality is they are often the teachers.  I love the lesson that I learned about prayer and hope that as I am back in America that I will move from being a polite prayer to an unabashed, passionate prayer.  I want messy, imperfect prayers that are genuine, spontaneous and prayers that I know move the heart of God.

Phalla Chak grew up in one of Steve & Noit Hyde’s Imparting Smiles children’s centers located in the jungle of Cambodia in the providence of Kracheh where there is no electricity, running water or dreams of a better tomorrow. Phalla’s father died when she was young and because of extreme poverty, her mother was unable to care for her.  This is a part of Cambodia where often children are sold to get enough money to feed other children in the family or even worse, left to die. It is a place where hope is not found and where despair and hopelessness are the norm.  A team of evangelists visited this village and saw the desperate situation and shared that there was a place where children are cared for and have food to eat and access to education.  Phalla’s mother brought 10 year old Phalla to the center and when young Phalla saw the playground she was instantly drawn to the center.  What little Phalla could never know at this time was that Jesus was making a way.  Jesus was making a way for this young girl to have a future and a hope.

Fast forward a decade and Phalla grew up in the children’s center with not just food, water, clothing and education, but more importantly she grew up with love.  Steve and Noit love each of the children in the orphanages and consider them their own children.  They know their stories, they listen to their fears and they speak hope and life into each of them.  They teach that there is a God who loves them and has a good plan for their lives.  This investment of truth in the lives of children who are often neglected, hungry, offered little love and no protection has been the spring board for radical change in many young lives.  

Phalla worked hard in school and graduated from high school.  Steve & Noit made it possible for Phalla to go to Indonesia to university where Phalla graduated in four years.  That time in her life was not easy.  Those of us who have traveled to Cambodia many times over the past 10 years became friends with Phalla on Facebook and often during those four years she would post about how sad and lonely she felt.  School was difficult and she was so far away from everything she had ever known.  But Phalla persevered.  She believed the words that had been spoken over her.  She believed that she had value and that Jesus had plans for her.  She believed that there was hope for a bright future.

Phalla graduated from university in 2018 and moved to Phnom Penh where Steve & Noit helped her find a job teaching local children while the Antioch School was being built in Poipet.  Upon completion of the Antioch School, Phalla moved to Poipet and became the first teacher at the school.  The Antioch School offers excellent education taught by qualified teachers in a loving and caring environment.  Students are taught in Khmer and English and additionally receive Christian education at the school.  

Visiting the Antioch School has been a highlight of this trip.  Walking into the classroom that we have been praying for and seeing it filled with children smiling and learning with teachers who were raised in the children’s’ centers is an experience I will never forget.  Phalla teaches English to junior high and high school aged students and we had the privilege to join the class while we were in Poipet.  Hearing the kids that we have never been able to speak to without interpreters, talk to us in English and beam with pride over their accomplishments was nothing short of remarkable.  Seeing Phalla dressed as a professional and leading her classroom in English lessons was evidence of a good God, faithful missionaries and a life that has a hope and a future.

Monday we left the beautiful resort town of Siem Reap and headed west to the Cambodian border town of Poipet which is located on the Thai border.  The 3 hour drive takes us quickly past luxurious hotels & dumps us in a dusty, trash-filled town where hundreds of thousands of people eke out a meager existence living in lean-to shanties and are always looking for their next meal.  The trash is everywhere, It is oppressive! Dirty kids running along the street with no one watching them are the norm.  Men laying in hammocks often drunk from the night before, and women cooking what they could find for the next meal.  Many move to this town to seek work across the border in Thailand.  Labor jobs that often keep them away from their children for days, weeks or forever.  Children are left vulnerable and easy prey for those seeking evil pursuits.  It is here in Poipet where I have seen Jesus on the move for the past decade.

Our Kingsland mission teams have been traveling to Poipet for over 10 years and here is where Jesus is moving on the behalf of the poor, the oppressed and the destitute.  Of course He is moving all over the world on behalf of each of us, but here in this poverty-stricken village I have had the privilege of seeing His hands work in ways that can only be described as divine.

Steve and Noit Hyde are the missionaries we have partnered with and they have dedicated their lives to serving the poor in Cambodia.  Following God’s leading they have built the Hope Center, 3 Christian schools, 2 orphanages, translated the bible into the local Khmer language and built a mind blowing discipleship program that stretches across many countries in Asia. As glamorous as this job description sounds the realities of their work are unfashionably difficult. They are raising over a hundred orphaned children and teens who have lived through unspeakable trauma. They are constantly underfunded to do what needs to be done to help and educate the poor. They work tirelessly and we come each year to stand alongside this amazing couple and help shoulder the load if only for a short time.

Yesterday our team set up camp in the Hope Center, a sprawling building in the middle of Poipet that serves as a base camp for teams of women who go out to remote villages and teach about nutrition, infant care, care of the preborn and other life giving lessons.  

We were asked by the Hope Center director, Vuthey, to teach the teams about symptoms of diabetes, glucose testing and lifestyle changes that can reverse the effects of the disease.  We have two students on this team, Kendra who is a senior in high school & Julia who is a junior at UT.  Both girls are pursuing degrees in the medical field and took the lead teaching about diabetes to the staff.

 Jesus moved in the direction of the hurting, the poor and the oppressed.  By partnering with Steve & Noit Hyde and their ministry here in Cambodia we have access to those who Jesus would touch.  Those Jesus would give attention to.  Those Jesus would heal and offer words of hope.

That is our mission here in Cambodia.  Scripture clearly teaches to “look after widows & orphans – James 1:27b”, to “love your neighbor as yourself – Matthew 22:39” & to “act justly, love mercy & walk humbly with our God – Micah 6:8”.  We want to live with this mission each and every day of our lives, but we are fortunate to partner with those on the front lines of injustice and poverty for a time each year and get to see first hand where Jesus is still in the business of performing miracles.

Keith’s wife Janet has been to Cambodia 7 times and has been a faithful, core member of our Cambodia missions team as well as very involved in local mission initiatives.  Keith recently retired as a Murphy Oil Executive and has joined us on the last two trips to Cambodia where he exhibited true servant-leadership to our team as well as those we came to serve.

In Keith’s words…..

It is an overwhelming experience to serve together with brothers and sisters in Christ.  This trip to Cambodia may top all of my experiences in serving  and certainly represents a glimpse of heaven.  We joined the team at George Bush International Airport in Houston.  Men and women with various backgrounds, experiences, and gifts and as some of us were introduced for the first time, it caught my attention that at least five different church bodies were represented on this team.

It is not our church affiliation that defines or makes us but that we love Jesus and  we love  others. Thank you Pastor Omar for the opportunity to join together and serve the people of Cambodia.  Regardless of whether you were on the dental team, medical team, Vacation Bible School team or conference teaching team, each one of us was cheering for the other and ready to jump in and serve the other person.

Do you suppose that much of heaven is this?  Cheering for Jesus (raising our voices in praise) and serving one another!  Do you desire to see a glimpse of heaven on earth?  Select an opportunity and a team and share your love with that community.  It matters not whether it is domestic or international but that we serve others.

Thank you Team Cambodia 2019 for allowing me the privilege in serving with you.

To God Be the Glory!

It is so hard to find words to describe my experience in Cambodia. It was absolutely incredible! This was my first mission trip outside of the United States.  I’ve heard Steve Hyde speak at Kingsland about his mission work in Cambodia, but honestly, it was not until I actually visited Cambodia and saw Steve in action, that I fully understood the breadth of his work there and his passion for Cambodia. Steve, in Kara’s words, has not just a giant vision, but a God-size vision for Cambodia. It was so great to see him in action in his element,  and to serve alongside him. The Lord is using him in great and mighty ways to share Jesus with Cambodia!  What a tremendous blessing!

This was also the first time that I have ever been a part of a medical mission trip providing dental care. It was a lot of fun getting to serve the people of Cambodia and share about the hope we have in Jesus. They were so incredibly grateful, kind, loving, and hospitable.

Our team had so much fun together and got along so well. It was great getting to know people that I didn’t know, and grow closer to those I knew. We not only got to serve the Khmer people, but also serve one another, laugh and cry together, and create unforgettable memories together. Below is a picture of us wearing our compression socks on the 35 hour trip home!

So blessed and grateful for my husband Tom, who held down the fort at home and made this trip possible for me.

It was eye-opening to be submerged in the culture of Cambodia and experience life there among the Khmer people. I have fallen in love with the Khmer people and can’t wait to go back!

Excited to pray and see what the Lord is going to do in Cambodia.

Blessings,
Charlene