Year after year God assembles a team to go on the annual Kingsland Cambodia mission trip.  Each year we have those that have been year after year and have fallen in love with the Khmer people along with new teammates who often are experiencing international missions for the first time.  I love that Kingsland gives us the opportunity to get involved in a short term mission trip with a long term ministry partner.  Omar Garcia, Missions Pastor at Kingsland, has intentionally partnered with men and women around the globe who are already making a difference in their country for the gospel.  We are able to take short term mission trips and not only serve for the week we are in the country, but also learn more about another part of the world, the people there in need, & how we can get involved in an ongoing way.

Talk about the A Team!  This year I was thrilled to take Dr. Joe Estes, Dr. Derek McKaskle, Dr. Cindy Anthis, Charlene Herman, RDH & Janie Boldt, RN.   During our week in Poipet, Cambodia we had a medical clinic and a dental clinic who provided much needed care to the poor in this area.

I have asked Cindy time and time again to go on this trip, but this busy Katy mom of four spends her days ministering to the poor in our very own community as well as traveling internationally to do the same.  Cindy currently serves and the Medical Director of Katy’s Christ Clinic whose mission is “providing help to those living without access to affordable healthcare, preventative services and prescription assistance”.  She works tirelessly to offer medical care here in Katy to people who are overlooked, cast aside and denied healthcare for a variety of reasons.  I have loved and respected Cindy for years and was thrilled when she agreed to go on this mission trip with me!

Cindy & Janie, Poline & Reken, our talented Cambodian interpreters & our fellow teammate, Keith Caldwell, retired Murphy Oil executive, saw 181 patients in 3 days ranging in age from 4 weeks to 86 years old at the Hope Center in Poipet.   They encountered medical issues ranging from muscle pain and arthritis to heart failure and diabetes.   They had the opportunity to pray for every person that they cared for.  Cindy shared, “We were privileged to have a small part in the ongoing ministry of the Hope Center”.

Joe Estes has been to Cambodia with our team the past 3 years and this year he recruited his Katy friend and fellow dentist, Derek McKaskle, along with Charlene Herman, long time Kingsland friend who works as a dental hygienist for both dentists here in Katy to be part of our ministry team.  These Katy professionals partnered with hand-picked teen orphans from Imparting Smiles and ran an unbelievable dental clinic servicing close to 100 patients, mostly from villages with no access to dental care.  Our dental team allowed the Cambodian teens an opportunity to get practical experience in a dental clinic with the hope that they will choose dentistry as their career path when they enter university this upcoming year.

Jesus spent his life ministering to those in need while offering spiritual healing that only He can bring.  I am deeply thankful for our A Team of Katy professionals who spent a week living like Jesus and offering physical help to the most destitute while praying for spiritual healing for each person they met.  Only in heaven will we see how this story plays out, but I for one, can’t wait to see how their sacrifice made a difference in the lives of others.