Reality.
Today, we offered a ride home to one of the church members at Cham Chao (actually, the conversation was more along the lines of him telling us in English, “Today I go with you” :) And as we approached his house, I was struck by the simplicity of his living situation. I remember someone asking me before I came to Cambodia what I looked forward to in my time here. I responded that I wanted to see the greater reality beyond my own in America.
And honestly, I think it may have happened for the very first time today, after a year of being here. I have been what could be considered nearly “overly prepared” in my approach to Cambodia. I received insight from those living here ahead of time regarding what to expect from the traffic, the climate, the people, the food, the culture, the poverty….but perhaps, although this preparedness has been helpful in regards to adjusting, it has also brought with it a sense of being guarded in my observations, always ready for the extremes of what I might encounter. What I find now, as we have a specific time frame for our season here, is that perhaps my guard has come down a bit.
Sometimes being willing to see comes with a cost.
We recently had a guest from Norway in town who interviewed a young man, Thany, who is about 21 and living at our orphan home in Phnom Penh. Thany lost his parents at a young age and while he was able to live with neighbors, he was forced to fish with his two brothers in a nearby river in order to have food for the day (without the convenience a boat may have offered). He and his brothers were eventually taken by the neighbors to a Phnom Penh orphan home which did not turn out to be the best of situations because it found the young brothers out selling newspapers on the street in an attempt at providing their own income.
Eventually they came into contact with the orphan home they reside in now in Phnom Penh (Cham Chao) and as the story progressed, Thany became visibly emotional as he recounted how his life had so radically changed, both by having a healthy living situation, and by his encounter with Christ. He said that now what he is so grateful for is a bed to sleep in, food to eat, and the tremendous opportunity he has to go to college.
This is his reality.
I had a wonderful conversation online with Emily today, who is currently making the transition from 2 and 1/2 years of living in Cambodia to now living back in the states. Hearing about her own process of readjustment helped me consider what I might face in my own.
I think my biggest question is and will continue to be: How will I allow this reality to change me when I leave, when it is no longer directly in front of me? How do I maintain it?
I love the idea of going home, the conveniences and the familiarity it offers, but I think that what I most anticipated about coming here (A reality beyond what I had known) may perhaps also become my greatest burden. It is haunting in the way it attempts to overwhelm, and sobering in the way it can so easily slip from memory. In the end it is much easier to grow complacent.
My challenge for myself is to be wise with these emotions, to not allow them to simply overwhelm me with the vastness of the poverty and struggle so present in our world, but to invest them well.
So what can I do? I can partner with others who long to see the bigger realities. I can be not only a wise steward of my finances in a way that would allow me to give toward these needs, but also be a wise steward of my time by investing in those who will soon be in my life at home.
It is easy to allow our culture to shape us and think we have no say in it. (I will need to remind myself of this in about 4 months from now). But I think we have a voice and I think it goes beyond unbridled optimism. I think it simply means being available wherever we find ourselves. What is the Lord revealing about your situation? About the people in your life? I have seen great contentment within tremendous simplicity, and I have seen miraculous change within the seemingly impossible. I want this reality to be my own :)
(I have found that I become quite introspective on rainy, overcast Cambodia afternoons :)
And honestly, I think it may have happened for the very first time today, after a year of being here. I have been what could be considered nearly “overly prepared” in my approach to Cambodia. I received insight from those living here ahead of time regarding what to expect from the traffic, the climate, the people, the food, the culture, the poverty….but perhaps, although this preparedness has been helpful in regards to adjusting, it has also brought with it a sense of being guarded in my observations, always ready for the extremes of what I might encounter. What I find now, as we have a specific time frame for our season here, is that perhaps my guard has come down a bit.
Sometimes being willing to see comes with a cost.
We recently had a guest from Norway in town who interviewed a young man, Thany, who is about 21 and living at our orphan home in Phnom Penh. Thany lost his parents at a young age and while he was able to live with neighbors, he was forced to fish with his two brothers in a nearby river in order to have food for the day (without the convenience a boat may have offered). He and his brothers were eventually taken by the neighbors to a Phnom Penh orphan home which did not turn out to be the best of situations because it found the young brothers out selling newspapers on the street in an attempt at providing their own income.
Eventually they came into contact with the orphan home they reside in now in Phnom Penh (Cham Chao) and as the story progressed, Thany became visibly emotional as he recounted how his life had so radically changed, both by having a healthy living situation, and by his encounter with Christ. He said that now what he is so grateful for is a bed to sleep in, food to eat, and the tremendous opportunity he has to go to college.
This is his reality.
I had a wonderful conversation online with Emily today, who is currently making the transition from 2 and 1/2 years of living in Cambodia to now living back in the states. Hearing about her own process of readjustment helped me consider what I might face in my own.
I think my biggest question is and will continue to be: How will I allow this reality to change me when I leave, when it is no longer directly in front of me? How do I maintain it?
I love the idea of going home, the conveniences and the familiarity it offers, but I think that what I most anticipated about coming here (A reality beyond what I had known) may perhaps also become my greatest burden. It is haunting in the way it attempts to overwhelm, and sobering in the way it can so easily slip from memory. In the end it is much easier to grow complacent.
My challenge for myself is to be wise with these emotions, to not allow them to simply overwhelm me with the vastness of the poverty and struggle so present in our world, but to invest them well.
So what can I do? I can partner with others who long to see the bigger realities. I can be not only a wise steward of my finances in a way that would allow me to give toward these needs, but also be a wise steward of my time by investing in those who will soon be in my life at home.
It is easy to allow our culture to shape us and think we have no say in it. (I will need to remind myself of this in about 4 months from now). But I think we have a voice and I think it goes beyond unbridled optimism. I think it simply means being available wherever we find ourselves. What is the Lord revealing about your situation? About the people in your life? I have seen great contentment within tremendous simplicity, and I have seen miraculous change within the seemingly impossible. I want this reality to be my own :)
(I have found that I become quite introspective on rainy, overcast Cambodia afternoons :)
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