The Children

It's hard to know where to start in writing my thoughts on my trip to Cambodia. It seems a bit surreal that just over a week ago I was actually on the other side of the world. I'll try to just hit the highlights so as to not bore you.

When I think back on this trip, there are several things that stand out. Obviously the biggest thing is the children. Even though I couldn't say their names or have a conversation with them, it was amazing that we were still able to build connections with them through activities and physical touch. Even the first day, many of these kids would come up to us and hold our hands or sit on our laps. It wasn't that they didn't get enough love at the orphanage. We could tell that they were well loved. It was if they knew that touch was a way to express love and they wanted to share that with us.

We went on this trip planning to teach them about how to serve each other. This pictures is from a foot washing activity we did. After the first day, we realized they already understood this lesson and could probably teach us a thing or two about service. All week, they were so good about helping each other and sharing. It was awesome. Both the love they showed us and the love they showed each other demonstrated that these children were being taken care of and taught about the love of Christ.

I want to tell you about one kid that really touched me, and I think the sentiment was shared by everyone on my team. His name is something like Sokia (like I said, I had a really hard time with the language, so I just have to take a guess at what his name actually was. My first interaction with Sokia was during a game of Red Rover. We had played quite a few rounds when his name was called. With no warning, this boy with a HUGE smile on his face took off running across the field...only he couldn't actually run. His motor skills were very poor. He ran on his toes and couldn't really bend his arms or legs like most people. If this would have happened in America, chances are that the other kids would laugh at him. This was not the case in Cambodia. He probably received more cheers than anyone else. They really encouraged him. Sokia's joy and boldness continued all week. No matter what the challenge was, he faced it head on with no indication that he knew he was different. We later learned that Sokia wasn't born like this. He had an abusive father who stepped on him, resulting in his physical disabilities. What makes him so inspiring was that he was possibly the happiest of all the children. The smalles thing would just make him light up. He made me stop and think about my own life. I find all sorts of excuses to not do things if I don't think I'll succeed, and I complain or get down if things don't go my way. But here is a kid with so many things stacked against him, yet he was so happy and so bold.

These kids were what it was all about. They were an inspiration.