Short Term Missions trip
I won't complain too much in this blog, but i need to get a couple things of my chest right off the bat. One of the main things im learnign is how not to lead a trip to a forien country. This trip has been turned into a missions trip gone wrong. The other day we handed out candy to malnurished children...CANDY!!! im sure the little peices of sugur are gogin to do great fro there vitamin lacking bodies. The sad thing is every one keeps pattign themselves on the back for doign so. I will tell more stories later, but on this trip im afriad we are doign way mroe bad than good in cambodia. I was coming here with the hopes to learn about he culture, however i havn't learned much at all. Our whole class is exaughsted and we all want this trip to be over and we want to go home, this is the trip from hell. It has been run extreamly poorly. i havn't had a good meal in a couple of days, becasue we keep stoping at random gas stations to get food....i can only have oreos as a meal once. wow sorry, i just feel like ive wasted a lot of money!!!!!Here is teh other end of the storym the things i am teachign myself through this trip.
The things i have seen, have been crazy. I can't bein to explain the conditions in which these people live. I went to a villiage and visited some people their and they really od live off nothing. yet they arn't very smart. This is due to the pol pot regiem wich killed off all the educaterd in cambodia. the people have been left to rebuild their country, therfore everything out here is rather random and doesn't make much sence. or maybe im just thinking to american. The people on our trip are amazed by the joy of the people, which is funny to me because thats not what i see. When i look at the people, i can see a desperation. They all seem to be floatign through life with no purpose, no goals. I was talkign to some local studetns and i asked them what they did..and they said "nothing" they litterly do nothing all day, and that is what everyone out here does. When we drive around everyone is justr kind of hangin out on the streets. I wonder what would happen if we could give the children more than candy, or more than a smile, what would happen if we could give them the power to dream. Give them the power to stand up and make a difference in their world. Im sorry that im not happy with giving them money and candy, but thats because I want to give them more!! I don't know if i can take it any more. I don't know if you know what it is like to hold a kid in your arms, and watch them smile at you, with a mouth full of rotting teeth. This wasn't even the worst. We visited rubish mountain..its a dump, a litteral place where they dump the trash. And we visited teh village that was in the middle. I saw kids, mothers, fathers, and grandparents, living, eating, and playing in trash. They where so dirty and smelled so bad, they almost wherent even people. They where almost like another form of animal.....how does this happen, i hope our peices of candy hellped them a lot, becasue i know it made our group feel like the changed their whole world. I can't help but to sit in my hotel, and sit in silence, and wonder what has gone wrong with todays christians, how can we all be so blind. How can we look at a world in such hurt and think we can help by bringing asmile...im sorry but we need to do better than that...
We have been talking to the assistant professor of the trip, in hopes that it will change, so hopefully in the next couple of days i will learn why all this is happenign, and be able to share the story of cambodia with all of you.
thanks for reading,
Willis
posted by Mike Willis @ 8:14 PM
4 Comments:
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I love that you desire to make a difference Willis, but I love even more that you see that hope and dreams of a better life is found in Christ. Do all that you can to turn candy and smiles into an opportunity to share hope and dream weaving. When they say that they do nothing, tell them about the Giver, of not just something, but EVERYTHING GOOD. The best way to share change and true life is to live it Willis, be that guy on the trip. Thanks for your heart and passion, love and appreciate you brother.
I'm proud of you, Michael. Continue to be angry...if you aren't angry (about injustice), you arent paying attention. My encouragement to you is to let that frustration drive to you being different from every other privileged white American. That piece of candy does mean something to them...but you're right, its not enough. So do more. When you do these tiny things that feel meaningless to you, GIVE THEM MEANING. Mother Teresa says that change does not come in doing large things efficiently, but in doing small things with great love. So when you do these little things like giving a child a piece of candy, or holding a child, do it with more love than you could ever imagine. God has given you this frustration with their living conditions, he will give you the love to look past those things and adore those people the way that He does.
The next step? Go back to those places and continue to do small things with great love.
I miss you, and I'll see you soon. I want to hear all about the people you meet and the things you see.
ow common ,if there was not poor there was not rich ,and im sure you not even willin to spend 1/5 of your salary to these children than a cheap sack of candy,
you dont care about it ,and want ous to know how ,,good,, we have it ??
Ive been in cambodia and I live in amsterdam myself and somethimes I think what does a man need to be happy ...?? food and a wife ,and that is what they able to get ,(this isnt africa where its dirt dry )
you saw an old man dirty searching the trash well aint it terrible .
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