I arrived back in the States almost a week ago now, and life has quickly returned to normal, but not quite. I can’t stop thinking about SEA and the people we met while we were there. It was a whirlwind three weeks as we had meeting with over 18 different ministries in Cambodia and Thailand, and it felt like each meeting was better than the one before. I know the one question most of you are asking, “where will you end up?” But I don’t have that answer yet. We are still waiting for members of our team to return from their travels, then we will re-convene to debrief all of our observations and share our findings with the EMI CEO. Our hope is to be able to announce a country by the end of the summer. But for now, I can share with you some of the sights, sounds, and most importantly the faces we met along the way:
{In Southeast Asia, the majority of people ride motos, or small scooters: Young, Old, Cool, Student, or Businessman. We saw this Granny speeding along in Chiang Mai, Thailand.}
{In Kampong Chhnang, we got to visit the same location I was at last year on my project trip. Seandy and her Mom, Seab have lived at the New Development Center for 14 years. They were a joy to spend the day with.}
{We were privileged to meet these three recent architectural graduates working for Aerne Architects. Nong, Chea, and Rin are working in apprenticeship positions, where Martin Aerne hopes to disciple and train them to be architects with a Christian worldview. Martin was excited to share his ideas and vision with us as we recognize the great need for many more disciples in SEA.}
{Both the night and day markets in Phnom Penh are a riot of color, sounds, and most distinctly, smells. At one point there was a very fresh fish flopping around in our path before its owner flipped it back into the bin.}
{Biaya is the daughter of a Khmer pastor and his wife, Filipino civil engineer. They have a vision to plant a village church outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia. She has a vision to be a missionary to the nations. One of the main objectives for an EMI field office is to be able to serve people like this.}
Cambodia is full of potential. The land and people are still recovering from Khmer Rogue era, and most survivors suffer extreme PTSD. With a mostly young population, the country is rebuilding and the opportunity is ripe for influence in so many areas of society. The government, while also facing many challenges, is open to anyone who brings development and jobs to the Khmer people.
Thailand has a huge need as well, and it also has a lot going for it. There are a lot of ministries, Christian nationals who are passionate about their faith and bringing others along, and tons of development. Unfortunately with the development has also come a lot of the materialism of the West.
Both nations have a huge need for discipleship, but this is also their biggest challenge. Unlike here in the Colorado office, it takes much longer than a 5 month internship to really start to make an impact in the lives of young Christians. The Buddhist world-view runs deep in the culture and mindset of these people; to start to change that takes lots of prayer and lots of time. But this is the reason EMI wants to plant an office in this region; to give us more time with these people. I’m excited for the prospect ahead. I believe one day soon I will be able to work alongside a Christian Thai or Khmer graphic designer and help them discover how to be distinctly Christian in their job, family, and life.