What We Miss about Cambodia

As we draw closer to the birth of our third precious child, and as we enter our second month in Bangkok, we are not only thrilled about this new addition to our family; we are also eager beyond description to be back at home in Cambodia. It seems a bit strange that I am having these feelings about Cambodia. Humanly speaking, there is really nothing about Cambodia that should draw a Georgia-boy like me. Whether it be the utter chaos of the traffic, the abundance of open sewers, the sight of abject poverty, or the various "interesting" smells, there is really no earthly reason why I should be homesick for Cambodia. But I truly believe that when a person knows he is exactly where God wants him to be, he cannot help but fall in love with that place, and with the people of that place. The following are just a few reasons why we are missing Cambodia dearly right now.



1. The church, "Grom-jom-nom Baptist Domnung La-awe"- Good News Baptist Church
    We miss the church family, each and every member. We thank God for them. We are encouraged by their faithfulness to the Lord, and by their sincere love for the Lord. We are so blessed to be able to call them our friends. We miss every aspect of the services- the singing, the fellowship, and the teaching and preaching. We are looking forward to being a part of all of this again in a few more weeks.

2. The Benefield family
    We thank God for allowing us to work along side the Benefield family. Not only are they our co-laborers, they are our dear friends. What a blessing it is to work with people with whom we not only agree doctrinally, but with whom we agree in our spirit as well.

3. Ministry involvement
    Being in Thailand for the past month has not relieved us of our "duties" as missionaries. We have asked God to give us opportunities to witness and minister, and He has given us those opportunities. I agree with a missionary friend in China who recently wrote a great article about the fact that our call to ministry is not determined by our geographic location; we are to minister to people regardless of our location on this planet. Praise God, we were able to locate a Christian literature distribution company here in Bangkok, where we purchased Thai Gospel tracts. We thank God for the opportunities we have had to share many of these tracts already. We have been attending Bangjak Baptist Church, and have been greatly blessed at each service.
    But because of the language barrier, and because I have had to devote more time than usual to helping Linda with the children, I feel slightly detached from my normal ministry life. The ability to speak with people, the familiarity with the neighborhoods where we minister in Phnom Penh, having my own transportation to go make visits, the peace of mind that Linda and the kids are taken care of- all of these and more are reasons why I am looking forward to getting back and involved in the ministry in Cambodia.