Insights on Cambodia
Deep Wells and Fresh Water
by Margaret Yee
The woman was drawing water from the well under the hot afternoon sun, after 
scrubbing out the family’s laundry. If it had been the average Malaysian, she would have collapsed from sunstroke. But this was Cambodia. The people living along this dry, almost parched area of the country had no piped water or electricity. Nevertheless, at the few teaching sessions during this short missions trip, we noticed that even though the people from these remote house churches wore smiles on their sun burnt faces, their sad countenance after the smiles revealed a deep need to know how to live out their Christian lives abundantly, joyfully and with hope for the future.
Abundantly? Most of them plant rice that yields only one harvest a year. Life is hard for them and most of the young people leave for the bigger towns and cities while waiting for the harvest. Joyfully? Sickness and poverty plague them.
Hope? How could the glorious hope in Christ be real to them in their present state of poverty and sickness? Corruption and evil are everywhere. How would they impart this glorious hope of Christ’s return to their children?
TEACH the new Christians to obey God’s commandments. The “going” is the more exciting part for many Christians. But the teaching part sadly takes second place, as it is a long process that requires commitment, stamina and endurance; also, transformation is a quiet process. Not many leaders have that kind of longsuffering to see a new convert shake off his old habits and “unsanctified” thoughts and yield his total being to God’s will.
If teaching and nurturing are so important, what do we do to ensure that our short mission trips are effective and impactful long after we return home? For us, the Azusa Street Revival came to mind, where the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues gave the motivation towards personal holiness and empowerment for ministry:
“The significance of Azusa lies also in the testimonies of those whose lives were transformed by an experience of an immanent God, through the Holy Spirit. Many found their intellectual orientation transformed. Their own ministries suddenly gained new direction or power, their personal spirituality was enriched, and the vision of the church’s task immeasurably broadened. Thus the significance of Azusa was centrifugal – those who were touched by it took their experiences elsewhere and touched the lives of others. Coupled with the theological threads of personal salvation, holiness, divine healing, baptism in the Spirit with power for ministry, and an anticipation of the imminent return of Jesus Christ, ample motivation was provided to assure the revival a long-term impact.”1
This missions trip to Cambodia was to visit village churches planted by pastors
and leaders whom we were supporting. In the short time we had, we were convinced that the baptism of the Holy Spirit would be a fitting initiation into the discipleship process. With so many needs in a troubled land, only the Holy Spirit’s empowerment could feed the deep longing for an abundant life and call forth faith to trust in the God of abundance. Spiritual stamina from the knowledge of His Word and the engaging of His power would feed this process. When wells are dug deep, fresh water is found. So when the people broke into tongues after the teaching and at our bidding, we felt that they had found the liberty to express their hunger for more of Him. This needed no interpretation as they expressed their deep-seated longing for the God who justifies, sanctifies and glorifies!
For us as missionary-visitors, the most helpful thing on the agenda was to teach the villagers how to dig deep wells to get at the fresh water – read, study, listen to the Word of God, and to engage the power of the Holy Spirit. But we must remember that we can only teach what we already practice at home or in our home church – for example, prayer for the nations (above personal needs) and being involved in our church’s Christian education track to sharpen ministry skills and broaden understanding of our doctrines of belief and practice. Otherwise, the missions trip can become a “Bless Me” rather than a “Bless Them” event.
It also encourages our faith to be able to trace God’s hand of favour upon the Christians in another land. Therefore for those who take time off for such short missions trips, their prayers ought to include the church and country being visited after they have returned home, to be in the know of the progress of the church there, and of the country’s political/socio-economic situations.
Good stewardship requires that for every of our ministry endeavours, we are to leave behind “footprints” for others to follow, so that Christian impact and influence can increase. The only superstar for any ministry ought to be Jesus! We, the Christians are the supporting cast by praying for and creating situations that lead people to Him.
The Cambodian woman at the well must have found respite scrubbing out the clothes, some time away from the backbreaking task of planting rice. Thankfully, the hand pump device was efficient, a blessing from foreign missionaries. Perhaps the cool water reminded her of the Holy Spirit’s refreshing and revitalizing touch. Perhaps it was the balm upon her earthly troubles. As we looked from inside their new church, a simple structure of brick walls and zinc roof, and no fans (there is no power supply), we can only thank God for making Himself known through the simple lives of the village Christians who had turned from idols to follow the True and Living God.
1 The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, Revised and Expanded Edition.
Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. van der Maas Eds. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.
