Retreat Camp at Kampot

Having  been brought up in the city since I was born, it is quite a challenge for me to stay in the village overnight.  When I went with the medical team to stay at House of Love or somewhere in the rural area, we had prepared all the backups like electricity supply (if we were lucky), local helpers for cooking, bottles of water, torches, mosquitoes nets.....,

The traveling

This time is a brand new experience for me because I alone needed to take 17 university students (6 girls and 11 boys) to our Kampot church for a 2-day/1-night retreat.  I arrived at the dormitory at 6 am (that means I needed to leave home at 5:30 am), and left at around 6:45 am.  There was a total of 19 people packed into my truck with backpacks, materials and tools for the children's program.  I earnestly prayed to God that my truck could ‘survive,' especially in the rainy season when some roads are muddy and difficult.  My truck got stuck in potholes 3 times, but fortunately, we had lots of strong, young men who were ready to help in case of trouble.  Since my truck does not have a roof or enough seats in the back, they had to crowd in together under the strong sunlight.  I think our overseas teams could never bear it, especially the ladies who want to protect themselves from sunburn.  However, our students never complained and enjoyed the 3-hour trip to the village. I also thank God that there was no rain during the time of travel. 

The lodging and meals

We stayed overnight at the church, where only some mattresses and pews are available.  Of course, we could not expect a neat and clean place in the village.  Thank the Lord that recently a cement floor was put in, so that it wasn't so dusty and muddy inside the chapel.  I slept on 2 pews (just one was too narrow) and I could not sleep well.   However, I was attracted by the sight of the starry night sky that I never saw in Hong Kong.

Concerning the meals, we asked 2 ladies to cook for us (ultimately there were 4) for dinner and breakfast the next day.  When we arrived and settled down, it was already about 2 o' clock when they started preparing to cook.  They bought 3 big chickens for the main dish, and used primitive tools and materials for cooking, like coconut leaves, with firewood as fuel, a stove supported by stones, straw to clean the wok, etc.  The most impressive thing was that they needed to move the stove inside the church to continue cooking when a heavy rain began.  It took more than 4 hours to prepare a 2-dish meal.  I admire to those ladies for their kindness and hard labor for us. On the next day, some students were gone for 2 hours to the nearby market to buy lunch boxes for the return trip.

The program

Although we only stayed for 2 days, we had a tight program.  When I arrived, I had a development meeting (the ending and re-starting of the loan scheme) with the villagers.  The students were separated into groups to visit the villagers near and far.  Unlike usual visitations, some student groups helped the villagers to do their farm work.  It lasted for more than 4 hours and they managed to visit 4-5 families.  It was not easy for them either because of the warm and rainy weather.  Nevertheless, they enjoyed very much building up  relationships with the Kampot church members and their neighbors. 

In the evening, a young pastor who went with us shared a very good message to encourage the students (the topic was "The power to change").  Since there was no electricity, we just had some candles (actually, I could not see the Bible clearly or even the faces of people) for the whole worship; even the songs we sang were from memory. 

The highlight was the snack time after the worship when 3 students and I walked over one hour round trip to buy cooked, partially matured duck eggs from a farmer.  Each student ate at least 3 eggs and they were not afraid of high cholesterol.

The next day morning, we had a children's program and more than 120 children came.  We prepared a puppet show, handicrafts, stories, and at the end we distributed some clothes to them.  After packing up, we left for a short trip to visit a big and beautiful lake for lunch.

I cannot say the retreat was comfortable, because it was very tiring and inconvenient to just do some simple things like traveling, visiting, cooking, sleeping and the like.  Nevertheless, I can see that a happy trip does not depend on luxury and a controllable environment, but teamwork, companionship and relationships are the core elements to make it a success. 

Prayer points

1.  May God continue to use and bless our young people so they can become leaders in the future

2.  This year there were 6 high school graduates who have applied to our scholarship program; may God provide their financial needs through sponsors' support

3.  I will stop attending Takhmau church starting from mid-September; may God guide my future plans

4.  The strength and wisdom needed for the students' ministry, mission administration, development projects and language study.

5.  A healthy body and spirit to serve

Deuteronomy 7:9

Davis Lam

Cambodia Mail Address: P.O Box 602, Phnom Penh, Cambodia