Last month’s Project Gift went to the Pastor & people in Cambodia whom we personally visited for the 2nd time. I will write separate post about the amazing things happening in Cambodia and how far a few dollars can stretch in making an impact in the lives of people.

This month having been bombarded with news about Japan since the tsunami hit last week, and just this morning about another earthquake in Myanmar, we have been incredibly moved by the massive death toll and destruction that’s gripping our earth, particularly in Japan at this very moment. Having the opportunity to be in Aceh in 2006, two months after the Tsunami hit we caught a glimpse of how natural disaster can instantaneously turn a calm village into devastating bedrock of calamity. And regardless of how much we read, listen and watch on TV – only those on ground will ever understand what it means to have the world in one day and nothing the following day.

We will continue to pray and believe that God is in the midst of all this because

“God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.” Psalm 9:18.

And to put action to prayer is to do something! In John 4, Jesus talked about true worshipers worshiping in spirit and in truth. True worship stems from doing. The Bible also records a scripture from James that true religion comes from doing.

This month’s Project Gift goes to Japan via Do Something Now. Do Something Now is a movement by Passion, a ministry known for their worship and music. Worship is more than just music or good music. Worship is more than just notes and singing in the right tune. Worship is more than just recording labels. Worship is also about doing something unto the Father, our Heavenly Father.

Let’s put action to prayer… do something now!

I have stumbled upon many quotes on life – many mesmerizing at the fact that life is too short to waste, musings of a beautiful life and reflections of how unexpected life’s journey can unfold. And I have recently pondered on thought of aging gracefully even as we celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday.

What a privilege and blessing it is to live ninety decades of life to witnesses marriages, births, graduations, celebrations, umpteen birthdays and a throng of other family gatherings. And on hindsight, this privilege is also tainted with bitter sweet memories played out at funerals, farewells and hardship.

Grandma whom I fondly call ‘Mama’ has played a significant role in my life – sowing seeds of endurance, perseverance, passion and love since I was a little girl. She vividly remembers the nightmarish days of World War 2 when she was working as a midwife travelling from village to village delivering babies. She recounts the ghoulish escape routes she took in order to stay clear of Japanese invaders. That day of sheer determination and passion in carrying out her mission as a midwife gives me the drive to live for what I believe in.

She grimly speaks of how poverty nearly robbed her of her dream to study – but a miracle happened when someone sponsored her to continue her studies in midwifery. As a child, her pursuit for knowledge gave me the rise to never stop attaining knowledge, even if I had it much easier these days (with extra to spare, google university at my finger tips and a sea of books to choose from).

Above all, it was Mama’s generosity that touched my heart the most. In her adulthood, she married my grandfather – ‘Yeh Yeh’ who was a principal of a school. They got along pretty well and soon earned a little more to afford a helper in the house to help with the children. Mama never mistreated the helpers, instead most of them ended up working with her for more than 10 years.

During family gatherings as a child, I would be introduced to aunty so-and-so and uncle so-and-so. When asked how we are related to them, my parents would often sit me down for a story or two about how Mama used to take in poor neighbours and friends and raised them up by helping with their school fees, medical bills and basic supplies. And that’s how we are related – Mama made them part of her family… our family.

How at 90 years old, she’s unable to walk due to a fall about a year and a half ago, her memory is fading and she is a lot less active. A year and a half ago, I was worried we might lose her – but she braved through another operation at 89! Such a fighter… Her eyes still lights up whenever I visit her at my parents’ home. She eagerly waits for our weekly visits and constantly asks when our next visits will be.

Her greatest strength has been God and her daily conversations with Him. Prayer her lifeline and it has been our family’s lifeline too… Through prayer she has sown eternal gifts that no money or wealth can buy. Through prayer, she has built a foundation in our home that’s unshakable and unmovable.

Photos taken by Joshua Chan

A history of genocide, wars and devastation, it’s a wonder Cambodia and her people are still very much alive today. Still the stains of such history are seeing its ripple effects in today’s generation. Statistics have shown that 51% of Cambodia’s population is under the age of 18. And of this 51% not even half get a proper education. Many of them are forced to help their parents on the field, some of them are make it through only to primary school and there are those that are urged to beg and even sell their bodies for a meager dollar or two.

On our second night in Battambang, we had our dinner at a road side stall. Our tables were filled with food, drinks and more food to go around. We ate with much comfort relishing the delicious Cambodian meal and fruit shakes. After we satisfied our hunger, we stood up to leave. Within seconds of leaving our seats, a man in tattered clothing comes rushing to the table with an empty plastic bag pouring our leftovers into it. He scrapped the plates clean. Oblivious of our presence, his only focus was to get whatever food that was left before the stall owner comes shooing him away. I stopped at my tracks unable to comprehend the severity of hunger this man was facing. He retreated to a corner stuffing his face with a jumble leftover.

Regardless of how much I’ve travelled, seen different cultures, traditions, people and places and regardless of how many mission trips I’ve been too, my prayer is that I will never be immune to scenes of poverty, desperation and scarcity. Because compassion starts in the heart and compassion can move mountains.

Our Sunday in Cambodia was spent traveling to four different churches ministering to adults and children. Two teams travelled on motorbikes for over 50 kilometers on a dusty gravelly road. The other two teams travelled by van to the other two churches. These churches were simple, some just under a tree, one church under a wooden shack and one in a make-shift church. Simplicity and sincerity was very apparent. There was no sound system, LCD screens, big pulpits, ushers, leaflets or anything of that sort. It was merely the gathering of His people in a place sharing fellowship and feeding from God’s word. Isn’t that what church is about?!

I sincerely believe that there is hope for Cambodia. This generation of 51% under the age of 18 is a God given generation with God given destinies and futures. They have talent and skills just like you and I – the only thing lacking are opportunities. But opportunities are not far-fetched, it’s coming to Cambodia and I hope to see the fruits of it one day.

Watch this video Terence put together…

The harsh realities of Cambodia stares me in the face. My second trip to this desolate country in a month has left an indelible mark in my throve of memories. Touching down in Siem Reap, we travelled four hours on a local bus to Battambang. Packed with over 40kgs of old clothes, medical supplies and a vague sense of what to expect, our team of a doctor and four medical students, 10 professionals  and a little girl (Vanora) and set out to make medical aid possible for the rural village folk.

We met up with Pastor Sam of Legacy of Hope, an English language institute that offers quality education to children and youth.  He brings us around the school, a few simple blocks of tiny classrooms with ceilings low enough to make you feel claustrophobic. Students stare at us intently offering welcoming smiles and respectful bows as we peeked in.

Prior to our arrival, Pastor Sam had organized the purchase of medicines and prepared a group of local translators to help us with the medical camp. We spent the rest of the day sorting, counting, packing and labeling medicines into the wee hours of the morning.

The next day, many questions still hung in the air as we travelled another hour into interiors of the country side– ‘How many people will come?’, ‘How will the response be?’, ‘What will we encounter?’, ‘Will we be able to cope with the numbers?’… To add to the sea of questions, it was the first time a medical team has visited this particular village.

A multitude of people were found waiting at the entrance of the school, the temporary ‘hospital’ for the next 2 days. Along the way as our van approached, groups of people were seen walking towards the school, some pulling wooden carts to ferry their children, others dragging their little ones by the finger in hope to get some medicines for their ailing bodies.

Children walked around with torn clothes, some half-naked and most of them without any shoes or slippers. Their hair streaked with a light tinge of blonde not from hair dye but as a result of severe malnutrition. Old women and men offer a smile to welcome us and I’m overcome by the sight of decaying and charcoal black teeth. I returned a smile with my best effort trying to hide the feelings that overcome me – feelings of empathy and despair.

In a place like Cambodia, cleanliness and hygiene is a concept hard to grasp or even understand. These people have so little to survive much less spare a few dollars to buy toothpaste or soap for bathing. They live on bare minimum, a shade above their head and enough to fill their stomachs. Finger nails packed with dirt are trimmed manually by biting on it. Water is a precious natural resource since it rains for 6 months and not even a drop for the next half of the year. And in those dry seasons, water is used for cooking rather than washing or cleaning.

Yet despite the poverty stricken conditions, nothing comes free. Parents still need to pay for their children’s education and medical aid is not covered by insurance or even subsidized by the government. In order to put food on the table, one has to work hard plowing and tilling their land in harsh weather conditions. Meat is a complete luxury for these rural folk since it costs USD12 for 1kg of chicken!

On the first day of the medical camp, we saw over 350 patients. Setting up stations to test their blood pressure, glucose level and finally meeting a doctor – we dispensed thousands of tablets, cleaned wounds, gave out vitamins and extended our hearts to these people. Children walked into the ‘hospital’ without parents, farmers miss a day of work just to get a basic medical health check, families streamed in and the hall was filled. The doctors didn’t have a minute to rest and the pharmacy buzzed with activity.

Twelve months in a year can easily whizz by without much thought. Hectic schedules and personal commitments get the better of me – but we, both Terence and I have made it a point to purposefully set aside some days in our allocated annual leave to go out and do something meaningful – give back, in short.

In previous years we have travelled around Malaysia, Thailand, Acheh, and Indonesia helping local communities by way of capacity building, skills enhancement, education and even physical labour. Days in our early youth we spent many hours under the hot sun digging holes for bamboo piling to build new shacks, hours in the kitchen helping women cook and time with young ladies teaching them handicraft and social skills. We organized and put together children and youth rallies for local schools and universities and witnessed the joy and excitement we brought to them.

Little did we know that the act of giving back became a lifestyle, something we cannot simply ignore. We’re made mindful of the tiniest blessings that come to us daily and of the greater call that God has entrusted us with – this is the very least we can do. It helps put life into perspective. After all, if life is a selfish journey, what a lonely road it will be.

This year we will be going to Cambodia, at the end of August for a medical mission trip. The team is made up of a doctor, 5 medical students and 9 professionals. We will be visiting a village in Battambang, Siem Riep to give medical aid to over 500 villagers. Due to the impoverish state of the village, local communities barely get medical support or attention unless a severe situation calls for it. We’ve been alerted to pack our day bags with muesli bars, munchies and bottled water as the villagers often come in throngs leaving little room for the medical team to rest or have proper lunches.

We will occupy a vacant school to set up the make shift clinic. Prepared for the most basic amenities (eg. an empty building with minimal furniture), we will have to improvise to create different stations for registration, blood & sugar test, vision test, doctor’s consultation ‘ward’ and a medicine dispenser unit.

On the Sunday we will be there, we will be visiting the local church and sharing a Sabbath with them in fellowship, singing and word. My heart thumps with anticipation for the great things we will encounter and the lives we will touch – because the Great Commission really matters to my Father and therefore it matters to me.