A land which slowed me down for an hour

It was amazing to watch sunrise in Siem Reap, Cambodia and sunset in Farrer Park, Singapore all within a day. This trip allowed me to see how God loves us regardless of nationality and establishes His work in another part of the world. We are witnessing the birth of the Boys’ Brigade in Cambodia. More than a physical building, it is the lives we are building now. A birth is always accompanied with pain and discomfort but the joy at the end will make all these efforts worth it.

Cambodian time is an hour behind Singapore time. Besides checking out the Boys’ Brigade Learning Centre (BBLC) in Siem Reap, my other agenda was to break away from an unhealthy stress cycle at work. It was truly a good time of rest and reflection as time was pushed back for AN HOUR.

A Quick Report of What We Have Done:

Day 1– We reached Siem Reap at 0700hrs (Cambodian time). Visited an orphanage (named 4 Squares) after our first Khmer (another word for Cambodian) breakfast. Headed to BBLC and caught up with Reuben who is the Singaporean staff in charge of BBLC. He teaches all the classes. We tied down our schedule and had lunch with the YMCA-ITE group who was there serving. Left for town and check into our hotel for our first night in Siem Reap. Guess what, after shower, we slept through dinner time all the way to the next morning. That was how tired we were. Accumulated fatigue from Singapore.

Day 2 – We did our work in hotel room and had our discussion about what we have observed and briefly put down possible program for actual trip. Jason, the admin staff picked us up after lunch and brought us to check out the local clinic and hospital. We visited another orphanage known as Sunrise Children’s Village. We then checked out the possible R&R places like the flea market (Old Market), Pub street and ended the day with a USD 5 international buffet with a cultural performance. Cheap and good!

Day 3 – We had our final discussion about our learning about the Cambodian community and fine tune our program at the BBLC. After our lunch, we headed to BBLC to observe the Saturday classes. We conducted drills, played games and shared devotion. We stayed overnight there before leaving for Singapore on Sunday morning.

My Personal Reflection:

Serving in BB led into deep reflection about my direction in life. I started leading 99th Company during a time when I just entered in my working life. I did my career switch into youth work as a result of my experience in BB. After a few years, we have established many things in this company and sometimes they can become distractions to what I have set off to do. This visit to BBLC brought me back to what I have set off to do. When I looked at the little boys who joined the program at BBLC, they reminded me of my childhood when I was touched and developed by Christian men and women who gave their time to build Christian manliness in me. I was once again convinced that the 99th Company is called to serve others, to reach out rather than to exist for itself. The history of Cambodia showed us that love is powerful and it cannot be hindered by any principalities or forces of this world. I see the rising of a new generation of Cambodian youths who can bring the nation to the next lap.

Warriors, we are privileged to be involved in this journey together!

CPT Amos