Cambodia - February 2016
Written by Tiffany Okerman – 18 year old missionary kid from Japan
God is so good! His goodness, love, grace, strength and mighty awesomeness were slathered on every moment of my very first mission trip. I spent a total of 25 days in Cambodia from February 12 to March 7 and have now been back for a week. It is nice to rest, eat good food, and process all that happened in those busy 3 ½ weeks.
Written by Tiffany Okerman – 18 year old missionary kid from Japan
God is so good! His goodness, love, grace, strength and mighty awesomeness were slathered on every moment of my very first mission trip. I spent a total of 25 days in Cambodia from February 12 to March 7 and have now been back for a week. It is nice to rest, eat good food, and process all that happened in those busy 3 ½ weeks.
Let me start from the beginning. For those of you who don’t know, I met Sapna, who is an awesome Christian doctor/missionary, when I was 8 and she’s the one who first sparked my dream of becoming a medical doctor. I have always wanted to go on a medical mission trip with her. A year ago I was Skyping my older sister and I mentioned that I would love to go on a trip with Sapna during my “gap year” after graduating highschool. She asked if I’d contacted Sapna about it, and I replied that I hadn’t but had asked God to have Sapna initiate it. Then I would know that God was truly in it and He would be my strength (for I had doubts as to whether I could emotionally, physically and spiritually handle such a trip). Of course this request seemed quite unlikely and ridiculous in my mind. Maybe I was just being shy, I even wondered. That night however, God confirmed my prayer by giving me a dream in which Sapna asked me to go on a mission trip with her! So I gave it all to God and went on with life. Months passed and I nearly forgot about my prayer. Then one evening on December 2, Dad read aloud a Facebook post of Sapna’s asking if anyone wanted to come to Cambodia for medical missions! I jumped at the opportunity and that night I just knew that God had answered my prayer—I was going to Cambodia.
Now about the trip itself! Needless to say it was phenomenal! That first day was incredibly long and tiring but even by the 2nd day I felt as if I’d been living in Cambodia forever—it just felt normal! Of course there were plenty of new crazy experiences around every corner. Getting used to the traffic, stray dogs, random cows, the language, bathroom quality, food.... And yet it was also evident how much God had prepared me; for instance the fact that Japanese summers are very comparable with Cambodian weather meant that the heat wasn’t so much of a problem for me (although dehydration was a constant battle).
On my fourth day we had our first medical camp out in the province (villages). I was given a crash course on how to manually take blood pressure and temperatures. This was my first real contact with Cambodians and it was so amazing to see how grateful everyone was. Anytime that I wasn’t taking blood pressure, I was busy writing out song sheets for worship that night. After the medical camp was over for the day I led a couple songs for the whole team, many of whom aren’t Christian yet.
The next 11 days were insanely busy with next to no sleep. We did 7 medical camps, plus one day of lectures on the eye, a packed day of sightseeing, and also a feeding program that Sapna has been wanting to do for several months. We fed 53 people and it was pretty cool to be there for the very FIRST one. Actually, one of the things I loved about the trip was just getting to be there for things. I would keep remembering how Sapna would tell us all sorts of crazy stories when she’d come to our house... but now I was part of those stories—I was there! So many times I would just be blown away and have to tell myself, “I’m in Cambodia! God actually brought me to Cambodia!”
Something I came away with strongly with was just how very blessed I am in two senses. First, looking at the people of Cambodia and their standard of living made me realize how many luxuries I take for granted. A sanitary environment, clean water, a great health system, a loving family... for instance, my first week we had a dental team come from the States and, man! were they needed! Unfortunately all they could perform were teeth extractions due to the available equipment, but nearly everyone had completely black or missing teeth!
Another time we went to a shelter for sexually abused girls. It was very sobering. To sit across from a girl around my same age and look into her eyes. To see all the hurt and the pain. I couldn’t help but think, “What did I do to be born into a family that adores and protects me? I did nothing to deserve to be where I am in life now! I did nothing to deserve to be born as an American citizen. Why should I be so privileged?” Oh how undeservedly rich I am!
Secondly there were so many times where God did something sweet just to say I love you. The trip itself was a gift from God. But one thing that made my day was when the electricity went out just before I was going to take a shower. Because the weather is hot, I wasn’t too concerned about the fact that I now had to take a cold shower but still I was a little bummed. But then just as I was closing the bathroom door, the lights came back on and I got to enjoy a nice hot shower. God loves me so much!! =D
Another time we went to a shelter for sexually abused girls. It was very sobering. To sit across from a girl around my same age and look into her eyes. To see all the hurt and the pain. I couldn’t help but think, “What did I do to be born into a family that adores and protects me? I did nothing to deserve to be where I am in life now! I did nothing to deserve to be born as an American citizen. Why should I be so privileged?” Oh how undeservedly rich I am!
Secondly there were so many times where God did something sweet just to say I love you. The trip itself was a gift from God. But one thing that made my day was when the electricity went out just before I was going to take a shower. Because the weather is hot, I wasn’t too concerned about the fact that I now had to take a cold shower but still I was a little bummed. But then just as I was closing the bathroom door, the lights came back on and I got to enjoy a nice hot shower. God loves me so much!! =D
Another amazing blessing was to get to share a room with Sapna and see her function in various situations, talk with her, and get to help her in any ways I could. We had some really great conversations that helped me work through some stuff! Another gift from God was the night we talked till 5:00 a.m. I had really wanted to talk with Sapna about some of my struggles but as we had one day left I figured “there was no time.” haha! Well, God saw my little desire and managed to fit it right in there. And it was exactly what I needed! I feel like that one conversation has rendered a lot of my issues defunct! And I feel loved that Sapna would give up her precious sleep (I learned just how precious it is) to talk all night with me!
So yeah! Such an amazing trip. I discovered a new trust and reliance on God. Mostly out of sheer necessity! As I mentioned, we were almost always tired and some days I would wonder if I’d make it. But somehow by God’s grace, I would find new energy!
I also learned a lot about praying for healing. The last medical camp I decided to be on the prayer team (or maybe I should say be the prayer team since it was just me and my translator, who I found out later actually was a Christian!) one last time. I had tried it a couple of the other medical camps but the system just didn’t flow and barely anyone came for prayer. But that last day just worked! I was literally praying for people non-‐stop and everyone except for two people had some degree of healing. All total I have recorded 21 people that God touched! And four of those people accepted Jesus so I got to see my first salvation (also one of my prayers coming into the trip)! But my favorite miracle was right after lunch when I was feeling a little doubtful as to if God would continue the healings. I was looking for a translator when one of the myotherapists asked me to pray for a guy who had one leg shorter than the other. In the past I’ve seen others pray for two different lengths of legs and have them equal out but I’ve always been scared to try it for fear of nothing happening. But instantly I felt eager to pray for this man and I just felt expectant that something would happen! And sure enough as I prayed the discrepancy disappeared! I compared the legs and they were the same length! I was so excited but also wondering in the back of my mind if I’d imagined the whole thing. Then the myotherapist came over to me and exclaimed that the guy had come in using a cane and now he didn’t need it!! PRAISE GOD! What I gained on this trip was not necessarily more expectation for God to heal when I prayed. But I have less fear of nothing happening when I pray. I mean, why not go for it? I have nothing to lose and so much that God might do through me!
And that’s a “short” summary of my life-‐changing experience in Cambodia. I tried my best to fit the longest month of my life into a few pages and pictures. =D