Today was amazing, filled with thought provoking experiences. After we checked out of our hotel in Siem Reap, we first went to visit a recently constructed well that was partially funded by our contributions. Helping to build wells in poorer neighborhoods is an important part of Pastor Samuel’s ministry in Cambodia, helping to spread the gospel through acts of Christian love. The well only cost $450.00 to construct and will provide multiple families in the neighborhood with clean drinking water for years to come.
After visiting the well, we took the van a little farther out from Siem Reap and caught a boat ride to the “floating village.” The village rests on the river quite a long way from the road with roughly 250 families living there. Residents of the village needed to sell the land they were previously living on to settle various debts, and thus they’ve been forced to build small shacks that float on large bamboo pontoons in the water. Living so far from the road, the villagers are forced to make a meager income fishing and hunting snakes, and have little access to proper schooling and healthcare.
Despite such difficult conditions, many of the folks living in the village would smile and wave as we road by. Christians are quite active in the floating village, ministering to a small but increasing number of families and running a primary school. Near the end of our tour we stopped at a small deck restaurant where Pastor Samuel and another pastor sort of summed up their experience as Christians in Cambodia. The sense of call, dedication and focus in both pastors despite great adversity was both impressive and instructive while thinking about my own call to public ministry. – Dustin
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