These six weeks in Cambodia have flown in. It has been a busy time working with the ELC, Be Free and the worship team in Phnom Penh. I have enjoyed the experience and want to thank Davy and Esther for their hospitality and support as I begin this music and worship journey with Elim International Missions. It has been a busy six weeks and lots of things have happened like the Asia conference and going to Kep to visit one of the church plants, but I’ll just tell you about the day to day stuff.
Part of the work I have been doing is finding the different sounds and expressions of worship in Cambodia. There is a western flavour mixed in with a traditional Khmer feel to it. I recorded a song with Songva and Sok who are both brilliant musicians and people who really do worship God. The approach we took in the recording was to sit on the floor in a room with Songva playing guitar and Sok singing. To add an even more Khmer flavour to the song the monsoon rains came in the middle of the recording. The Cambodian style of worship is different to the western style; it is beautiful and full of love and devotion to Jesus. As part of the expression of worship we filmed a traditional Khmer dance with the Be Free girls, this just reminded me of the Alabaster jar as they sprinkled petals on the floor. It was graceful and full of joy and laughter as we filmed it.
During my time here I was able to get involved in the worship team. Songva was incredibly patient as I tried to work out what chord I needed to play in the songs that were written in Khmer. It was great to be able to fully experience another culture’s way of doing worship team. My favourite part, and the one that I feel each worship team at home should adopt, was the Bible study at the beginning of the worship team practice. It is putting worship and word into practice, even though I had no idea what was being said about each passage I was able to read the passage and meditate over it myself.
I was given the great opportunity while being here to just sit and get to know the Be Free girls. Every single one of them is unique and beautiful and resilient. I am sure that if you’ve ever seen their products that you can see the amazing quality of them. They are hard workers who make sure every item they make is made with care, precision and fun. They even let me help them one day and taught me how to knit. Sokim and Channak work really well with the girls mentoring them and teaching them new skills. I also got the opportunity to teach the girls some songs in English in order to help them with their English classes; their favourite song was “The King of my Heart” by John Mark and Sarah McMillan. It was beautiful to watch them worship and wanting to translate the song into Khmer.
Some mornings during my stay in Cambodia I worked with the toddlers in the ELC. Nita and her team are doing a great job making sure these kids are getting a good start to their education. My job most mornings was to get the toddlers singing and dancing to their favourite songs. Most joined in, but some were a little unsure of the white girl, thankfully as the weeks went on they all got used to me and joined in with the singing and dancing. I also did two mornings in the preschool doing a music workshop, with the help of Hannah. We took rice and pasta put them in plastic bottles and got the kids to listen to the different sounds they made, taught them different rhythms which helped them count in Khmer and English. I hope they enjoyed the experience as much as I did.
I will never forget my time in Cambodia, it was been a whirlwind and I cannot believe it is coming to an end. Thanks again to Davy and Esther for their patience as I tried to find my feet beginning this project. I feel I have been given a good start on the project and can’t wait to see what the other cultures are going to be like. So in every tribe, tongue and nation let the name of Jesus resound as the sound of broken people arises into a song of hope, joy and victory in Jesus Christ. Let every tribe in Cambodia and every language spoken on these shores declare the name of Jesus, let their broken Hallelujahs resound over their nation!