Mount Ayr Record News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, May 10, 2012

"Bprair ye suu sror laanh!"

These words may not mean anything to English-speakers, but in Cambodia, which Lori MERCER of Kellerton visited on a mission trip earlier this year, it means "Jesus loves you!"

MERCER and 42 members from the Assembly of God Church in Albany, OR went to spread this important message to the people of Cambodia in January, as well as to provide medical, dental and optometry services to the underprivileged there.

A separate team within MERCER'S group also assisted in the building of a floating church on Cambodia's massive lake Tonie Sap.

Cambodia is a small Asian country bordered on the northwest by Thailand, on the northeast by Laos and Vietnam to the east. The total land mass of this country is only about 100 square miles larger than the state of Missouri, but it has more than twice the population. Cambodia is home to only a tiny number of Christians (1.3 percent of the population), with the majority of its people practicing a branch of Buddhism.

It is one of the world's poorer countries, its GDP ranking in 121st place out of 191 countries according to the CIA World Factbook for 2000-2011.

These factors made Cambodia a prime location for missionaries hoping to spread the word of Christ.

This was MERCER'S third mission trip, but it was her first one to Asia. The previous two had been to Mexico, once with Blessman Ministries out of Altoona and once with the First Christian Church in Mount Ayr. She opted to participate in this mission trip because her cousin Ken HUFF is serving as a longtime missionary there as he has been forthe past 13 years. It was the perfectopportunity to visit him while alsohelping others and getting to experience a new country, so MERCER and seven others from her extended family decided to make the long trip halfway across the world.

The missions team flew out of California for their week-long excursion, flying eight hours to Seoul, Korea before taking the final five-hour leg of their journey to Siem Reap, the city in Cambodia where they would be staying.

Mercer names the long flight as her least favorite part of the trip, but fortunately it was all uphill from there.

The missionary team arrived to warm, tropical weather, no doubt a nice break from winter back home.

MERCER'S first impression of the country was shaped by the bustling traffic and large numbers of people.

The hotel where they were staying was thankfully modern, comfortable and air-conditioned, which is not always true of accommodations on mission trips to poorer areas. Also fortunate was the fact that Mercer did not end up having to share her hotel room with uninvited guests as she had been warned to expect that she might.

"Prior to going on the trip, my cousin had informed me to be sure and always zip my suitcase shut because of the gecko lizards that are all over," MERCER said. "Thankfully I never saw any in our room but did see them in the lobby a couple of times and in some of the restaurants we went to."

Communicating with the locals was not always easy as not all of them spoke English, but there were enough who did that.

MERCER and her fellow missionaries did not have too tough a time getting around. Most restaurants had English-speaking staff, and when they interacted with people who didn't speak English, they could rely on interpretations from some Cambodian students from Phnon Phenor or by MERCER'S cousin HUFF who was fluent in Khmer, the local language.

Some things could be communicated regardless of language barriers.

"One thing that is universal in any language is a nice friendly smile," MERCER said. "The people were very friendly and always happy to see us."

The missions team had a full schedule. They held their medical, dental and eye glass ministries for five days, each day in a different location. Each morning began with a meeting at 7 a.m. where they had breakfast, cooked and donated by a local family, and devotionals.

Local volunteers would set up chairs and tents where the missions team would be seeing patients. A pastor from the area had done preliminary inquiries with those who wished to be seen by a doctor or dentist to judge the urgency of their need for care.

MERCER worked at a table checking vital signs before sending patients to see one of the two doctors and three RNs who accompanied her on the trip. Also joining them at their temporary care tent was a dental student from Cambodia and MERCER'S cousin's niece, Katie SHROY, a massage therapist.

The missions team tended to patients with a wide variety of conditions, seeing as many as 150-200 people per day.

Their first day was spent at the floating school where they cared for students, and they moved around to different areas of the city and its periphery after that.

After 4 p.m. MERCER and her fellow travelers would pack up the temporary clinic and have the rest of the day to sightsee or do as they pleased.

Naturally, in addition to providing care to the locals, the missions team also ministered to them.

MERCER found that the Cambodians they spoke to were generally very receptive of the message she and her group had to share.

"They were very excited to hear about Jesus and His love for everyone. They were very happy to have us pray with them and for them. Sunday morning we went to a church service where they had a worship team leading the singing. There were even a couple of songs where I recognized the tunes and was able to sing along for part of it until I started listening to them sing in Khmer and then I would 'lose' my place. It was a very uplifting sermon that was preached by Pastor Frank that was with our team and translated by my cousin Ken HUFF."

Overall, MERCER felt that aside from the fact that the people of Cambodia spoke a different language, Siem Reap didn't seem all that different, for the most part, from what one might find in the United States. American money was accepted at most shops and many businesses had someone who could speak English to them. The weather was reminiscent of an Iowa summer. City streets were lined with the typical establishments that one might expect to see back home: banks, pharmacies and clothing stores. There were some areas of town where the missions team observed people living in one-room shacks along the river with no electricity or running water, but overall it wasn't quite as exotic as one might expect.

That didn't mean that it wasn't an interesting or rewarding trip, however.

"My favorite part of the trip was getting to meet some great people, some from our group and some of the Cambodian people," MERCER recalled. "The most interesting people that I meet were Lyhoung and his wife Sarin Mak who were born and raised in Cambodia but are now currently living in Des Moines. They now go back to Cambodia as missionaries them selves."

Another favorite part was getting to tour a silk farm and the Angkor Wat temples.

When asked what the most profound thing she found on this trip was, MERCER said, "[it was seeing] the way that some of the people lived with very little yet still had smiles on their faces."

MERCER isn't sure where her next mission trip will lead her, but she hopes that it will be to Africa. She also said, however, that she would love to visit Cambodia again in the future.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2012