ASAP takes mission trip to Cambodia
Twenty-two volunteers joined the Adventist Southeast Asia Projects (ASAP) team Feb. 4–16 for the 2010 ASAP Cambodia Mission Trip to Phnom Penh, where they served the poorest of the poor. Through sweat, toil, and tears, they ministered to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people who survive on less than a dollar a day. The volunteers served on one of five teams: medical, dental, teaching/training national ASAP missionaries, interviewing/counseling, and children’s Vacation Bible School. Adventist Southeast Asia Projects expressed gratefulness for the volunteers who sacrificially gave of their time, talents, and financial means.
Liz Ang, a nurse and child birth educator volunteer who served on the mission trip, shared her experience:
“After the medical and dental teams got their clinics set up, we had to change our location to the church. 'Why would you allow this to happen?' I quietly questioned God. He soon answered. When we were about to start the medical screening for patients, we heard lots of yelling and noise from the neighboring house. They rushed a man in who was bleeding from a deep cut on his cheek. We placed pressure on the wound and took his vital signs while on the floor. We placed him on the table as we cleaned out the wound with normal saline. The only sutures we had were ones from the dental team. So Dr. Steve Chang and Dr. Eduardo Nam placed stitches on him. We gave him antibiotics and pain medications to take. On his way out, he kept bowing his head with hands folded thanking us for our help.
"We later heard that his son was addicted to drugs and was threatening him with a knife to give him money. He was able to dodge the knife, grab it, and throw it away. In retaliation, his son angrily picked up a glass and threw it at his father's face. I thank God for changing our site because we were able to help this man, our neighbor. It opened my eyes to see that God's plan is always the best plan.”
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Reported by Martin Kim.