Participants:
Series Code: MTK
Program Code: MTK000008A
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00:00 (instrumental music)
00:05 - [Mary Ann] We've grown up in the church 00:06 and have always been somewhat involved in the outreach. 00:10 But how can we get involved in missions overseas? 00:13 My name is Mary Ann. 00:15 - [Lilyann] And I'm Lilyann. 00:16 We wanted to find out. 00:18 Join us on our journey. 00:20 (gong sounds) To discover the culture, 00:24 the lifestyle-- 00:25 - [Mary Ann] The need, and the mission-- 00:27 - [Lilyann] In two of Southeast Asia's 00:29 least-reached countries. 00:31 - [Mary Ann] Welcome to Mission Trek. 00:38 - [Lilyann] Welcome back. 00:40 - In the last episode, we traveled back to Bangkok 00:42 where we visited the slum and learned more 00:44 about Thai culture from the Witsits. 00:46 - This is a map of Southeast Asia. 00:48 We have been in Thailand and now we will be traveling 00:51 from Bangkok to Cambodia, where we are going to visit 00:54 Tim Maddocks and see his projects. 00:56 - Traveling in Cambodia is easy 00:58 because the country's very tourist-friendly and cheap. 01:00 Thailand is pretty much the same way. 01:02 - But traveling between the two countries 01:04 is a little more difficult, because crossing the border 01:07 takes a lot of time. 01:08 - Yeah. 01:09 Cambodia has a very dark history. 01:11 They had a dictator named Pol Pot, who ruled the country 01:14 from 1975 to 1979. 01:16 He established the Khmer Rouge, who under his leadership, 01:20 killed 1/4 of the entire population. 01:22 - After Pol Pot died, the Khmer Rouge continued fighting 01:25 for control in a bloody civil war. 01:28 But they were eventually overthrown. 01:30 Even now, the country is still recovering 01:32 from its destruction. 01:33 - Tim and Wendy Maddocks moved to Cambodia in 1992 01:37 with their two young sons. 01:38 They moved into the country 01:40 right in the middle of the civil war. 01:42 - Because of this they are faced with many difficulties, 01:45 but with God's help, they persevered. 01:47 - From the very beginning, they dedicated their lives 01:49 to serving these people, and have always made it a point 01:52 to live like they do. 01:54 - But before we get to them, we met up with a friend 01:56 who took us across the border, and on the way we stopped 01:59 at a monkey temple. 02:01 We were crammed in this truck 02:03 with all of our stuff. 02:05 A little way out of town, we got hungry, 02:07 so we stopped at the only vegetarian restaurant 02:09 we could find. 02:11 You have to cook your own food. 02:13 So we ordered all the vegetables they had. 02:16 It looks really bland, and it was. 02:18 (Lilyann laughs) 02:20 We continued our ride on into the night. 02:23 We got to see elephants though. 02:27 The next morning we stopped at what we call Monkey Rock, 02:31 'cause there's lots of monkeys and a big rock. 02:34 There were steep stairs that went up 02:36 to a spectacular view through a big hole in the rock. 02:40 The entire countryside was flat 02:42 except for this one rock sticking up. 02:44 It was amazing. 02:48 - [Mary Ann] From there it was a short run to the border. 02:50 - [Lilyann] To cross the border 02:52 you have to get your passport stamped out of Thailand, 02:55 then walk a quarter mile through no man's land. 02:57 We are not in a country at all. 03:00 Finally, you go into another building 03:02 and get stamped into Cambodia. 03:06 Cambodia seems much poorer and less developed. 03:09 Check out the load on this motorcycle trailer, 03:12 and there's a kid riding on top of it! 03:15 (instrumental music) 03:27 Just a few hours later, we arrived at Wat Preah Yesu. 03:31 (light instrumental music) 03:39 (laughing) 03:42 We're in Cambodia at Wat Preah Yesu with the Maddocks, 03:46 and we are interested in how this place got started. 03:49 So what did it take to start a ministry, 03:52 a project, from scratch? 03:54 - I think the biggest thing was faith. 03:56 Because it's like we're leaving a paid job, 04:00 we're leaving the security of the town, 04:03 and we're trusting God to provide all our needs. 04:06 One thing God said to me very clearly 04:08 was that we weren't to ask anybody for funds 04:10 to do what he was asking us to do. 04:13 Just ask him and he'll deal with it. 04:15 And so that's a whole new way of life. 04:17 And I've been used do working where we'd ask people 04:21 for money to do projects, 04:23 and now that's no longer an option. 04:26 (laughs) 04:27 So trusting God that when he's promised us 04:30 he will supply all our needs, that he really means it. 04:33 - So how did you hear God's voice 04:36 telling you to start this project? 04:38 - Well it all happened back in 1995. 04:41 We were living in Siem Reap, in the town, working with ADRA. 04:46 And in my early morning devotionals I began to hear God 04:50 sort of speaking to me in like an audible way. 04:53 It was no loud voice but to me it was audible. 04:56 And he began laying out this plan that he had for our family 05:00 to get involved in. 05:02 And it was to set up a center where new converts 05:08 to Christianity here in Cambodia 05:09 could be trained to become leaders in their churches 05:12 and to go out and start new churches. 05:14 Also to plant a church in our local community. 05:17 And so as I listened to God, I got the picture in my mind 05:23 of what he wanted us to do. 05:24 Then I had to take the idea to Wendy 05:27 and ask her for her opinion. 05:30 What was your opinion? 05:31 (Wendy laughs) 05:33 - I thought he was crazy. 05:35 I didn't hear God's voice speaking to me 05:37 so I was wondering who it was that was really talking to him 05:41 to take us out of the town 05:43 and come and live in the rice fields 05:45 where there were no houses and no people 05:47 and I wasn't sure what to think. 05:50 - I think you need a little more information. 05:51 You see, at the time, the Khmer Rouge 05:55 was still a fighting force not so far away from Siem Reap. 06:00 And we had two small children. 06:02 The youngest was four and the oldest was seven and 1/2. 06:09 And so we're moving them out into the rice fields, 06:11 away from the security of the town, 06:14 and we're gonna be living in a little thatched house 06:18 away from the village as well, fairly isolated. 06:21 So it was really quite a big transition for our family. 06:25 - So then what happened next? 06:27 - So we had to find land, we bought the land, 06:29 the money we did that with was our own personal money 06:32 and a donation from a friend. 06:35 And this is another thing that God said, 06:37 he wanted us to put everything we had into this project. 06:41 And when it ran out, he would do the rest. 06:45 So we didn't have very much. 06:46 We had about 20, $22,000. 06:49 And so we began pouring that into the project 06:51 and it doesn't take very long before it disappears. 06:54 But we've never been without. 06:56 - How long have you been doing this? 06:59 - Well, we came here to this land, this place, 07:03 in June of 1996. 07:10 And right now we're in 2017, so that's 21 years. 07:17 - There's a lot more projects going on 07:18 than when you first started. 07:20 - One of the things that God mercifully did for us 07:23 was not tell us everything at the beginning. 07:26 Because if he'd told us everything 07:28 I think I would have just thrown up my hands 07:30 and said, God, find somebody else, I can't do that. 07:34 But if we will trust God, 07:36 we can do all things together with God. 07:38 And so mercifully, God added one project at a time. 07:43 So after we got the training program going 07:46 for new converts to Adventism, then we added a school. 07:52 And then a number of years later we added an orphanage, 07:55 and then a media center, and then another school, 08:00 and then another school. 08:02 This year we plan to add another school. 08:05 As God builds our faith and our trust in him, 08:09 he gives us more to do 08:11 and takes us deeper into this journey with him. 08:14 - And there's this really cool project 08:16 that we've heard about that you're working on currently, 08:18 the butterfly garden. 08:20 - Yeah, that's a really cool project, like you say. 08:24 And here is where our ministry is gonna take a shift. 08:27 Because we've been totally faith-based 08:30 and the butterfly project is a tourism project 08:33 where we'll have a very large butterfly garden, 08:36 beautifully landscaped, waterfalls, fish ponds, et cetera. 08:39 We're hoping that some of the more than two million tourists 08:42 that come to Siem Reap each year will come to visit here 08:45 to the butterfly garden and they'll pay to come in 08:48 and they'll pay for food, et cetera, 08:51 and that way our ministry 08:53 can become totally self-supporting. 08:55 It goes beyond that because the life cycle of a butterfly 08:58 is a beautiful way to see how God is creator. 09:04 And so as people come through the butterfly garden, 09:07 meet the butterflies, 09:08 we want them also to meet God, the creator. 09:11 - Is there anything that you would like to say 09:13 to young people like us that are watching? 09:17 Like what they could do to prepare or to help now? 09:23 - One of the most important things for young people is to, 09:27 to listen to God 09:31 through the Bible, 09:32 through their parents, godly parents, 09:35 through godly friends, godly teachers, 09:39 and to believe that God has a work for young people to do. 09:48 It may be something small, it may be something big, 09:52 but that God has a work for every young person to do. 09:57 - If young people would just give their lives to Christ 10:00 and say I will do whatever you want me to do, 10:03 even if it's different from what I wanna do, 10:06 the journey that God will take them on 10:08 will be just so incredible 10:10 they will never even regret not doing 10:12 what they wanted to do. 10:14 We started out as missionaries when we were 21 and 20, 10:19 and it's more than 30 years now 10:21 and it's just been an amazing life, an amazing journey. 10:24 Today our children have grown up, they've got married, 10:27 but they work with us here in Cambodia. 10:31 Yeah, if we had done what we originally intended to do 10:37 we'd be just living a boring life back in Australia 10:40 where we came from. (laughs) 10:41 But living for God, it's exciting. 10:45 And so I encourage young people, get down on your knees 10:47 and ask God, what do you want me to do for your work? 10:51 And just surrender all. 10:53 - Well thank you guys for telling us 10:55 a little bit about your life and mission field and-- 10:58 - Thank you for interviewing us. 10:59 - Thank you. 11:01 (piano music) 11:16 - We're at the Wat Preah Yesu Children's Home, 11:19 which is actually undergoing a name change 11:21 and becoming Butterfly Paradise Children's Home. 11:24 And it's 5:00 and the kids are out playing, 11:27 the sun's going down, it's a great time here, 11:29 everybody's happy and yeah, 11:32 let's go and have a look at the kids. 11:37 (laughing) 11:40 So here in the orphanage the kids all live in families. 11:44 So you have a mom and dad taking care of their own children 11:49 and up to 16 orphan children. 11:53 So it's a big family but they do everything together. 11:55 They cook together, they worship together, 11:58 they garden together, they go for outings together, 12:01 so it's just like being part of a huge family. 12:05 - So are they all true orphans 12:07 or are they just neglected or not wanted? 12:09 - About 70% of the kids are true orphans. 12:13 Then we have abandoned kids, 12:15 and then we have kids who have a living parent 12:19 but for one reason or another it's not suitable 12:22 or not safe for them to be with their living parent. 12:25 So pretty much all of them need to be here. 12:30 And being here's good for them, they get three meals a day, 12:36 they have a safe place to live, they get good education, 12:40 bilingual education in the school. 12:44 They have pretty much all their needs met. 12:47 - Seems like a pretty nice place. 12:49 - Yeah. 12:50 - So are any of these kids HIV kids? 12:53 - Actually we have 27 who are HIV positive. 12:58 They all take antiretroviral drugs 13:00 and pretty much all of them are in really good health. 13:03 - Do you have any stories of the kids that you could tell? 13:07 - I can tell you the story of Chay Ma here. 13:10 One day I got a call to the village just down the road 13:13 and the village leader had a child for me 13:19 and the child was a two year old and weighed five kilograms. 13:24 And the mother and father were both living 13:26 but the child was living with a grandmother who had dementia 13:29 and the parents were alcoholics. 13:31 And so I took this child and we gave her a name, Naomi, 13:35 but she was so weak and thin 13:37 she looked like she'd come out of a famine in Africa. 13:39 I took her to the children's hospital. 13:42 And when the nurses saw her at the children's hospital, 13:46 they said, hey, she's got a twin sister here. 13:49 And they said, do you wanna see? 13:52 I said yeah, sure, take me to her. 13:54 And so they took me to another ward and Chay Ma was there. 13:58 Two years old, five kilograms, 14:01 big belly, skinny little legs, skinny little arms, 14:03 looked just like twins. 14:07 And they said, Chay Ma's mother had abandoned her 14:09 at the hospital and they'd tried to contact her 14:11 but hadn't been able to contact her. 14:13 And then they said, would you take her? 14:16 And I said sure. 14:17 So two weeks later I took the two girls home 14:21 and they're both healthy and happy, beautiful kids. 14:27 - Wow. 14:28 - You know sometimes I ask lots of questions 14:30 before I'll accept a child, but when I saw the other girl, 14:33 Naomi, it's like, I'm taking her. 14:37 And if I hadn't have taken her 14:38 she probably would have died within a week. 14:42 - Is there anything that we could do or those watching? 14:45 - The best way you can help yourself 14:47 is to come as a volunteer and teach English in the school. 14:50 Volunteers come usually six to 12 months at a time, 14:54 could stay longer. 14:56 Usually finished year 12 by the time they come, 14:58 but not always, some come a little bit earlier. 15:01 And the other way you can help is by sending money. 15:05 It costs us about $75 a month per child to keep them here. 15:14 - Well thanks for sharing with us. 15:15 - Okay, most happy to share. 15:18 - We're here with Caleb who grew up in the mission field 15:21 and we were wondering what that was like. 15:23 - How long have you lived here? 15:25 - First 20 years. 15:27 - How old were you when you guys moved here? 15:28 - I was four years old and my brother was just turning one. 15:33 - Oh wow, so you guys were really little. 15:35 - Yes. 15:36 - What was it like growing up 15:38 being like the only white person, you and your family? 15:41 So many Cambodians, 15:42 like, did people look at you differently, or? 15:46 - In school would have been the best example 15:50 because I went to the local school, government school, 15:56 and I was the only white person in the entire school, 15:59 not just in my class. 16:01 I don't really remember too much, 16:03 apart from that everyone seemed to like me 16:07 guess I'm the only one white color 16:09 so you gotta like someone like that. 16:11 (laughing) 16:12 My teachers sort of, I was their pet most of the time, 16:16 they liked me that much. 16:18 I was good friends with the principal 16:19 in both schools I went to. 16:22 So yeah, I didn't really notice the difference as such 16:25 in school and I didn't get picked on too much. 16:28 I'm a little bit taller than most Cambodians, 16:30 so that would have helped. 16:31 (laughs) 16:34 So not too many differences there. 16:37 - How old do you have to be to become a missionary? 16:39 - As a child you can share Jesus with the people around you. 16:44 A child being whatever age you are. 16:48 If you can speak, so maybe a little bit older 16:51 than one or two years old, I don't know, 16:53 but at one or two years old you're still very cute 16:56 and lots of people want to see you, 16:58 so if you make good friends with them even at that age, 17:00 or your parents let you be around them, 17:03 eventually when you can talk, then maybe you'll get a chance 17:06 to share Jesus with them. 17:08 So probably there's no age limit. 17:10 And as an adult it's just a little bit harder 17:13 to learn the new language, but you can still do something. 17:17 - Well thank you so much for sharing, 17:19 letting nus ask you some questions, and-- 17:22 - No problem. 17:23 Glad I could share. 17:25 (light instrumental music) 17:29 - Now we're here with Shannon who also grew up in Cambodia 17:32 and we wanted to ask him as well a few questions 17:36 about his experience. 17:38 What was it like growing up in the mission field? 17:40 - I'm not really sure about what it's like 17:45 'cause pretty much I haven't known anything else. 17:48 So it's pretty my life. 17:50 Growing up has been just normal growing up. 17:54 - Well, you don't know any differences. 17:56 - That's the one, yeah, yeah yeah. 17:58 - So do you think of this as your home? 18:00 - Pretty much, yeah. 18:02 I feel Cambodian. 18:04 (laughs) On the inside I'm a Cambodian. 18:07 On the outside I'm a something else. 18:09 (laughs) 18:11 - How do you feel when you go back to Australia? 18:14 - I feel out of my comfort zone. 18:17 Australia is very different. 18:19 I get culture shock when I go to Australia. 18:21 (laughs) 18:22 - Wow. 18:23 That's so opposite from us coming here, 18:27 it's like culture shock. 18:29 And we wanna go back home. 18:32 So for you, you wanna come back here as home. 18:35 - Yeah, I always missed here when I went to Australia. 18:38 - Do you wish that you had grown up in Australia 18:40 or are you-- 18:43 - I actually quite liked growing up here, so. 18:46 And I can't wish for much better. 18:48 (laughs) - So what do you 18:49 like about here? 18:51 - Here? 18:52 I like the people, they're socially friendly, 18:57 there's a lot happening, big open spaces, that kinda stuff, 19:01 tropical, tropics, I like tropics. 19:04 - [Lilyann] Nice and warm here. 19:06 - Yeah, yeah. 19:07 Love the sweat, the dirt, lots of dust. 19:11 - So what do you do here? 19:13 - Well, I'm a multitask person. 19:18 I work in our media center as video editor, cameraman, 19:22 everything that's needed. 19:24 I do pathfinder, I'm the pathfinder director for here. 19:28 - So is there an opportunity for a pathfinder, 19:31 maybe if they're in America, to come over here 19:32 and help train and stuff? 19:36 - Yep, yeah, we're open. 19:37 (girls laugh) 19:38 Yeah we can. 19:40 If there's people who wanna come out and help, 19:42 even for a short time, it's nice, we really need 19:47 specialized people who know how to do pathfinders 19:49 and can actually teach it, so yeah, it's good work, yeah. 19:54 - Thank you for sharing with us. 19:55 - Thank you. 19:57 - God has really blessed the Maddocks 19:59 and it's encouraging for me to see 20:00 how they haven't let challenges hold them back 20:02 from doing what God has called them to do. 20:04 - Uh-uh, and it's so amazing how many projects 20:06 have been started since they went to the mission field. 20:09 - Yeah, and they're not stressed out, 20:11 they're really happy people. 20:13 Whatever they're doing, whether they're working 20:14 or playing, or anything. 20:16 - And I think it just shows how if we're doing 20:19 what God has asked us to do, we are given his peace, 20:22 no matter what it is we're doing. 20:24 - Yeah, and God has a specific task 20:26 that he calls each of us to do. 20:28 And a great example of that is Kathleen and Ely. 20:31 They had the idea to use horses as therapy for the kids. 20:35 - Yeah, and we had the privilege of getting to visit 20:37 this project and see what it was all about 20:39 while we were visiting Wat Preah Yesu. 20:42 (instrumental music) 20:54 (people chattering) 21:03 - We're here at Hoof Trek with Kathleen and Ely 21:07 and we wanted to ask them some questions 21:09 about their amazing ministry that they're doing here 21:12 at Wat Preah Yesu. 21:13 - So how did you guys get an idea to use horses 21:15 as a ministry tool? 21:17 - Well, I always wanted to work with horses and kids 21:20 back in Australia. 21:22 I was working at a school just as a volunteer 21:25 with some of the horses and kids 21:26 who were having behavioral difficulties 21:30 or struggling with their schoolwork and stuff, 21:33 and I saw the benefits that it had with them 21:34 and with our kids here we always have challenges 21:38 in the classroom, so we're kind of always thinking 21:40 of new ideas that we can use with them, yeah, 21:42 so we thought of horses. 21:44 - How do the horses help the behavioral problems 21:46 with the kids? 21:47 - Well, working with gigantic, slightly scary animals, 21:53 especially when they're so small, can often-- 21:56 A horse is a reactive animal, 21:57 so it reacts, they're prey animals, they react to fear, 21:59 they react to bossiness, and we find that the kids here, 22:03 a lot of 'em are very hyperactive 22:05 and they have to change their behavior around the horse 22:08 and learn to control themselves 22:10 so that they can get the horse 22:11 to do what they want it to do. 22:13 We're not just using it though for self-awareness stuff 22:16 with them but also for them to learn more about God 22:20 and how much he loves them too, 22:21 as they try to make a gigantic animal do what they want. 22:25 - Is it hard to find horses in Cambodia? 22:27 - Yes. 22:28 There is maybe I think they said 15,000, 22:32 but a lot of 'em are very small. 22:35 They're all stallions. 22:38 There's not any for sale that's over three years old 22:42 'cause they get worked quite hard 22:44 and they don't have a very long working life 22:47 with their Cambodian owners. 22:49 So we've had to go down to Kampong Cham, 22:52 which is over halfway to Phnom Penh, to find our horses. 22:56 - How long have you guys been, 22:58 has this project been going? 23:00 - Well, the idea was kind of born back in May 2014, 23:04 but we've only started with the kids 23:05 since September of this year. 23:07 - And we've had the horses 23:08 just over a year. - Last year. 23:09 September last year. 23:10 (laughs) 23:11 - Is it popular with the kids? 23:13 - They do enjoy riding the horses. 23:17 They'll come around sometimes just to pet them, 23:20 just to feed them food over the fence and things like that. 23:23 It was obviously much more of a novelty 23:25 when we got them at the first. 23:26 It's kind of worn off but we still have the faithfuls 23:28 that come around. 23:29 (laughs) 23:31 We have a group of trainees that come in the afternoon 23:33 to learn how to take care of the horses, ride the horses, 23:36 train the horses, with the hopes that they'll eventually 23:39 be able to be used as teachers for the program. 23:41 - Do you need any young volunteers to help? 23:44 - This place, the whole school, 23:45 can always use more volunteers. 23:47 And anyone who loves kids and isn't afraid of horses 23:51 is always welcome to give us a hand. 23:54 - Do you know anybody else who's doing ministry with horses 23:57 for missionary work? 23:59 - For missionary work, no. 24:01 There are a lot of horse therapy places, 24:05 but it don't know of any in this country 24:08 or in any other mission field. 24:11 - This is a really cool project and-- 24:15 - Thanks for coming. 24:15 (laughs) - Thank you. 24:17 (singing) 24:28 (acoustic guitar music) 24:31 - Our last evening there, Uncle Tim took us into town 24:35 to shop for traditional clothes and souvenirs. 24:41 We're gonna talk really loud so you can hear us. 24:42 We're at a night market here in Cambodia, 24:45 Siem Reap, actually, and we are ordering roti. 24:50 Really thin kinda like crepes. 24:52 - And you put bananas in it and you fold it over 24:55 and put chocolate on top and cut it up. 24:57 It's really good. 24:58 He rolls it though. 25:01 (girls chattering) 25:55 (soft instrumental music) 26:03 Then there's more. 26:52 (cameraman laughs) 27:06 - That was so much fun. 27:07 Lots of people would be really nervous to eat street food, 27:10 but in our opinion it's definitely the best. 27:13 - Yeah, for sure. 27:14 And Kathleen and Ely's project is so inspiring. 27:16 - Mmhmm, and they had to go through so many challenges 27:19 to get that project up and running. 27:21 They had to search the entire country to find a horse 27:24 that was gentle enough for the kids to ride, 27:26 and they had to raise all the money to build the enclosures 27:28 and buy the horses and food and everything. 27:31 - Wow. 27:33 We each have different talents and interests that we can use 27:36 for spreading the gospel. 27:37 God has a special place for each of us. 27:39 You just have to ask him where that is for you. 27:41 Following him is not always easy, 27:44 and it's important not to give up 27:45 and to keep going when things become difficult. 27:48 - We'll see you next time on Mission Trek. 27:50 - And remember to pray for the unreached. 27:52 (instrumental music) |
Revised 2019-11-11