“Because of Him… you live.”
By – Nancy Nguyen
Hello from Siem Riep, Cambodia! As I breathe in the polluted air, watch vendors hustle on the streets and scarcely hear my native tongue of Vietnamese being spoke by immigrants, this missions trip has hit close to home and evokes a lot of memories from my childhood.
Cambodia and Vietnam are neighbors and I didn’t realize how much their history and suffering overlap until this week. Here in Cambodia, women and children are too often sold through trafficking. They are forced to leave their homes to provide for their families, most times to relieve a debt.
I know this to be true.
My cousin was sold to a man in Malaysia (to also relieve a debt). There was no love, no like, no dates… it was simply a “necessary” business transaction. She now has a daughter with this man. When I was a teenager and would stress mom out, every so often mom would remind me that had she not seek refuge in America, she would have probably sold me too… her own daughter. How could she sell her own flesh and blood? I used to get ultra upset when she’d throw those words in my face, but now that I’ve seen the world through a different lens, I weep at the possibility, and turn to God, to give thanks, for He has plans to prosper me and to not harm me.
During the trip we also learned that men and women would often trigger bombs in the fields, which I also know to be true.
About 3 years ago when my mom and I lived in Vietnam for a month, she was insistent on visiting a dear friend of hers. He lived way past the countryside, in a remote patch of land overlooking the hills.
The journey was far and me being extremely irritable from the heat, I kept asking why this man was so special. Once we arrived, I slowly discovered why mom would make this man such a priority (especially since she had a jam packed schedule and seemed to need to visit every person she has met in her life).
When we arrived to his banana leaved hut, an emaciated but smiling man with missing limbs emerged from his hammock with opened arms. Mom said to me, “Daughter, meet Uncle (we call everyone uncle). He… my daughter… is why you have the life you have today. It is because of him…. that you live.” Mom went on to share that when she was in her 20’s after the war, men and women were sent to work in the fields and that no one was exempt from serving. Not even bribes — and that’s saying a lot. The government knew the fields were dangerous and deadly, and that some soil contained undiscovered bombs that would detonate at movement. One day during moms mandatory shift, this man.. her friend, recognized her uneasiness and offered to pick up her shift and take her place. He looked mom in the eyes and said: “It’s ok. Don’t worry… I will stay for you. Please go home to your family.” And she did.
It was in that field where a bomb exploded and he lost his leg.
Since then, anytime my mother visits her country, she pays a visit to this man in deep gratitude for his selflessness. She brings him pictures of my family and tells him how successful we are and on every trip, slips him a hundred dollar bill, a smithereen of what is truly due to him.
When mom told me “it is because of him, you live”, I get emotional. My mom is a non-believer (and that’s a whole different area of struggle in my heart) but when she said that, I immediately thought of Christ and how He laid down his life for me… for us. The man who basically volunteered to graze a field of bombs was an illustration of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, so that we may live.
As we continue to learn more about Cambodia for the remainder of this trip, I pray that through Jesus, the people of Cambodia will overcome these hardships and chains that have bound them, for He… lives — through us.
