Hello from Cambodia! My name is Will McLaughlin. I’m married to Becky McLaughlin. We have 4 kids and our family has lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for 2 1/2 years now. We’re sent by the Church of the Holy Spirit in Roanoke, VA.
While living in Cambodia, God has revealed himself in so many ways, but we just wanted to share a quick, recent story.
The Lord gave me a tangible snapshot of the work he is doing when I got to visit a Young Life Cambodia leaders conference, at the end of last year,
If you’re not familiar with Young Life, Young Life (YL) is a mission devoted to introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith. Here in Cambodia, YL is completely led by the local Khmer people, from the country director all the way down to the volunteers who go into the local high schools.
So, I went to the conference to see if there was some way I could support them and/or learn from them. I didn’t know what my expectations were, but I was blown away by what I experienced there.
I was escorted into a room bursting with nearly 200 volunteer college leaders. These are leaders who meet and disciple high school kids and do this at a GREAT sacrifice to themselves. Almost all college students here have to pay their way through school, and nearly all have jobs to help with that. Many of the volunteer leaders have such a passion for sharing the gospel, that they’re willing to take pauses in their college education to help disciple kids- since they can’t afford to pay for school and volunteer with YL at the same time.
Thankfully, our church has had the opportunity to help support some of these students, so they can go to school AND lead Young Life without having to split their time with a part-time job.
This is just a small piece of what God is doing here. He is raising up a generation of Cambodians who love him and want to make him known. Praise the Lord!
It reminds us of Revelation 7:9 – “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands"
See below for a short video of the YL leaders of Cambodia worshiping the Lord.