Today after church, Josh and I took our cell group to play soccer. We didn't go to a gymnasium or a typical field. I wish that I could have taken a picture of the youth's faces as we arrived at our destination. Because of the language barrier we had difficulty explaining to them where we were going, so they just followed us, not knowing where we were taking them.
We stood outside a field, where about 500 families live in tents because their houses burnt down. In April, there was a fire which swept away housing of a whole community. Now, they live in the field where they wait for the government to arrange the replacement of their homes. Over 1000 people live in this field without clean water and they seem to be forgotten; just pushed off to the side.
The youth from 'New Life in Christ' church didn't quite understand why we would come to a place of poverty to play soccer. One of the boys who came with us, spoke decent English and was able to translate for us, to the rest of the youth. Within minutes we had a game of 'monkey in the middle' going, and children ran up to us, wanting to join in. I walked around some parts of the field attempting to talk with families and telling them in broken Khmer that we are playing soccer. I thought the parents would be skeptical, but they actually seemed very happy that we would come and play with their children. One mother practically handed her three little daughters to me.
The youth from our cell-group actually had fun, although they probably didn't think that they were going to. They were laughing and talking with the children as the game continued. In Cambodian culture, this is not typical because older people look down on younger people. There are even different words used to address people of different ages, and it seems that with the use of different words, there is also a different attitude.
We will be returning next week to 'tent city' in hopes of bringing the same youth and more with us. We think that it is a great outreach! If you have any ideas of simple games that even just involve a ball-please let me know!