“Hello, teacher!” came the greeting from children with smiling faces, bright eyes and waving hands. Their welcome surprised me and brought a big smile to my face. Cambodians are incredibly kind and friendly—especially the children. That became abundantly clear the day I arrived.

My name is Dome, and I am a student missionary on the Pnong project in Cambodia. Since 2016, God has placed in my heart the desire to become a missionary and has guided everything so that I could be part of this project at this time. Coming to Cambodia has been a very unique, exciting and enlightening experience. In such a short time, I have learned a lot about God, myself, people in general and the work to which we are called.
Last Mother’s Day, during a time when I was struggling to find the same happiness, fulfillment and sense of purpose that I had back home, I went to a park near my house to film a video for my mom. There I was, sitting on a bench, when ten children appeared and started asking me questions. Somehow, we managed to understand each other with the little Khmer I knew and the little English they spoke. After that, they taught me how to play a Cambodian game, and as time passed, more children started to join in.

After a few games, one of my students came and dared me to race him. I agreed. Just before the race began, I noticed all the children next to me taking off their shoes. I decided to do the same, since running in sandals did not seem like the best idea. We started running and laughing as the wind blew in our faces and the hot cement ground burned our feet. After three or four races, I felt a sharp pain in my foot. My first thought was, Oh no, I stepped on a piece of glass. Thankfully, that was not the case—it was just a blister that had formed and burst.

I stopped and started limping. The children looked at my foot with concerned eyes as I said goodbye to them. As I was walking home, I suddenly felt little hands take me by the arm. The children were trying to help me walk home safely. They were so small that they could not really support me physically, but I could see in their faces that they were happy to help. In that moment, I saw what Jesus meant when He told us to be like children.

That day, my mindset changed. God showed me His children here in Cambodia and placed in my heart an even stronger desire to guide them back to Him. He showed me that I could find a new—and even greater—sense of purpose, happiness and fulfillment than what I had back home. Those little helping hands made me feel the love of God, and the least I can do is return the favor.

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