Family On The Field – Compassion makes the difference

Tuk-Tuks are our family's mode of transportation

When we decided as a family to accept an internship with Samaritan’s Purse and move to Cambodia we knew there would be some major transitions. Tricia and I had traveled to places like Cambodia, Guatemala and Haiti before, but our 3 boys had only experienced their comfortable West Texas life. How could we prepare them to move from the land of Ford 4 wheel drive trucks, flat screens and bean burritos to the land of tuk tuk’s, rice and mosquitos?

While we tried our best to prepare the boys, nothing could get them ready to face the new sights, sounds and smells they would encounter. Sitting in an open air tuk-tuk surrounded by loud Cambodian traffic just isn’t the same as being inside dad’s air conditioned pickup.

The first couple of weeks were pretty tough. Everybody was having a hard time. The first week of school wasn’t much better. Everyone at their new school spoke English, but it was accents from 27 different countries from around the world!

Thank goodness Kyler began to show signs of adapting. Being the youngest, after a few monkeys and a new friend from Holland his age he was set to go. Micah was the next to decide he liked his new home when realized he could bike to the corner and get his new favorite dish of rice and chicken. But Reece has been our very unhappy hold out – at least until last week!

All the boys had been a little intimidated by the new people they were surrounded by every day, but Reece was especially scared of Cambodian people. He would yell and cover his eyes every time he saw a Cambodian child playing outside without any clothes. We had been here 8 weeks and were starting to get a little worried. Then we went to our local market.

After we had finished shopping for the day and came out to get in a tuk-tuk to go home Reece encountered 3 kids his age who were dirty, in torn clothes and looked really hungry. They just stared at our family and then said hello to Reece. Normally Reece would have turned away, not sure what to say or how to handle the situation, but that day was different. He reached down and pulled a small toy out of his pocket and handed it to one of the kids. They shouted with joy and a smile grew across Reece’s face. When we got in the tuk-tuk to go home, instead of scuffling with his brothers, Reece stopped and bowed his head, closed his eyes and folded his hands together and began to pray. It wasn’t a 3 second prayer, it was a long sincere prayer leaving Tricia and I with our jaws dropped open and tears in our eyes. Something from that moment on changed.

Reece has been full of joy this week. He’s like a different person. We looked outside one day and he, Micah and Kyler were in an empty lot next door teaching the neighborhood Cambodian and foreign kids how to play baseball. Where mom and dad’s attempts at using material comforts or more hugs and kisses to make him feel better didn’t work, compassion for others had transformed his little heart. 

School boy at a school where SP provides
school feedingand clean water access tanks

This was big reminder to me that God created each of us with hearts of compassion. My mistake as a parent was focusing on trying to raise a comfortable child instead of engage with a compassionate child. We have realized once again that God sent us as a family and our boys just want to share in what God is doing.

Micah, Reece and Kyler all decided this week they would join Team Samaritan’s Purse and run with Tricia and I in the Angkor Wat 10K and 3K family fun run in Siem Reap,  December 4. They are going to run to raise money for Samaritan’s Purse projects that help children and families in Cambodia. You can check out their story and fundraising page at http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/micahreecekylerhester/micahreecekylerhestersfundraisingpage