A girl who once received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox now teaches The Greatest Journey discipleship course to other children in need.
Samnang* comes from a family of scavengers, also known as waste pickers—people who earn a meager living by collecting recyclable materials from garbage dumps, streets, and landfills of Cambodia. But God used the new items inside the shoebox gift she received at age 13 to help draw her to a relationship with Christ. Today, she is teaching a new generation of shoebox recipients the truths of the Gospel that transformed her life.
God used The Greatest Journey discipleship program so profoundly in Samnang’s (center) life that today she teaches the course to other boys and girls.
Now 17, this girl and thousands of other people outside Cambodia’s urban centers struggle to find scraps of plastic and metal to sell, all while facing injury, illness, exposure to toxic materials, disease, and malnutrition.
Samnang’s family lives right next to a trash collection area in their neighborhood. Hordes of flies and insects rise from the piles of garbage as children tromp through it to clamber over the wall and play with their friends. The inherent danger is lost on them—this is simply life.
“For the past five or six years the community has been very at risk and very dangerous because of drugs, gambling, and violence,” said Visoth*, a member of Operation Christmas Child’s national leadership team in the Southeast Asian country. “It’s not safe to go in.”
The level of poverty in urban slums goes deeper than physical needs like food and shelter, there is an unimaginable longing for love and affection.
Even children pick through trash in search of valuables in Cambodia’s slums.
“A lot of the families are very broken,” Samnang said. “A lot of parents do not show love or care to their kids. Instead, they’re sitting around drinking and oftentimes there’s a lot of abuse in the homes because of that.”
Ministry Partners Open Doors to Unreachable Areas
Of the 25 provinces in Cambodia, Samaritan’s Purse operates its Operation Christmas Child project in 14 of them. The barriers to reaching people who live in the urban slums within them with the Gospel seem insurmountable. Residents often harbor a deep resentment and fear of Christianity.
Visoth first met Samnang when he visited the slums with the goal of sharing the Gospel. They gathered together under a tree in a graveyard. While surrounded by evidence of our earthly mortality, these children heard the message of eternal hope in Jesus Christ.
“It made me realize just how loved I am by God, and also just a moment of recognizing that, ‘Oh my goodness, the Lord died on the cross for me!’ And who else would possibly be willing to die on the cross for someone else?” Samnang said.
“‘Oh my goodness, the Lord died on the cross for me!’ And who else would possibly be willing to die on the cross for someone else?”
Three years later, Visoth returned to the dump to present Samnang with the Good News again together with shoebox brimming with fun items from someone overseas. The box of gifts given in Jesus’ Name proved to be a tangible expression of God’s love to the young teen.
Becoming a Teacher of the Word
Moved by the gift and God’s Word, Samnang began attending The Greatest Journey follow-up discipleship course, and soon accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior! Her teachers saw in her a heart eager to learn through the 12 Bible lessons.
Samnang noticed that she began laying aside her anger, disobedience, and fights with siblings to tell others about Christ.
“I’m able to recognize that the Lord has changed my life, and therefore I want to also help change other people’s lives,” Samnang said.
They offered her the chance to start teaching The Greatest Journey at 14 years old. She was terrified and thrilled by the opportunity—every eye in the room was on her.
“So my prayer during that time was for peace, and recognizing that in those moments, whenever I was feeling nervous or scared, the moment that I would surrender and pray to God, He would give me the strength to make it through,” Samnang said.
Children in Samnang’s discipleship classes learn to pray to Jesus as well as how to grow in and share Him with others in part through colorful student workbooks supplied by Samaritan’s Purse.
In a sweltering room with walls made of tin, radiating heat like an oven, with no circulation, and no sanitation, she has created a classroom where peace and love abound. Outside those four walls there is standing water, disease-transmitting mosquitos, and people sitting in doorways with thousand-foot stares. The love these people crave is so much more than any human being can provide. The deep, unshakeable, unwavering, undeserved love of God the Father is the foundation they are missing.
“Preaching the Gospel to them weekly, it is our priority,” Visoth said. “It’s a privilege that we can plant the seed. Samnang is a seed in that community that has grown and now she’s able to share her faith and her talents, a gift to other people.”
Giving Her Future to the Lord
It’s common for children in this culture to get married young, find work, and drop out of school. But not Samnang; although she may be from the poorest family, she has the utmost commitment to her education and to Christ.
“We asked Samnang, ‘What is your dream in the future?’ She simply told us she wants to be an evangelist,” Visoth said.
She considers being a teacher of God’s Word one of the most noble professions, sharing about the goodness of the Lord and His love for the world. Reflecting on her own teachers who introduced her to Jesus, she can’t believe she gets to play that role in another child’s life.
Since God transformed her life, Samnang is eager to introduce other boys and girls in her community to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“I recognized that my heart was changing from being someone who was always angry and upset to now being able to take that to the Lord and surrender,” Samnang said. “I want to be able to have my own ministry one day and really help these kids. And I see this as a starting point for that.”
To the Ends of the Earth
Never one to discount childlike faith, she’s learned a lot from her students. For a child in this community to believe in Jesus and openly profess His Name, they are subject to the scrutiny, misunderstanding, and misconceptions of their families.
“At the very beginning, a lot of them were too afraid to even say the Name ‘Jesus,’ and to respond when I would ask questions. Now they’re not only open to saying all the answers, but they’re going to other people, their families, their friends, and sharing this knowledge that they’ve learned,” Samnang said.
Without Operation Christmas Child, she doesn’t know how this isolated community would have heard the Gospel.
“We should love people the way that God loves them,” Samnang said. “The Lord loves them and therefore I want to do the same. I want to help them get into Heaven.”
Visoth echoes that sentiment. “I pray that Operation Christmas Child will continue to grow in evangelism, discipleship and multiplication, not only in Cambodia but around the world.”
National Collection Week is coming Nov. 17-24 when nearly 4,500 drop-off locations will be open across the country to receive your prayerfully packed gifts for boys and girls in need around the world. Be sure to make each box fun, full, and personalized to display God’s great love for the child. Many of these boys and girls will have the opportunity to participate in The Greatest Journey!
