Support Growth Groups for 70 Urban Cambodian Youth

Mission Dove disciples both Christian emerging leaders and those of other faiths, together, with a focus on helping them navigate their dysfunctional family lives, and how to be a part of healing a society that has been broken in many ways. Last April retreat in the jungles of Ratanakiri focused on how to care for the environment, which is vital to both our emotional and physical health. This retreat was an experience.

Bophal’s farm and the community forest were places where diversity met biodiversity. Our group of 30 campers represented male and female teens at risk, LGBTQ youth, handicapped campers, 3 Cambodian Leaders, and 3 international advisors/interns. A bit over half would identify as Christian in some way. 

Pitching tents on Bophal’s farm was a first for many of them, sleeping in them was yet another. Gone were the noises, traffic, smells, pollution, and busyness of the city, all replaced by quiet, stillness, wildlife, wide open spaces, rolling hills and multiple shades of green, mixed with dry-season brown. The 102 F heat was a shock so during the afternoon they cooled off in the farm’s irrigation system. Later they went on a gallery walk about that displayed recent national disasters caused by abrupt changes in weather patterns. A campfire with a challenge highlighting environmental heroes American Rachel Carson and Cambodian environmental martyr, Chut Vuthy, wrapped up the day.

The next day, to beat the heat, the gang was on the road by 7 am to the community forest, a designated protected area that was granted through the incessant urging a foreign missionary in the mid- 90’s. Upon arrival by motorcycle-carts, they were given an assignment to walk in silence and carefully observe the section of community forest that burned last month, as they trekked to the Ranger station, 3.5 kilometers in. Upon arrival, the group listened to the 2 ethnic Forest Protectors share about the many challenges they face to protect the forest from illegal logging. Two thirds of the community forest had been lost through encroachment by local plantation-owning tycoons.

The Evening Campfire had campers presenting skits to emphasize things they could do to cut back on environmental abuse and exploitation.

Other Activities

Small groups competed in an environmental scavenger hunt on the farm, created proverbs, and were sent out to visit surrounding farms to observe agricultural malpractice.

They learned how Cambodia, before wars, had once been a very abundant land, a "Land of Golden Water and Soil," where green and lush forests stretched further than any eye could see.

Early morning, individuals were then sent off, without phones, to an isolated spot to just listen for the voice of nature or God with their 5 senses, to see through the eyes of their soul. This was new to many, but each profited according to the level of their maturity. 

The last day at lunch, they broke camp, and headed out to a natural Crater Lake for a swim, to cap off their time before catching their night bus back to the big city.

What they felt:

Emotions: shock, grief, mourning, anger, regret, and remorse over loss and inaction by the government.

What they want to do:

Suggestions: Advocacy, education, change in lifestyle, awareness, creating projects to clean up the environment as a statement, and to enlist young people to do Creation Care.