Youth With A Mission

Students provide service through missions work abroad

She stares at the blue cotton sweater on the rack in front of her. It is $50. The price resonates in her head and she swallows hard. What she once would have gladly paid for an article of clothing, now seems harder to justify after living in Cambodia for three months — knowing families there would sell their daughters into prostitution for 50 American dollars.

"We go to Wendy’s and spend $5 or $6, and [in Cambodia] it would be a world of difference," senior sociology major Jee Kim said. Situations like this illustrated the discrepancies in the struggle that she faced as an American college student, and the struggle many endure in much of the developing world.

"I totally went into culture shock, just because it is so completely different than here," Jee said. Her time in Cambodia was life changing, as after her trip Jee had an entirely new perspective from which to view the world.

It was her sophomore year at JMU when Jee decided to travel with the Christian service organization Youth With A Mission. After hearing former participants in the program speak at her church, Jee was intrigued made up her mind to go.

Jee took a year off school and committed herself to traveling and providing service through her faith. YWAM is a unique program that allows its participants to explore areas of service and aspects of the respective culture that they feel most drawn to. Jee said she felt most inclined to working with children, so the program arranged for her to work in orphanages.

One of her most vivid memories of her trip, she said, was during her first week working at one of the orphanages. She was asked by one of the supervisors to do inventory of the children’s belongings. Each child was allowed one toothbrush, a pair of flip flop sandals and school shoes, a school outfit and a backpack. "When asked to go get the items, [the children] would hide their toothbrush or they would hide one shoe — all so that they could get a new toothbrush or a new shoe," Jee recalled. "It really broke my heart because I never had to do that with my parents … "

At times when she felt her strength waiver, she would follow the children’s lead. Jee said they would ask her questions about her life in America and would try to help her with her Khmer, which is the native language of Cambodia. "What little they had was such joy to them," she said. The children would use what few resources they had to create toys. From old plastic bags, the children would fashion kites and from scraps of paper, the children would spend hours making origami. "It’s things that we take for granted," explained Jee.

During one of the trips to the Cambodian provinces, Jee was struck and moved by the people’s kindness and strength. "When I went to the provinces with no running water, no electricity, they lived in wooden stilt huts, and just the complete joy that they still had," Jee said. Her face brightens as she describes walking through the streets in the provinces. The children, she recalled, would follow her group members around, petting their light skin and saying, "Sa at na. Sa at na." Or, "Beautiful. Beautiful."

It was monsoon season when she traveled to Cambodia, so her experience was marked by the constant, driving rain. When she and her group would wake up in the morning, they would open the door to find the village children waiting on the doorsteps, completely soaked, holding flowers for their American visitors.

Dorothy Kim (’02) embarked on a similar journey after she graduated from JMU. She said she didn’t want to go straight into graduate school after graduation, and she knew that she wanted to do some sort of missions work. After researching potential trips, Dorothy was impressed by YWAM and its mission

"To know God and make Him known." Worried that her family might deter her from applying, Dorothy applied without them knowing. Once accepted, she warmed her family to the idea of her traveling abroad, and soon she was on her way to Montana to receive her training.

There were 14 people on Dorothy’s team who traveled around Bangalour and Nag Pur, two cities in India, and practiced "friendship evangelism." Some of her team members comprised a band, and they would sing pop and Christian songs to the people in the streets. They also would perform skits and lead Bible studies. There were always two translators present so that there could be a meaningful exchange between the Americans and the people of India.

"I miss India," Dorothy explained. "Part of me is with them there. I felt like I had a purpose there." Dorothy graduated with her undergraduate degree in business, but now she is getting her masters degree in education. She explained that after her experience in India, she believes education is how she will be able to help people most.

Dorothy said she was very passionate about her purpose in India, though there were times when her team’s mission put them at risk with the Hindu government. Nag Pur had just banned Christian missionaries, so they had to remain vigilant so as not to draw attention to their activity there.

Though Jee and Dorothy had very different experiences while traveling abroad with YWAM, they both agree that their experiences were life-changing. After experiencing the struggle that people of India endure, Dorothy said, "I feel lucky not to have to go through so many challenges." Thus, she has made a conscious decision to spend her "money, time and resources on things that matter."

Jee said that her experience in Cambodia was extremely meaningful. "Just to see that there is a different world beyond myself, beyond JMU, beyond Northern Virginia," she said. After graduation, she said she plans to participate in more service and mission opportunities. "It got my feet wet," Jee said. "I don’t want to settle here; there’s so much more that can be done."

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