LIFE CHANGING CAMBODIA | KAIROS GLOBAL | JUNE 2021

Author: Rony Ben Dominic

Intro: A ‘Dubai-grown youth’, Rony Ben Dominic shares experiences of his life-altering year of mission in Cambodia.

I was a teenager when I first heard about full-timership and its young missionaries, who are now famously called ‘God’s Crazy People’. The whole concept about setting aside a whole year to engage in mission work was an absolutely crazy thought for me and that’s precisely what attracted me to the programme. I was inspired by two full-timers who shared about their mission experiences in an ‘undisclosed’ country, and hearing their stories felt like an action-packed spy movie filled with drama and adventure. Their experience sparked a passionate fire within me when I was 16 and I asked God to keep the fire burning till I finished my university. 

I chose to pursue ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), and just like any Chartered Accounting qualification, this was an extremely difficult course to complete. But every time I wrote my exams, I told God, ‘If you help me finish early, then I will serve you sooner in a mission country.’ God kept his promise and allowed me to complete my chartered accountancy when I turned twenty and finally, I got my chance to be part of the Full-time Volunteering Programme (full-timership). It included a one-month intensive ‘mission focused’ training in Thailand and thereafter, I was placed in a country that I had never (or rarely) heard of before, a South East Asian country called Cambodia. 

Our Mission

The mission in Cambodia was at its initial stages and was reached out to by JYs from the South East Asia Team. My mission partner, Dona Kurian (Jesus Youth Delhi) and I were the third batch of full-timers to be placed there.

Our objective was to set-up a good network among the Catholic communities and help build JY spirituality among the local Cambodian youth. We were placed as volunteers for the Don Bosco Foundation (Salesians). Our day job was to assist the Salesians with the Foundation work. Dona was an English Teacher and I was charged with taking care of the welfare and development needs of the ‘Bessucco Boys’. During the weekends, we would travel around nearby parishes and establish contact with priests and youth with the objective to organise youth retreats and prayer meetings. 

Challenges

We faced quite a few challenges during our mission in Cambodia. We had to learn the Cambodian Language, Khmer if we really wanted to make deep meaningful conversations with people. The food was completely different from what we were used to, and the climate was extremely humid. As a Dubai-grown youth, I knew this was a specific place God chose to help me overcome these little struggles. Moreover, our duration there was really short compared to other wonderful missionaries, who had given their lifetime commitment in Cambodia; we were doing nothing in giving up only a year. The only thing that kept me and my mission partner going was our commitment to daily prayer. We were able to spend almost an hour daily, in front of the tabernacle and it was indeed the Eucharist that kept recharging our nearly drained out batteries.  

Memories

My time in Cambodia invokes remarkable memories that I still can’t forget. As part of the Jesus Youth International Jubilee Conference, we were able to bring nine Cambodians to attend the conference in Kerala together with an exposure programme to interact with Catholic families. We were able to travel across the country and help in organising youth retreats and prayer meetings. We were completely surprised at the way the Holy Spirit worked with us, enabling us to take thought-provoking sessions and to lead spirit-led adorations. We could visibly see God’s mighty hand protecting us at every stage of the mission and guiding us at each step.

Learnings

Looking back at my year in Cambodia, I can clearly share the biggest lesson I had learned. During the first three months in Cambodia, we were running around like ‘headless chickens’ with JY newsletters, and flyers explaining the movement – and how big it was – to everybody. However, we noticed that this was not fruitful in any way and we were not making any kind of impact there. It was at this point, we got a clear message that God wanted us to give ‘Jesus’ more than ‘Jesus Youth’. This message was such an eye-opener for us and the next few months, we simply focused on the core of evangelisation, i.e. sharing about the love of Jesus (without any JY labels) Over the next few months, we noticed how the local church leaders and the youth ministry were observing us, amazed at what we were doing with the youth and helping them with faith formation. It was at this time; they came forward asking us if we could help in creating more ‘Jesus Youths’ in their parish. This was truly the most amazing moment of realisation for us. It was only when we were actually living and giving ‘Jesus’, people started seeing us as ‘Jesus Youth’

Now

I’m now married, with a beautiful wife and 3 fantastic kids, and it’s been almost a decade since I completed this journey, but every memory is still fresh in my mind. I consider my time in Cambodia as much greater than any sophisticated MBA programme or job could ever give me. God helped me acquire skills that I never imagined I could. It was the year I truly experienced the latter verse of 2 Corinthians 12:9, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

In conclusion, I want to share that we must always challenge ourselves to do something CRAZY for Jesus. Let us not settle for mediocre small initiatives and plans. Give him your craziest idea and the best of your ability and you will be amazed to see how God does marvellous things in your life. Even today, Jesus is alive in my life and he allows me to serve in our ministries here as a family. As Pope Francis tweeted, ‘Do not be satisfied with a mediocre life. Be amazed by what is true and beautiful, what is of God!’

A Chartered Accountant, Rony Ben Dominic leads the Middle East & North Africa regions’ Accounting and Legal function for an automotive company. He lives with his wife, Thushara and their three kids in Dubai, UAE.

: