By Father Paul Kam Po-wai
As part of the Diocesan Youth Commission’s collaboration with the Diocese of Kampong Cham, where I served in Cambodia, 11 Cambodians, eight Hong Kongers, two priests, one nun, two youth pastoral workers—a total of 24 people—participated in an exchange and experience tour from June 17 to 28 this year. The Cambodian 11-day trip and programme was organised by the priests of the Diocese of Kampong Cham, while the Thai programme was organised by Father Phongphan Wongarsa, a Thai missionary of the Pontifical Council for Foreign Missions, who once served in the Diocese of Hong Kong.
In this trip, young people from Cambodia and Hong Kong had the opportunity to become acquainted with different cultures and learn from one another through living together, experiencing together, and sharing together. Although the languages were different, they used their limited English skills to communicate, to share the same faith, and to pray together.
For prayer, the arrangement for the daily Mass was very special in that it was not in English as the young people in both places are not accustomed to attending Mass in English. Therefore, if a Cambodian priest celebrated the Mass, it was in Cambodian [i.e. Khmer], while Mass celebrated by me was in Cantonese, and the Scripture readings and songs were in either Cantonese or Khmer. It was only the homily that was in English, but our Cambodian friends were able to understand thanks to the translation of a priest.
Most of the Cambodian young people were from villages or mountainous areas, so it was their first time stepping foot in the capital city of Phnom Penh. As a result, it was a new experience for them as they travelled three hours from Kampong Cham to Phnom Penh Airport to meet the Hong Kong young people in person.
It was not easy to receive young people from Hong Kong, as they needed to communicate in English, but they were willing to go out of their comfort zone and try to share in English, which is a good learning opportunity for them. Another new breakthrough was the support from a Hong Kong-based donor who assisted them with obtaining passports and air tickets, allowing them to travel abroad to Thailand, which was a rare opportunity for them.
Furthermore, it was an excellent opportunity for young people from Hong Kong to practice and learn. Despite the fact that they were prepared to face a simple life before departure, it was still difficult to accept the reality of the situation. They had to sleep on the floor with no toilet seat or toilet paper, and without air conditioning but with a lot of flies accompanying them during meal time, etc. It was a big challenge especially for those who are sticklers for neatness, and it was really hard for them to get out of the comfort zone.
Getting to know Cambodia, where only 0.01 per cent of people are Catholics, and Thailand, where 0.7 per cent of people are Catholics, gives us a sense of the universal Church outside of Hong Kong. The missionary spirit and mission were especially evident to us.
There was an opportunity for the young people from both places to travel to Ubon, Thailand, where they met the bishop of Ubon, visited the local churches, the pilgrimage sites of the martyrs, and got to know the local churches.
Also, we would like to thank Father Wongarsa for making arrangements for us to stay with the host family in his village. For three days and two nights, people from Thailand, Cambodia, and Hong Kong lived together, planting trees, plowing fields, catching fish, etc., to experience rural life. Our evenings were also filled with singing and dancing with the villagers, which were lively and enjoyable. The warmth of the villagers was felt by all of us.
The most precious thing for us is that, although we came from different places and have different cultures and languages, we have the same faith because we have “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” [Ephesians 4:5-6].
Our encounter is an encounter in the Lord, which not only allows the young people of the two places to build up a relationship with each other, but also deepens our relationship with the Lord.
