International Gallery

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a very unique gallery. College Park Church hosted an international missions festival and highlighted aspects from 9 different countries around the world. Nicaragua, Ukraine, Kenya, Spain, Cambodia, Liberia, Brazil, China, and the Caspian Region each had their own room to display different things unique to their culture, including artwork, food, textiles, photographs, and music. I volunteered in the Cambodian room and helped serve a traditional Cambodian meal -- curried chicken with fish sauce. Let's just say that my taste buds were "enlightened" to say the least. I had never experienced fish sauce before!

Each room also educated us on the severe need for support in each of these countries. I had no idea of the tragic killing fields that occurred in Cambodia in 1979 ... a third of their population was brutally murdered by their own natives. Our room gave a unique, interactive perspective on this to the people who walked through. Each person was asked to take either a black or white stone when they entered. A third of the stones were black and two thirds were white. Halfway through their walk through the Cambodian gallery, the lights were turned off to get their attention. The leader informed the crowd that if they were carrying a black stone, they had been killed. If they were carrying a white stone, someone they knew had been killed. There was no alternative.

I felt really fortunate to converse with our church's missionaries in each of these regions during the exhibition. These individuals are fearless for the Lord. They are dedicating their entire lives (giving up the things and people that are important to them here) to love on and teach others about God. They have a fire and passion for something they believe with every ounce of their beings. Inspirational.