In the summer of 1994, I went on a missions trip to Cambodia. Since missionaries aren't especially welcome, we travelled as athletic trainers and coaches. Cambodia is picking up the pieces from the Vietnam War and The Killing Fields, and one of the things they wanted to put together was an Olympic volleyball and basketball team. The government obviously couldn't afford professionals, so we volunteered to teach them what we knew.
During the days, we taught them about coaching, playing and training. Most of our students were ex-Olympic volleyball players who wanted to learn new skills. This would never happen in America, where famous athletes are celebrities. We taught through a translator, who we called Menodo. Here's a picture of me teaching line rules with Menodo looking on.
After class, we always played with our students. We absolutely loved them. They often treated us to bananas and sweet rice cakes. Here's a picture of me doing a passing drill after class.
Although we were there to teach volleyball, we were also there to help the small local church. Our missionary put us to work right away. Cambodia is 90 percent Buddhist and the Christian church there is in it's infancy. Persecution makes the church flourish, and it's true in Cambodia.
Here's a picture of our awesome team.
