Late last month, Young Life had a group of their international leaders to visit the US for a planning meeting held every five years. And this included our friends from Cambodia, so a couple MC staff were able to visit Pyneath (pronounced “pin-yet”) while he was in town. It was great to hear an update of the impact that was made from our week-long visit in October 2011.

At one of the high schools where we worked, the Young Life leaders were having some challenges gaining good favor from the principal. Partly because of the goodwill created by improving their computer lab facilities during our visit, many doors have been opened on the campus to expand the services Young Life is able to provide at their school. Pyneath says this was one of the biggest gains from the efforts put forth that week, and this deeper connection with the principal will go a long way to growing their ministry.

It was also interesting hearing from Pyneath about the response some of the locals shared about having “Americans working so hard” in their country. The simple display of generosity carried much more impact than just the work and project itself. It seems to have made an impact on how some of the Cambodian locals perceive Americans.

Pyneath was eager to find out about our plans to return for another visit. We really enjoyed catching up with him, and it was great to hear that the experience was equally positive with the Young Life staff as it was with our team. We’re excited to make plans for our 2012 MC Gives Back trip, and hope to stay in touch with Young Life Cambodia.