When you arrive in Cambodia you quickly learn that Cambodians are often focussed on the external appearance. Long jackets and gloves come out in attempts to keep their skin as light as possible (side note - and white people want to have tanned skin – it just proves the saying “The grass is always greener on the other side”). It is a common sight to see a guy combing his hair or checking out his appeared in his moto mirror. Any reflective surfaces – such as windows or moto helmets - are utilised to do the quick check-up on the face or a tweaking of the hair.
You also learn that Cambodians have self appointed themselves to blatantly point out all your faults. Statements about you having big ears, nose, lots of hair makes you feel like you're the Big Bad Wolf, all dressed up in Granny’s nightie, rather than the giving and humble servant you are trying to be. They squeeze your arm fat, poke your stomach (and feel no qualms in asking if you’re pregnant) and make you feel incredibly self conscious as you walk down the street with the staring eyes following you.
Pieces of self-esteem can be chipped away with each awkward and confronting experience. There was no mother here who taught her children the saying “If you’ve got nothing nice to say doesn’t say anything at all”. No wonder many of the girls have such poor self-esteem and self-image issues. It is such a challenging experience and the words can easily crush you and make you start to question why you are here and what are you doing.
In these times you need to power through the lies and hold on to the Voice of Truth. In the Bible it says, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” Proverbs 31:30. This earthly beauty is not going to last forever, it will fade away, but if we have a heart that is chasing after God and longing to serve and honour Him we will receive eternal blessings.
The story of the anointing of David is one of my favourites. Where God tells Samuel “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” 1 Samuel 16:7b. That’s it in a nutshell. People look at the external but the Lord looks at the heart, looks at the true and deeper beauty that is beyond the obvious - that is oblivious to others. It also challenges me to look at the heart rather than the outward appearance. To not be quick to judge or look down on others but to see deeper within then and treasure that hidden beauty that is worth far more than gold.
