High-Beam

I'm going to paint a picture for you. Not literally, of course. First, I am not a very good artist and second, how could I get it to you? I am going to paint a word-picture for you to hopefully bring you along with me and a team on our drive from Siem Reap (home of Angkor Wat) to Phnom Penh a couple nights ago.

Here it goes. Picture a semi-busy interstate or highway near your home. Got it? Now make it 2 lanes (one in each direction) and put it in rural Cambodia. Now, turn off all the lights, it's night time. Night time in central Cambodia is dark. No street lights to illuminate the road. Dark.
Next, reduce the width of the road by about a foot on either side.
Erase most (if not all, in some cases) of the shoulder.
Now let's add some things. All of these came one by one throughout the trip:

• 2 dozen  or more people (men, women or children) riding their bicycles in my lane without lights or reflectors. Remember, this is a highway so I am going highway speeds. The children especially ride their bikes quickly at a perpendicular angle to the road. This is so they can get enough momentum to make it up the small hill to the edge of the road. Then at the last second, they turn to ride just parallell to the road. I know they are doing this but it still freaks me out every time thinking they are going to pull right in front of me.
• 4 dozen cows or water buffalo walking across the road at various paces. BTW (again, the acronym for the hip younger crowd), water buffalo are large and dark greyish blackish, blending in perfectly with the dark night...and they don't have any reflectors either. Oh yeah, and they are large.
• 6 or more motos pulling loads of lumber on un-illuminated trailers that blend in with the night. They were going about 1/4 my speed.
• Motos (and some vehicles) coming the other direction with their headlights turned off. Why? I have no idea. Makes passing a slow vehicle in your lane a bit more interesting as you are constantly concerned about what may be in the oncoming lane without lights on.
• 4 trucks broken down in my lane, remember, shoulders are mostly non-existent. When trucks break down here, they break branches off the nearest tree and put them in the lane about 25 feet from where their crippled truck is. This is a substitute for the orange reflective triangles or flares I am used to seeing in the States. The bright green tree branches actually work fine...during the day. However, they don't really reflect well so a parked car can come up on you quickly. 
• 5 LOUD parties with dozens of inebriated guests set up literally feet from the edge of the road. That's how they do things here. Big tents, loud music, a lot of beer and a speeding vehicles.
• At least half of the approaching vehicles are being driven by people who do not have the (what I think should be innate) knowledge of the rules of highway driving at night. Those include but are not limited to: turning off your bright lights when another car is approaching; don't pass on a corner...etc).
• Large pot holes or eroded portions of the highway at various times.

Passing through a small municipality on National Road 6. Just as night was falling. On the right is an ice vendor.

A food vendor is sharing the road with us.

All of these are various shots of the same road. Gives you a small glimpse into the drive.

Water Buffalo.

Are you getting the picture? I hope so. It was quite the adventure. Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy driving here. It can just feel a bit stressful sometimes...like when I'm driving :-). 

Anyways, something that I realized on this trip more than any other that I have taken was how extremely helpful it was to be able to switch from my low to high-beams once a vehicle passed. There is that brief moment, just as I am passing the oncoming car, when it seems like I can't see a thing and I am praying that there is not a biker, water buffalo or parked truck in front of me. But when I switch on my brights, the road ahead of me becomes clear again. 

As I almost wore out the lever for the brights, I couldn't help but think of the people of this wonderful country and the spiritual condition they are in. Most are in spiritual darkness with no knowledge of where they are going and how to get there. They are unable to see the road in front of them and they have no idea whether or not the path they are on will lead them safely to their destination. But as a believer here, I have a responsibility to be that light to those around me. Especially in Cambodia, they may not see Christ anywhere but in my life and the lives of other believers here. If that isn't a sobering thought, I don't know what is. Through the grace of God, we will be the high-beam for them so that they can see the road ahead and enter the peace and safety that only comes through a relationship with Christ.

"Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16-17