Separated from the familiar in a country far off, junior Casey Hanson lived out her one true passion: telling others about Christ. For five months - July through December 2003- Hanson stayed in Cambodia to spread the Gospel. The opportunity came when a temporary missionary in Cambodia heard of Hanson's interest in the mission field and invited her to spend time with his team. Hanson said she realized "They have nothing to hope for," Hanson said. "When 1asked them what they looked forward to, they had nothing, because they know that they have been bad. They know the best they can hope for is to be reincarnated as a human. Even if they could achieve enlightenment, to them it just means oblivion." Hanson's time in Cambodia was not stationary. She went from city to city teaching free English courses and distributing what she was leaving when she was on the plane headed to Cambodia and watched the familiar Alabama red mud and cotton fields fade in the distance. "I KNEW THAT GOD HAD GONE WITH ME. I SAW HE WAS WORKING:' Bibles written in a simple language thst the students could . understand. Hanson said many of the students who read the Gospel story were amazed at the hope it gave. When the plane was over Japan, she said her spirit was eased when the words of Psahn 139 went through her mind. CASEY HANSON, JUNIOR "I had a student who I explained [theconcept of] grace to, and she started crying," Hanson said. "These people never cry unless they are at "When you fight for something and then get it, you realize what you're really doing-" Hanson said. "I knew that God had gone with me. 1saw He was working." In 2003, Cambodia was home to more than 13 million people, and 95 percent of them practiced Buddhism. Unlike in China, it was not illegal to teach Christianity in Cambodia, yet few Cambodians had heard the Gospel. Hanson said most Cambodian citizens were born into the Buddhist faith - a faith that left many Cambodians with no hope of salvation. PEOPLE - 102 a funeral. She kept saying it was too incredible, just too amazing. The Gospel is more than anything they could hope for." One of the most difficult times for Hanson was her work at the Monivong orphanage, one of many in Cambodia's capital, Phonm Penh. "It was a place where two worlds collided," Hanson said. "On one hand, these children had hope because they were taken off the street and away from people who would try to [exploit] them. On the other, so many of them were sick READING THE STORY OF JONAH AND THE BIG FISH, juniorCasey Hanson works to gain the trust of the Camlxxlians, who fi't believed Hanson to be a"white demoo." C~orful picture; in the bool<she was leading aloud on the side of the road aruacted the (urious grou~ Hanson said. 'COURTESYOf t HANSON from disease and malnutrition that we prayed for them to die. I had never prayed for that before." Hanson said her faith in God kept her strong. " In every situation and every continent, no matter what's going on, God is there and works in ways we don't understand," she said. Although the future was uncertain, Hanson was eager to return to Cambodia and planned a survey trip for the summer of 2005. -BRIDGETCLARK
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