Sarady Na has been director of Mission Dove Cambodia for 5 years. Mission Dove advisor Justin Van Zee sat down with her recently to hear more about her story and passions for training the next generation of Cambodian leaders.
Can introduce yourself briefly?
Hi! I'm Sarady. I’m 37 years old, and I’ve been married for 15 years. I have two kids—my son Yuth who is 10 years old and my daughter Haseka who is 8. I’ve been working at Mission Dove since 2006—so for 18 years now. Actually, before that, I was a Mission Dove student for 2 years, so I’ve been part of the Mission Dove family for 20 years. I’ve also been the director since 2019.
In the 20 years you’ve been with Mission Dove, how has this ministry shaped and impacted you?
When I was a teenager growing up in Kampong Cham, I was so curious and eager to learn, like the other girls around me too. The changes in my life have been bit by bit, and I can’t believe it has taken 20 years to get where I am now.
If I hadn’t joined Mission Dove 20 years ago, even though I was curious and eager to learn, I wouldn’t have had many opportunities. Actually, I dropped out of school after 6th grade. My goal was just to get married and have kids by age 20, just like other women at that time. If I hadn’t joined Mission Dove, I never would have become the leader I am today.
When I joined Mission Dove, I got to know many other young people, and I started a whole new journey. One turning point was becoming a staff with Mission Dove and leading the Diamond Program. It gave me a great foundation in biblical knowledge. As Mission Dove evolved to a more facilitatory style, I changed with it and learned to focus on the process of learning, not just the content. Also, when I was working in Kampong Cham, I had the freedom to try things my own way. At that time, I felt bad for myself because I was working alone, but as I look back on it now, I see how I grew because I had to be creative and resourceful.
Another turning point for me was moving from Kampong Cham to Phnom Penh to become the director in 2019 and experiencing things that I didn’t expect, learning and going deeper in my spiritual and emotional journey. Here I have more resources that I can access too, unlike when I was in Kampong Cham.
What are you most excited about in Mission Dove’s ministry?
What I’m most excited about is really our core work—helping people grow both emotionally and spiritually. True spiritual maturity also includes being emotionally mature. If we only focus on spiritual knowledge, it’s not enough, and if we just focus on emotional maturity, it’s incomplete too. What I love is that at Mission Dove we do both. It’s hard, deep work, and we have a great team that wants to do this work together.
This is not just a job for me; I’m on a journey of growing in spiritual and emotional maturity too.
What do you love most about your job?
What I have always loved about working with Mission Dove is facilitating and training young people, and even after becoming the director, I still find ways to do this. I like to think about the big picture and how we can train more facilitators and leaders too.
I also love that we get to work with students from a variety of churches and actually a variety of faith backgrounds too. It’s not often that you find ministries in Cambodia that work with such a diverse group of people.
One more thing that I love about being the director is that I’m excited to meet with women leaders. As a woman, it’s a challenge for me to work with male pastors and leaders in Cambodia, and I really understand the challenges women face in ministry. I’m excited to build a community of women leaders—to hold space for them, to provide technical support, and to provide emotional support. As a female director, I really understand the challenges and discrimination women face in leadership.
Why are you going to the US and Canada this year?
We have 4 long-term church partners—BelPres, Calvin, and Westminster in the Seattle area, and Tenth Church in Vancouver, Canada. These partners have invited me to share about our work and to learn more about them too. I want to build closer relationships with them and celebrate everything we’ve been doing together all these years. I also hope I can raise more funds for this ministry too—both from within these churches and also from individuals who want be part of this work directly.
Sarady's Travel Plans
April 25 - May 10: Seattle
May 10 - May 27: Vancouver
May 27 - June 5: Seattle
If you live in or near one of these places and would like to meet with her, please contact her at ed@missiondovecambodia.org.
If you would like to join in this ministry too, you can give online through our US partner, Mission Dispatch.