It has been a great month here in Cambodia! We gave it our all as a team and connected with the students, families and staff at the Siem Reap Angkor Agape School. Also, shout out to my amazing teammate Mel for creating such a cool video from our time at the school
We just finished ministry teaching for two weeks and painting several large murals to brighten up the school, while the students were on break for the Khmer New Year. Our schedule was very full this month. While classes were in session, we taught from 7:30am-4:50pm Monday through Friday. When the students were on break, we painted 4 large murals for six full days.
Interestingly enough, last month during the Parent Vision Trip in Thailand, my parents and I had the chance to paint a large mural in a safe house for women in the community. We actually took our off day to paint all together as a family. We definitely came to a point where we were in over our heads, but we just kept going to finish by dinnertime. It was amazing to work so hard alongside my parents on the race, and it is definitely one of my favorite memories from the race so far. (See picture below)
I never thought that later on our team would spontaneously be asked to paint another 4 murals the following month…
But back to this month in Cambodia…
There were days when this month was much more of a challenge than I expected.
As it turns out, before coming to Cambodia, I was actually praying about what to expect from this month and in what ways I could seek the Lord. The one word that came to mind, while I was still in Thailand, was “CHALLENGE.”
And that is exactly what this month has been for me. More was required from us as a team than ever before, and I pushed myself to stay with it the whole time. I worked mostly with 5th and 6th graders, as well as grades 7, 8 and 10 for a few other class periods. With every new class, I tried to connect with my students to offer them something new. Our given focus was to help improve the students’ English pronunciation and writing abilities. There were definitely some high’s and low’s with trying to teach the students well, as we each came up with our lesson plans on our own. At times, there were moments when this month proved to be the most difficult month on the race so far.
But that is what this month has been all about. Walking with perseverance to find joy: no going around it or checking out, only staying with it and going through it. It is one of those gifts from God that only comes through the challenge, like gold being refined by fire. But while it was a tough month, it was also incredibly rewarding: seeing the students engage in their classes and all have fun with our games and songs we sang together. It will definitely be an experience I will never forget.
