“You WILL preach a message on World Race,” a previous racer told me. And I laughed in her face. “Whaat!! Me preach a message!?! As if…” Well… first week on World Race, and yes indeed I have preached a message, well, at least lead in a Bible Study. And believe it or not… I can actually say- I am excited to lead more Bible Studies, and preach messages. It is an honor to be able to share His word to His hungry children.
What can you possibly do in a village with no power, no internet, no running water, no toilet paper, and a language barrier? Believe me… more can be done than you first imagine. The following is a basic outline of how a typical day looks for my team in PoPeyl village.
5:40 (a truly ridiculous time of day) – wake up and get ready for the day
6:00- personal God time
6:30- work duties, Bekah, Marin, and I sweep the leaves from our main playing area
7:30- BREKKERS (rice 3 times a day, yes even for breakfast)
8:30- prep for the day (Bible studies and English lessons)
9:30- special Bible Study with church members, we have been focusing on evangelism and worship
10:30- whatever needs to be done… mixing cement by hand, building a chicken house, etc.
11:30- LUNCH (the meals here are fabulous!)
12:30- rest or prepare for the rest of the day
1:30- English lessons (includes songs, games, craft) Diane, Nick, and I take turns with this at PoPeyl, and the rest of team goes out to 2 nearby villages to teach English lessons there
2:30- the children have guitar lessons, and I try to follow along and learn with them (I learn slow, but have learned a few notes!J)
3:30-4:30- often play games with the kids all afternoon, or help with whatever random stuff needs to be done
4:30- Nick and I help prepare dinner, chopping veggies, etc. (it’s been a good time to just chat with our ministry hosts, and learn how she prepares our delicious meals)
5:30- women’s bible study with new believers, I often babysit the adorable little kids in this time (if they don’t scream), so they aren’t distracting their mothers
6:30- DINNER.
We often spend time after dinner just hanging around and chatting. It is already dark by this time, so we’re kinda free to do anything. One evening we played Rummikub, a number game, with some of the kids (and they whipped our butts- they’re crazy fast, NO taking turns)
Rest of the evening we just hang out as a team. We have been sharing our stories, so we often talk till about 10ish (instead of going to bed at 8 like everyone else does), before retiring to our mansions (tents) for the night.
Other highlights of the week:
- making special cakes with coconut and palm sugar wrapped in rice flour dough= DELISH!
- my own personal coconut (drank the milk and ate the fleshJ very refreshing on a hot day!)
- lotus necklaces, made by the kids (I felt very special, as they custom made them, and wrapped them around our necks-I got 3!)
- “torrential downpour”
- learning Khmer words, and trying to learn all the kids names (ahhhh… why can’t they all be easy, with only one syllable!!)
- Fiery furnace skit
- hygiene program (hair washing and trimming nails)
- crazy game where a kid sits on my shoulders and passes a ball around the circle, and THEN suddenly we switch and I’m ‘on’ their shoulders…. This freaked me out a little the first time it happened!!!
- Celebrating our hosts’ anniversary and her birthday at the lake
- Eating a balut egg (duck embryo)!!!!! Definitely worth trying…but something I have no desire to EVER experience again!! But I was rewarded with CHOCOLATE cake #worthit
This week was such a great week, of learning, connecting with my team, and ‘giving it all I’ve got’, and I praise GOD for the way He is working in my team, and the villages we are in. He truly is gracious and POWERFUL!! PTL!!
