Hello again…long time no see! I am so so so sorry for not keep everyone up to date with all of the amazing things that have been going on in my life lately!!!! Yes, it is crazy busy here and yes, wifi is very slow and can be hard to find. Buuuuut I definitely could have found the time to update you all. Now, I will try and attempt to explain how the past four months has been.
I know four months is a long time. Since my last post, I have traveled to Lesotho and lived at the most amazing ministry for two months, had the opportunity to hang out with my AWESOME DAD in Swaziland for a week, annnndddd live in my most favorite country of all, Cambodia, for over a month! It will definitely be difficult to try and show you what exactly has been going on lately but I will try my best 🙂
Back in November during our all squad month in South Africa, I was having some major struggles. I had so many questions for God, did not get along great with my leaders, and had no motivation to do ministry anymore. I questioned why I was still on the race because everything seemed to be falling apart. That month was the exact opposite of what I was expecting from the race and how I wanted to be feeling. I was constantly upset and angry. One night our coach, Tim, talked to us about “quitting” the race, without actually quitting. Thankfully I began listening because every single thing he said described me perfectly. I had checked out on practically all parts of the race- getting to know my squad mates, giving my all into ministry, and building a stronger relationship with God. I had almost completely given up on all of these aspects. South Africa may have been a difficult month, but it brought me so much realization of how I was acting and reminded me that I did not leave America, friends, family, and comforts for nine whole months to come home the same person.
So, I changed my attitude, and gave God and the people around me a second chance in Lesotho. And man, was it great. I was an entirely new person. I was blessed to live with two teams of awesome, hilarious, adventurous girls, as well as one amazing host family. Pieter, his wife Keila, and their two sons moved from South Africa to Malealea Valley to start their ministry, Africa 4 Jesus. We had the chance to come along side them and help start a ministry similar to VBS back home for the village kids in the area to come and learn about God during their Christmas break. Once the kids were back in school, our second month was spent going into the villages and helping out in any way we could. We would help families carry water to their homes, sweep, mop, and polish their floors, organize clothes, cook food, and wash dishes, clothes, or blankets. It was my favorite ministry of the whole race! I loved getting to build relationships with everyone by serving them and showing them how much we loved them. Just simply putting others first showed them how much we cared and valued them.
Everything about Lesotho was great and I did NOT want to leave. But I knew that leaving meant I got to see my dad in Swaziland…which was the best thing ever. For one week, my dad had the opportunity to see what a normal day on the race looked like. From eating pop for dinner and going to tiring days of ministry, all the way to exploring the different cultures, and adventuring!
Africa started off with some hard, hard times, but ended with the sweetest moments. To be honest, I didn’t think Cambodia could be any better and I was not looking forward to it. Geez, was I wrong. This place, is my favorite country by far. I mean it is really awesome and every single person needs to come and experience it!!! We spent our first month in Siem Reap, an amazing tourist city, as an entire squad. We all had so much fun hanging out and experiencing the new culture (fish pedicures, and scorpions for a snack). But also, our ministry was so cool. I had always hated the thought doing evangelism. I pictured it as going up to random people and just shoving Jesus down their throat whether they wanted it or not. That was NOT this! We would go into the city and just make friends. We literally just built relationships…and it was my favorite thing. I have one best friend, Amom, who has two little boys and works at Temple Massage. Maybe my ministry that day looked like getting a pedicure, but I promise you, there was much more going on!!! During my almost daily visits (whoops) I would talk to her about why we were here, and she would tell me little bits about her life. Whenever I walked past her store, she would run out and get so excited to see us! We had the chance to take her and a coworker out to get coffee at our favorite place that she had never gotten the chance to go to. It was amazing. Just by showing her how much we loved her, she was able to get a better understanding of who Jesus was. I didn’t have to sit down and make her believe the same things I did, I just loved her no matter what. She is the closest friend I’ve made on the whole race and I miss her more than anything. Luckily, we get to keep up on Facebook and it’s the best. 🙂 I had another very similar story with a thirteen year old girl, Linda. She talked to me about Buddhism and I did the same with Christianity. Even though we had different beliefs, we still became besties and got to eat Mexican together before I left for Kampong Thom.
And finally…Kampong Thom! This is where I have been for the past three weeks and will be for another month and a half. I feel so lucky to have been placed here because everything is just so perfect. This is exactly how I pictured the entire race to be. I LOVE my team, seriously these girls are my favorite. I LOVE my squad leader who is staying with us, and I LOVE my ministry (teaching English to teachers and children, and helping out at their preschool). But most of all, I LOVE my host family!!!! SokEng, his wife Khema, and their two precious children are some of the sweetest human beings I have ever met ever. I could seriously not imagine any better way to end the race. We are super busy but so so motivated to give it our all these next few months because of how amazing our ministry and hosts are. It’s such a great feeling knowing that when I go home, I gave it my all at the end and didn’t leave anything behind.
So yep!!! There you go! I will really really try and continue to share stories for the short bit I have left out here. In less than two months I will be HOME. Crazy crazy feeling…but I’ll write about all that in another blog whoops. Thanks for reading and I’m really sorry you had the read the worlds longest blog post! More updates to come I promise!!! See you soon America!
Looooove, Anna Redd 🙂
