When I signed up for the race over a year ago, and picked out my route, Cambodia really wasn't one of the countries I was looking forward to. Not that I didn't like it, I just didn't know much about it. Or it's cuisine, which if you know me, is what I'm most excited about when entering a new country.
Well, as it turns out, it ended up being one of my favorite months 🙂 (But honestly (surprisingly?), it isn't because of the food..)
We stayed in a small village in Kampong Speu. The village had dirt roads, and bamboo huts, and piles of burning trash in every corner. Like most South East Asian countries (I wish the Philippines would catch up to it), everyone used motorbikes. I've seen as much as 5 people in a single bike at one point.
With us Americans, we settle for three adults and a baby. There were ponds everywhere, where people would either do laundry, bathe in, wash their bikes, or fish out of. Cows were walking around freely, and it's pretty rare to see a toddler with any pants on. You get used to it that it doesn't faze you as much anymore. But I still think it polite to look away when they walk around with their goodies hanging out lol.
Little children helping their little brother bathe in the pond
We worked with a local man named Ra. He lived in one of the bamboo huts with his family, his
siblings and their families, and his parents. Even though he was seen as a leader and respected by a lot of people in the community, you wouldn't assume it when you see him. He is very humble in appearance, and you'd always see him working alongside everybody else. You knew, from his demeanor, that he lived to serve. ?
Our ministry that month I think is one of the best ministries you could ask for on the Race. It has all the things I was looking for in a ministry. First of all, we were ministering to their physical needs. Every morning, we would do some kind of physical labor, either working at the rice fields, or working with the pig farm. Personally, I enjoyed the pig farm better lol.
Also, every weekday, we each had an English class to teach. This is one of the best times of the
day for me, which is ironic because I never really was a great teacher. Especially when I have to teach kids. But by the grace of God, I managed. And somehow even got the kids to like me 🙂 They were the most adorable kids I've met, and never have I seen such a community who valued education as much as them. They were asked once what their treasure was, and one boy answered, "learning". I don't think I can ever take education for granted after that.
Another thing I loved about this ministry was everyday, we had conversation time. This is another crucial part of a mission trip: building relationships. Every day, people from the village would come visit us and spend an hour with us just talking. Their main goal was to practice their english. Our main goal was to befriend them, show them we love them, and hopefully get to share the gospel with them. Coming in from last month, I was a little disappointed because although we built a few friendships, I didn't get to talk about my faith. But God answered my prayer this month, and He gave me an opportunity to share the gospel to one of the kids by way of – who'd have thunk – a Filipino gospel tract!
Rothana and his new Bible!
The last, and the best thing I could ask for in any ministry, is that we were able to minister to them spiritually, by way of nightly bible studies. Every night, one of us would take turns in leading a bible study topic. It proved to be a little hard working with a translator, since we can't use most of the 
"church words" we usually hear back in America. But at the same time, it challenged us with our own knowledge of the bible. I've always been told, if I can explain something clearly to a child, then it shows I know the subject well enough. I like that we couldn't hide behind Christian words like redemption and grace and other abstract words, but being able to portray it in a simplified manner not only was an advantage to the people of the village, but also to us as we learned how to explain Jesus in many different ways.
Our team leader, Mere, with our translator for the night, Ra.
The cherry-on-top of this whole month was definitely the simply living our team had to do. This month we lived in tents inside a small concrete hut, with no light other than one yellow bulb by the front of the hut. We were greatly infested by mosquitos that we have to be careful not to accidentally inhale one in. The bathroom was – praise God – a western toilet. But it had no flush and we
had to use bucket flushes, which I think by now, we've mastered. It always stunk of sewage, or of pig feces from the nearby pig farm. ?We had no internet. We were always covered in a thin layer of dust. We had all kinds of insects and reptiles lulling us to sleepevery night. And the sound of small kids running around the front of our house, waiting for us to wake up.
I think it's safe to assume that all of us loved it. We loved the simplicity, the quiet, the homeyness of it all. Every morning was met with a great breeze and the sound of a village waking up and going to work. Kids riding their bikes to the local school. Kids jumping in the pond for their morning bath. For breakfast we would always have fresh coconut if available. Our team spent a great deal of time together, doing morning devotions, or morning runs, or movie nights and little outings to the nearby market. We made it our home. We weren't just missionaries passing by. They were part of our family, and God was the center of it all.
