I have reached the halfway mark of this journey. This month, more than any so far, I am finding that I miss home. I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss my bed, I miss getting to choose what I want to eat, I miss American food, I miss air conditioning, I miss having a closet of clothes to choose from. As I reflect on that, I began to realize that it’s not really home that I miss, but the comforts of home. I’ve slept on the floor on my sleeping pad for the past 3 months. I’ve been living out of a backpack, never fully being able to unpack. I’ve constantly shared a room with anywhere from 5 other girls to 10, with nowhere to go to be truly alone. I’ve eaten my weight in white rice. There are no breaks from the heat. These past 5 and ½ months are taking its toll and I’m beginning to feel pretty exhausted. And then I realize that I have a whole 5 and ½ months to go. I can’t imagine how worn out I’m going to feel in a couple more months, let alone in November.
This is when I’m grateful for the Lord’s goodness. Knowing I would be pretty exhausted this month, He chose to send me to a place and ministry that I loved from the moment I got there. Shelter of Love is a children’s home in Kampong Thom, Cambodia. It is a place thats vision is to raise and educate children who love and serve Jesus Christ to impact their country for Him. Many of the children that live there are orphans, but some are there because their families can’t afford to provide a healthy life for them.
I heard from people who have been to Cambodia before that it is a whole different definition of hot. I understood the moment we got off the bus. Our room does not have air conditioning, but we do have a lot of fans to keep us somewhat cool at night. I start to sweat as soon as I walk out the door. There are bugs everywhere, all the time, and they are even worse at night. This combination of heat and bugs makes me extremely uncomfortable.
But the children make being uncomfortable worth it.
From teaching them English or Bible stories to playing Frisbee and badminton at night to hearing them sing worship songs, I have formed a special place in my heart for these kids and I wouldn’t trade this month for anything. I’ll take the heat and the bugs any day if it means I get to laugh with and love on these kids.
I’m realizing more and more that doing the world race for any other reason than loving Jesus and desiring others to know Him will not last. Nothing else is enough to make me want to continue. On the harder days, the days I am tired of this lifestyle, the days I wish to be at home, are when I think about the people I’ve gotten to meet, the love that God has allowed me to show them and the love He has placed in my heart for them. This month it is the kids at Shelter of Love. As I continue to pour out everything to love them well, I know Jesus will refill me because this journey is only half-over. There is so much more to come and I know I can only face it with His love and energy and strength.
I don’t want this to be the end. I would love nothing more than to be able to continue this journey, to finish the last half, but to do that I still need a little less than $3000 to reach my final deadline by July 1st. I am so grateful for and cannot say thank you enough to everyone who has given so far. Please consider partnering with me financially so I can finish this race. You can donate online by clicking on the support me link at the top of the page or send a check payable to Adventure in Missions with memo line World Race-Corinne Heuiser to: Adventures in Missions PO Box 742570 Atlanta, GA 30374-2570.
