I would like to take the time to introduce you to a couple of people that I met in the village of Touch and in Siem Reap along with parts of their stories.
The first day in the Touch Village, my team and I met a women by the name on Con. She had cancer and tumors in her face. She was often in a lot of pain and could not sleep very well because of the pain. My team and I went and visited her often to pray for her and share stories from the Bible. Everytime we prayed for her and laid hands on her, her pain would seem to go away and she would always be able to sleep. Con’s care taker was her daughter who was my age. At 23, she is taking care of her sick mother and caring for her 3 year old daughter. Also, she desperately misses her husband who lived in the city trying to earn some money.
Next I want to introduce a young women from the village. She was 21 years old and taking care of her 3 younger brothers and a nephew. When we asked how long she has been watching the four boys, she said since she was 17 years old. I can’t even imagine watching 4 younger boys at the age of 17 and I am amazed at how she took up her responsiblity of being the oldest to watch all her younger brothers.
I saw this as a common theme through out the small village where either a wife or the oldest sibling was left in the village to take care of younger siblings and other family members while their family members were in a big city or even in another country trying to earn money. Family members will often go months or even years between visits to the rest of their family in the Village.
Then there is Vuthy who has been my contact all month. He has become my big brother and family has become a part of my family. His mother called us her own daughters. God has given a vision to Vuthy to build an orphanage in his village and bring in the street kids. He wants to allow the students to get an education, learn about the love of Christ, and continue to expand the Kingdom of God in his own village. It is so cool to see how God is working in him and I can’t wait to see how his vision comes to life in the next couple of years.
One last person that I want to introduce you to is Phee. Phee is a teenage boy about the age of 15. He walks everyday 8 kilometers to the main tourist part of Siem Reap. Everyday he comes with his postcards in hand hoping to sell enough so that he can pay to go to school. I am praying that God will put people in his life the will help support him in his schooling and that he will come to know the love of Christ.
I am now in Penang, Malaysia for a couple of weeks. This month, we have been split into three different groups; all the guys went off as one group and the girls are split in the middle. Pray that the 15 girls that I am with will be one body, that we will grow stronger and become even more united then we already are. Also, since it is illegal here to share the Gospel openly, I ask that you pray that God will give divine appointments to be able to share His love. And pray that I will be more bold in stepping out into what God has in store for me.
