I want to start by saying I love CAMBODIA! people here are so sweet and loving. I had a feeling I was gonna love the country as soon as we got to our house we were staying in all month. This month all the women of the squad came together to do “womenstry” month while all the men did “manistry” month.This month was a very very busy month for us ladies! We lived in a girls dorm with about 30 girls total! There were 10 of us and 20 other girls who were already living in the dorm when we arrived. Our ministry this month included teaching english at the village and church, painting the church, babysitting, and ministering to the women that we were living with. I taught english to children in a village every afternoon for two hours. Then I would come back to the church and teach another english class for young adults.
I would have never thought I would enjoy being a teacher especially teaching a class of highschool/college students, but I actually really enjoyed it! I loved getting to know my students and to see their progress. I forgot to mention I am not the best at grammer and punctuation! Not only did God give me the ability to teach them English correctly, but God gave me the opportunity to share his word and love with them. I built friendships with my classmates and saw the work Jesus in that classroom! I loved teaching the kids in the village too. When we first came to the village they were all scared of us, but by the end they finally warmed up to us. I remember all the older boys would sit on the front row together and were always making jokes. Once they learned my name they would yell “Karennnn”. All the time! So I would say “yes boys?” then they would just giggle. It was quite funny! I miss those boys! I also loved teaching the class about colors and shapes. My teammate Ashley and I taught the class together and we really wanted the kids to learn their shapes by the end of our time there. They always had trouble saying “square and rectangle”. On the very last day we were there, they were able to say and recognize all the shapes! We were so excited to see the progress they were making! I will really miss my students.
I am so thankful for what God has opened my eyes to and for what He has done through me. I would have never thought I would be teaching English in Cambodia, but thats is how God works! I mean who knows, maybe I’ll teach nursing when I get back home!
