I know it’s been a while since I have blogged, I apologize. The last few days in Thailand I had trouble with the Internet and was not able to get on and access it like I would have liked. Then we headed to Cambodia…and Surprise!!! We’re in the middle of nowhere, about 45 minutes outside of Phnom Penh is a very small, remote village. And…I LOVE IT. It reminds me of Mexico, which for those who don’t know holds a very special and dear place in my heart!
We have no electricity, only on days when they run the generator and we share 10 plugs between 14 people to try and charge up iPods and such. We have a squatty potty, a hole in the ground with a porcelain cover to stand on. Our showers are bucket baths: there’s a large concrete basin that holds water where we dip out with a hand bucket and dump over ourselves. The water is pretty clear however the basin it sits in is questionable. The other day I took a smoky shower because the kitchen is right outside of the bathroom and they were cooking so there was smoke billowing into the bathroom. There are rats, cockroaches, ants, geckos, flies, and MOSQUITOES! We sleep in one room, everyone on the floor under mosquito nets and some have set up their tents to avoid the nets and try to fight harder against the nightly feasting of mosquitoes. Some tents are in the house.
Our weekly activities thus far (we’ve been here a week) consist of breakfast at 8:00, soccer with the boys from the local school until around 11:00, then lunch around 12. The afternoons vary from day to day because there are 2 teams here together so we flip flop each day. One day we each teach a class, me and my teammate Cameron teach the youngest class in English. It has been awesome to try and “learn” how to “teach” my own language! But I love it, last class we all got in trouble because my kids were so enthusiastic they were screaming the alphabet to me and we interrupted the older class. J The dinner is around 5:00 and at 7:00 we have an English class that we do a bible study to teach with. Our entire team does that together. And somewhere during the day we fit in team time. On the other days, after lunch we take a 20 minute tuk tuk ride (small carriage attached to a motor bike) to an orphanage and we do gardening for a few hours and then spend a little time with the children after they finish school.
Life is great! Especially after spending a month in the bars working in one of the booming tourist areas, the detox from internet, junk food (don’t know how far it is to the nearest 7 Eleven), any “comfort” of life has been truly a blessing for me! I feel most in my element right now! I love it here, its definitely my second favorite country thus far, 2nd to Philippines. We have 2 more weeks here and I’m so excited to see what more God has to show me. Just like in Mexico, God speaks so clearly to me here and its so easy to hear when all the distractions are removed!
Please pray for my squad. February 1st is the deadline for support and although I am, thankfully, funded by means of monthly donors…at this moment everyone is not. So please pray for God’s provision so I can finish this race with all my brothers and sisters called with me, that I started with! Thanks so much for your continued support and prayers!!! I am truly blessed to have the community of support back home that I do.
Blessings from Cambodia!
