The Kingdom of Cambodia - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

   As world racers we never know what to expect from month to month. We travel to each country with little knowledge of where we will live and what we will do. Yes, we get the name of the city but we may be 60 miles away from that city. This is what I love about the world race! Having plans is not a bad thing but when expectations take control you could be in a world of disappointment. For example: Every time we travel to a new country teams look up the city to get an idea of where they will be staying. In Thailand, one team assumed that they would be in the heart of Chiang Mai, and would be able to enjoy the city. Well God had different plans for them. They were placed three hours North of Chiang Mai far away from civilization, and living in little huts. Haha its great! I actually love to come up with random expectations because it’s somewhat humorous to have them wrecked.

            This is month 5 of the race, and we have been to a total of 5 countries. India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, and now Cambodia. Every couple of months we will have a Debrief in which the entire squad of 50 will come together to meet with AIM leaders who fly from America. This time is usually held in a nice location within the country. Most people have seen the pictures posted all over Facebook of us on these awesome beaches. We usually stay at those locations for 3-5 days then head off to our next country. I know for the people back home it’s hard to understand the rough conditions when we post beach pictures. We always joke that we have more pictures from debrief then from the month, and that’s probably just because we have free time. So far we have spent about 8 days in these beach locations, but the other 120 days have been spent in some rough conditions. From sleeping on concrete to taking showers with muddy water, we rough it but we also love it. These transitions can bring about an identity crisis, because you move so fast from American standards to third world standards. During this crisis we have a great opportunity to check our hearts to see if we are being changed by our surroundings. For example: driving a Porsche could bring you joy, happiness, and excitement but when you drive a dump truck you could feel like garbage. In both situations either driving a Porsche or a dump truck you should feel joy not because of the circumstance, but because your identity is in the Lord. Identity in Christ is something that we emphasize all the time on the race. When my team traveled from the beach to our little house with muddy shower water we embraced the moment, and knew that our identity was in Christ not in the material things.

            We have been in Cambodia for 12 days and I’m no longer 21! Yea its weird I turned 22 in a remote village close to the city of Kampot. My team made my birthday so special with birthday balloons, cards, a mirror (so I can shave lol), and bad mitten racquets. It was great! I felt the love of Christ through my team, and my family who made me a birthday video. The video finished with my dad flushing a western toilet and laughing. What a cruel man. I squat all day long, and he gets to rest on a toilet seat haha. Our ministry this month is compact, explosive, and long. We teach three English classes from 11:30 to 12:30, then two classes from 2:00 to 3:30, and three classes from 5:30 to 6:30. This schedule runs everyday of the week except for Sunday morning and Monday. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we teach bible study from 8:00 to 9:00. We teach English in a different village on weekends and preach Sunday mornings. We also play volleyball with the Cambodians everyday around 4:00 and we lose. As the month progresses I will post more blogs about my experience in Cambodia, and all the good updates. I love you all so much and I pray that everyday you know that you are in Christ and He is in you.

My sweet setup!! Yea it gets really hot here!