Well, hello! Welcome back to my adventure! I hope I didn’t leave you on the edge of your seat for too long!
Living in Southeast Asia is still great! I think everyone is having a good time here. I’ve pretty much gotten used to the heat, although the sweat is still there. The only other area of concern is the traffic. The locals seem to have a complete disregard for traffic laws, and this can make things difficult! In fact, I’ve been hit by two motos already! Actually, I was the one that walked into them…but it was because they were driving the wrong way down the street! In Cambodia, you really do have to look both ways before crossing the street…even a one-way!
Our ministry is definitely one of the good things about being here, though. This month, my team is working with Team Tikvah
and the New Life Fellowship Church in Phnom Penh. This church, which has over 500 members in Phnom Penh alone, is the main church of over 60 that extend into several provinces throughout this country. The church network has several ministries within that reach out to the community, from caring for the sick and needy to teaching the youth how to live for Christ, and much more.
Our role is multifold – the church staff know how to keep us busy! Some of our team have been making informational videos, while others have taught P.E. class or worked with the medical team. Cathy has been working with the Children At Risk ministry, which raises up families and teaches them to be self-sufficient without having to send their kids to the rice fields (so that they can go to school).
I’ve had the privilege to work on a few different things so far. I’ve actually been doing some construction work around the church. We made some additions to the backdrop of the stage at the front of the sanctuary, and we’re currently building and putting up sound dampeners along the walls so that there’s less of an echo when the music plays. I’ve also been doing some work with the medical team, gathering information from their staff for the church web site. We’re more or less designing the web pages so that all their information is more readily available. Finally, I’ve been fortunate to be able to teach English to a couple different age groups. During our first week here, I taught a 2nd grade and a 5th grade class. The kids already have a basic understanding of English and they really were a joy to teach – so polite and eager to learn. For the last few weeks, I’ve been teaching a conversational English class to university students with some teammates. It gives them a chance to speak English to actual English speakers and hear how words are supposed to sound!
While all this is well and good, I feel like God has brought us to Cambodia to develop relationships with the people here. By working in a church and teac
hing English, I pass by a lot of Cambodians in any given day. I’m not sure if they look up to us per se, but I know they are looking to see how deep Jesus is in our hearts. In a scarred country with very little Christianity, the Khmer people need all the good examples they can get, and I hope we have been able to deliver. I am happy that the subject of God has come up at least a few times in all my English classes, and I was even able to share the gospel to the university students.
There are some awesome youth in this church, and it’s very possible that they will be the ones to really spread Christianity throughout this country and this part of the world. I just pray that as we get ready to leave, I’ve made a positive impact on at least one of them – perhaps solidify someone’s faith in Christ or at least plant a seed in someone’s heart for future cultivation. Please take some time to lift up a prayer for this country and the people – we need Jesus to shine brightly here!
