In my last blog I mentioned how blessed we have been and continue to be this month. We have been blown away by how much the Lord is lavishing us with His blessings. We have been left in awe multiple times by the Lord’s provision for us. I wanted to share with you a few of our amazing blessings this month. When we arrived in Phnom Penh we were immediately greeted by one of our YWAM contacts waiting with a van that actually fit three teams and our huge bags. Arrival and transportation to somewhere rarely happens this smoothly on the race, so it was a huge blessing after such a long travel day. They also took us to a local restaurant to get a delicious dinner right after arriving to the base. Finding food upon arrival in a country can get a little tricky, especially when you get in late to a country and don’t have their currency or your own transportation. So, being taken to a delicious meal was an incredible blessing. Not only did I get an awesome dinner, but I was able to sleep for 10 hours that night. That much sleep is extremely rare on the race so I was grateful to rest after a long day. After having our initial contact fall through our YWAM contact only made two phone calls which got us connected with two different ministries for the month. Our first ministry is all about building relationships with street boys.. I am a very relational person and love when we get the opportunity to build relationships on the race. It has been AMAZING so far, and it will be very hard to leave the precious children I have somehow managed to fall in love with in just over a week. I LOVE it here! Everyday I am in awe of the Lord’s love for me and how He knows exactly what my heart needs and when it needs it. His blessing have, and I am sure will, continue to blow me away.
Some of us with the boys at the night shelter.
We had a free weekend before we started ministry so we took the opportunity to go see Angkor Wat. The timing was perfect! We had just enough time to quickly pack our daypacks and buy bus tickets. We had no idea where we would stay or how we would get there, so we were hoping that things would somehow work out once we got there. We arrived to Siem Reap at a super sketchy bus station at about 10PM at night.
This is the “bus station” where we were dropped off in Siem Reap in the dark.
Needless to say it was a HUGE blessing to find two tuk tuks, with drivers who were willing to help us find a hostel. (Tuk tuks are the local taxis here.) They drove us to multiple hostels until we found one that wasn’t full. They waited as we checked out the rooms to make sure that we were happy with where they suggested. We were more than happy because the hotel we stayed at was only $4 per person, had crown molding, tile floors, and hot water! Such a huge blessing!
Our awesome tuk tuk driver for the weekend.
Enjoying our tuk tuk ride around Angkor Wat. (Photo taken by Mary)
We were planning on just catching a tuk tuk in the morning to drive and drop us off at Angkor Wat, which would have been a huge mistake. Luckily our tuk tuk friends told us that we would need someone to drive us to all of the various temples because it would be too far to walk. We were hesitant at first, but he seemed genuine and the price seemed fair so we agreed. Praise the Lord as He gave us the nicest drivers who drove us around all day and even drove us by the bus station to buy our return tickets. It would have been impossible to walk to Angkor Wat or the other temples, so it was amazing to have really nice drivers who seemed to genuinely care about our Siem Reap experience. We not only had time to see most of the major temples, but we also managed to squeeze in a nap, shopping at the market, and one of the most amazing dinners I have had on the race. Our weekend in Siem Reap was amazing and it is one we will never forget.
Angkor Wat at sunrise.
After we got back from our weekend off, we went to meet our contact who is an amazing spirit-led woman. Prior to meeting up with her we had discussed the possibility of trying to find a cheaper place to stay in order to save money and be closer to our ministry site. We thought that our contact might know of hostels in the area, so we mentioned wanting to find a place to stay. Upon mentioning this to her, she offered us a huge room at the ministry house to stay in…for free! She also said she would provide all of our meals (including an afternoon snack) and our transportation to other ministry sites all for free! That was a HUGE blessing that has allowed us to save money as well as live with some of the incredible children living here as one big family. Living in the same house as some of the children has allowed us to quickly build deep relationships with each of them. It is SO incredible to be met every morning with seven kids shouting your name and running up to you with the most beautiful smiles.
