Walking into the wood church on stilts, I enter my home for the month which consists of a sanctuary where we sleep on the floor covered by mosquito nets. We live with the Pastor, his family, and the people that come and go from the village. I walk out the front door and am greeted by multitudes of children, shouting with smiling faces, “Hello! Hello! Hello!”
It’s about 7:30am as I start my journey down to the café/smoothie shop down the road for breakfast. The local market is open early, with fresh fruits and vegetables lining both sides of the dirt road, fresh fish of every kind on mats ready to be sold, pork being chopped up from the slaughter that happens every morning at 4am, fried bananas sold by cute little old women, dogs and chickens roaming the streets looking for food. Little naked babies are held by their parents or siblings, kids run around smiling and laughing as we pass by.
I arrive at the café/smoothie shop and my new friend Toma asks if I would like coffee and breakfast. Toma owns the guesthouse attached to this café, and the rest of his family works in the same vicinity selling fruit, making smoothies, and waiting on tables in the café. His niece, Chin Chin, is about 2 years old and is the sassiest little thing I’ve ever seen. She likes to walk around turning on water faucets, whip brooms around in the air, and pick up ice out of the cooler to throw or eat. She likes to dance in the rain in just her diaper and smirk at us because she plays hard to get. She wears fancy little bangles on her wrists and a necklace around her neck. We laugh when her grandma points to her little nose and my nose ring saying something in Khmer that I’m guessing means Chin Chin should get a nose ring too. She’s a fierce, precious, sassy, little girl who I’ve fallen in love with in 7 days.
After breakfast, I usually make my way down to Destiny Café, which is a café ministry for women who have come out of the sex trafficking industry. I spend most of my morning here intentionally spending time with my Father.
Before lunch I like to bike along the Mekong River, greeted by more smiling kids laughing at me as I pass by. I feel at home here, like I am back in Winona, biking down by Prairie Island along the Mississippi. My heart is so full here.
After lunch, I ride on the back of a moto down to the preschool that I teach at every afternoon. The children greet me with “Hello Teacher!” as they sit in their desks, notebooks out and ready to learn. We practice our English ABCs, numbers, colors, emotions, and much more. We love playing Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, going different paces and volumes as much as we can. They get distracted after about an hour so it’s a stretch to finish off strong the rest of the hour. Learning to teach English to kids who don’t know any English at all has proven to be a lesson for myself to speak slower, and intentionally think about what I say in order for them to understand. They have taught me to be so selfless through their actions. They give up 1 of the 3 candies they have just received, to show us that they love us. A line of them stand in front of me, shy smiles as they hand me a candy and run away. At the end of the class, they sing the cutest little song: “Goodbye teacher, see you tomorrow!”
I head home with the warm breeze rushing past my face as a sit and take in the beauty of this tiny village. Cows grazing along the streets, little pups sun bathing outside, little kids running around naked and playing in the dirt, making up games as they go. Foods of many different varieties being cooked in the markets. People stare wherever I go, which used to make me uncomfortable, which now I say, let them stare!! I have the light of Jesus in me, I hope that people stare and wonder why I am here and what I’m doing.
In 7 days I have loved deeply, and have felt even more loved in return. The people here are like nothing I have ever experienced. This is going to be a hard one to leave, it’s going to hurt a lot. You’d think saying goodbye would maybe get easier, which maybe on the outside it does, but on the inside, it still rips a part of your heart out. Cambodia, the Lord is IN LOVE with your people. He is fiercely, passionately, and gently pursuing your people and bringing their hearts in line with his own.
Our time here thus far has been incredible. Here’s a list of 10 things that make me feel alive in Cambodia:
- THE SMILING CHILDREN
- Bike rides along the river
- Getting invited to a Cambodian wedding
- Walking across a bamboo bridge
- Being able to teach little kiddos English
- Going to Destiny Café and getting to know the women there
- Tuk tuk rides by Gideon (our Christian tuk tuk driver who is such a saint and good friend!)
- Spending time with the Lord in Nature, distraction free and quiet!
- Having to catch a live chicken in the bathroom before being able to shower
- Walking by all the people selling fresh fruits and veggies from the market every day
