Month 5, Cambodia, we are living in a tree house with our Pastor, translator and his wife. Our Pastor’s family cooks us three meals a day with rice as our main food group. Roosters crow around the clock and palm tree leaves brush against the window above my head where I sleep. The floor is made of bamboo, that’s impressively strong. The walls are constructed of wood which allows light to shine through throughout the day. Below our house on the ground is where we eat, hangout, occupy the hammock and teach english and bible stories to the many neighbor kids. The toilet a “squatty potty” and kitchen is also located underneath our home. We are blessed with electricity around the clock in the tree house and running water downstairs. Bucket showers are the way of hygiene with water that is pumped from the near river that is the largest in Cambodia. We also use that same water boil for food and wash our dishes after every meal. The atmosphere is very much like being up north in northern Michigan except with palm trees.
Not our exact house, but similar to what we are living in.
Ministry this month consists of doing house visits in the neighborhood from 8-10 and 2-4 with our pastor and translator everyday. From 4-6, 10-15 local kids come over after school to learn and improve their english, followed by a bible story enactment. We attend a couple different church services on sundays where we tell one of our testimonies and/or a word from God that he has laid on our hearts. At night we have a bible study and worship with our Pastor and his wife. It’s a nice time of fellowship with them.
This month is as if we stepped straight into the times of Little House on the Prairie. It is exciting because we are living on God’s land exactly how he created it. No internet, no traffic, no big buildings, just the simple life with the countryside and nature at your doorstep with birds, butterflies, and lizards right next to you. The basic essentials are provided as he knows our needs. Small children around the neighborhood ride their bikes back and forth, play games all day and hold hands as they walk by. Crime in this neighborhood is absent. Our team has continued to press into the word, sharing what we are learning from God with one another to greater feel God’s love and build up his kingdom. The weather here is great, no humidity, the days are warm with a breeze and at night it cools down and you are comfortable in your sleeping bag. Mosquitoes are everywhere.
Cambodia, favorite month? Perhaps. God’s beauty is apparent in everything such as enjoying honey comb straight from the bee hive from a tree. Fresh mangos and bananas picked straight from the source is the way of life here and it’s simply wonderful.
