A little over two months ago I left America, again, to go to Cambodia, again. I’ll be honest, when I boarded the plane, I was less than excited about returning to Cambodia.
I wasn’t excited about the weather: sweating all the time.
I wasn’t excited about the smells: biking past the local market and smelling rotting fish.
I wasn’t excited about culture shock: how difficult it can be living in a culture that operates so drastically different from yours.
All these things made me anxious to return, but my time in Cambodia has been so good. God has truly redeemed this place for me. He has opened my eyes and softened my heart for this country and it’s people. One thing that constantly astounds me is the ingenuity of the Khmer people. They don’t have the right tools or all the fancy machinery, but they will get the job done with grit and creativity. Every time I go into town, I always see a moto with a ridiculous amount of people on it or a moto piled high with goods, and I am always amazed at how they make something so seemly impossible happen with ease. They just make it work.
This photo is just one example of the ingenuity of the Khmer people making the best out of what they have.
Since I have been in Cambodia I have felt so welcomed. I am currently training for a half-marathon with a few of the girls on my team, so almost every morning we go out running in the neighborhood. We are always met with hellos, smiles, cheering and support. One of the ladies that works at the guesthouse where my team is volunteering recently invited us over to her house for dinner. She speaks almost no English, but her and her family welcomed us into their home to cook for us and enjoy a meal with us. Seeing the smiles on all the faces in our community everyday is always incredible.
I have around one month left in this beautiful country and with that comes a lot of feelings. Feelings of excitement for the future and where God is going to bring me next, but also a lot of feelings of sadness. To say goodbye to a place that has become home. To say goodbye to a culture that I have really come to appreciate. To say goodbye to relationships that have redefined what friendship is to me. This goodbye won’t be easy and I am so incredibly thankful for that. The Lord brought me back to this country and through this, taught me so much about His character. That He is a redeemer. That He can redeem and restore all things. That there is nothing too broken, too ugly, too full of darkness that the Lord can’t restore. God can make all things right. This is a truth that the Lord taught me from bringing me back to a place that I never wanted to go to again.
And I am so incredibly thankful.
