Month 3 – wow, we are here already! Writing a blog post summarising my 3rd month on the mission field. Honestly, there were times in Month 1 I truly did not believe I would get here. I am proud of myself and my girls for pressing in to the hard stuff, getting rid of pretty much all expectations, loving each other through the good and the bad, and leaving a mark on the places we have travelled to so far.
Month 1 was hard in all kinds of ways, and in month 2 I broke my ankle, so month 3 was one I really needed to go well. God had me in mind though (as always) and blessed us with a beautiful ministry for month 3. This month we spent in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and we worked in a Bible College, teaching English (grammar, vocab, conversation and public speaking) and music theory classes. We lived in the college with the students and some of the girls also worked in the preschool/elementary school that was attached to the College. We basically spent our days in church services, worship, teaching classes and fellowship with our team & with the students. It was wonderful. It was restful, challenging, impactful, exhausting, joyful and sad all in one go.
Here are some points about Cambodia, this month & the people I have grown to love so dearly;
– Most of our students didn’t actively choose to go to Bible College. Some of them came from Christian families, some did not. Some were dropped at the front door and told this is where they needed to go to learn English and learn more about Christianity. Some were told by their families this is just where they had to go. Some had suffered great persecution because of their faith. Some had wonderful supportive families who were helping them attend the school. It was a privilege to hear their stories. I think about us in the UK, with our pick of schools, devastated when things just don’t quite go our way. How much we have to learn.
– Teaching English as a second language is HARD. Did you know there are things called transitive verbs and gerunds? I had to google most things my teamie Amanda said. I think I learnt as much as my students did this month.
– There are also things called Oxford commas, and you use them differently from normal commas (I think?! This may not be accurate).
– Football is a universal language and our students basically lived for their practice every Friday.
– Teaching preschoolers for even one hour is EXHAUSTING.
– Grocery shopping twice per week can be mundane and tiring, but not when you have Emily Cate with you. She will let you stop and get fried chicken, laugh at you trying to get through a turnstile with crutches, offer to wheel you around in a trolley, & get air conditioned car rides back to school with you when another tuk tuk seems too much to handle.
– On that note, we rode in probably 50 tuk tuks in 3 weeks. They rarely get old, apart from when your driver takes you into oncoming traffic and you genuinely wonder if you’ll live to see another day.
– We spent a day this month visiting the Killing Fields and the S21 prison in Phnom Penh. Did you know there was a genocide in Cambodia, that killed an estimated 2 million people, and only ended in 1979? I didn’t either, and visiting the sites of where some of the torture took place was harrowing.
– Cambodia accept USD. Thank the LORD for no exchange rates this month, I have lost track at this point and I barely remember what GBP is.
– Dogs bark literally all night long in Phnom Penh, I kid you not, probably from 10pm to 7am. The first night I arrived in Thailand I actually missed it when I realised how quiet it was.
– We spent our last 2 nights in Siem Reap and it turns out there are probably more English people there then there are Cambodian. It is a fun place and we had pasta and a glass of red wine one night and everything seemed like ‘normal life’, even if for a few hours.
– Climbing 3 sets of stairs on crutches multiple times per day, every day, is ridiculously tiring and I am pretty sure my right leg has never been so strong.
– One on one time with your teammates is genuinely the best. You spend all of your time together as a group but the chance to be together individually is the most precious of times. Getting $3 manis and donuts with you is my favourite, Amanda.
– Leaving Cambodia was so hard, and yet it was beautiful to know we had loved so well and that was why we struggled to say goodbye. The Lord is cool and will genuinely give you what your heart needs, even when you didn’t know you needed it.
– Looking after everyone around is easy, looking after yourself is harder. Give yourself time, breathe deeply, recognise when you need to be your number one priority (even for a little while). It is worth it.
Love,
Chloe xo
