Another day, another month here on the World Race.
This time, it’s Cambodia.
Last month was spent fighting for bed space with geckos and living in a perpetual state of being moist (and possibly mildewed). And I loved every second of it. Being out in that village with those refugees will forever be etched in my mind alongside the other greatest moments of my life.
But, this month it’s the city life for me and the rest of Team Overflow. And, we get to work alongside one of our squad’s lovely all-female teams: i61. It’s made up of Amaris Duryea, MC Brogden, India Favorite, Taylor Hendren, Alex Banks, and their beyond-awesome leader, Jess Bundy. You should definitely go check out all of their blogs—they are all absolute powerhouses for the kingdom and I can’t wait to see what God does through our combined teams this month here in Cambodia.
And that is what this blog is all about: the kingdom.
We are in Cambodia; but—officially—we are in The Kingdom of Cambodia.
I was mesmerized by that official name as soon as I saw it on the giant archway that leads from Thailand into Cambodia as we walked—all 51 of us—across the border a couple of days ago. I have always been fascinated with anything surrounding the ideas of kings, kingdoms, warriors, battles, etc. (the books of 1 & 2 Samuel blow me away every time I read them). So, just the idea that I was entering into a place that identifies itself as “the kingdom” brought out the nostalgia of my childhood imaginings.
Because of this childlike fascination with this country’s name, God decided he would step in and slightly redirect the way I think about this country and what is happening here. As I sat in prayerful meditation with the Lord tonight, he spoke to me. He led me back to the idea of Cambodia as a kingdom and how exciting that is to me; but, then he showed me why I should have even more reason to be enthralled with this place and its name. He told me that Cambodia only thinks that it is a kingdom right now, but that—through people like the missionaries we are working alongside here—this country is soon to be a kingdom in a way that it never expected to.
You see, in just two days here in Cambodia, I have come to believe that this place is special. God is doing something here; he is moving in this place and amongst these people. And this place will one day be a kingdom in the sense that it will be made up of Christ-exalting, Spirit-led people that worship the one true God.
The new Kingdom of Cambodia will make people forget the history tangled up with the old kingdom of Cambodia. It will be a kingdom that shines across Southeast Asia and into the rest of the world.
It will be a kingdom like no earthly kingdom could ever be. It will be a kingdom focused on making the entire world a kingdom.
Also, due to the fact that I lost my phone, I won’t be uploading as many pictures for a little while! Bear with me, I will do the best I can to update these blogs with pictures whenever I can!
