It’s been almost 4 whole weeks that we’ve been in Cambodia, so I thought a little update on what life is like here was due. Our squad split up when we got to Cambodia. Two teams are staying in Siem Reap, and the other three (including mine) are staying three hours away in the city of Battambang.
It’s mega hot here, like 90ºF+ everyday except for when it rains, then it cools off a bit (thank God). I share a room with 17 other ladies and we sleep on the floor with fans surrounding us.
Ministry here looks different from what we’ve been doing throughout the last 6 months. My team works at a coffee shop called Ezra Library Cafe that is both a cafe & you guessed it, a library. This cafe is ran by the Theriault family and is apart of Ezra Ministries. The money raised at this cafe supports Ezra Learning Center, which teaches English to the young Khmer people for free. We work in shifts of two over the course of the day.
Two of my teammates, Abby & Lexi have worked together to add fun additions to the cafe to liven it up a bit. They added a tasty special menu
and a shelf with books covered in paper so no one can judge the book by its cover. Instead it adds the element of surprise and in my personal opinion, makes the read more exciting. I adore this idea.
In the mornings half of us go to Handa Medical Center, which is a trauma hospital. They tend to any sickness, but the only patients that stay at the hospital long term are those with physical traumas caused by landmines, traffic accidents, or other serious accidents. We have two roles there: 1) go out into the waiting area and hang out with the patients and their caregivers. This helps alleviate some of their boredom since most caregivers are there everyday visiting their loved ones and the patients don’t leave until they’re released. Sometimes we play games with the patients and other times we give hand massages to the women who take care of them. Though there is a language barrier, the laughter and love shared between us is priceless. 2) we decorate handmade cards that are made out of recycled paper and fabrics. These cards are then sold and the profits go to support the activities program at the hospital.
That’s a wrap of what we’re doing here in the Bodes. Though directly sharing the Gospel is not apart of our planned ministry, there are still endless opportunities to do so. For me the most attainable, has been loving others with a Christlike love, unconditionally, regardless of what they’ve done or where they’re at.
Thanks for taking your time to read this and staying updated on my journey! Have a wonderful week!
All my love,
Melissa
