We made it to Cambodia! About two weeks ago I met up with a group of 18 strangers in the San Francisco airport and flew off to Asia. Thankfully my parents were kind enough to come with me and meet my squad and send us off with a sweet blessing. After multiple flights and 2 straight days of traveling (including a 15 hour layover in Kunming, China) we made it to Phnom Penh, which is the capital of Cambodia. By that time, we were no longer strangers and had already shared stories, sleeping pads, Chinese food, inside jokes, and many other things that proved we had quickly bonded as a squad.
When we arrived in Phnom Penh we each got a 30 day travel visa to enter the country, and we were picked up in a Cambodian mini bus that fit our squad and our luggage perfectly – not comfortably, but we could not have squeezed one more person in there, so I say we fit like a glove. We wove through insane traffic, dodging tuk tuks, rickshaws, and motos until we got to our hostel and settled in for the night, excited to start our lives in this hectic world that’s so different than what we know.
The next morning we started our official training which takes place in an Airbnb where our leaders stay, about a 2 mile walk away from our hostel. Every day since then has been filled with incredible spiritual teaching, worship, cultural training, and unifying fun. We’ve also been given plenty of opportunities to get out in the city and meet locals and begin to build relationships with them. Some of my favorite moments so far have involved playing with the kids who live on our street (SO much joy and energy), visiting my new Cambodian friend Channa at the grocery store where she works, and worshipping at the Phnom Penh House of Prayer with believers from over 15 nations.
We’ve been given the amazing opportunity to live out the great commission in our daily lives. One of the sayings we cling to on the World Race is “life is ministry and ministry is life” and we’re all learning that this is possible for any follower of Christ, no matter what your daily life looks like. On my squad, we are called “Unscripted” because we will not be paired with ministry hosts in each country, or even have set destinations laid out before us. We are simply traveling, seeking the Lord in every step, and going where He leads us. We are meetings locals and fellow travelers, building relationships with them, sharing the love of Christ, and inviting them to walk in the freedom of His grace with us. AND I’M STOKED FOR THIS.
My squad of 18 has gotten so close over the past couple weeks and has been a true picture to me of what the body of Christ should look like. In just a few days we will go our separate ways in 4 smaller teams. Although we’re all dreading saying goodbye (temporarily), we are so excited to live in community and seek the Lord’s direction within the smaller units of our teams. My team is called CAKE and is made up of me, America, Kaelyn, and Emily. We love acronyms around here, and the name is also fitting because wowow these are some VERY sweet girls with the purest of hearts. I won’t give away too much about each of them yet because I’ll save that for another blog, but let me tell ya, we mesh very well and are READY to answer the call to seek, trust, and love the Lord as we travel throughout east Asia together.
For those of you who are still reading, thanks for hangin in there and supporting me on this amazing journey. When training ends, I’ll post more updates about this crazy life the Lord has blessed me with and how I‘m doing my best to use it to glorify Him.
P.S. I’m still a few thousand dollars short of my final fundraising goal so if you are feeling excited and supportive of the unscripted lifestyle and want to donate, by all means, be my guest 🙂 I couldn’t do this at all without my donors, and I am SO humbled and thankful for each one of you.
Peace and love,
Cari
