Week one in Cambodia—wild.
Almost feels unreal.
Like I’m in an alternate reality, and the real me is in some other life laying in a cozy bed where the World Race has never even crossed my mind.
There’s no air-conditioning here
No traffic laws
38 girls to 3 bathrooms
and my time here has already been undeniably beautiful. Like an organized chaos.
My team is staying in Battambang for 3 months and our first month is cooking for the entire squad. As in 46 people plus our leaders and mentor. Not going to lie I got maaaaddd mom vibes when I got assigned this ministry. We’re at the compound more than any other team, we cook, we clean, we set the culture. At first glance it seems weird that it’s considered a ministry but boy God has shown me how it truly does bring kingdom! Crazy cool how I prayed for ways to love and serve and this ministry fell right on my lap. Some awesome things about my ministry:
-We tuk-tuk to markets every day to buy food for that day. And let me tell you, it’s nothing like grocery shopping in the states. Eggs, chicken, and bread get delivered to us. Fruits, vegetables, and miscellaneous food items are all bought from different vendors. So we have 4-5 stops in total most days.
-There’s SO much freedom in how we want our ministry to look. We have the opportunity to interact with a lot of people every day, and we’re beginning to develop relationships with our vendors, tuk-tuk driver, and locals around the area! Lots of ways to invite Jesus into the setting. Sometimes that means talking about Jesus, other times it means looking like Jesus.
-We get to love our squad well! There’s something so special and precious about having the opportunity to serve my own squad. It’s funny, back at launch in Georgia there was this barista working in the hotel and he told me and some of my squad that he felt so honored to be serving us. He said “There’s something different about serving those who go out of their way to serve others,” and I’m just beginning to realize how these words speak truth and life. Getting to help sustain my squad so they can go out talk about Jesus and make disciples is the coolest thing ever.
Our God is counterintuitive but faithful and all-knowing. Jesus was known for going against the expectations that people had. Maybe that just comes to show we know less than we think about what bringing kingdom looks like.
Bringing kingdom doesn’t always look like hugging a baby in an orphanage or bringing people to Jesus on the spot or having a big construction project at a church. Sometimes it looks like chopping vegetables and waiting in lines at the market or waving to people we pass by on the tuk-tuk. Makes me trust where God is placing me—more often than not he calls me to things that I wouldn’t choose for myself but he always proves to know what’s best for me. More than I know what’s best for myself.
Pictures and videos to come in my next blog post!!! Thanks for reading and please continue to pray for me and my team! I appreciate you all.
