Wow I can’t believe how fast this summer has gone by! The two months are coming to a close as I am sitting in the airport terminal on a layover on our way back to the United States. I have learned a lot and grown tremendously from this trip. I have seen my team grow spiritually as well as us grow to be really good friends. I have grown in learning who God says that I am and have a deeper understanding my identity as a Christian. I not only know that I have Holy Spirit living inside of me, but I believe it. I know what it looks like to sit on my Heavenly Father’s lap and rely on His strength to do everything that He calls me to do. He is the one that empowers me. I have continued to grow in listening to God’s voice and for all the ways that He is speaking. I learned that I hear God’s voice clearly. I have learned that God has gifted me with specific gifts and that each of us in the body of Christ is different, but we all work together to glorify and proclaim Christ and encourage one another. I have learned that I need to steward the gifts that I have been given well. I have grown in a boldness and a desperation to have more of Him, to satisfy my soul with Him and Him alone. I have learned that distractions of the world can take away from hearing His voice. I have learned how to use chopsticks, take a bucket shower, use a squatty potty, and scrub floors the correct way, and that you can edge/paint the top of a wall above the stairs with a paint brush attached to PVC pipe. I have heard God speak to me about the future and He has given me revelations about His love, character and goodness. I have continued to grow in a love for missions, His people, and to make His name glorified throughout the world. I have loved many kids and have been blown away by their love and generosity towards me. Sometimes I don’t know what to say. How to even process all that I have learned. I have learned what it is like to sit with kids as they cry knowing that sometimes what they really need is just for someone to sit with them so they know that they are not alone and that they are loved. I have held orphaned babies and toddlers whose mom’s are teenagers themselves (or whose parents have died due to AIDS), yet unlike other children they are infected with HIV that they will deal with for the rest of their lives. I have learned about the horrors of the Cambodia genocide that killed over 3 million people (1 out of every 4 people in the country at the time; it was only 45 years ago! ) and know that this country desperately needs Jesus in order to find true healing and peace. I have learned what good, healthy community looks like. I have learned what it is like to be completely satisfied in Jesus and so content in spite of simple circumstances and finding so much joy in the simplicity of life. My heart hurts when I realize how extravagant my life is compared to others. I saw how grateful the children were when we were able to buy them chicken and loaves of bread for our last day party and then comparing that to my life where I have chicken almost every day. I also learned to go to Jesus not always asking Him to do something but just to sit in His presence. God taught me this through kids who would come up to me and most of the time ask me for my phone so that they could use it to take pictures of the flowers or look through my photos (since I didn’t have any games and that was about all they could do without WiFi but still they were fascinated by it). This led me to wonder how often I go to God just to ask Him for something even if that is a good thing or even if it is for someone else. How often do I just sit in His presence, listen to His voice or worship Him compared to the number of times that I ask Him do do things? I also continued to learn about who God is and His goodness. I know that these experiences have changed me and I know that I will be different. In what ways that looks like I don’t know exactly but there is a change.
