Hello from Cambodia! I arrived here in Southeast Asia one week ago today and have been loving just about every second of life since then! After staying for a few nights in Siem Reap in an attempt to adjust to the jet lag (we’re 12 hours ahead here!), my team and I drove about two hours northwest to Sisophon, a smaller city just 20 kilometers from the border of Thailand. From there, we moved into a village about 30 minutes from the city. My living situation is as follows: a tent on the floor of a pavilion that doubles as our home for the next month and the village’s church! On the same property live the pastor and his parents (who, might I add, are the KINDEST people I’ve ever met), as well as their cows and many, many chickens. Our “shower” consists of a trash can filled with hose water, enclosed by four 5-foot high tarps. Morning ministry looks like door-to-door evangelism and house visits, translated so graciously by Pastor Yon! In the afternoons, children from all across the village flock to our home to play games, learn English, and (attempt to) teach us Khmer, the Cambodian national language.
If I had one word to describe Cambodia, it would be hot. Really, really hot. Actually, in an effort to catch and put an end to our complaining about the heat, we decided to replace the word “hot” with “beautiful.” So, if you listened in to just about any conversation that happened here, I can almost promise you’d hear “It’s so beautiful!” or “I’m so beautiful!” at least once every few sentences. But because of temperatures maxing 100 degrees and a persistent 90% humidity, the average work day here lasts from sunup to 11am and then 4pm to sundown. What does that mean for us? A lotttt of down time. Spent sitting in the heat. So we made what we like to call the “List of Things to do in a Village when Boredom Strikes” (which we’ve referred to many times already). On it are things such as learning new types of braids, milking the cows, making friendship bracelets, giving each other dramatic haircuts, DIY anything, upcycling our clothes… the list goes on. We spend a lot of time reading our Bibles, journaling and hammocking. We go for runs, work out until it’s literally too hot to move anymore, and tan in the field behind our house — all of which completely baffle our hosts and cause them to question our sanity. Last weekend, we learned about a “smoothie shop” and decided to set out on a walk to find it. We finally arrived — only four miles and an hour and a half later. They had 3 different drinks, but we were more than grateful for a room full of fans and (to our surprise) free wifi! Our pastor’s mom prepares all of our meals here. You can always count on rice, a vegetable, fruit and possibly some sort of unidentified fish. We’re really thankful for our hosts, who visibly sacrifice their time and resources to make us feel welcomed in a place so, so far from our own homes. The children we interact with daily are full of joy and get excited over even the littlest of things, which in turn puts a smile on my face 🙂
To my knowledge, we’re only here for the next 4.5 weeks before heading back to the city of Sisophon. I think it’s safe to say that this is my one of my favorite places on the Race thus far, so I’m really looking forward to experiencing every second of life in the village while we’re here! I’m thankful for all of your prayers and support and wanted to give you an updated list of prayer requests as well! Some specific ones I currently have are for health within our teams, for RAIN to fall on the country of Cambodia who is currently experiencing a severe drought, for us all to stay present and focused on our purpose here, and just for the Lord to be working in so many big ways in both our hearts and the hearts of those we’re encountering daily in our last country of the Race!
Love, Caroline <3
