Flying into Cambodia 3 months ago, I looked out of the plane window as we flew over the country, and my subconscious expectations were instantly subverted. I grew up with a western view of what I thought Asia would be like. I tried to come here without any expectations, but in reality, I already had them subconsciously in my mind after growing up watching movies like “Rambo II, Rush Hour 2” and wanting to grow up to be a ninja since I was 8.
The beginning of Cambodia was rough, teammates sick, and the culture shock. Oh man, the culture shock. The simplest things became hard. From getting a ride to a different part of town, to simply buying food from a market were huge challenges. The weather is way more hot than most of our squad-mates are used to, ministry was a lot. I could probably go on for a while talking about the things that have been hard. But I’m tired of talking about that. A phrase that keeps coming into my head is “beautifully brutal”. That’s what Cambodia has been.
Our first month and a half was spent in Phnom Pehn. Our ministry was teaching at a school called “Ace American Academy”. We would also have prayer walks everyday, worship with the college students next door, and time to play with kids in our neighborhood after school. One of my highlights from Phnom Pehn was holding our Christmas program! We invited all the parents of our students to a night where we shared the story of Christ’s birth. This was many of the parents first time hearing the gospel message. Me and Nathanael started having a desire to learn how to cook more. And I enjoyed our time hanging out at the lake during our prayer walks, then coming home and having a great breakfast with fruit juice every morning.
After our month in Phnom Pehn, we came to another city 6 hours away called Siem Reap. This is where we had our mid-point debrief, and awakening. Mid point debrief was awesome. We got to hang out with Tim, Karen, and Kacie (Our mentors from back home). And be encouraged on our walk through the race. After debrief, we had Awakening. A few days where we met up with another squad of world racers and got to hear about their experience on the race. We gained so much wisdom and encouragement from them.
Following Awakening, all of the women on our squad went back to Phnom Pehn, and our team stayed in Siem Reap. This is where our man’s month began. Man’s month is a month where the men on a squad get to go off to a different ministry and have some time to bond with each other. The men on the world race get some special privileges because we are a minority on the squad. The ratio of women to men on our squad is 1/5, for every 1 guy, there are 5 girls. Our man’s month has been awesome. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of our sisters on our squad. And I have loved to wake up in a house with just us 4, and be able to walk downstairs in a near silent house and spend time with the Lord. On the other hand, I am looking forward to get back together with all of our sisters. They bring life to the places we stay in, and my time on the race has been so fun because of them. This month has been a great time for our team to grow closer together, lean into each other, and enjoy the remaining time in Cambodia. Our ministry hosts have become our family here, we love them so much. I have gained such an appreciation for the people here in Cambodia.
If you have noticed, there has been a lack of blogs on my part. This has not been because I have not been working on them. I have taken a slight break from social media this month, but have made videos regardless. While I am in Swaziland there will be 4 videos uploaded from our time here. Starting in the next few days I will be packing my laptop, and Ipod (my only electronics), at the bottom of my bag, and for the entire 3 months of Swaziland I will be doing a total technology and WiFi fast. I love recording and making videos, so I will be taking photos and videos with my camera, that is my one exception. I want Swaziland to be a time where I find myself bored, and being okay with it. I want to come to a place of deep introspective thinking, and let my mind wander. I am seeking deeper intimacy with God. I am going to work on self discipline, and be changed in any and every way God wants to change me.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to be apart of this journey. I love all my brothers and sisters on our squad, and everyone at home. Thank you all so much for your support, I am so excited to step into the next chapter of the race, so my next update will be in Swaziland. Since I will not be on WiFi, I won’t be able to post my videos on Facebook, or my blog so I would encourage everyone who wants to see the videos to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Here is the latest video from our time here in Cambodia, it is a day in our life here on man’s month! I hope you enjoy. Subscribe to the channel for the next 4 videos coming soon! -Love Justin
