One thing was for sure upon arriving in Cambodia: we were going to fight for Thanksgiving. So we told our ministry contact all about it, talked about it all the time, spoke of family traditions, dreamed of homemade food, and fundraised so we could share our American holiday with the Cambodians. The day finally came on 28 November 2013, we had hundreds of dollars donated to our paypal account (THANK YOU!) and we’d brought the festivities to all of our students that week in school. We had a “Field Day” where we played games all day, made hand turkeys, and most importantly, talked about Jesus and the many things we were thankful for. Whether our students completely understood the madness that was driving their white schoolteachers, I’m not sure. But it made us feel like proud parents teaching our little babies what it meant to be thankful and have fun.
With nothing but a few stove tops, we (pretty successfully, I’d say) attempted all of our favorite comfort foods from home to indulge ourselves: mashed potatoes, “sweet potatoes” (aka, sweet root), dressing, stuffing, corn bread, green beans, apple crisp, and most importantly, PUMPKIN PIE!
We were away from our blood family and close friends. But nothing could beat sharing our special holiday and traditions with our NEW friends and family in Christ. There is nothing like giving thanks to God in a big circle at sunset giving and then enjoying comfort food in your belly after a month of rice, noodle, egg, and veggies.
This is a recap of our Thanksgiving in Cambodia! Thank you everyone and Happy Thanksgiving! : )
