Clouds clapped together and lightening threaded itself across the sky in vibrant flashes. Rain poured down my body and soaked every surface. Everyone around me was sopping wet. My clothes could be wrung out. I was standing in a giant puddle of water with sticks, grass, leaves and other floating things.
To start off my three day weekend last weekend I sat in a café writing my previous blog. It was Saturday, that meant, Adventure day. Half awake, I sipped on my coffee and munched on my bread waiting in expectation for the day to officially start.
Half of my squad and I piled into tuk tuks and headed towards our first stop. The Black Man. Weird name but let me explain. The Black Man is a huge statue in the middle of a round about in Battambang. At the foot of this statue is an alter where people burn incense, sacrifice food, and pray/worship.
From there our tour guide took us to the bamboo train. This was an experience in and of itself. Four of us climbed into each of these small platforms that were placed on wheels and went soaring through rice fields and past lush greenery. Little exotic butterflies and graceful birds seemingly guided the way as the wind whipped through my hair. All I could do was bask in the beautiful scenery my Creator made for me to enjoy. After an exhilarating ride back in the rain, my legs stopped vibrating and we headed to get some sticky rice. This sticky rice was made and cooked inside of a bamboo shoot. Super crazy.
Following our snack, we headed to the hardest part of my day. The Killing Fields. To start, our tour guide explained the history behind what happened and why it happened. As I sat there and listened to the tales, tragedies, and torture stories my heart began to break. The memorial that had been set up in memory of those who had died was heart wrenching. At the base was two cement levels, on the slabs were carvings and pictographs of what happened. As I walked around the base and read each explanation tears streamed down my face. Above the cement base was a building with a window on the front side. In the window, there were skulls of those who were tortured and murdered in cold blood. Some were doctors, some were teachers, some were just people who rubbed the Khmer Rouge the wrong way. Regardless, they were all people, with a name, an identity, and life. Sadly, many will be lost and unknown. For the short time we spent there my heart was being broken for what breaks God’s heart.
After a hard history lesson, I put myself together and headed to a rice paper making restaurant. The way they make rice paper is very interesting and looks like it would take years to learn and master. But, these people have it down to a science and make it look very easy. After watching them work for a while we sat down and got to try the spring rolls. I got a fried pork spring roll and it was delicious. Our next stop was a temple, but not just any temple. This temple had a hidden gem behind it. Temple ruins. Wow, it was amazing. Huge stone blocks were scattered to and fro. The remainder of the rooms were still about 50 feet high from the ground. Grass, flowers, and bushes had grown up into the ruins making it picturesque.
For lunch we headed back into town and got noodles and dumplings. I had the honor of sitting and chatting with three amazing people. Taylor(Squad Leader), Margee(Team Mate), and Abigail(Team Leader), all awesome women of God who I enjoy being around.
Once our belly’s were filled to the brim, we waddled back to the tuk tuk’s and traveled to our next destination. A super cool suspension bridge. I felt like I was in a movie scene in the jungle.
From there we headed to our last destination of the night. The bat caves. We arrived at the site 30 minutes before and our tour guide occupied us with his magic tricks. After the thirty minutes was up, we all sat still. Then, one, by two, by ten, by 400, by 3,000, by 1.4 million bats came roaring out of the cave. Streaming through the sky like schools of fish and dodging to and fro. For 40 minutes the bats came flowing out of the cave like water. The sun was setting by the time we made it back to the tuk tuks and the ride home was overwhelmingly breathtaking. To end an amazing day, Jaynna and I ended up making a rip stick obstacle course.
Sunday ended up being pretty eventful. I went to church at the YWAM base here in Battambang, went to Memory Café, and then had whole squad worship with a message on hearing the voice of God. After being prayed for during this time the Lord spoke so clearly to me. “…Look up, see my face, you are my daughter, my chosen one…” and much more. I broke down, being far from home is really hard some days, especially when missing my family. God knew I needed the reminder that I was His daughter too and He is always with me no matter where I go.
Then Monday rolled around, a day set aide for a Sabbath. We prayer walked after breakfast and just prayed over the ministry host and the neighborhood around us. Then I just spent time with the Lord until lunch. After lunch a group of us went to the volleyball court, which is just a patch of grass in the middle of the neighborhood lined with plastic strips. After a while clouds started to roll in, the sky darkened to an eerie overcast gloom. And then….
Clouds clapped together and lightening threaded itself across the sky in vibrant flashes. Once again, rain poured down my body and soaked every surface. Everyone around me was sopping wet. My clothes could be wrung out. I was standing in a giant puddle of water with sticks, grass, leaves and other floating things.
Literally everything was saturated in water and all of us tensed up each time the lightening cracked and the thunder shook our very cores. Yet, we continued to play volleyball in the downpour. The speaker that had been playing music for us during our intense games continued to sing. Eventually, it was too wet, slippery, and muddy to play volleyball. So, we danced. We danced and danced and danced. It was a blast. My only thought during this time…Why don’t I do this more often? Why don’t I live life in the moment and enjoy the rain the Lord sends every time? My answer, I am distracted, distracted by the business of life, the cell phones, the world, the future, the performance. I don’t want that, so, my goal? My goal is to live in the moment. I know I’ll never get this time back. Enjoy the little things in life, like playing soccer with little kids. Loving people, through my words and actions. Trying new things, going to new places, and living life to the fullest. And, some days, I might just have to go dance in the rain.
Prayer Requests:
Health, health, health. Sickness is still spreading like wild fire, it needs to stop.
Our events coming up on the 4th and 5th, that God would work and move.
Tuning into God and being unified as a squad and team.
