Family. There isn’t much more I could say to explain the past month and a half. I honestly have been through so much struggle and growth that writing blogs almost seemed silly. So I want to start by apologizing to my supporters for slacking on the updates. Going into Cambodia, my team and I were separated from the rest of the squad. We arrived at Victory Church in Siem Reap, six hours away from the rest of our family, completely jet-legged, and honestly with no clue what to expect. The church is run but a group of missionaries from the Philippians, they have an incredible story. The head pastor was most of the staff’s youth pastor growing up, none of them were friends, but God placed them all here together to serve and further His kingdom (how cool is that). The first two weeks, being completely real was so hard, and we as a team hit a low point. Our host meet us with nothing but grace and love. When they had every right to be frustrated and give us feedback, they prayed over us and poured into us. As we were figuring out how Cambodia was going to look for our team they were patient. When we were at our worst, they meet us with that 1st Corinthians 13 love we all seek after and seek to be. They helped guide us out of our B-zone (a term the Race uses to describe the times in life when you just hit a low point and quitting just seems easier), just by loving us well, and pouring into us however they could. Naturally we became very close, very fast. I love them all so much, during Christmas and the holidays they were the family we needed, welcoming us into the games and fun with open arms. The way they functioned reminded me so much of my family, it was so easy for me to fall into their rhythm. Without them, coming to Cambodia and being separated from the squad would have been a completely different experience, and I honestly might have ended up back in Georgia.
Moving on from our amazing host, we have had two different ministry opportunities since being here. For the first 3 weeks of Cambodia we were teaching at 3 different universities. We taught things like American culture, basic English, and personal development. After class we would hang out with the students and build relationships with them. On Saturdays we had base clean up for a few hours in the morning, lunch, prayer and worship, then we headed to the local park to face paint, make ballon animals, and just love on some kids. Sunday’s half our team went to the village, where Victory has a church plant to teach Sunday school, and later that day the other half would be in charge of Sunday school at the base during the English service, and we would all attend the khmer service. For the second half of our stay at Victory, we were working in the Village church plant, doing house visits, and teaching english to the children. I fell in love with the village, the kids were amazing and the pastor Sam and his family welcomed us into their home/church each day and made their way into my heart quickly. It was truly a blessing to come along side them and help develop their first church plant a little more. God has given them a vision to have a church plant in every province of Cambodia, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a small part in that plan.
We have now switched with the men of our squad, and are going to be finishing our time in Cambodia in the capital Phnom Penh. I’m excited for all the things God is doing here and being able to be apart of it. It is honestly a messy transition and it was hard to do. Leaving my new family and having God show me a lot through that. There is so much more I could say about our host, and the ministry we had, this blog would be too long. But Thank You Victory for showing me what 1st Corinthians love looks like between family and team members. Thank you for loving me well, and I can’t wait to see the goals and plans God has shown you to go into action.
Again thank you to all my supports that helped fully fund me this past month, and all the continued prayer for me and my team. A prayer request right now would be as team a smooth transition, filled with peace and love from all around us. God has already shown His faithfulness in providing another group of amazing host I can’t wait to partner with for the last half of Cambodia. The Best is yet to Come.
