(Holding a Tarantula…I ate the whole thing because of a dare!!)
Cambodia was full of plenty of English teaching, tuk-tuk rides, sharing the Gospel with many of the youth (seeing Salvation come!), spider eating (pictured above), pollution, learning about this new role, getting to know my new squad mate, learning about a recent genocide in the country, and my first official Cambodia Christmas!! All in all it was a blast!
(Picture of THE Q, waiting for our bus to be fixed…)
(Team Tabula Rasa and Myself)
For at least the first part of this month I will be spending my time with Team “Tabula Rasa” which means “Blank Slate” in the city of Eldoret, Kenya. I am excited for this, first of all because Taylor’s Team is amazing, but also because I have been having withdrawals from being directly on a team. Since my role has changed, Tricia and I, have felt separated from the rest of the squad who are all on teams. This has been a strange feeling and a bit lonely, so we are both excited to be more directly connected again with these wonderful people this month!
(This sign gives a good description of the beliefs here.)
Kenya has been an interesting country thus far…definitely NOT what I was expecting. First of all, this is the first country that I have actually been cold in (I am starting to regret that I just sent my sleeping bag home). The landscape here is full of hills and large green forests as well as barren desert areas. The people all seem so full of life and smiles. Our ministry contact told us to look for “a large black man with a black suit”, when getting off the bus. He has an amazing personality and has commanded 24/7 “happy time” and “laughing”.
The church is also VERY different. Walking off the plane, we noticed Christian books in the book store, worship music every where we go, and even sermons being preached on the speakers in the supermarket. This country has a real reverence for God and a high percentage of Christians. We were told to expect speaking in tongues, binding of demons, and lots of prayer and preaching. I have often heard that most people in Africa believe in the spiritual world and often see Jesus move in powerful ways, however Pastor Patrick Nate (pronounced Nahtey) our ministry contact, has felt a burden to make obedient disciples to Jesus. He says that many of the believers here are not true believers because they split their beliefs between Jesus and other Gods.
(Brian playing Corn-Hole)
We will be spending a majority of our time here, helping with the new church that was just planted about 1 year ago (with the help of another World Race team). However, we always make time for fun and we were excited to find out that our new contact has (Corn-hole, baggo, bags, depending on where you are from…) at their home where we are staying! Even though we are back to sqwatty potty’s, bucket showers, and barely any internet, Pastor Nate and his family have been extremely hospitable to us since the moment we arrived and we all feel so blessed to be here.
Much Love,
Andrew
P.S. “Hakuna Matata” (from the Lion King) is Swahili for “No Worries”, and is definitely a word I am excited to use this month.
