The days of the World Race are rapidly picking up. I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that my team and I are in our sixth month already! We are over
H A L F W A Y T H E R E.
We’re teaching at an elementary school in Siem Reap, Cambodia called Samuel House International School.
I have a newfound respect for elementary school teachers. We pedal to school every day. The roads are incredibly dusty and the air is so polluted, you can taste it. Cambodia is beautiful, but it’s the kind of beauty you’d find in the desert. The colors are filled with oranges, yellows and occasional greens from the plants that are covered in dust. Khmer people are so friendly and warm, their smiles are what make Siem Reap so charming.
Our ministry hosts blessed us by giving us bicycles for the month. It’s such a great way to see the city. Our days begin around 7:30am every day with singing and dancing with the kids and teaching various topics in the classrooms until about 6pm. My teammate Lindsey and I partnered together and are teaching in the same classroom. Our teacher is Mr. Joe and we are the guest teachers in a beautifully, sunny room with the alphabet, the planets, and artwork everywhere along the walls. We have a total of seven kids in class; these kids have taught me so much about p a t i e n c e. Every day, I’m slowly learning how to love them well and take my time with them. Even when they throw fits in class, I choose to still love them because I don’t know what kind of environment they come from. I don’t know if their parents feed them breakfast before class or help them with their homework, or tuck them in at night. All I know is that the Lord has entrusted me to love them for a small portion of their lives. That I do know.
My favorite part of the month so far has been teaching ESL to teenagers at the village. We only have a few students that show up, but Pat comes every day. Pat has the sweetest smile and is someone that I look forward to seeing everyday.
I met a tuk tuk (Cambodian taxi) driver last week on my exploration for coffee and I noticed that he spoke English so well. I asked him where he learned, and he replied saying that he learned at a free school taught by missionaries.
In that moment, I realized that’s exactly what we’re doing for Pat. My heart wanted nothing more than for Pat to not only know English, but to know Jesus and how loved he is my Him. Colossians 3:23 states that “Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men…” Being a teacher is a really tough job. It often doesn’t pay well financially (or in my case, it doesn’t pay at all). The days are long and draining. But I’ve learned that it really doesn’t have a whole lot to do with teaching. It has everything to do with simply showing up with an open heart full of patience and empowering others to step into the calling that God has placed on their hearts. That, to me, has so much more value than any paycheck I have ever received. Pat has taught me so much and he doesn’t even know it. Whenever I see the lightbulb go off in his head, my heart fills with so much joy! I want him to go off and succeed in this city, for His glory. I want him to know and understand that pursuing a life with Jesus will be the craziest, challenging, most beautiful and purpose-driven life that he will ever know. Our short time on Earth is only the beginning and it’s a struggle sometimes, but the struggle is beautiful, “… Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.”
Thank you, Jesus for tapping me on the shoulder and bringing Pat into my life. Sometimes I wake up and I feel like I have this whole World Race thing figured out, and then You surprise me because You know how much I love pleasant surprises like that. I love you. May we never lose our wonder.
-B
