This picture was taken during our first few weeks here in Cambodia.
A picture taken during a season of really struggling to understand my purpose of being in Cambodia.
You see, arriving in Cambodia from Guatemala was an experience of extreme culture shock. I was expecting the only transition of culture shock would have been returning to the states after nine months overseas, but that theory proved to be tremendously wrong.
The contrast to Asian Buddhist culture from Hispanic Catholic culture was as drastic as night and day. The gaping language barrier proved to be much more of a hurtle than I could have imagined.
But what proved to be the hardest transition was our ministry life. In Guatemala, my team had the upmost privileged of working up front with amazing evangelism opportunities. Seeking the Lord for guidance on our daily endeavors was built into our schedule as well as teachings and loads of face to face discipleship by an excellent group of staff men and women of God.
We actively pursued sharing the gospel by being ever so graciously warmly welcomed into countless homes in colorful villages in Guatemala. We were so on fire and alive knowing that we were really, really living out the Great Commission, praying for the sick, the widows, the orphans. Please don’t hear me wrong, we weren’t perfect, well rounded Christians, but we were actively pursuing so many aspects of the Bible we had only read about, never actually lived out.
Coming to Cambodia, naturally things looked different. Instead of staying at a well staffed, beautiful, homey base, we now slept on the floor bathed in sweat. Realistically, without wanting to tie a bow around my legitimate circumstances here: they haven’t been lavish. Our literal situation has been stretching and challenging and hard.
And besides the situational aspects, another road block that I hit so hard it knocked me out for a bit was the difference in ministry, in evangelizing. Instead of abundant opportunities handed to us in a culture comfortable talking about the gospel, I was now surrounded by temples, monks, and Buddhist chants, suddenly feeling like an outcast in my faith.
We have been placed at an English school called Handa Academy where we are not permitted to speak of anything under the subject of religion. We are here to help teach English, to play with the kids, all without speaking a lick of the same language.
It was so challenging to transition to this. I felt like I was not fulfilling my purpose as a follower of Christ, like I was in this country completely in vain. Feeling useless and unneeded had such a dire impact on me that it caused me to dredge around all day, struggle to get out of bed in the morning, and have a bad attitude
