it’s friday March 8th 9 am in asia. i am currently in a plane headed to Siem Reap, Cambodia writing on my laptop. about 30 minutes ago, i asked my seat buddy what his name was. He didn’t understand what i meant. i repeated myself with hand motions, pulling my hand to my chest and saying “cami” and then gesturing to him. at this point, he started laughing and still didn’t understand my words.
my face got a little red with embarrassment and an ounce of the frustration that came with not being able to verbally communicate.
after a couple more tries, he pulled out his passport and showed me his name.
Usually, in Spanish this is a 10-second topic.
This conversation took about 10 minutes.
I realized that for the past 6 months, i was able to understand what people were saying, and translate it simply to my teammates or vise versa! (thank you Mrs. Mendez, Señora Turner, San Antonio, grandma, mamou, Montse, & Erika- I owe you one of the biggest thank you’s in my entire life, especially now that i realize the weight of its value.)
translating became one of my favorite things the past 6 months.
the part that i loved wasn’t just the language, but i loved the part about connection and relationship.
i was able to be in a position to bridge the gap and connect two people. or connect 10! or 30!
it was a straight shot to harmony—understanding!
i understood the person, passed the message in their language, and then they understood the person they couldn’t before.
I explain this because as simple as it is, i think we forget that this is what the holy spirit can and does this all the time.
“cami how is there a connection there?!?!?”
let me tell you.
this is the message version about what Jesus told his apostles before he was about to be crucified.
“if you love me, show it by doing what i’ve told you. i will talk to the father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. this friend is the spirit of truth. “
john 14:16
we’ve now been in cambodia for 10 days and i am so happy that the holy spirit exists to speak for me.
khmer is so hard and so far i have just about nailed “good morning” and “thank you”
🙂
God works with all of it, and even though now things are a little more difficult,
i have a friend with me translating truth in every moment.
I’m really grateful that once again, love knows no language or cultural difference, no accent is too strong for love.
—
ministry update:
Our ministry in Cambodia lies in working at an emergency hospital for trauma patients. Most of the patients come from moto accidents, machinery accidents, and unexploded land mines from the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979z Our job is to be with and comfort and keep company the caregivers at the hospital. The caregivers are the family members of the patients. Its not like American hospitals where noght nurses are available to help with changing and going to the bathroom and feeding. Here this job goes to the family to stay at the hospital and be their nurse.
Our ither ministry is working at a small Cafe & Library. Its a common space owned by our hosts Sharrelle and Stefan. Its a space that will most likely be used for the boys ministry of English teaching to monks here and hosting ministry events! i’m super excited. I learned how to make my first latte and it only took me one broken glass to get there! 🙂
it’s a blessing to be in a space with WiFi to post blogs, so this is my public declaration to blog more often!
thank you for reading! have a good day!
cami
