At the start of this month I knew the Race couldn’t get any better. We de briefed at an extremely nice hotel. We even had the luxury of having TV and Air Con in our rooms. It didn’t matter at all that we had to share beds. A shower that you can control the temperature on and AC at night, I’ll take it. A pool and continental breakfast, SOLD! Now on the ministry….2 1/2 months left, how hard can it be….
The rooster crows anywhere between 3:30 AM and 6:30 AM, there is no telling but it truly doesn’t matter because I haven’t slept through a solid night here anyways. 3 deep on a mattress in 87 degree heat with one fan for 5 people, wrestling with a mosquito net, waking up to pick the small ants off of you every hour isn’t the recipe for the best night of sleep.
Honestly when the rooster crows it has almost begun to be a relief because then I know morning is approaching and I don’t have to be so frustrated that I am not sleeping.
7:00 AM
Wake up from the mid morning nap after the rooster starts crowing because once one of them begins to crow it is like a domino effect, they all get going. The girls on Team Fuego get ready to head to the base which is an 11 minute walk on a dirt road.
8:00 AM
A delicious breakfast is served to include a meat, and fried eggs (which have become my favorite). I don’t know if it is traditional Cambodian food or Khmer food but it is AMAZING. Lots of green veggies cooked in soy sauce and oil with some sort of sweet taste in there too. I am a thorough fan.
8:30 AM
We finish eating and the boys begin to head out to the rice fields for the morning work. We follow in suit with them and mimic them until we have the technique down. First step is to jump in the rice paddy. A field dug out and fashioned to hold water and sustain the rice plants with a mixture of mud, manure, and water with green sprouts speckling the brown landscape. We pull the sprouts, slaps the roots on our feet and wash the roots off and then make a pile to be planted further apart (Just in case you are ever in the need to know how to grow rice…).
10:30 AM
By this time we are fairly unrecognizable because the only thing that shines white and untouched are our teeth. Mud is everywhere because we work with 31 boys & men who are unaware of the concept of “clean”. We all rally together and head to “the blue water”, which we have come to know fondly as the watering hole. About a 15 minute walk past the base and the boys have their bath for the day. They all line up and jump in. Again and again. And then they begin to dive in. Again and again. It is their pool and they LOVE it.
11:30 AM
Lunch time. Praise the Lord!
12:00 PM
Our team is done for this first week and we are permitted some rest. Much needed rest as we are still adjusting to the sleepless nights and hot weather.
2:30 PM
The cool air rolls in and the sky immediately changes colors. It is the rainy season in Cambodia and the rain is unpredictable. Some days it drizzles all day, others it pours in the afternoon. All the women race around to put all their buckets out to catch as much water as they can. It is what they live off of.
5:00 PM
Time to walk back to the center to have dinner with the boys. We show up and all of them are so excited to see us again. They echo one after the other “Hello”…..”Hello”……”Hello”. We sit down to eat and although we are at different tables the boys often walk past and give the sly tap on the shoulder, or try and fool us as to which one of them poked our sides. They might not speak our language but they are playful enough to where we can speak theirs.
6:30 PM
The boys gather around the TV pulled out in to the middle of the hallway and we sit and watch TV with them. It is rarely in Khmi but they sit and watch intently, nonetheless. A few of the boys will toss out candy they had stashed away and they are excellent at sharing with each other. Sometimes we join with them or we will start a game of volleyball. Other times we will go on team runs (which are my personal favorite) to a spot where the sunset is indescribable.
7:00 PM
We head back down the dirt road to the house that we are staying in and get ready for bed. The day is over and we are tuckered out. We try to stay up and have a little team meeting or watch a movie together but we generally just pass out and wait for it to begin all again.
Although the conditions aren’t the best and this month is going to be a stretching month, comfort wise, I know the Lord has me here for a reason. I am ready to make the best of it and if it means squatty potties and sleepless nights BRING IT ON. I take one look at these boys and know that there is healing and truth to bring to them and the Lord desires to work through me to do it. I will be the middle man this month and forever because I know the weight I would carry if I let the enemy take this month away from me.
