I unstrap my sandals and kick them under the airplane seat in front of me. A puff of dust comes off each Velcro piece, and I can't help but long to be back in Ampil Village in the Kampong Cham province of Cambodia.
This was the best month of my life.
Ready to travel to ministry
Our tuk-tuk, driven by Pastor Uee
I was constantly covered in a fine layer of Cambodian dust (even the foliage by the roads are brown because it's so dusty), fed 3 delicious Cambodian meals a day by Pastor Uee's mother, going to bed at 11 and waking up at 6, covered in mosquito bites despite my best DEET attempts, and always filled with this indescribable joy.
Preparing corn for next year's harvest at one of our house visits.
I was beat up from Malaysia, dead tired of trying to be a "good leader" and in desperate need of some respite for my heart. In Malaysia I just kept meditating on the beginning of Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." I do not want because the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. This month in Cambodia, I was being taught on how He restores my soul.
I trust Him. I trust Him to walk me through the toughest times, I trust Him with my future although I cannot see it, I trust Him to guide my team, I trust Him to be at work in my teammates, and I trust Him in my teammates. Life is so much simpler when I only need to follow my Father's voice.
Ministry this month was also an exercise in trusting Him. House visits, preaching the Gospel, Bible study, sharing a prophetic word from the Lord, deliverance from demonic oppression . . . all these things required a complete reliance on the Spirit. It has been such a stretching month regarding ministry, yet the Lord has also renewed my love for ministry. We were busy from sun up to sun down, yet it felt luxurious because I was constantly sitting in my Father's lap.
Building a squatty potty for a half-paralyzed woman who recently became a Christian
Praying for women during small group
A woman from Saturday night Bible study
Bible study with Kimhourt, our translator
Residing a house from bamboo to wood before small group
Installing a pipe so a half-paralyzed woman we visited could have running water
Teenage boys. They've never been my favorite people group, yet this month I was surrounded by them all the time because Pastor Uee was an excellent discipler and let them hang around the church and go on adventures with him all the time (including honeybee hunting and fishing in which I often accompanied them). And now, I think they're awesome. Especially my 17-year-old friend Sokvin, whom I referred to as my BFF all month. Isn't it crazy how the Lord can change a heart to love those that He loves?
The honeycomb we cut and ate. No fancy beekeeper suits, just a little puff of cigarrette smoke and a machete!
BBQ-ing duck using bamboo as skewers
Kimstry, Sokvin, me, and Sokheang on the tuk-tuk. Rollin' with the Cambodian homies!
I'm sitting in a hotel room in Doha, Qatar right now, waiting for the squad's morning flight to Entebbe, Uganda. This is pretty much all the summation of this past month that I can squeeze out now at 3AM, but I just wanted to share how full the Lord has made my soul this month. My heart and my flesh may fail, but my God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Arm wrestling after church with Sokvin (I always lost)
