So last month in Cambodia my team
taught English three times a day to teenagers and young adults. We
were working with a YWAM contact named Jeff, who also led the youth
group. He was from the States and had been in Cambodia for three
years. The month started out very challenging for me because I was
never a big fan of school and I never thought I would ever be
teaching English. Depending on the class we would have anywhere from
2 to 40 kids. The kids were wonderful and eager to learn learn
anything that we would teach them. In the earlier classes we not
only taught but were able to play games with the kids as well.
Monkey in the middle became a quick favorite and has a whole new
meaning when there are four monkeys and the tossers on the outside
can’t take more then one step to get the ball. I ended up working
with the kids that want to improve their reading skills. We would
read Bible stories of Jesus and go over any words or phrases that the
students didn’t understand. I really enjoyed it. Not only were we
teaching the students how to read but they were reading the Bible and
learning more about Jesus.
The English class were held at the
church and only cost $1.00 a month which can be a lot for a
Cambodian. This was a useful tool to get youth into the church. All
of the kids in the youth group were also in the English classes and
many of the students started to come to church because they knew we
would be there. Our relationships with the kids grew very quickly.
One of the best days we had with them was our field trip to the zoo.
It was a wonderful day were we got to hang out with the kids the
whole time. It was fun to see the kids reactions to some of the
animals and to see them whipped around by our crazy drivers. We also had our
own ice cream vender follow us around the zoo all day long.
Overall is was a great month with the
kids. They worked so hard while we were there to learn more.
Everyday they impressed me more and more. Even though we were there a short time and had quick
goodbyes, it is hard to believe that I will more then likely never see
any of them again. I think that feeling is setting in more since I
will be home in a few more weeks.
