A week in the life –CF
This week has been packed with amazing ministry opportunities. The church we are partnered up with here, New Life Fellowship, is an amazing church with many different ministries and ways to reach out to the community, meet physical needs, and share the love of Christ. Our time in Cambodia has been a lot different than our time in Thailand. As a team, we are split up throughout the day doing many different things. This past week, Danny has been teaching English and spending time with students in the resource room of the church, and helping lead worship for the youth group. He also went on an all day outreach to a province (where he was able to pray with the people there, share a message that was on his heart, spend time with the children there, encourage people in the community, and hear about the pastor’s vision for the provinces in Cambodia). Lindsey also went on the all day outreach to the province and was able to encourage the people there, pray, and love on the children. This week, Lindsey has also been involved in the slum outreaches. Jackie has been able to teach every day at Stepping Stones Kindergarten and she loves it. She has been teaching English and learning a lot about herself and children. Sarah has been working a lot with the slum outreaches and the Joy Club (which are both ministries of New Life Church). On a slum outreach, they go to the slum in the area and spend time with children (play games, give treats, paint nails, etc.) and invite them to Joy Club. Joy Club is a children’s meeting at the church where children can come play and hear about Jesus. Kyle has been devoting much of his time this week drawing near to God. The Lord has put it on his heart to spend time with Him in the Word and in prayer, and that is what he has been doing. As our leader, he takes his growth and nearness to God very seriously. He has also taken part in the slum outreaches and Joy Club. Colleen has been teaching a lot of English classes and loves it. She also really enjoys the youth group and meeting people in the church. As a team, we have all really loved what we have been able to do this week. The down side to our schedules is we haven’t been able to spend as much time together, however we did have a team bowling outing. It was very fun and had some healthy competition with ice cream as the prize for the winners.
A Look into the Future -LM
The upcoming week of ministry will look fairly similar to this past week.
Sarah will be plugging into as many slum outreach opportunities that are made available to her through New Life Fellowship; including helping to plan and run Joy Club. Sarah will also be spending one or two afternoons teaching at a private preschool run by New Life. She will also be visiting one of the provinces with the Children At Risk outreach, and will be helping at New Life Day School on Friday. Sarah plans on attending an overnight provincial outreach Saturday to Sunday.
Danny will be plugging into as many ministries as possible; including but not limited to helping plaster, sand, and paint one of the rooms at New Life’s preschool. He will be helping to teach English some days, and playing the guitar with the worship band at New Life Fellowship. Danny will also be going to both the Provincial Evangelism Outreach and the Children At Risk Provincial Outreach. He also will be going to the New Life Day School on Friday, and helping out with the Saturday night Youth Party. Danny will also attend the overnight provincial outreach Saturday to Sunday.
Colleen will be teaching as much English as possible, as English is one of her passions and she is enjoying it very much. She is also thinking about going on both the Provincial Evangelism Outreach and the Children At Risk Outreach. She will also be helping at the New Life Day School on Friday, and helping out with the Saturday night Youth Party. Colleen also plans on attending the provincial outreach Saturday to Sunday.
Jackie will be busy working Monday thru Friday mornings at the private preschool, and in the afternoons will jump in wherever she is needed possibly going to the slums or teaching English.
Kyle will continue spending majority of his days this month reading and studying the Bible, and on his knees seeking God, praying for Cambodia, praying for Team Less and the other September and June teams, and praying for the ministry opportunities we are involved in. He is also participating in the planning and leading of Joy Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and outreaches to the slums. He will also be attending the provincial outreach Saturday to Sunday.
Lindsey will plug into as many slum ministries as she is able to. She is also planning on attending both the Provincial Evangelism Outreach and the Children At Risk Provincial Outreach. She will also help plaster/paint one of the rooms at the private preschool, and will help out on Friday at the New Life Day School. Lindsey will also be participating Saturday with the Youth Party.
Spiritual Discussion –DG
Ever since I heard about New Life and the ministries we would be working with here in Cambodia I feel God has laid on my heart the phrase “Cambodia is a light.” There is such a longing for the hope of Christ in this country as it has in many ways been torn to shreds by genocide and evil for the last thirty years. In 1989 right after the reign of the Khmer Rouge it was recorded that only 33 Christians remained in Cambodia. Today there are over 200,000 and Churches like New Life are bringing more and more people to Christ by being the light of Christ in the darkness that has for so long covered this country. It is amazing to find a Church that is being Jesus to so many people. The other week Lindsey shared a devotional on Isaiah 58 which is a chapter where God is telling Israel that their fasting and praying are meaningless without action. When Jesus came to Earth he didn’t just fast and pray all the time. He loosened the chains of injustice, clothed the naked, and encountered the poor… the same things that New Life Church is adamant about. We have joined with them in reaching the slums of the city, and feeding them. We have been involved in teaching students skills that enable them to get better jobs and speak English. We visited and encouraged people in different provinces whose pastors only four months ago were gang leaders, and now they are starting preschools to reach the next generation for Jesus. It’s almost overwhelming to me. We serve such a mighty and loving God that is able to change countries like Cambodia into beacons of light that spread to every country that surrounds it. Since coming here, God has only confirmed in me that he will use Cambodia in amazing ways to reflect the love of Christ to not only people in this country, but also to people in this whole region of the world.
Story Time- Stinky “Hellos” Rock –KC
Before the World Race, I lived in a very small town in Minnesota that I grew up in. One of my favorite things to do was to walk outside in the morning and take a huge whiff of nice, fresh air.
In the alley that we live in, taking in a huge whiff of air is potentially hazardous to your health. Why, you ask? Well, every night as we are dodging rats in the alley on the way home, we usually come across multiple people that like the use the alleys as a bathroom. Then you have to add in the scent of fermenting garbage that has been sitting in the alley for multiple days in the hot sun. When it finally decides to rain, I get a smile on my face because I think that the smell will be washed away or diluted. But I am later reminded that the rain actually does a rather impressive job of mixing and intensifying the smells. But I wouldn’t trade this smell for anything, because I know what comes along with this smell.
Danny Gutman on Vimeo.
In this alley, I am completely blown away by the smiles and the joy that people have. Every time we walk down the alley, everyone says “hello” and waves. Kids come running over to us to hug us or to grab a finger to hold as they walk with us for a few seconds. We are surrounded by people that have nothing but are so happy.
For some reason the simple things in life are the things that amaze me the most. They seem to be the things that have the largest impact on me. Smiles…so simple, but they have such a huge impact on my day. I wonder what the world would look like if more of us just took the time to smile and say “Hello” to people as they walked by.
Team Prayer Requests-JZ
Please pray for each of us that everything we do is done with Love bringing glory to our Father in Heaven. Please pray for each of us as we dig into our individual ministries. Pray that we do not get burned out and have discernment into when we need to rest. Pray for the people of Cambodia and the New Life Church.
Cultural Quirks-SB
It has not been difficult to find adventure here in Phnom Penh because everytime we cross the street it is a leap of faith. Traffic laws seem to be more of guidelines than actual enforced laws here. People drive on the “right” side of the road but this also includes the sidewalk. Crosswalks are nonexistent. Crossing the street is an adventure. You have to walk on a diagonal, try not to look at the oncoming traffic and keep moving. People don’t play the “you or me?” stare-down game here. If you are off the curb you better keep moving because the motos don’t slow down but they magically divert their route so they don’t hit you. In the mornings on our way to the stadium to run Colleen and I often find ourselves falling into our old habit of standing politely on the curb waiting for a break in traffic that will never come. About 30 seconds later one of us acknowledges that we are just going to have to go and the other one just steps off the curb and “leads” the way. Somehow it works.
We really seem to limit ourselves in America by transporting mostly people in our cars. It is not uncommon to see 2 people and 5 boxes of fruits and veggies on a moto cruising down the street, a conversion van stuffed to capacity with pineapples, or ,my personal favorite, someone with a mattress 4 times as wide as their moto weaving through traffic.
The roads are packed with motos , tuk tuks, cars and even some SUVs (how they can afford $4/gallon gas we don’t know!) When we exit a building there are moto drivers and tuktuks galore offering us rides. They take you by the arm, try to out bid the competition, start carrying your bags to their tuk tuk… anything goes.
To our concerned parents: I will share that there is a whole rack of helmets here to bring with you on the motos… I can verify that our team actually takes great joy in selecting which sweet helmet they will wear. I have seen several people put it on in the house and wear it to walk the whole way down the alley to the street.
