Hello Everyone!
Day one in Kampong Thom has been eventful to say the least. We Left our hostel “Overflow” in Siem Reap and headed for our ministry site. I absolutely love that I can buy a coconut for $1 and get a water and a snack in one! 
Upon arriving our ministry host, Sok Eng, picked us up at the bus stop. We piled six big packs into a tuk tuk and headed down the street.
This month we will be teaching English and giving our testimonies at Sunday services. Sok Eng showed us the preschool where half our team will be working. The other half of our team will be dispersed to local elementary schools, university settings or home groups.
After settling in we went out for dinner. We had Cambodian pancakes made from rice and turmeric. Yum! We piled in the van and headed to the middle of nowhere. We were in a resturaunt on stilts located among the rice paddies. We kicked off our shoes and went into a little room. An off shoot to the wooden hallway/dock we walked down. We all sat around a large table maybe 10″ high. The pancakes were stuffed with pork and bean sprouts. Plate after plate of greens came to the table as well as small bowls of sauce. It was a feast!
After the meal we sat talking about the ministry and plans for this month. There was a cat wandering in and out of the rooms looking for scraps. “Aww cute” was my first thought, until it scrambled under the table I was at. Moments later I felt it brush past my leg and I leapt up in a fright. I may have let out a small scream in the process. The cat ran back under the table and there was mention of a lizard. Great. A cat and a lizard… I can’t sit back down. Our host shooed away the cat but there were still questions about the lizard. Moments later a teammate of mine reacted similarly when she felt something crawling on her leg. We found the lizard, half of it at least. Our host caught the remains and pushed it through the large gap in the floor boards and we continued with our conversation. No big deal. This is the World Race.
As we finally got up to leave we heard the sound of change hitting the floor. Oh man, some lost coins for sure, I thought. Nope. The keys to Sok Eng’s van. The one we got here in. Here being the middle of nowhere. Plop! Straight through the floorboards into what we later discovered was leech filled waters. A few teammates continued looking in the 2′ deep, murky water for a glimpse of the keys while Sok Eng took a moto into town for his spare set. (Where did the moto come from??) I heard they saw a water snake while looking for the keys! It was around that time, as I stood in the dark across the street from the resturaunt, (resturant has lights, lights attract bugs, bugs fly into your clothes, eyes, mouth, and literally anywhere they want), that I thought: “now THIS feels like the World Race”.
Day one, discussing ministry over an authentic & traditional meal, a mix of adventure, making memories with your team and locals, the unknown of what will happen next and the assurance that God is with you still.
I am excited for what this month has in store. I’ll do my best to keep you updated. For more photos check out Facebook!
