“Mere change is not growth. Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity, and where there is no continuity there is no growth.” C.S. Lewis
New Year’s Day and my birthday are five days apart, so I like to spend this time of year reflecting on the growth that has happened over the last year and choose what I want to focus on over the next twelve months.
2017 will be a year of CONSISTENCY. I know you may be thinking, “You’re on the World Race. You’re hardly going to find consistency this year.” But that’s the point. I’ve used the constant change of the Race as an excuse to not create habits. I know I’ve used that as an excuse in my life back home as well. I’ve let my changing environment dictate my mood and actions. I’ve used the excuse of adapting to my changing circumstances to be soft about my convictions and responsibilities.
Change in life is guaranteed. How I react to change is up to me. I think consistency in action leads to persistence, and persistence is rooted in faithfulness. I don’t want to implement short term, drastic changes that cannot be maintained. I want to make a daily decision to be more intentional with how I spend the hours of my life. I want to choose intimacy with the Lord, regardless of my circumstances or environment.
With that in the forefront of my mind, I found myself starting off 2017 in Cambodia. I don’t even know where to begin with all of the things I learned in this beautiful country. All I know is that God had “consistency” written all over my month.
Cambodia’s History vs. Future
Not many people in the United States know about the devastation that the country of Cambodia faced only 40 years ago. The Khmer Rouge under the Pol Pot regime caused so much damage to this beautiful country. During the mass genocide under the Khmer Rouge, millions of people were interrogated, tortured, and executed. Pol Pot targeted men, women, and children; intellectuals, teachers, soldiers, politicians, bureaucrats, and doctors were all killed. Over a quarter of the entire population of Cambodia was murdered. This left a previously thriving nation trying to recover and play catch up in development with its neighboring countries. At the same time, the country is currently fighting corruption and learning what life looks like with a generational cap in population caused by the genocide of most middle-aged people.
As we heard the stories and tried to grasp an understanding of the impact that the Khmer Rouge had on the people we encountered, it was clear that both consistency and change will be required to alter the trajectory of Cambodia’s future. The key will be consistent persistence. The older generation of Cambodia needs to be consistent in instilling hope into the next generation, encouraging them that their future will not look like their past. The people of Cambodia need consistency in education, consistency in building up youth programs, persistence in fighting corruption and persistence in forgiveness and reconciliation. Please join me in praying for the healing of this country.
Morning Routines
Praise the Lord I am finally healthy enough to run! Every morning, we would crawl through the barbed wire fence and run along the river, next to barking dogs, chickens, cows, and the occasional water buffalo. At the end of every run, I would pray over the village, the community, the students, my team, and the day. It was my favorite part of the day, and the Lord was consistent in adding beautiful sunrises into my morning routine.
Every morning, one person from my team would accompany our host mom Khema to the market. I LOVE markets! What a rare treat it was to buy fresh food every morning! Khema was so faithful in caring for us, making sure we had everything we needed, and teaching us how to successfully survive the market.
(Check out those vegetables and check out that outfit!)
(Our theme for the month: Many hands make light work!)
(Here is the meat section of the market. Rows and rows of women selling meat, with the occasional head or hooves sticking into the aisle.)
Ministry & Relationships
Some months, our ministry changes every day. This month was a gift because we were able to teach in the same locations every day, opening the doors to build relationships with our students and provide consistency in their lesson plans.
I had the opportunity to teach in 4 different settings:
Government School – Every morning, a few of us would go to the Government school and teach the teachers English. In Cambodia, a government mandate has been put in place that requires students to start learning English in Grade 4. It sounds like a great plan but there is one issue. None of the teachers speak English. These men and women were excited to learn and loved to practice English with us. English will be the key to success in their careers and their students’ futures. It is exciting to know that the lessons we taught the teachers will spread through hundreds of students and greatly impact their education.
(Here is my class! Yes, it is intimidating to teach educators and be called “Teacher” with no qualification except from the Lord. And yes, I think English is the hardest language in the world.)
(Our sweet “students” got us “I love Cambodia” shirts and scarves on our last day!)
Evening Class – Every evening, I would go to a house and teach an evening English class. My students ranged from 6 years old to 50+ years old, with a large variety of English levels. I taught various topics of English vocabulary, with some games and songs in between! Before each class, the students would bow and greet me with a “GOOD EVENING TEE-CHA” and leave class with a bow and a “THANK YOU TEE-CHA, GOOD BYE TEE-CHA”. It was so fun to teach these sweet kids and pray that each of them would come to know the Lord and understand His love for them.
Clever Kids School – A few mornings, I had the opportunity to go to an elementary school to teach. Walking into a classroom full of students who do not speak your language without a lesson plan requires two things: 1) A reliance on the Lord and 2) Lots of creativity. I also have a new appreciation for every substitute teacher I have ever had.
(Despite what this picture shows, I had little to no control over this classroom for the entire morning.)
Jabe – Every day, one teammate would stay home to cook for the team while we were teaching. On those days, I would teach English to our ministry host’s cousin, Jabe. He lived with us and made sure we were safe and taken care of! He has a bright future ahead of him and he is going to do big things for the Kingdom of God.
Good Gifts from the Lord
Community – God gave me a great gift of spending the month with a team of beautiful women. These women loved well and served well, and they are full of power and wisdom and passion.
(Meet Team Kornweh!)
Birthday – If I’m honest, I was dreading my birthday because holidays on the Race aren’t so great. However, my team celebrated with me and my birthday was full of birthday cards, pizza, cake, and laughs. It was a great start to my 26th year of life!
(Our team had 3 birthdays in the month of January!)
Life Around The Table – For those of you who know me, you know my favorite thing to do is sit around a table and have good discussion. I also think eating is one of the best ways to experience new cultures. We had the opportunity to have a few traditional Cambodian meals with our host family and friends.
(Amazing Cambodian food eaten on the floor of a “tree house” suspended over water)
Fishing – Our host took us fishing on the river that ran next to our house. Using bamboo fishing poles and shrimp for bait, we caught one fish the size of our pinky finger, but we still had fun!
Family Adventures – One weekend, our host family took us to see some 7th century ancient temples. Before we explored the ruins, we ate lunch in the back of the pickup truck and taught our family the concept of “tailgating”. Instead of the typical burgers and hotdogs, we ate fried fish, a whole fried chicken, and rice!
Bug Net Adventures – (Part 1) I woke up after the first night of sleep in our new place to a brown fuzzy spider the size of my palm inside my bug net a few inches from my face. The beginning of the bugs in Cambodia. (Part 2) Near the end of our stay, our team was getting ready to watch Aladdin with our buddy Omnor, and our host came in and asked us if we could pause the movie, go under our bug nets, and turn off all the lights. He wanted us to avoid getting stung by bees while they burned a nest because if we got stung more than 5 times, we could die. It turned into 5 girls piling into one bug net, with lots of laughter and screams in the dark. I’m happy to report I got out of Cambodia without a bee sting or a spider bite.
Wedding – One night, we were walking home and we walked past a wedding tent on the road, and before we knew it, we got dragged into the wedding and were dancing around a table with Cambodian strangers. I wish that happened in the United States.
Family – The Lord blessed us with an amazing ministry host. Sok Eng and Khema are loving, hospitable people who want to meet the needs of the people in their community, build relationships, support the church, and support the education system. They love and serve everyone with open arms and hearts because they believe in only one culture: the Kingdom Culture.
(My sweet Cambodian Family: Omnor, Khema, Haratey, and Sok Eng)
The Lord’s Promises
The Lord promises that the Holy Spirit will give us the words to speak when we need them. The Lord also tells us not to fear, for He is with us. It was so cool to put these truths into practice when I preached my first sermon!
I mentioned our driver Nhor in my last blog. The Lord says, “Everyone will know you are my disciples by the way you love one another.” The Lord is faithful in seeking after His children, and Nhor is now a follower of Christ because he saw our team’s love for the Lord and each other.
(Our driver Nhor! Lots of laughs, prayers, and life happened in the back of that truck.)
I’m thankful that the Lord shares the beauty of the world with us. Cambodia was a beautiful country. During our squad debrief, we had the opportunity to see Angkor Wat and it was surreal to walk through the largest religious monument in the world. Although it is a Hindu and Buddhist temple, it was amazing to be able to pray for other believers and missionaries that we met inside the walls of Angkor Wat.
So, what does consistency mean for us as Americans? Think about this: “How many people put off the necessary, unglamorous work of building habits because they spend their lives waiting for an epiphany that never comes?” Regardless of our circumstances or environment, we are responsible to create healthy habits and disciplines that spur growth. This can be applied to all areas of life: Do you desire more intimacy with the Lord? Want to be physically healthy? Do you long to have deeper relationships? Want to learn something new? All of these things require habits and discipline. Establishing habits and being persistent with our disciplines results in growth and drives us to reach our full potential.
Join me in making 2017 a year of consistency.
