Yet another month in the books. This life I’m living right now is pretty awesome. Yes, I am traveling but that’s not the only thing I get to do, I get to live a life that is controlled by The Lord.
Month six was spent in Cambodia working with a newer church/school. Also a new contact for The World Race. Cambodia was one of the first countries we got to experience that was in the heart of South East Asia.
In the 70’s Cambodia experience one of their most devastating events. There was a genocide of many people. This happened mostly in Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh is known as “The Pearl of Asia”. During the genocide about 1 to 2 million people were estimated to be killed during the genocide. The Kamer Rouge controlled the country and did the mass genocide. They were in power from 1975-1979. It was very devastating to the country. For the most part the average age of people in Cambodia are in their twenties. Most of the older generation is held to the upmost respect, because most of them were been killed due to their status in life. If you were a doctor or someone who had some sort of status in life you would be sentenced to death. So, the ones that lived are well respected in Cambodia, and there is not many of them.
Though most of the country has been rebuilt physically, a lot of the country is still effected by this event, spiritually and emotionally. There is a lot of brokenness here yet you will find there is so much beauty here.
While there we worked at a new start up church, in Phnom Penh, which I loved so much!!! And also at school that was about an hour away from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. This month we moved back and forth from the village to the city every week. During the week we would help out at a new school. There we taught English to the kids and teachers. John and I taught guitar to some of the students. I never thought I could ever teach guitar but God is good and provided me with some great wisdom to teach them. I couldn’t do it without His help. As well as teaching English and guitar we did some manual labor. This was clearing a part of the school grounds of weeds and grass so that they could use the space for parking, and to plant a tree.
This school was started by a couple of missionaries from Brazil, they were awesome people. The couple has been doing missions for years all over the world, and this time God called them to Cambodia to build and start a school in a village, for kids that couldn’t afford to go to school. They would work in rice fields instead. God provided a new way of living for the children there. While we were there, the school had been open for about 8 months. They had grades K-3 and were planning on adding a class every year till they reached 6th grade.
During the weekends we would drive back to Phnom Penh to rest, explore, play soccer, and attend church. Cambodia is a decently hot country and we were graciously provided with A/C while we were in the city. This was wonderful. Most of the time on the race you get to sweat and sweat some more. So having A/C was definitely a perk. I will never take it for granted again.
Ministry in Phnom Penh was so much fun. We got to play soccer on Saturday nights. We would get together with some of the people from the church, where we attended, and play soccer for the night. The field was lit up and it was turf!!! I really enjoy the little things in life like turf fields! This is still one of my favorite things we got to do. Though I am not good, by any means, at soccer they took me in and treated me like family. We got to learn about their lives and their passions. (Most of the group spoke English, so for the most part it was easy to communicate with them.) This is how I think Jesus wanted discipleship to happen. Having fun and living life with one another. (Maybe playing soccer) On Sundays we would attend church and participate in the service. The church was held in a condo type building. Where some of the people of the church would stay there on the weekend; when they were not working. It seated about 20ish people comfortably, the church is soon going to outgrow the building. God is good!!! Though the church is small they have a huge heart.
Monday morning would come around and we would head back out to the school.
This made for a very interesting month. We closed the door to the week by driving back to the city, resting, and then back to work on Monday. On our off days we would explore the city, the markets, and eat the food. Boy do I love food from all over the world!!! Cambodia is known for their barbeque, and it is delicious!! Some food is very interesting and I wouldn’t eat it again; than some I would love to have again.
God’s heart for Cambodia is huge. Never in a million years would I ever think about going here, but God is good and has shown His heart for the people there to me. I will never forget them.
Here is a video that was made for us by one of the missionaries from Brazil!!! Enjoy
