1. The Girls!
– We were privileged to work with Sending Hope International Cambodia in the province of Battambang. This is a home where 10 girls aged 8-13 live so that they are able to receive 3 meals a day, an education, and a safe environment while receiving and living by the Word of God.
– These girls have faced the struggles of poverty that many of us would never imagine. They come from broken families where parents go to work and leave the kids to take care of one another. Sometimes for hours, sometimes for days. Many children end up living with elderly grandparents or family members, where abuse and addiction abound, while their mothers and fathers go to surrounding countries to seek work opportunities. Others walk to and from school in unsafe areas, often ending up as victims of rape and abuse. Children are also found drowned after being lured to the cooling relief of swimming pools and bodies of water to break the sting of the Cambodian heat. However, despite what these girls have been through, they are such strong powerhouses for the Lord. Their prayers are full of wisdom and power. Don’t doubt how God can use the children of this world!
– Though learning their Asian names may have been challenging, we did it & those names will forever be etched on our hearts. Through bible studies, adventures, jump rope, singing, and nightly bicycle rides home, these precious beings became like our sisters and our children. Leaving was THE hardest! Especially because these girls had planned a surprise foot washing for us our last night there. Talk about the feels & some streams of tears – not just ours but theirs too. Ughhh… *don’t start crying now, Gracie!*
2. Ministry
– We started each day leading bible study with some songs of worship for the girls. The rest of the day consisted of teaching, manual labor, crafts, and hanging out/adventure.
– We worked alongside the girls to manually till up some land and plant seeds for veggies, move bricks, and dig holes for bamboo trees.
– One of my favorites weeks there, a team from a church in Ohio (HOLLA!) came with the founder of Sending Hope to lead a camp for the children in the surrounding areas. We were able to come alongside the team and our girls to help lead this camp. I helped with field tactics. Yeah, I know how to tie some pretty sick knots now! Haha.
3. Adventure
– I have to tell you that we had the best host! Vottey (pronounced like bow tie w/ a “v”) is the selfless, wisdom-filled, love-oozing-out-of-her-heart woman who moved her family from France to her home country of Cambodia to take care of these girls.?- Vottey was a first-time host but definitely did not disappoint! She brought us traditional Cambodian treats to try like bamboo sticky rice, banana rice cakes, some kind of chia seed/fruit/coconut milk goodness, and meals true to local cuisine. We even had frog legs one night & I actually liked them! WHAT!? (Click here for the video.)
– Anyways… when we weren’t doing bible studies or teaching, Vottey encouraged us to go places with the girls and experience some of the adventure Cambodia had to offer. She took us to a swinging bridge (that I almost fell through). LOL. We went to Banon Mountain Temple where where climbed hundreds of steps to see a beautiful view and some ancient temples at the top. Along the way, we briefly visited a local market and saw this big tree famous for the giant bats that hang from the tippy tops of its branches.
– One day we took the girls out for ice cream and afterwards we hung out by the river with them. Now, this wasn’t the cleanest of rivers. Not sure if the brown tone of the water was from the mud or something else but nonetheless the girls walked right on in & guess what!? I did too! We bent down and collected clam-like creatures with our hands. Some girls went to the other side of the river bank to climb trees and pick the special leaves to bring home & eat. They would’ve brought the clams back to boil and have for dinner but Vottey was opposed. Haha. That day, we also met 2 brothers by the river that broke my heart. (Read their story here).
– Other than that, on our days off we were able to venture off to cool places like Phnom Penh and explore the area. We were afforded the opportunity to learn about the history of Cambodia which included visiting the Tuol Sleng/S21 Cambodian Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields.
4. Khmer New Year/Hello 27!
– Khmer New Year is a highly regarded public holiday, so because of this the girls were out of school a majority of the month that we were in Cambodia and we had much more time with them! =D
– This holiday is celebrated for 3 days during which everyone throws water and baby powder on each other! So if you are outside – which includes being in a Tuk Tuk – you better expect to be at least damp, if not drenched, by the time you get to your destination!
– These 3 days just happened to be April 14-April 16th this year which means that guess what!? My birthday (April 15th) fell right in between! We stood at the end of the driveway with a trash can full of water, a water hose, water guns, and buckets to throw water on people as they passed by. Motos, cars, trucks full of people throwing water and water balloons on us… it sounds unreal & in fact, it was quite surreal. So many birthdays uncelebrated or spent living a life without God were redeemed on this one day. Man, God is so good! Call me a sap but I may or may not have water in my eyes right now. Lol.
– That night we cleaned up, put on our WR best, & climbed in the back of a Tuk Tuk to head to town to meet another team for dinner. Well wouldn’t you know it, we were wet by the time we got there! But no worries, we had a great dinner with lots of friends and finished the night off by enjoying some fireworks at the festival for Khmer New Year!
5. Friendships
– This was really a time of metamorphosis for friendships on our team. I have to say that this month our team grew more open to one another, sharing our vulnerabilities, and loving each other through them.
– Additionally, we had the team from Ohio with us for a week and I loved every single one of them. We got to do ministry alongside them, get to know them, and share many a meal with them. Laughter and love flowed that week for sure! Maybe I’m biased because they’re from my home state (O-H!) but it was such a comfort to have them there. I really believe that some lifelong friendships were formed that week & I cannot wait to visit them when I get home! 🙂
6. Smiles
– The people of Cambodia are beautiful people! Just get them to smile & they light up the world! <3
7. Lessons From God
– This month, a teammate of mine found out that she had gotten an internship that she applied for. I think hearing this exciting news kind of sparked something in our whole team to start looking for career/internship opportunities for life after the race. Although we were only in month 7 with 4 months still to go, application deadlines for such opportunities were rapidly approaching. Even before this time, I had been praying about my future and what life would look like after 11 months of missions. Would I be overseas in full time missions? Would I be back in the corporate world? Would I be in full time ministry at home or in another state?! I had no clue!
– I was growing a little discouraged as my fellow team members were finding crazy opportunities for life after the race. Like Katie meeting a couple in Thailand that was from the same town where she is possibly looking to go for seminary. They work with a social justice organization that focuses on the sex trade and could could even help Katie get a job there. To top it off, they also offered her a place to stay for free while working and going to seminary. All this happened just 1 day after Katie had a conversation with a fellow teammate expressing her frustration with uncertainty of what to do after the race.
– It was this month that I finally got over myself and told God that though it may be scary, I am standing with open hands and an open heart to whatever/wherever He wanted to take me. Then the team from Ohio showed up & one of the couples we were working with happened to be the young adult pastors for their church. I had some conversations with them about what working in full time ministry looks like and secretly (or maybe not so secretly) I was hoping that maybe there was a possibility to work in ministry with them. I may have even hinted or alluded to this idea a time or two. Lol. I grew close to almost everyone from their church that week and was convinced that life in Wooster, Ohio with this community of people after the race wouldn’t be half bad! But regardless of what my future held, just their mere presence was God speaking to me. God was saying, “Hey Gracie! Look… I can send people across the world for you to connect with in Cambodia who are from Ohio!” Like what?! I don’t think it was coincidence. Shoot, I’m not entirely sure that I believe in “coincidence”. I really believe that these are life long friends; and who knows what ministry may come out of knowing them some day?!
There’s so much more I could say about Cambodia but just know my heart longs to be back there again some day! I’m praying for the girls and the ministry of Sending Hope International. They are doing great things and hope to support more girls. So, if you’re interested in supporting this ministry, please let me know and I will get you in touch with the right person. Thanks for reading & as always… thanks for your love, prayers, & support! God bless! 🙂
