Here’s the deal…I’ve already tried to write this blog two times and I don’t know why it’s so complicated. I want to tell you about the hardships of the month and why they’re turning out to be blessings. I want you to be able to understand the tough physical environment without thinking I’m whining like a baby or boasting because I’m enduring it. I just want you to know what’s really happening out here, or rather in here, as most of the changes and growth are taking place internally this month. I guess it’s tough because I know that you won’t understand. I don’t even expect you to be able to; I didn’t understand until I came here myself.
The first day we were here we were hit with many challenges. As we sat with our contact to discuss the needs of the ministry and the role we would play, not much was determined. The language barrier was no mere plastic hurdle, it was a solid brick wall. One of the staff here speaks a little English and there’s another guy with a bit of a vocabulary, other than that the verbal communication is zero. I have never faced anything like this on the Race. You may think I’m overreacting a bit, but everything takes five times longer when you can’t understand each other. We have relied on non-verbal games or ones with very little instruction. In class we try to draw and act things out instead of always lecturing. We watched Kung Fu Panda today for two reasons: 1) the boys love Kung Fu and everything Bruce Lee and 2) it’s got enough action that the conversation doesn’t matter as much.
My attempts at drawing/teaching the days of creation.
Don't be jealous of my skills…especially that land mammal on Day 6.
Aside from the translation, there’s the wildlife. Geckos I can handle; they’ve been in every country aside from those in Eastern Europe. It wasn’t until SE Asia that I found out that they make the most ridiculous screechy-bullfrog-growling sounds though. Maybe I’ll catch one on video for y’all…anyway, there are other creatures here too. I’ve seen spiders that are scary but tolerable, and ants that show up everywhere. Most of them are not fire ants (my right foot experienced two fire ants yesterday), but they are just miniature freckles or dirt spots on your arm until they start moving and you lazily flick them away. There has been a rumor of cobras, but I didn’t see any in Malaysia and haven’t found any here…yet. I did come across a delightful baby scorpion in the bathroom this week. By this point I was more frustrated and so over the insect/reptile/nasty things threat that I didn’t care. I shut the door and walked away mad that I couldn’t even pee without being harassed by the prospect of a painful sting. (I found out later that they’re just really painful and not lethal, so that’s good I guess.) Oh, more bugs. Day one we were also in our tents (and sweating profusely because it creates a sauna-like atmosphere) because of the mass amounts of flying creatures coming through the windows. I woke up the next day, dripping in sweat with wings stuck to my legs. Yea, disgusting. Those are about all the nasty creatures I can think of, so I’ll move on to the heat and humidity update…
Steph was fearless, she held the scorpion first!
Facing my fears: Holding a live scorpion that the dog caught.
Don't worry, the stinger was cut off at this point.
Temperatures and humidity in a nutshell: unbearable! Some nights it may rain for a few minutes and cool off a bit, but for the most part it’s just hot. April is the worst time to be in Cambodia. The girls live in a “tree house” (elevated house with no trees around it…but “tree house” just sounds fun!) that is about a 15 minute walk from the Teen Challenge farm. We walk there and back at least 2-3 times a day for meals and teaching. That’s 1-1.5 hours of walking. We buy two 20 liter water jugs and refill them every two or three days. One morning I drank 1.5 liters before 9am and still felt dehydrated! Some of us have been running in the mornings down a little cow path between the villages. It’s through the field on a dirt path and there is literally no shade. Needless to say our jogs have started earlier and gotten shorter than those of previous months.
A field nearby the Teen Challenge Farm. It's similar to our jogging route.
After working out and walking 30 minutes to breakfast and back, I take a bucket shower with dark yellow/brown water. It’s good to check to make sure bugs aren’t in the bucket before I rinse my hair. I washed my clothes with the same water. Well, washed is an overstatement. I let them soak with laundry detergent for 3-4 hours, then swished them around and rinsed them out to hang up. Some of the girls hung up their wet, sweaty clothes only to find an ant infestation had taken over!
Large pots to collect rainwater and hold water from other sources.
I've never seen a tap anywhere, just these pots and a bucket in the bathroom!
What else? Oh yea, food! Last month the food was a bit of a challenge on some days. This month, everything has been phenomenal! We have a fruit smoothie lady on the corner who sells them for .50 each. There is rice at every meal, but also eggs, and sometimes mango, banana, pineapple or watermelon. We don’t eat fish (praise God!) and there is pork, beef and chicken. We may be eating a certain dog soon if it doesn’t quit nipping at our heels!
With the sweet smoothie lady. Her small son gives us high fives
and there are two adorable puppies at her place 🙂
One of our delicious meals with mango and watermelon.
Our little "cafeteria" where we eat all of our meals.
That reminds me…one more interesting obstacle. Dogs. I’m not talking your nice Cocker Spaniel or Golden Retriever. These are crazy, flee-infested, mean dogs. Two of them bark at us every time we come home at night even though we’ve been here for over a week. There’s one on the corner that is berserk. He lies in the middle of the road waiting to torment us and stands to growl and bare his teeth whenever we pass. If he’s not feeling as despicable on a particular day he’ll simply bark his head off loudly and suppress the growl. I got fed up yesterday and told the guy who doesn’t speak a lick of English, “Control your dog!! Grrrh!”
Animals abroad are simply an adventure of another kind. We live next to a chicken coop with quite a few hens, chicks and those infernal roosters. (I looked up 'infernal' to see if it was really the word I wanted…1. Very annoying, and 3. Diabolical in nature. Yep, that’s an accurate description.) Most mornings I wake up to their calls between 3am and 3:30am. That’s when I realize my air mattress has deflated again. It usually lasts about 2-3 hours before the air leaks out slowly and I’m on the ground again. If I’m super uncomfortable I muster the strength to roll off, blow it up again and roll back on. If I happen to sleep through the roosters, as was the case this morning, the loud speakers from the neighboring village kindly wake me up at 5am for Buddhist prayer chants and announcements. That goes on from anywhere to 1 to 2 hours with music as well. At least I’m not sleeping with a mouse trapped in my mosquito net like the guys on our team! (Update…a mouse just ran past my teammate's tent as I was about to post this. No lie!)
Infernal rooster and chicks.
Taryn made the comment the other day as we were riding into town that it was the first time we’d been in a motorized vehicle in 8 days. I thought about how comfortable I was (even without AC) because I was sitting on a cushioned seat as opposed to the cement floor or wooden bench. That got me to thinking…I’ve only slept in a bed 4 times since Chiang Mai, Thailand, 40 days ago. No wonder my body feels like that of an 80-year-old grandmother. My teammates make fun of each other because of the groaning noises we make when we try to stand up, then we all bust out laughing.
That’s the thing, the kicker. These hardships, challenges, whatever you want to call them… bring laughter now. Well, most of the time. Sometimes they bring not so nice words to my mind, wishes for home, or the urge to bust into tears. But I’m starting to learn to smile and pray. That was quite a lengthy description I just gave, but it’s my life now. It’s where I am and I have to learn to deal with it somehow.
There are two possibilities: give up and check out early (mentally, I’m not going home now!) or give it all and push til the end. I can look back to times in my life when I’ve done things halfway. I hate it. Why didn’t I have the drive to continue? What’s the use of doing something if it’s not done correctly? I know my dad is reading this and agreeing…he works hard at everything and takes twice as long to do something if it means it gets done right.
I’m getting away from my point though. I like the hard stuff. Not that I welcome the scorpions and lack of communication, but they’re here and it makes me work hard to overcome. The Lord blessed me with a good family and group of friends. Academics and athletics have both come pretty naturally to me. I haven’t had to push myself in a lot of areas.
The Race has brought a lot out of me that I never knew I had. Learning to live in community with 5 or 6 other people is not always easy. Dealing with physical living conditions can be pretty rough in some places. Seeing spiritual strongholds over the lives of those you have grown to love is difficult. I remember packing for the Race and freaking out. I’ve never backpacked in my life! I can’t fit all of my things in this space! What am I getting into?
If you would’ve asked me in 2010 to: walk through jungles, eat fried squid, pray for random homeless people, preach on a street corner, go exploring in a cave, ride a train for 32 hours, watch a sheep get slaughtered, bungee jump or sleep on the floor for two months, I probably would’ve been hesitant or bailed out all together.
Preaching in the street in Bulgaria.
Bungee jumping at the Nile
It’s the experiences that have built me up so that I’m able to handle what comes today. When you say “Yes” to God with one small thing, he keeps taking you one step further, one step higher. I can look back to see how the Lord has built me over the past few years. I said “Yes” to his call to be a missionary when I was 17. Since then He’s patiently guided me through being a camp counselor, sharing the gospel with coworkers at a theme park in California, interning at my church back home and now loving the nations and proclaiming His name abroad. I never could have done the Race at an earlier time. He knew that and walked with me until I was ready. He knew that Cambodia needed to be month 10 instead of 2. He knows because he’s created me and loves me more than I can ever fathom. He not only knows best, he himself is the best for me.
Beautiful sunset at the farm.
So the prayer I have for the month is to have the determined mindset like Paul:
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
– Philippians 4:11-13
I know that Phil. 4:13 is such a popular verse when people want to win a sports game or get a big promotion or overcome some personal obstacle. Maybe that’s fine, but it means much more to me. Call me crazy, but I think Paul’s words “I can do everything” refer to what he just mentioned in the previous verses. I can be content in need or with plenty, with food or without it, living in luxury or poverty. This means I, Hannah, can live with or without a nice bed. I can deal with bugs, heat and dirt. I can choose to love me teammates and my ministry host. I can do everything – whatever he asks me to do – because he is with me and he gives me strength.
These temporary circumstances (both for the Race and for this temporal life) may not be what I prefer at times, but they are helping me to understand Who I need. And I’m thankful for that.
But we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
-Romans 5:3-4
Another sweet sunset. The Lord continues to amaze me with His beauty 🙂
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
– James 1:2-4
