Driving through a city on a tuk tuk is something I hope everyone gets to experience. The city is bustling around you. You could physically reach out and pat the shoulder of the man on the motorbike next to you, which is also why you hold tightly onto your stuff cause they can easily reach right back.
Yesterday evening we had our first adventure day. Our host graciously drove us into the city with the help of an accompanying tuk tuk. We went to the killing fields and learned about Cambodia’s tragic history. We stopped by the Russian market and bartered for some cliché elephant pants. And we stopped by a mall to simply get some necessities. All in all interesting, but not crazy adventurous.
As a few of us were sitting in a cafe, drinking our first real lattes since leaving home, we watched a storm roll in. The sky started to get dark and the lightning separated the sky with streaks of light in the distance. We all clamored into our host’s jeep and the tuk tuk that had stuck with us for the day. Josh, Josh, John, and I piled into the tuk tuk and set out for our ministry site about 40 min out from the city. We goofed around, filmed videos, took pictures, and pointed at all of the near accidents. The sun set and the storm rolled closer. The wind started to gust and the sky continued to darken until fat raindrops began to fall.
Our tuk tuk driver was so concerned with our dryness that he pulled over to pull down the rain flaps on the sides of our tuk tuk. I’m grateful for it, but it cut us off from the outside surroundings.
As we were forced (we really don’t have a problem with talking about anything on our team, THANK JESUS) to speak about something other than the immediate happenings, it turned into a debrief of the day, and thoughts of what could be done with the free time we had to look forward to the following day. Talking about spots we could split up and go and the desire for Josh Garcia to find some sort of hiking. Though the thought of hiking thrilled him, it is something he truly loves, he mentioned his ankle had begun to hurt that day at the Russian market. He didn’t know what was wrong, and the pain was enough to make him doubt his ability to walk very far.
Physical healing through prayer is not something I know a lot about, though its something that has been put into my life over the last couple of months. It is something I have experienced, and I do not doubt God’s power and capabilities in this.
As Josh Garcia explained this, I felt the need and desire to ask if we could pray for his ankle. I originally intended to wait until our whole team was together, but Josh Owens looked at me and said,
“How about right now?”
I thought about it for a second. OF COURSE! Why would we wait to seize an opportunity to see God’s hand move?
As we were huddled in a darting tuk tuk with a storm roaring against the fabric walls, we all laid hands on his ankle and prayed for complete healing in the name of the Lord.
“Josh, how does it feel?” We all looked at him expectantly.
“Guys, no joke, as soon as you touched it… my ankle felt so much better”
Roars of praise and celebration echoed from our tuk tuk, not able to be muffled by the static of rain.
Yes! Praise the Lord! I love seeing Christ work outside the box we naturally want to put him in. I want to continue to sit at the foot of the cross eager to see my Father’s movements. We continued to join hands with one another and praise the Lord for everything that he has done.
This is the end of week one.
Wow. Its the little (BIG) things.
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Thank you everyone for the prayers you have been sending my way. I am currently $2,500 away from being fully funded. Please keep Cambodia Slum Ministry in your prayers and we head into another week, full of kids and chaos.
