Cambodia, where do I even begin? God has never given me such a love for one place.
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another.”
ROMANS 12:9-15
You know the feeling you get when you eat Chick Fil A? (Directed to the real Chick-Fil-A lovers, Hunter Hastings) Before you get your food you are anxiously waiting at your table. Once the food has arrived you are so excited you eat up your plate so quickly, almost missing the taste. Before you even get in the car, you already miss the taste and question going back to order more for the ride home. That is how I feel about this month. The only difference is that I can always go back to Chick-Fil-A whenever I want.
Cambodia
For the month of November my team and I were given the opportunity to live in a village at an orphanage in the province of Kampot, Cambodia.
*** Side note: I am now on a coed team. My teammates names are Cecily (Ces), Alyssa (Lyss), Lucas, Noah, and Jake. Love them all. We also got to live with another team from our squad as well: Claudia, Jillian, Reya, David, Mike, and Parker. ***
We lived in a complex with two buildings, one for us, and the other for the kids. Pastor Kimeng and Srey Bon are head of the orphanage. They are a young married couple that had a calling from the Lord to open up an orphanage, and 22 kids later, here they are. Their love for Jesus is inspiring. Just by the way the kids worship in church or on Saturday nights when we have prayer worship, you know they fully live to glorify the Lord. Within their first year of marriage they had already adopted 3 girls. Later they went on to have their own two kids named Hana (18 months) and Jacob (3 years). When the kids see Hana and I together they say, “Big Hannah, small Hana,” and then laugh.
We weren’t really given a schedule for the month. Our job was to just really love on the kids and form relationships. Some days we would go exploring, while other days we would sit and play cards.
Living at an orphanage, the kids become your little brothers and sisters. You love them so much, but after 10 straight days of playing the same game of saying, “oh yeah yeah stop,” where you freeze until someone moves, becomes a little annoying. Patience is key. Sadly, I will probably miss that game.
There are a lot of things I can already tell I am going to miss. I will miss watching the soccer games everyday that were played in the backyard until sundown. I will miss watching the sun set every night over the rice fields and saying “Hi” to the same little boy who walks by us every night with his same little red and yellow striped shirt on. I will miss Mae, one of the little 9-year-old girls. She stole my heart. If I were old enough to adopt, she would be the one I would take home. I will miss the rice fields surrounding us. I will miss having no electricity at night because seeing the stars never gets old. I will miss the bike rides through the village. I will miss the bumpy truck rides where balance is crucial. Most of all, I will miss the joy the kids bring into our lives each day.
From morning to night you hear little voices full of laughter, yelling, and singing.
Cambodia was not officially on our route, so when the news was announced we were living here for the month of November, it was a bit of a shock. With the unknown ahead, my team packed up our things and headed out. The joy and light that has come out of this month has been overflowing. The race is always full of surprises. Yes, in the moment it can be stressful at times, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Cambodia has by far been my favorite surprise.
Thank you to all of my supporters and the continuous prayers. Happy (late) Thanksgiving! Lots of love.
Celebrating Thanksgiving with our two teams
We went exploring in a pond (ft. Reya and I)
All of the kids and some members of the church
Sweet Mae
