Dear Friends and Family,
Here is an update on my race so far. We have been living in Cambodia for the past 3 months sharing the love of Jesus to everyone we encounter. Here the Lord has aloud us all to grow in a way that shines light on who he is and the type of relationship he wants to have with us. He is teaching us how to be a team that goes out into a new culture with a spirt of joy and praise for him. He gives us courage when things are hard and he gives us laughter when things just don’t make sense. I can say without a doubt that I have my full trust in the plan that he has set for me in these next few months ahead, and I cannot wait to explore those plans alongside my team and with him.
Month 1 of the race the whole squad of 50 people were living all together in Battambang, Cambodia. Here the six different teams were assigned different ministries to do. My team was given the opportunity to teach English at a Buddhist school known as Paññasastra. After a few weeks of teaching we felt like the students were not really understanding what we had to say and we began to feel discouraged. But then God showed us that we were not really in that city to teach the children how to speak fluent English but to rather just love on them and show them just how much he loves and cares for them and the people living in Battambang.
Here in Battambang I learned that he uses our weaknesses to show just how powerful he really is. And that she shows himself through love and community, in ways that I have never seen before.
After month 1 of the race the 6 teams in the squad were split up to different parts of Cambodia to join a new ministry. My team and I were sent to Kampot which was the farthest away from all the other teams in a small village. We have been here in this village for the past 2 months, and this place has so much meaning to each and every one of us. Here in Kampot we have been given so many different ministry tasks. We do house visits where we tell people about Jesus and pray for healing over them, we teach English and bible stories in the morning, afternoon, and evening to many different kids and age groups. We do construction where we tore down 2 shelters and built a parking garage for the church, we painted the church both on the inside and the outside making it really clean and welcoming, with a mural on the side of the church as well. We learned how to make coconut soap and oil and learned how they make a living for themselves by doing so. But most importantly we were able to love o our amazing Host and his family who have such bright ideas for there community, and how to really bring God into the center of it all.
Here in Kampot the Lord has shown me so much about him and how he loves me and how we should love and respect him as our father. He’s showing me what it means to be humble and also thankful for the things he has given me and the things that are still yet to come. The good and the bad. He’s showing me that there is always more to explore and that my story doesn’t just end here in Cambodia. He’s asking me to let go of the things that do not define who I am and step into the woman he created me to be. He’s showing me that I am his beloved daughter and that he created me in his image and then said “It is Good!” He’s given me a voice to share that wants to scream out just how much he loves me and how amazing he truly is.
He is bring me to places that I would never have been able to go if I had not chose to trust in him and I want to continue on this path with him. Always exploring the hearts of those who yet do not know him and inviting them into what he has to offer…
With that being said, I am so thankful to have the support from my father in heaven but also the people reading this as well. You see in order to be here I needed to raise $15,800, by January15th, I still need at least $3000 more in order to stay here on the race and finish what the Lord has planned for me. I want to say thank you to everyone who as already gave me so much. But please help me finish the race and contiune to share the Lords love to everyone I meet along the way. So if you would please consider donating to my trip even a small amount more I would be very thankful. Im excited to see what the Lord has next for me in this season and to learn more about who he says that I am.
Next stop in the race, now that Months 1,2 and 3 are over, the squad will now travel to Africa where we will be working with a ministry organization known as HOPEthiopia. Please keep my team and I in your prays as we say goodbye to Cambodia and Hello to Ethiopia for the next 3 moths of our race.
