Hellooooo world! Kia Ora e te whanau! My team and I are here in Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia (Kampuchea), a mere three weeks into these 11 months of life on the World Race. The Lord is doing so much already! Believe it or not, I’m already behind in blogging loolll – so here is a belated update from our first two weeks of training in Phnom Penh. More to come on subsequent time in Battambang and Siem Reap later!
After meeting all 17 of my squadmates in San Francisco, we flew 40ish hours (ft. a rad little layover in China) to land in Phnom Penh. We all stayed in a hostel and walked each morning to another location for training. These morning walks (3.5km/2.2miles) quickly became one of my favourite things, in spite of the heat & humidity! Weaving through hectic traffic, bustling street markets, interacting with the same locals, guards, and dogs, deep korero with fellow squadmates, and getting in some exercise before the heat became too much. Always bustling and loud, the capital Phnom Penh is not as touristy as Siem Reap or Sihanoukville – so a group of 18 foreigners walking around each morning for sure stood out (and were greeted by the sweetest children). We were gifted with a beautiful glimpse into Cambodian local city life.
Our life for the two weeks looked like: early mornings at our hostel, walk to the AirBnB, mornings of teaching/training/prayer, afternoons of ministry with locals, walks, naps, coffee, shared dinner, worship, a tuk tuk ride home, quick swim in the hostel pool, all the laughs in our dorm rooms, sleeeeep by ~10pm. After my month of extensive North America travel, it was oh so beautiful to be in one place so long! Also, these hectic streets have made me question the sanity and suitability of jandals (flip flops), for like the first time everrr. Let it be known that I am wearing shoes 90% of the time. Guys, the World Race is chaaaanging me.
I wanted to let you in on some other ways this Training Camp time is shaping me & my thinking – here’s an overview. The perfectionist in me wants to edit and write more for each point, but I’m learning (slowly) to let go for the sake of everrrr publishing this!
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Expectations vs reality of this Unscripted World Race. Where I saw us spending most of the time with local ministries, edifying the existing global church – the heart of Unscripted is to simply listen and respond to the voice of God. Per the website, “As an Unscripted Racer, you will minister to the people God leads you to each day – much like the early disciples did. This journey will teach you to listen for God’s voice each day, to lead you to ministry opportunities. The goal of this experience is to train you to live a mission focused lifestyle that will succeed long after your 11 month journey.” While I knew this in part, and was excited for the freedom and leadership opportunities within, I was not expecting the depth of this focus. **One week into this lifestyle and it is oh so beautiful, blog to come on as much soon.**
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Big picture strategic missions/ministry/justice work vs engaging fully with the one in front of me. Like the life of Jesus, we are walking through 2019 interruptible to the people the Father places in front of us. Which is pretty different from most of my thinking previously – where I would rather have put effort in strategic justice initiatives, being hyper aware of the saviour complex and cyclical dependence birthed in many individual actions. But the Lord is so sweetly humanising and rightsizing all my perceptions of justice! It starts with the one. And for us to live this Unscripted life, we get to bless & trust the bigger picture work of existing ministries – while we hang out with those to whom they are not catering. I talk a bit more about this vibe here. Ol mate Matthew sums it up well (Matt 10:42b, The Message) “This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.” How GOOD. This year will for sure frame any future justice movements I step into, firmly rooted in a perception of each ONE.
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Is my faith and experience of life truly tied to the life of Jesus? Eeeeeooooow. Been gently convicted of this – thinking that my v holistic, culturally rooted, and deeply church oriented/structured understanding of faith (while healthy) strayed a liiiittle from how Jesus actually lived and calls us as disciples/apprentices to live…
Jesus is THEE best. I came onto the Race with a pretty thick set of expectations, and during our first week of training I was letting so many of these go. It was a good & needed process, but little pockets of grief were for sure present. One main expectation was ’to experience 11 different cultural expressions of the Lord’, and as I realised how detached this year would be from the local Church, I was letting that one go too. BUT, we went to the most beautiful church in Phnom Penh halfway through Training, with 15 nations represented. The sermon was on the different flavours of the gospel as it travels through culture (eg places like Thailand and Cambodia understanding the concept of Kingdom more than the West). !!!! So GOOD! And then we spent a full day researching each country on our route, noting how their culture and history shapes gospel understanding. Wowowowowow. After the first week in which the Lord led me to surrender so many of these ideas, he gently re affirmed my heart in all this. The most beautiful journey – to lay it all down for the fullness of Jesus simply being ENOUGH, for the Lord to re spark these cultural ideas from my newly rooted Jesus centred lifestyle.
Before we were split into four teams, our Squad Leaders approached me to step up as a Team Leader. As the youngest on the squad (by a good 3 years), I was megaaaa surprised to be asked. And wrestled with it a bit, bc I was originally stoked to take a bit of a back seat and learn more hands on this year – vs an upfront leadership role that was kinda the norm at home (Head Girl, Youth Pastor etc). After one v sleepless night, I did say YES and am now so so thankful for the gift of this role. Team DEEP is just the best wee crew of humans out, and the Lord is so faithful in affirming and holding me.
I LOVE the story & journey the Lord has given me so far, and am so excited to press into all that He is and all He has for me in 2019!
Stay tuned for a blog on the past weeks in Battambang and Siem Reap. On Thursday, we’re bouncing out of Cambodia for a mini Debrief time in Bangkok, Thailand, with the whole squad and leadership.
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deuces,
hanfran
