My team had an incredibly light month of ministry in a rural Cambodian village this past month. At the beginning, having so much free time was incredibly frustrating.
We were loved on so much by our host family that we were not allowed to help with any cooking or cleaning, and when we were not doing house visits with our translator to church families or playing with local children in the Cambodian dust in an attempt to teach English we had nothing on our schedule. The language barrier and rural setting prevented us from finding any additional ministry opportunities, and we were not even allowed to leave the church compound to walk to a street food stall without our concerned host making sure we had the necessary escort of their grandchildren.
Our family loved serving us, and having us right there with them. All the time : )
Cambodian sunrise down our dirt road
I had come wanting to do,do,do and serve our ministry with my actions. I wanted to have purposed days with clearly accomplished goals. Having so much time were we just rested and had to let others serve us and love us was a definite challenge.
God humbled me so much during this resting month. He revealed, reminded and convicted me that nothing is ever accomplished for His Kingdom purely though my actions. God was at work in this Cambodian village already, whether I was there or not, He was accomplishing His purposes in the lives of the people there. All that was required of me was to be a vessel that He could be seen through. The success of this month was not going to be measured by what I accomplished, but by what He was able to accomplish in and through me.
This was shown to me so powerfully just days before we left.
There was a family living down the street from our pastor’s property. One of the daughters in this family came to one of our English classes with her little sister early in our time there. I did not see her again, but on my morning runs I would pass her house and she always came out and waved a said Good Morning. I would smile and wave and say Hello, run on and think nothing of it.
One morning she sent her little sister out into the road to meet me and gave me a sweet handwritten note saying hello and how happy she was to see me. Again, it was a sweet and heartfelt but I did not think much of it afterwards. When Jesus is shining through you though little moments can speak volumes.
Our last Sunday there I was out walking with my teammate Kylee, and our required Cambodian grandchild escort, when we passed this girl’s home. She ran out and very excitedly asked us to come in and sit with her. The next half hour was so precious. The girl’s name is Varry, she speaks just a little English and her family was one of the few on the road that didn’t go to our pastor’s church. She so clearly just wanted to have us there even if she couldn’t easily communicate with us. The longer we sat there the more people we attracted and pretty soon we were surrounded by not only Varry but five more of her friends as well. Our English conversation was pretty limited, but we just smiled and laughed and did our best. I got another precious note when we left!
one of my sweet letters Varry and her little sister and brother
Joy with Varry’s little sister, Nara Varry and I
Our next two days before we left Varry came down and visited us each afternoon. She would bring her little sister, Nara and her brother as well. She loved practicing English and just sitting with us and we loved just having the company.
Sometimes ministry is not what you do, but just letting others love you and being willing to just reflect the love of Jesus. I don’t know what Varry’s future will be, but I know our paths crossed for a reason and God will use it for His purpose in her life : )
On to Vietnam now!
~Jessie
