I love Thailand! Overall, nothing against our past ministry hosts but working with “Sending Hope International” is already my favorite month of ministry. Where we are serving this month is a girls home year round with an annual week of summer camp in April. The summer camp week is still a couple weeks away so for now our ministry is with 22 of the girls, ranging from 5-18 years old, who are here year round. These girls have been simply amazing to work with.
Some sponsor day updates!
April 6th, was one of my favorite days on the race to date. In the morning from 9-11:30 we run a time of games, songs, a craft, and a bible story. It has been throwing me back to my time working at summer camp and I’m loving it. After the morning we had lunch and played some spikeball and relaxed. From there we played basketball after dinner before our nightly worship session. Hearing the girls song and their excitement to worship is inspiring. Then in the middle of worship the girls came to each one of us praying for us individually. Though we couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying it was a moment I’m sure none of us will forget. In a county where less than 1% of the population is Christian this place and these girls shine bright with the love of Christ. When session was over the girls give us all good night hugs which surprisingly enough I’m coming to enjoy.
Now the day is coming to a close. I’m here sitting in our living room watching some strange cartoon movie with my team and the girls here, in a language I don’t understand, but knowing there is no place I’d rather be. Thank you Karen Styers for sponsoring this unforgettable day and I hope you have a great Birthday!
Easter! It was our last day at debrief. Debrief is a time for us to take a step back, rest, recover and spend time together as a squad. Throughout the race their are 5 debriefs and they are always a great time. 4 of us started the day off by venturing into town to watch the final 4 game between Villanova and Kansas. A game that took place late at night back home was a great way to start off my morning on the other side of the globe. Running into a couple fellow Nova fans was also an added bonus. When we got back from watching the game we had a squad Easter service and later an awesome squad scavenger hunt where we were sent running around the city of Siem Reap.
Then for the first time since Serbia, I shaved back down to baby face. The night ended with one last session before going out to town for our last night it Siem Reap. Eating scorpion and tarantula (as seen in my next video) was easily the highlight of the night.
March 31st was our 3rd day of debrief. We started the day off with a morning session followed by some time of relaxing where some of us swam and played spikeball. Later in the day we spent time in town exploring a little bit and getting some work down including making most of a Cambodia highlight video that I will post when we have better wifi! The day ended with a really good time of worship and a session run by our squad leaders who shared about what God was teaching them and what they needed to repent of. This led to a great time of our squad splitting off into groups to talk about what we individually needed to repent of. Though the word “repent” has a negative connotation, in reality it is such a beautiful thing. The ability we have to turn from our past sins and turn to a merciful God is a true gift. Thank you Wirth family for sponsoring these days of rest, recuperation and exploration!
March 29th was our first full day of our month 6 debrief. On this day in the morning we talked about the act of remembering and how it’s crucial for us to remember what God has done for us, the promises He’s made and the goodness of his character when times are tough. After session I went on a bike ride on a sketchy bike that broke apart a few times while I was riding it. Eventually I learned the faster on the bike I’d peddle the more I’d not see and the more likely the bike was to fall apart. I took this as a lesson to slow down in life and don’t try to rush through it or things will fall apart and I won’t have taken in the small beautiful parts of life along the way.
Later that day we had a time of team debrief where we could talk about how our months went with leadership and each other (as our guys and girls were split up).
At night we had a session in which we talked about the importance of recognizing how our story is God’s story and the importance of sharing it.
March 21st was one of the few rainy days we had in Battambang. Due to the rain we couldn’t work on the roof we were building so in the morning a few of us were assigned to a different task. Their was flooding near the garage and so we had to dig a trench to be a gutter to escort the flooding away. It took me back to my time playing on the beach digging holes and making trenches, except this time it was digging out mud with a broken piece of tile opposed to a shovel. In the afternoon I did something I never thought I’d do. I want to say sorry to Boomer, my dog back home, because I ate your kind. I’m really sorry it actually tasted pretty good. Later that night we had a thing called super feedback. Super feedback is when you meet as a team and you have an encouraging and a constructive piece of feedback for everyone on your team. Feedback is a powerful tool I don’t think people use enough. Thank you to Grandmom and Papa Jack for sponsoring both of these days and being such huge supporters.
