So I have been in Battambang for a full 8 days now, and it is one of the coolest lifestyles I’ve ever had the experience to be apart of!
A normal day for me so far in Battambang looks like this:
5:25- Alarm goes off (then I get annoyed and shut it off but stay in bed, or well, on my sleeping pad)
5:30- Get up and get dressed and brush my teeth & hair. (nothing else is really important for getting ready in the morning, because you’d sweat off your makeup in 5 minutes and I shower in the evening)
5:45-6:30- Personal quiet time with the Lord (very important in order for me to have a good day)
6:30-7- Breakfast: Team Kaleo has been cooking our meals for us on ministry days. Thanks Kaleo! For breakfast we eats things like bananas, yogurt, scrambled eggs, pineapple, and even baguettes!
7-7:30- Morning devotions with Sharelle- She is the lady who runs the ministry/place where we are staying and she is AMAZING!
Then almost all the other teams have to leave at 7:30 or 8 but my team doesn’t leave until 8:30 🙂
8:30-9- It takes a little less than a 1/2 hour to get from my home to my morning ministry site and we travel there by bicycle. THIS IS HOW I FELT THE 1st DAY>> Yes that my sound really cool, except I haven’t mentioned that IT IS COMPLETE CHAOS! Everyone (Trucks,vans,cars,mottos,bicycles) is all over the road and there aren’t any traffic laws. It’s basically like be aware of everything all at the same time or die. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little. HOW I FEEL DAY 8 >>> Once you get used to it, it feels like beautiful chaos, because everything’s crazy, but it still seems like they know what they’re doing and keeping it organized. Here’s a tip if you ever find yourself biking through Cambodia with a group: Do not take the lead, and when the person in front goes, you go. Stay right with them, but don’t crash into them, and then you won’t have to deal with the internal decision of: will I die. haha okay well I’m sure biking will get easier, but I’ll let you know.
(BY THE TIME I GET TO MINISTRY I’M ALREADY SWEATING BUCKETS)
9-11- Morning ministry: My teams morning ministry is working at the number 1 trauma hospital in the country. I already love it so much! We have the opportunity to interact with the mobile patients, caregivers, kids and play games with them. We are not allowed to walk up to them and share our faith, because it’s a no faith hospital, but we are allowed to talk to them and lead the conversation into it if they seem interested. On the side of interacting with the patients, we also get the opportunity to help with the fundraising for hospital. We get to make homemade paper and then make cards, the cards actually get shipped out and sold in other countries.
11-11:30- Bike back home
11:30-12:30- Lunch: Team Kaleo prepares lunch also! YES! KALEO I APPRECIATE YOU! We have had things like soup, chicken salad, pasta salad, chicken, rice, beans, veggies. I usually finish lunch with like 45 minutes to spare and then I go upstairs and rest, I’ve been resting like twice a day for a 1/2 hour each until I get used to Cambodia heat and lifestyle- I don’t want to get sick.
12:30-1- Squad quiet time: Since month one is all squad month, I am currently living with all 55 of my squadmates and leaders. We get together for 30 minutes a day and do quiet time together.
1-2- I usually do laundry, clean up my teams bathroom, clean up my sleeping space, or read a book.
2-2:15- Bicycle to Ezra Cafe Library
2:15-4- Afternoon ministry: My teams afternoon ministry is at Ezra Cafe Library. We have two events coming up that we created. They will take place on October 4 and 5 (Please pray that God would bring people in) The activity on the 4th is a Conversational English “lesson”/hangout for young adults+ and the activity on the 5th is a Kids Read Aloud. While at the cafe my team and I have been planning and organizing these activities. I even got to write a skit on David and Goliath for the Kids read aloud! So much fun!
4-4:15- Bicycle home or to a cafe. Some days we have decided to go home and other days we have gone to The Green Mango Cafe to have some team time
4:15-6:30- Free time: I usually shower at this time, or finish the laundry (hand wash and dry in a bucket)
6:30-7:30 Dinner, bet you can’t guess who prepares it, yup! KALEO! WHOOP! YOU’RE AWESOME! Rice with chicken curry, taco salad, fried rice skillet. Kaleo we really appreciate you, and yes, they may spoil us just a whee bit.
I also usually go upstairs from like 7-7:30 with my team and we chill and sing worship songs together.
7:30-8:30- Squad time.. we do different things every night, sunday we did worship (I’m on the squad leading worship teams, so that was fun that I could bring that with me from home) we have feedback nights, or lessons from our leaders. 🙂
All racers have to be back on the premises by 9pm- doors are shut and then silent time at 10 so that we can rest up and be prepared for the next day.
Keep in mind that I will be traveling somewhere new in Cambodia with just my team in 18 days, so I will only have this schedule until then.
I am currently at $11,478 which means I am $4,322 away from my end goal of $15,800, I never imagined that I could raise that much money, but I knew the Lord could! He has been so faithful through all of this! If you feel lead to donate you can do that through my blog, facebook message me and ask other ways, or email me at [email protected]
I miss and love y’all so much, and I would not be able to get through this without all the love and support y’all have shown me!
Battambang, Cambodia Photo By: @Annika Smith: AnnikaSmith.theworldrace.org
