Hey, all! Even though I’m in Thailand, I have some cool stories to share from Cambodia. Here’s what our daily ministry looked like!
We taught English (YAYY!!) from 7:30-9:00am, 1:30-3:00pm, and 4:30-6:30pm. The students were at different English language levels, but they all learned to say “Sooooo cute!!” from us..because we cooed it to them every few minutes! They’re just so cute! My classes were 11-14 year olds at an advanced English level. It was so fun to bring in new songs, games, an American accent, and funny stories to these precious ones! On Fridays, we taught English via a Bible story and sang and danced together.
Our two evening classes were high school & university age students. It was a beautiful blessing to use my experience & degree in the very first month of the Race! On a special field trip, we got to go with them to Phnom Krom Mountain and dance Zumba next to the ancient temple ruins! A dream come true…
While our main ministry was teaching English, the most impactful ministry we did last month was working with the teachers. They teach full time and study English at university after school. They lead worship at church, help out in Sophy’s village ministry on Saturdays, & are responsible for much at home. So it was a joy to bless them with some fun and relieve them a bit of their intense schedule.
Our favorite things were dancing Zumba, playing games in class, riding on motos, eating spring rolls, & just sitting around laughing. We even got to take them to their first ever Fro-Yo experience and buy matching bracelets!
Our new friends taught us so much about Cambodia— culture, language, food, and more. Like how to write our names in Khmer, speak some basic phrases. (Khnom srohlahn pray yay-su!), about longan fruit & rambatans, how to count chickens at “chicken banks,” how to take care of cattle in the rice paddies & how they’ve learned to teach English.
They also taught us about persevering amidst trials. Everyone they see around them is blind to the Gospel and serves animist spirits or empty Buddhist altars— yet they persevere in faith and love. But above all, they taught us that it IS possible to love deeply and build real relationships in just one month.
Here they are:
Sophy & Yuwat were our hosts. They’ve been working in Siem Reap for about 6 years. They are amazing. They are talented teachers, build churches ministry in far-away villages, disciple the teachers, run businesses to help fund their projects, parent their son, preach, translate, and host teams from the United States. I can’t say enough good things about them.
Back row: Kegan, Sopheak, Chantra, Courtney, Molly, Vanessa, Adrienne, Acacia, Theara. Front row: Yuwat, Sreyneang, me, Nae Ear, Rachana
Chantra! We got to bless her with her first ever birthday cake!! She is a warrior for Christ & is the only teacher whose family are mostly believers. She gave us gifts, got us fresh water, played jokes on us, and was our cultural host in every part of our Cambodian experience.
Sopheak was my teaching partner and is excellent at English. She was our main translator. I really connected with her adventurous spirit and talent for teaching. She shared this with me:
“I used to get very bored and upset with my students. But now I love teaching and I love my students. I love to see them learn. I think I want to get my Master’s Degree in Education when I complete my Bachelor’s degree in English.”
In a country where graduating high school is a high accomplishment, her ambition is beautiful. I can’t wait to see what the Lord will do through her willing heart. Go, Sopheak!
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Nae Ear teaches the early ESL learners. Her family owns a small shop across the street from our home. Her brother and sisters all go to Mustard Seed School for English. I especially loved her smile when we danced Zumba!
Nae Ear, Sopheak, & Rachana
Rachana! Even though she is only in year 1 of university, her English is excellent. She shared her testimony with me— that through going to Mustard Seed School and Sophy & Yuwat’s invitations, she started attending church. After hanging out with Chantra, she heard the Gospel and felt loved. But even after accepting Christ, she gets ridicule and hurtful words from her family. She often feels alone in her faith at home, especially during the Buddhist festivals. I’m so glad we got to spend time reminding her how brave and loved she is by Jesus!
(Rachana in the red, Sopheak in the green 🙂
Theara is the only male teacher at Mustard Seed School, and he has a great heart for the little ones! It was fun to see him dancing Zumba, especially in the village! He also plays guitar for church every week.
Nathaniel is Sophy & Yuwat’s son and he knows more American English slang than we do! He loves soccer, acoustic covers of pop songs, and being a ham. He was our little bro, and we’re gonna miss having him around!
Finally, Sreyneang. I’ve saved her for last because I think God has been preparing her family for our arrival for a long time.
Sreyneang in the pink, Sopheak in the back, Rachana in the middle, Nae Ear in the light blue, Chantra on the right
Sreyneang is a tiny little spit-fire who taught me Khmer dances. One day, she asked us to go to her house to pray for her family. Of course we said yes.
Before we left, Yuwat shared with us that Sreyneang’s sister used to go to Mustard Seed and was great at English, but she’s suffered with mental illness for a few years. She mostly stays at home.
On top of that, Sreyneang’s father has been mostly paralyzed for a year because of complications from surgery. He is finally starting to move his extremities but still can’t bear weight. After his accident, Sreyneang and her mother were saddled with the stresses of caring for the younger kids as well as her father’s needs.
A few weeks before our visit, Yuwat (our host “mom”) began hearing laughter and voices at night, jeering about Sreyneang’s father. In fear and panic, Yuwat asked her husband to join her in prayer against this attack.
The next day, Sreyneang came to Yuwat, her face the evidence of a sleepless night and sadness in her spirit. “My father put another altar in the house last night,” Sreyneang lamented. “He invited devil spirits into our house to heal him.”
As the only believer in her home, Sreyneang fights alone against the evil that is brought into her home. Finally, it was just too much. Yuwat’s testimony to the laughing voices was evidence enough that the enemy had found a stronghold.
So as we entered their home, seeing this ill man lying on a mat on the floor, it was hard not to be overtaken with the same hopelessness and sadness that this man feels every day.
He was crying out to any spirit, any god who could ease his pain, heal him and make him whole again. How tragic that Jesus wanted to offer all this and much more to him— but that he chose instead to make offerings to empty idols and dark spirits.
Because of his hostility toward the church, we were only allowed to pray silently. We chatted and ate fruit, but in our hearts, we were fiercely in prayer. The air was heavy and the evil was palpable around the altars— but it couldn’t overcome the light we were bringing.
We knew this man wanted to be whole. After awhile, Yuwat suggested, “Maybe one of you can ask to pray for him out loud. Maybe he will let one of you pray.” It was a risk, yet how could we not? So Courtney said, “Can we pray for you?”
And he said yes.
On our knees, we circled around his mat and also around his younger daughter with mental illness who had been trembling in the corner. We lifted our voices to the only God who could heal this man, who could bring hope and light and healing. We were calling on the power of the only Spirit who is worth bringing inside, the Light that overcomes any darkness. This man needed more than healing from his physical paralysis, but from the paralysis of his hardened heart.
Our voices quieted as Yuwat began translating. In the middle of her prayer, the man cried out in Khmer,
“Jesus, help me!”
So Yuwat kept praying aloud as he repeated her words.
Every word she said, he repeated.
Even in Khmer, we understood what was happening. Goosebumps pimpled my arms as we figured out that this man was accepting Christ into his heart and home.
He was putting his trust in the One True God,
the healer of bodies and of hearts.
He was letting the Light in.
When they were finished, tears lined our eyes and we hugged Sreyneang. After years of praying, the head of her family would understand. They would have the overwhelming power of Jesus Christ in their home & hearts.
Our closeness with these new friends grew even deeper as we rejoiced in this victory of Heaven. It gives me hope for the families of the other teachers!
Even if we never meet again on this earth and even though my heart was breaking a week later as we drove away, I know these friends will be rejoicing and dancing with us again in Heaven. And now Sreyneang’s father will be there, too.
Please continue to pray for this man’s heart and for discipleship in his budding faith. Pray against further attacks of the enemy on all the teachers’ homes and families, especially against the spirits that haunt the altars in their homes. Pray for strength and endurance for Yuwat & Sophy as they continue soldiering on in their ministry.
And rejoice with us in the victory of the King of Heaven! No place, no person, no offering, no sin, no false religious rituals, no illness, no darkness can separate us from Jesus who wants us and loves us so fiercely.
“Now the tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ Then Jesus told them this parable: Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not repent.” (Luke 15-1-7)
