Wow, it has been quite awhile since I have written a blog.
Lets get you up to speed really quickly on all of the craziness that is my life.
So, I was in Cambodia last month and it was a very interesting experience. I can’t say that I would ever go back to Cambodia, but I will say that I loved our hosts and the ministry we were able to be a part of. At our ministry two of the people on our team taught English at the school our hosts run, while the rest of us did odd jobs. Our first task was making a pallet bed for our hosts and their son. That took a good chunk of our time there.
Then we painted a house boat church, where this incredible older gentleman is a pastor, and also a foster parent to children in the area. Orphanages are really rare in Cambodia. This pastor runs an orphanage in his house church. Another remarkable thing about this man, is that in the specific area his house church is, no one wanted a church to be built on the water there, and no one was willing to help him. But this pastor was so determined on the call that the Lord had for him, that he built that place by himself. This man was remarkable. Every time he smiled, you just felt Jesus.
We did a lot of painting, which I really enjoyed a lot. Those of us that weren’t in the school full time did end up at the school at the end of the day most days, and we would work with the staff teaching them conversational English, guitar, and team building exercises. We were also able to do a sports day with the kids as well. That was a blast!
(I was hoping to post pictures of the month on this blog, but wifi here is awful. So please check my Facebook for pictures I will try to upload at some point to my Cambodia album!)
Our host’s name was Charles and he is American, but moved to Cambodia and he and his wife Ei run the school. They are amazing, and fighters for the Kingdom.
Cambodia was amazing and the Lord taught me a lot about living uncomfortably. Cambodia is literally the hottest country I have ever been to in my life. We didn’t have air conditioning at all during the month, and the only place to get it was a little market down the road. For those that don’t know, I have a condition called Hyperhidrosis. What this means is that I have an overactive sweat gland, and it makes me sweat in excess. I had surgery for it my freshman year in college, and it made my hands stop sweating, but it increased it everywhere else. I struggled so much in Cambodia. Because although everyone was sweating, mine was profusely, and I had to really get vulnerable with my team and open up about how uncomfortable I was and how self conscious it made me. Especially when you could see my clothes were soaked. It was just a really good experience to be able to have people cover me in prayer.
I started reading a book called The Circle Maker (you should read it) during my month in Cambodia and it really talks about finding Jericho sized prayers to pray for and not limiting what God can do. If you’re not familiar with the story of Joshua and the fall of Jericho, I’ll briefly summarize. The Lord told Joshua to take his men and march around the city of Jericho for 6 days, and on the 7th day, after they had circled the city, the walls of that city would come crashing to the ground and the land would be his. The Lord made a promise to Joshua that if he was obedient, and did what the Lord had asked him, that they would defeat Jericho, and it’s walls would crumble to the ground. In the book, The Circle Maker, the author encourages us to pray those prayers that seem completely impossible. Just like the idea of a whole city falling to the ground seemed impossible. The Lord has made promises to His children, and He wants to give us the desires of our hearts. But we must persevere and have faith that He will fulfill those promises and be persistent in prayer. He’s a good good Father.
So in Cambodia I started praying that the Lord would heal my body of Hyperhidrosis. And although it’s a big prayer, and seems impossible, I have faith and know He is capable of all things. So I will continue to be persistent in prayer, and thankful for the ways He will fulfill His promises.
This gives you a rundown on Cambodia and what my month there taught me.
I have a couple more blogs just about ready to post talking about after Cambodia and now my time in Thailand!
Stay tuned!
Love and peace,
Keeley
