The ride to Kamp
ong Cham was a definite stretch out of our comfort zone. All I remember from that morning were the sounds of laughter as the “Cambodian taxi” pulled up and Billy said, “I think that’s our ride….yep that’s our ride”. The Taxi was already loaded down, we couldn’t imagine adding any more passengers. Not to mention when we went down to load our stuff the hood of the truck was up, so not really instilling in us a whole lot of confidence at this point. Yet we have been in similar situations and God has provided for us INCREDIBLY!
ong Cham was a definite stretch out of our comfort zone. All I remember from that morning were the sounds of laughter as the “Cambodian taxi” pulled up and Billy said, “I think that’s our ride….yep that’s our ride”. The Taxi was already loaded down, we couldn’t imagine adding any more passengers. Not to mention when we went down to load our stuff the hood of the truck was up, so not really instilling in us a whole lot of confidence at this point. Yet we have been in similar situations and God has provided for us INCREDIBLY! Welcome to the team Danny was all I could think. He told me his team had never been assigned to any of the remote places, like our team. I told him, yeah, for some crazy reason ours always does, but it continues to be a blessing! You know Emily and I talked about the fact that we are so “lucky” to experience life and God this way. So many people travel to other destinations, but a lot of times they see the places and types of people everyone sees. Our experience has been totally different. It’s like God shows us the AMAZING, really extravagant and then in almost the next breath, he shares with us places like we experienced in New Zealand, Waikanae, where we totally get submerged into Maori culture. Then the next place he took us along the way was to Australia. We spent a couple of nights in Brisbane and got to see gorgeous places like Noosa beach where the surf was just breath taking nestled on the sun coast. Yet our ministry assignment was actually in a place where most Australians never experience in the Northern Territory. We actually had to have permission to be on the land and stay there. There again tho the question arose…”how are we gonna get there”. Tho rather funny, God provided another amazing experience in just the “getting there”.
No…Not by river, we’re gonna Fly!
The Aboriginal people were very complicated and interesting people. They were such giving people with beautiful hearts. They would give you the shirt off their back. The scenery there was majestic. We swam in waterfalls nestled away in rocks, we hiked up rocks to see paintings done by the people of the past. Again, having permission to be on these lands. Why have I been so blessed to be honored into the inner circle of their lives? What an amazing feeling.
Next stop….the Philippines. I really didn’t know what to expect, so I didn’t. I just let God lead the way. What I found there were such a warm joyous spirit in the people. I felt wrapped up in their love and friendships. God truly blessed us with such an awesome opportunity, and such amazing Christians paving the way for us to serve with. The experience we had there was so unique to each of us, even tho there were over 50 of us serving together in one location. Our outreach possibilities were endless, and I so enjoyed the freedom in that. I am so thankful to Jeff Long and his family for opening their home and hearts up to us and encouraging all of us to stretch and grow in the Lord with our own distinct gifts and talents. I was able to not only minister with the children there in the Philippines, but also allowed to use my skills as a hairstylist. That is actually one of their ministries there. Josie, Jeff’s daughter is also a licensed Cosmetologist and is training women of the Philippines to adopt this skill and be able to provide for their families. What a wonderful way to serve God, doing what you already love and have God given talents for. I swear it makes it like its not even work. Just fun! Helping to empower other women to be self-sufficient. That is definitely a ministry that runs very close to my heart. It was so amazing to see God use me in just helping Josie. I know all to well how pioneering and doing things by yourself can sometimes come at a cost to your spirit because you feel all alone. It is always great to have someone encourage your dreams. I feel God placed Brooke (a stylist from N squad) and me at the same time to rejuvenated that enthusiasm for Josie’s dreams. Plus, just being able to share tips and shortcuts from one stylist to another was a great way to feel like we were helping Josie’s ministry as well.
So now, we loaded onto a Cambodian Taxi, that was already fully loaded with people adding 7 more people and all of our bags for our ministry site that was a 3 hr drive. I have to tell you, if you are from Texas you can just imagine the open back of a pickup loaded down for the 
boarder of Mexico….that was us. With the exception that we had a cover over us. Until we got out of town, Danny had to ride on the back with us, then outside of town it was ok for him to climb up on top with our luggage. I just laugh to myself when I think of the mental image, but actually it was a great ride. Such an unexplainable sense of community. The ladies in the back made room for us and even held our bags so that we could all fit in. I think of the inconvenience of sitting next to someone with all my bags on a train or bus and I am so thankful that they never made me feel in the way, like we were a burden.
boarder of Mexico….that was us. With the exception that we had a cover over us. Until we got out of town, Danny had to ride on the back with us, then outside of town it was ok for him to climb up on top with our luggage. I just laugh to myself when I think of the mental image, but actually it was a great ride. Such an unexplainable sense of community. The ladies in the back made room for us and even held our bags so that we could all fit in. I think of the inconvenience of sitting next to someone with all my bags on a train or bus and I am so thankful that they never made me feel in the way, like we were a burden. 
So, we commence the 3 hr, dirt road ride. About 2 hrs into it, we backed our taxi onto a ferry and crossed a river. Emily whispers to me, this is amazing, God just puts us in those most insane places. I said, “I know, He knows we can handle it, and that we really thrive on seeing God’s world the way it REALLY is.” Some of teams might be devastated being out in the middle of no where in a tree house for the month, but honestly to see my teams dusty, excited faces when we pulled up was priceless.
We literally are staying in what looks like a tropical treehouse. No a/c, no electricity (except a couple of hours at night with the generator), no sinks and running water out of the faucet, bare minimal bathroom facilities and we are overjoyed at the way God is going to use us and how we are going to deeper commune with Him this month. Already from the beginning the communication was crazy, we tried to buy a drink and our skills are DEFINITELY lacking…wow insane. I think I’m going to pick up the essentials of the Cambodian language quickly by necessity! So keep praying…til next time.
