Greetings from Cambodia!
Sorry for the length of time it took to post this. Internet is not as accessible as it used to be.
I don’t know about you, but many times in life, when I hear about something that’s going to happen, I start imagine how it’s going to look. It’s funny, because I wrote a blog about expectations right after Training Camp. I noted that two things often happen when I expect things: first, I get disappointed because something doesn’t live up to what I thought it would be or second, I limit what I think God can do in a situation.
This was a big lesson for me this month. Just to fill you in, this month is what’s commonly referred to as Manistry Month. This is a month where all the men of the squad are put in the same location to work together. I had heard stories before from previous squads doing Manistry and, from what I had heard, I expected to be doing a lot of physical labor with the guys, sweating (and perhaps bleeding) together to forge iron bonds of brotherhood.
Then we got here and found out that manual labor was not on the menu for this month. Instead we would be mostly teaching English and ministering in some of the very poor villages outside the capital. As immature as this sounds, I was a bit upset and even angry at God because I didn’t get to do what I wanted. I had gotten expectations about what was going to happen and those had turned into what I wanted to do this month.
Now, a week and a half into ministry, I’m realizing why God has us working here. The students that we have been teaching have been amazing and such a blessing to us. Many of them are very poor and one of the reasons they take English classes is to give them better job opportunities. However, despite their poverty, they are such joyful people and are all smiles with little complaining. It’s really incredible to see.
One story really stood out to me. One of our students, Ean, had his birthday a few days ago and we decided to surprise him with a cake and song. Seeing his reaction was priceless – he was so overcome by this simple gesture. Afterwards, we found out that he had never celebrated his birthday before because his family was so poor. That simple statement blew me away. In America, it’s expected to have someone celebrate my birthday. However, he is used to no one making a big deal about it. What we thought was a small way to celebrate was a very memorable moment for him. If we had been doing the ministry I had expected and desired to do, we would have never been able to bless him in that way. God’s plans are certainly better than mine.
Also, we did get to do some manual labor when we took a day to clean the property of our contacts house. It was a fun day of collecting and burning dead trees and flammable (and not so flammable) trash. We got to sweat and get dirty and bond as men. God has a funny way of answering prayers.
Another funny story about expectations: Last week we had two free days off and a van that could take us where we wanted to go. We talked to our contact and he said that there was a beach about 4 hours away. We started planning to camp on said beach and talked about all this cool stuff we could do. So the next day, we piled into the van with our camping gear. Then everything we expected came crashing down.
The van ride took 7 hours instead of 4. It was dark by the time we got there. Instead of taking us to a beach, the driver took us deep into a Cambodian jungle. When we got there, we were escorted by a whole bunch of heavily armed Cambodian guards to huts where we were told to camp. It turns out that if we had tried to camp on the solid ground, we would have been underwater by morning. The next day, we piled into a motor boat and went half an hour through this crazy Cambodian swamp. Finally the trees ended and we arrived at our “beach”, which turned out to be just a thin sandbar separating the swamp from the sea. None of this was what I expected but, despite all of this, it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and I wouldn’t change it. We got to camp in a spider-infested Cambodian jungle and hang out on one of the coolest beaches I’ve ever been to.
Lesson learned – sometimes you just have to go along for the ride and trust where God will lead you. He has some amazing experiences for you if you just trust Him. That's really all you can expect 🙂
Thanks again to all my amazing supporters for your continued giving and prayers. Only $2,000 left to go! You guys rock!
