At the beginning of January our squad had team changes. My new team, Ruthless Trust, is an all girls team – Victoria, Margot, Grace, Stephanie, and Amber. It was a difficult adjustment for me to be on a completely new team with girls I had never been on a team with or had served with during the past months. A common theme on the World Race is to abandon all comforts, routines, and expectations. One of the few consistent aspects of the race is your team (only for a little while) and you learn to love, serve, and care for them like family. Living in community 24/7 is one of the most challenging parts of the race, but it is also one of the most rewarding parts. Learning how to love people even when it is hard, calling each other to be more like Christ, and serving together all over the world for the Kingdom of God is a unique community I will never experience again. Starting that process over with a new group of girls took away my comfort and sense of stability from my previous team. I didn’t realize how much I valued the comfortability of my team until it was taken away from me, which ultimately made me rely and trust God even more. You don’t stay comfortable for too long on the World Race!
In January my team was in a remote village near Siem Reap called Puay Pring. We worked with two Cambodian Pastors, Pastor Si (photo on left) and Pastor Niam (photo on right), at their churches. We did gospel sharing around the villages after breakfast until lunch. We would walk around the streets and go into people’s houses to talk with them about Jesus and pray over them. In the afternoon we taught English to the students at the church village.
*Photo credit Grace Veker
In the beginning of the month, one of the girls in the older English class whom was about 14 years old came up to me and put a bracelet on my wrist. She said, “I love you teacher, and this is for you. I got it for you.” It is a yellow bracelet with pink flower designs on it. Even though I only had a short conversation with her the day before, this small act of love made me feel so valued and special. It’s crazy how someone that lives in a poor village can be that generous and give such an unexpected gift for no reason at all.
Our team got to know one eighteen year old boy in the village who attended our English classes named Somna. Despite losing his leg in a motorcycle accident, he was constantly smiling, eager to learn, and a joy to be around. He told us that even though he wished he had both of his legs, the accident wasn’t completely bad because it began his relationship with Christ. His presence brightened our day whenever he was around, and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to get to know him!
On Sundays only the children from the villages would attend the church service. It felt very strange to us that adults never came to church. During our gospel sharing around the villages, we would invite people who said they believed in Christ to come to church on Sunday. Most of the responses we got where, “I am too busy with work to go to church.” The same excuses people make in America for not going to church are the same excuses people in a tiny village, with no electricity or running water, make in Cambodia. Business and priorities are the same everywhere: whether you live in a comfortable house or in a tiny hut, Satan is not creative in how he deceives and directs people to not attend church. We aren’t that different after all.
During the gospel sharing we would ask people if they believed in Jesus or knew who he was, etc. Most people said yes, they believe in Jesus and pray to him… awesome right? Strange that we noticed a pagoda, a miniature temple, outside their house that they use to offer incense and food to their ancestors. After more conversations we learned that it was common for people to believe in and pray to both Jesus and Buddha. They would add Jesus as another god in addition to their Buddhist gods. We would share Bible verses with them about Jesus being the one son of God and to not have any gods before him. It was frustrating for people to believe who Jesus was, but not want to give up their worship to Buddha. Of course, the language barrier didn’t help in explaining that there is only one God, and we should worship no other gods or have false idols.
In the afternoon we taught English to the children and teenagers in the village. We taught basic English communication and would sing songs and play games. We also did a health clinic where we taught the children how to brush their teeth, wash their hands, and clip their finger nails. Most of the children had never brushed their teeth before and were nervous/hesitant about trying to brush them. It was an eye opening experience to see them brush their teeth and learn how to wash their hands for the first time in their life.
This was one of the toughest village experiences so far for me: sleeping in our tents in a church (and finding a mouse run out of my bag one day), squatty potties, bucket showers, and bug bites. The food was the exact same everyday – fried bread and condensed milk for breakfast; rice, eggs, cabbage, and a mystery meat for lunch and dinner. The closest ‘town’ was a 45 min. taxi ride away from us, and that was also the closest place to our ministry site that had wifi. We had ministry all day and were finished after dinner time when it would be too late to go into town, so we only got wifi on our off day once a week. I had to constantly choose joy and to rely on God in order to avoid being discouraged. Although it was challenging, I learned to find joy in the small things – a girl giving me a bracelet, enjoying time with a teammate, playing with the children, or receiving encouraging messages from friends and family back home.
My final fundraising deadline is March 1st. I am 86% funded and only $2,200 away from reaching my final deadline of $16,264. If you would like to support my trip, refer to my blog ‘financial breakdown’ on how you can donate. Thank you to everyone who has gotten me this far, every little bit helps!
