As my family has so graciously reminded me of multiple times, I have not posted a blog in a while. So here is a rundown of what my past couple months have consisted of…
Thailand
In Thailand, the Golden Arrows stayed in our own house apartment, which I must say was quite nice after having all squad month in India. Though our house had mice, rats, cockroaches, ants, and extreme heat, it was still nice to have our own little space. Our hosts for the month, Pastor TJ and Joy, were so generous and took good care of our team and we were happy to call them our Thai parents for the month. Our ministry consisted mostly of teaching English at a Buddhist school for grades K-4. Angela and I taught 32 little ones (age 4-6) and as much as we fell in love with those kids, they were a handful. Also, it was difficult to teach English without a translator but we made the best of it. To say it simply, I have a whole new respect for teachers. On weekends, we were able to go to a juvenile detention center for boys and spend some time giving our testimonies and encouraging them. This was a really cool experience for me because I’ve never done prison ministry before and it was great to be able to share some love with these kids who have a dark past and feel trapped by it. Pastor Tj and Joy had their own house church that we were able to lead worship and preach at on Sundays. After church each week, Joy made a big lunch for the congregation (10-20 people) which made everyone feel like family and made for great fellowship, despite the language barrier. After school throughout the week, we would do house visits to some of the church members to pray with them and spend time getting to know their families.
How God worked in my life: Thailand was a hard month for missing home but through the sadness and the distance I learned a lot about my relationship with God. I would do almost anything to spend just an hour with my loved ones back home, and when I started to realize how precious that time would be, I realized that’s how God feels about me. When I don’t spend time with him, He feels the distance and longs to just spend a short time with me because he loves me way more than my family ever could. I learned that time is precious and God deserves a lot more of my quality time than I had been giving him.
Random things that happened: I went to Elephant Island and swam with elephants, my iphone broke, my sleeping pad popped, I ate way too many DQ blizzards, sang more karaoke in one month than I have in my whole life, attended a Buddhist funeral, and consumed a ridiculous amount of kettle corn popcorn.
Fun Fact: We went on a trip to the ocean, only to get there and find out the ocean was poisonous that day.
Cambodia
In Cambodia, the Golden Arrows were hosted by the most precious loving family we could ever have imagined. A Pastor, his wife and two children lived in the church, which was also their house and became our home for the month. Shanta, an amazing woman who worked with Shalom ministries also lived with us and cooked for us. She is hands down one of the best cooks in the world, needless to say, my belly was happy and full all month long. Our ministry was working at Shalom International School for grades K-5? (Sounds a lot like Thailand ay?) It was quite a different experience than teaching the month before. We were at the school from 7:30am til around 7pm and taught three different classes throughout the day. Once again, I was happily with the little kiddos. Our class sizes were much smaller (around 10) which allowed for more one on one time and really getting to know the kids. Some days were really long, actually most days were really long and hot but the second the kids greeted me each class, it was all worth it. I was able to co-teach with Shanti, a 20 year old teacher who was eager to learn more English and loved her students. I fell in love with Shanti and those kids and it was extremely hard to leave at the end of the month. On Friday morning, some of us would go to local villages and bring all the kids together and play games, sing songs, and acct out bible stories. Our ministry was kids, on kids, on kids but it was awesome.
How God worked in my life: As much as I loved Cambodia, it was kind of a struggle. I came on the world race to tell people about Jesus, see people get healed, see lives radically changed. But here I was teaching English to 6 year olds. It didn’t really feel like “ministry”. But by the end of the month I had a revelation. It’s not about me doing radical things or seeing radical things this year. It’s about me showing people God’s unconditional love and letting Him do the radical things in people’s hearts. Maybe I don’t see that radical transformation, maybe it doesn’t even happen. But I planted the seed. I loved these people and I loved these kids, and that is what I am called to do.
Random things that happened: At debrief, in Siem Reap, I was able to see Ankor Wat (which is a top ten wonder of the world. so cool!) I got to meet up with a family friend at a circus. I took daily bucket showers. Our neighbors had a party as loud as a club until midnight. There was extreme rain that sounded like a war. We almost flipped a tuktuk. I went on moto taxi rides with Mary. I stayed at Bykota House (an incredible orphanage in Phnom Phen). Monica (pastor’s daughter) braiding our hair like a professional. I visited the Killing Fields which was very sad and humbling. I drank wine that tasted exactly like sour soy sauce.
Fun Fact: Asians eat just as much rice as you imagine, and more.
Sorry for the delayed update. I will try to keep up with blogging more often. I’m now on a new continent, Helloooo Africa! I’m loving it here so far. Be on the lookout for some Africa updates, sooner than later.
Sneak peak: I’ve had two team changes in the past two months 
