This morning I woke before the sunrise and heard a familiar sound, the sound of people singing in the village and horns playing in the distance to welcome the morning. Cambodians begin every morning in celebration! As I was standing in the dawn of a new day I tried to think of how many times I woke up early just to rejoice over a new day that the Lord has created. Maybe a few times but usually I am in my comfy bed at home until at the earliest 8:00am. Not in Cambodia. In Cambodia horns sound as the sun rises and the women at this shelter are at work in the garden before it gets light out, before it becomes too hot to work outside.
This is the first month of the race where it feels like I am experiencing how I imagined this year to be like. My bed is on the floor with a large mosquito net overhead, our shower is a bucket outside and our bathroom is a home for every mosquito in the area. I am thankful that I am on a team that can make light of our discomforts and laugh at the fact that the electricity turns off unexpectedly or when we found a dead rat the size of a football outside of our room. These moments are where great stories come from. I wouldn’t change anything about where I am this month.
There are eight women at the shelter who come from a community made up of trash. On the way to Phenom Pehn we saw this community with tin houses built on top of the debris and kids walking around without shoes on. The women created families in these conditions and supported their families through prostitution, by stealing, or by selling drugs. God rescued these women from a life destined for destruction and brought them to safety, to this women center where our team is spending the month. This shelter seeks to help women live an abstinent lifestyle and to recover from drug addictions and abuse. At this shelter they are no longer thirsty or hungry all the time. They have shoes for their feet, clean clothes, a safe place to sleep at night and are taught sewing skills to make a living in the future.
This week our small team of three started to do bible studies with the women here and as we sang "Beautiful Lord" by Leeland with eight Cambodian women who come from such tough backgrounds I stopped in that moment and thanked the Lord for what he is doing here at this center. I am living in Cambodia with walking miracles. This is the third month this center has been up and running and the women are praising God for where he has taken them from and what he has healed them of.
Jem on the left and his little brother Somneng on the right are two kids living on the property with their mom and older sister. They are sweethearts and it is incredible to see how much healing is taking place in this family at this center.
Jem and Somnegs mom. She is an incredible mom who is healing from a past of addiction. Her husband is admitted in the men's center. God is restoring this entire family and whenever Somolly, the daughter talks about her mom she cries because of her mom's progress.
This verse Philippians 4:4 is my prayer for this women center and for my team! To have a heart of praise in any circumstance!
Philippians 4:4
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
