I am sorry that I haven’t blogged since Thailand. I wasn’t really ‘Up-to it.’ It wasn’t until debrief, and more so Da Nang, where I fully realized that, Cambodia was hard. When we reached Vietnam I realized “Wow I’m actually myself here.” I hadn’t realized how ‘un-me’ I felt until getting here. It as all such a fast pace, learning and doing so much these past two months. I constantly felt lethargic. The reason I felt so tired and un-me is still unclear. There was so much going on and deciphering the cause is hard. So I’ll tell you a bit about what it could have been:
+New team – When we arrived in Cambodia our team had only been formed 2 weeks prior.
+Long hours – initially we worked about 10 hours a day and were very happy when our host let us cut that back. Going from such an open schedule, and with people you just met can be hard. (+mandatory feedbacks and team times)
+Separation – our team was split up at different ministries for parts of the day. It wasn’t until near the end of the month when we realized we were only all together about 3 hours a day. This could have been a factor. We need to be together to get to know each other better, and make life easier in the long run. On the other hand, going from an independent college grad to having to follow the buddy system and being roommates could have also been a factor.
+New Culture – Simply being in a new area where few things feel like home can wear on the body, even if not fully realized.
+Kids – While I am usually a high energy person (as many of you know), I am learning that around kids I’m not. It’s something I can do but it takes a lot out of me.
+Spirtual Warefare – While I am still learning to identify this, the drastic change when entering Vietnam leads me to think this is a possibility.
+Actual Exhaustion – late nights and early mornings leading to lack of sleep.
Part of the reason I think I didn’t realize how drained I was, was because I liked the ministry. We worked at Samuel House, it’s like a preschool, they just got certified to teach up to second grade. They teach a lot of subjects but while we were there the kids only did English and Bible…and play time. The teachers are sweethearts and did a wonderful job translating. I loved hanging out with our Korean hosts and the Korean girls working there. Spending lunch times joking around was wonderful. The kids we taught were 3-8 and they were so cute and so smart. They’re adorable, though making them stay in their seats can be a challenge.
The evenings were spent teaching Korean Missionary Kids English. This was probably my favorite part of the day. Teaching a bunch of amazing 8-16 year olds English and throwing some Worship and Bible lessons in. Glad to have technology because now we can keep in contact.
Our weekends were spent teaching Bible in Bakong. We rotated weekends for who led the preaching and also taught dances and new worship songs.
So In all of these moments I didn’t want to accept I was having a hard time.
So that was Cambodia. My next blog will probably link to a few of my teammates blogs, so you can see more about our ministry and how their month was. I’ll try and get it up next week.
Prayer Requests:
+Please Keep Thailand and Cambodia in your prayers, especially our contacts; Zion Café (Emmi), Risen Son Children’s Home (Pi Chai), and Samuel House.
+Our current contacts and the Vietnamese people.
+The Health of my team. At any given time someone is sick. Usually it’s not too serious, but Victoria has the mumps right now.
+ Please keep the staff of our contacts in your prayers as well. One of the staff members recently lost her brother.
Fun Foods:
+The garlic chicken at Zion is wonderful and I miss it already.
+Some Bugs: crickets/grasshopper, silkworms, ants, tarantulas, scorpion, water bug.
+Metopi, black sticky rice with seeds (kinda’ looked like a cow pie but can feed a family for a week and doesn’t taste too bad).
+Tapopo, Kerin Spicy soup, wonderful, Tori has the recipe.
+Samgyupsaal, Korean food we ate the first night in Cambodia.
Funding: I have reached the April deadline of $11,000!! Thank you all so much for your donations and prayers! <3
