out of the village

hello family, friends, supporters, and random blog readers!

 

I am out of the Cambodian Village, which means I have internet again.  Our squad is in Hua Hin, Thailand.   We are here for five days (through friday) for “Debrief”, a time to rest, relax, have fun, and also talk with our squad leaders and our coaches, to reflect on the past couple months.  This time was really needed, as I was sick for the last week of ministry.  Last Saturday I felt very ill (much like I felt back in Guatemala City) and ended up getting a high fever, and having other not so fun symptoms.  Sunday I knew I needed an IV, but we were in the middle of a village, in the Cambodian Jungle, three hours from any major city.  I thought I was going to have to drive by moto bike to Pnem Phen, the capital city three hours away.  This drive is not pleasant, and I was not looking forward to it.  By some miracle, our contact made a call, and a doctor drove to the church we were staying at and delivered an IV.  We strung it up using my laundry cord, hanging it down from the i-beam in the ceiling.  It was such a blessing, and helped me recover a bit.  My fever left, but the other symptoms continued for about a week.  The first day of debrief, this recent sunday, was the first day I felt healthy again, so that was a blessing that my health recovered in time for these days of relaxation.  Please continue to pray for me, that I would fully recover, and that any sickness remaining in my body would leave.

 

Our time in Cambodia was blessed.  We lived a very simple life.  We slept in the church, and everything we did was on this property.  We ate at our contacts house which was also on the property, and we also taught in the make shift school rooms. We would wake up and take breakfast every morning at 7am.  Then we would spend alone time with God, and then gather as a team to worship late morning, and have our team time.  Lunch at noon, and then throughout the afternoon and evening we taught English classes.  We taught a wide age range of students, different class sizes with different dynamics.  Although I have never taught English before, it came pretty naturally to me.  I especially liked teaching about pronunciation.  I took a linguistics class in college and we briefly studied how we vocalize different sounds.  We studied where the sounds came from (mouth, back of the throat, ect.) and how they were articulated.  This knowledge really helped me teach, and I was able to help the Cambodian students articulate and annunciate well.  We also taught using the gospel, using bible stories, and also taught the kids some different songs. 

 

I also would ride by moto to a share group (bible study) every wednesday and saturday night.  Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.  Faith is also riding on the back of a tiny moto-bike at night in the middle of a dust storm with headlights that are less than bright.  (During the dry season in Cambodia the roads are bad because of all the dust and bumps and divets in the road.  During the rainy season, the roads are near flooded and people crash all the time, sliding all over the road.  So there is really no good time to drive in Cambodia!)  So I would go to share group, and be the only white person in a circle of Cambodians, and they would play music singing in Khmer, and then read the bible in Khmer, and I would sit there and smile.  No, I used that time to pray and listen to God as to what He wanted me to share each night.  He led me to different verses every night I went, and I was able to share personal testimonies and how the verses applied.  Each time I shared God spoke through me in a unique way, and the time was very blessed. Hopefully everything translated well!

 

It was interesting to sit in a circle of people, and not know really if they were Christian, or if they fully understood the messages I brought to them. I found out a couple days before leaving Cambodia, that one of the men in my share group, had just recently started going.  He had climbed a mountain seeking out the God they serve in their village.  He was up there for two years.  He nearly starved and went a little crazy.  He climbed to the mountain edge, and was going to kill himself by jumping off.  He was being tormented by the enemy.  Some villagers grabbed him and taxied him down the mountain.  His son became a Christian by going to Yew-Ee’s (our contact) church to learn English.  So his son invited him to bible study.  In my study, he would read the bible, and seemed impacted by everything I said.  I didn’t witness this, because I was extremely sick that day, but apparently he was at church the last sunday, and after one of my teammates shared a testimony he broke down a little and started to cry.  I pray that God continues to speak to him and who knows, maybe he is a Christian by now?

 

Well, that is enough for now.  More stories to come from Cambodia!  Hope you enjoyed.

 

-Mike

 

 

Me and my $5 IV

 

 

 

Hanging out with the drivers kids upon arriving in Cambodia

 

 

We canoed to an island, and on the way back sunk the canoe.  I guess it just wasn’t built for 6 gringos and a Cambodian

 

 

On the island.  (I promise you we weren’t posing)

 

 

Couple days of rain brought some refreshing cold weather.  I’m sure everyone back home is craving warm weather, but I am missing the snow and the freezing cold!

 

 

Everyone gathered around to watch a movie.

 

 

Just you know… doin a little farming… in Cambodia….