Hello again my lovely friends!
So, team Undignified has been having quite an interesting month. I wrote before that we were teaching English, and that in and of itself is always interesting. But, what happens before 5:00pm is typically even more so.
Our awesome comrade, Utry, has been taking us on walks through the surrounding villages. We go to the villages without agenda or idea of what our visit is going to look like, but something that has become a theme (and Utry says is unique to our team,) is that we attract the elderly. And by elderly, I mean 80+ year old people.
It’s hilarious.
So, meet Song. A woman who will have a place in my heart forever.
She had actually heard that there was a bunch of white people in the village playing games with the children, so she came out of her house to see what we were up to. Well, she got tired on her way and plopped down on the side of the road. And there we came…this little, hunched over lady jumped like I’ve never seen before��”and squealed a squeal that I can not explain to you.
She cracked me up. She was so excited that she got to spend some time with us and she invited us to her house, though she said that we shouldn’t go in because she was afraid that our weight would break the floor. So, we just sat as she laughed and squealed at us. And we made plans to revisit her the following day.
So we did. It’s Cambodian culture to bring something to share when you go over to someone’s house, so we came bearing cookies, and I can not tell you the joy that this woman expressed. She shrieked! And then rammed the top of her head into my belly (I believe this is a sign of affection?) and she invited us in. We were kind of hesitant going into her house, as she had told us the day before we would break the floor… but she insisted.
We sat on her floor and just laughed and laughed and listened to her share. She told us that she had had a dream about us the night before and didn’t think that we would actually come back. She shared how strange she thought it was to have ‘rich’ people in her house and how normally white people don’t really care to come visit her, and then she asked why we were in Cambodia.
So, we got to share about the World Race and about our God and why we chose to leave home, raise $14,300 and come sit on her living room floor with her.
That hour made my World Race worth it.
And, we’re going back! This Friday. I’ve been praying that the Lord continue giving her dreams and preparing her heart. She’s an oldie, so I’d love to see her in heaven worshiping God with my Gram grams.
…
Then, on another walk, in another village, we were heading home when this skinny, skinny 82 year old man runs out to us. He picked up to sticks and made a cross out of them, asking if we were Christians. When we told him we were, he was so excited and invited us into his home.
There he shared all about his family and his life. Turns out that he’s not a christian, but his son married a girl with a christian family and he really loves Christians. So, we hung out with him. Listened to his stories about living through the Khmer Rouge and learned all about his family.
His name is Three and we went back to visit today. It was so sweet, he had no idea that we were coming to visit and he just smiled so big. And quickly got out his stash of coffee grounds and brewed us a pot of coffee.
So this month we’ve been hanging out with the elderly. Utry says that we’re the first team that this has happened to, and I love it. Be praying for my two new friends, Song and Three. Cambodia is a Buddhist country, but the Lord wants it and it starts with the two.
I love you all and definitely miss you. The no internet situation has been a bit more trying than I thought it would be.
Talk to you soon!
