Cambodia, Kindgom of Cambodia, Asia, Hmmm. “Where exactly is Cambodia? What language do they speak? There is a King here? They speak Khmer? I’ve never even heard of Khmer… How will I know how to say where is the bathroom? Excuse me the time difference is 12 hours? What do you mean I have to squat over a hole in the ground?”
These are all the thoughts that ran through my mind on the way to Cambodia as we took a 15 and a half hour flight from Atlanta to Korea, and then another 5 hour flight from Korea to Cambodia. Yes, I was in the air for almost a whole day and I flew over half the World. Has it really hit me that I’m in Asia? Not really! But, what I have realized is that I don’t think it will ever hit me that I am thousands of miles from home, living in a new culture and not knowing what the people around me are saying.
Thats what I’m here to talk about… English. Why is it such a big language? Why is it that so many countries speak it? Why do so many underdeveloped countries want to learn it? Well I don’t have the answers to those questions, but I sure have learned how blessed I am to know English. As my teammates and I walk through the streets and speak English, other people stare. They stare because we look different, we talk different and we interact differently. So when we were told that we would be teaching English to a school in a small town of Cambodia. I was HYPEEEE. I was excited to share my language with others and that I would be able to help them learn a language that is so widely used.
Little did I know that God was and is teaching me something big through this.
The first day of teaching my team split into different teams of two with a main teacher and a co-teacher. For me there was no question that I would be the co-teacher, I have no experience with teaching classes, let alone English. So I said nope, I’ll help out, but I am not leading a class of 30 students when I don’t feel confident in my teaching abilities.
The next day I woke up to two of my teammates who were very ill and had to go to the hospital, so I was then up next to teach English alone. Wait alone in a room with 30+ kids? Who don’t speak my language? Heck no! No way, that’s pretty scary! And all I have is a chalkboard… what?
I didn’t have a choice of whether or not I went alone and taught, so I went to the school and walked into the classroom with clammy hands. The minute I stepped through that door, I saw the children’s eager, smiling faces… phew, okay I can do this. And that’s when God said enough is enough, stop thinking about what you can do and start thinking about what I can do through you. You are wasting time worrying “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27). You are wasting precious time over the worry of messing up, the worry of what others will think, the worry about what will come out of your mouth next.
That day of English went SO well, and I had so much fun!!! I had fun laughing with the children over some crazy games we played. My heart ached as the children wanted attention, but I couldn’t give them all the same attention. God’s joy shown through as we learned our colors and sang together in English . God’s peace came out when the children were misbehaving and I had to stay calm and patient with them as an hour of teaching is a long time.
That day was one where I had to step back and look at who I was letting drive my life, is it people? Is it myself? Or is it God?
I have no answer to that, because I am not perfect and I don’t always submit my life to God. I do know that I want it to be God, and what I do know is that trusting God is the best thing I can ever do, even when it means not planning for an English class, walking into a class blind with no plan, no knowledge of their language and the unknown.
The unknown is where God works wonders…
Love from Cambodia!
