So, Cambodia has arrived! I was in Phnom Penh for 3 days at mini debrief after Vietnam. I now have an all-new team that I will introduce later on, but you should know I am super excited to have these teammates and have already been blessed by Emily Zimmerman, Ashley Artrip, Caitlin Martin, Raven Hyman, Justin King, and Thomas Haygood. We are now living in a village a long way from anywhere with a regular toilet called Kampot, Cambodia! I love love love where we are and what our ministry is!
First I’ll explain the living situation. We have two big bunk bed rooms, one for the men and one for the women. We have two “bathrooms”, which I appreciate, but you might not fancy so much. The toilets are squatty potties, or glorified holes in the ground, which flows into the pond right beside the compound. We also wash in the same small space as the squatty with a hand held shower. The water comes directly from the pond right beside us. Did you catch that? Lol Same pond!! We are fed lunch and dinner by the host “family” which is generally white rice, vegetables and some sort of meat…. It’s delicious, but I no longer feel the need to wash dishes after the washing process used here! Don’t worry, though, we brush our teeth with big jugs of clear water!
We have an awesome ministry teaching English classes to children, youth and some young adults in our small village of around 700 people and in a neighboring village. Our Sunday schedule is children’s ministry at church from 7:30 to 8:30 am. Today we taught them the songs Waves of Mercy, Father Abraham, and the Lord’s Army. We also had them memorize Philippians 4:13 in ENGLISH, which was super cute to listen to. The children really enjoyed the skit of “David and Goliath“ and a game of red light green light! We also help with the 8:30 to 10:30 young adult service. On Saturdays and Sundays we go to the neighboring village to teach English class at noon, two, and 5:30. We hope to show them love just as each World Race team does. This ministry is awesome because it is continuous. The last team left two days ago, we are here for one month and a team will come in right behind us to continue the ministry and stay connected in the people’s lives.
Monday is our off day to do laundry (by hand in the famous pond water), rest, and prepare for the week. Tuesday through Friday we will go to the neighbors home to talk and love on them and then in the evenings we teach classes in the huts beside our compound to the village children and young people. Over the next month, we are preparing a dance and teaching the children a dance for a Christmas program on the 23rd!
The village is beautiful with rice fields, coconut trees and cattle everywhere!! Every family lives on subsistence farming to survive, and stays in thatch roof homes, a lot of which have dirt floors. Chickens, ducks, pigs, and cattle roam freely in the day and stay in the barn (sometimes right next to the kitchen under their stilt homes) at night. I absolutely love it here and am excited for what God is going to teach me and how He is going to use my team to affect this village for His kingdom!
We only have internet from using the one stick they have, so I won’t be using it very frequently, but know that God is working, I am learning, and prayers/encouragement are appreciated!
I love you all and am blessed to have you in my life. Be encouraged that you are great and God uses every one of His children!
