Over the last month we have been able to serve at Cornerstone Ministry in Phnom Penh. This time has been amazing. On the weekdays our group splits up into two groups. One group goes to teach University students English at the church, and the other group gets to go to the railroad tracks and have the children of this area come and learn English and about the Bible. We also get to play games with them.
Over the last month, I have found this recurring theme that God has been showing me. This theme is love. Before the trip I have been back and forth about what love is and how can it be shown. How do you know what love is?
Coming here and being apart of the Cambodia culture has helped start to shape my new and deep understanding of love. Love is not something that you can choose to turn off one day. Love is something that burns inside of you, and with this burning inside of you it makes your emotions form and feel for the people you are with. Sometimes I feel like in America for me, love is something that can be turned on one day and turned off when you want it to be about yourself. People, when not wanting to feel this emotion, turn to other things like drinking, television, sexual relations with others, and more to cover up the feelings and try to move on. At times, I wonder what love actually is. Is my thought of love just a feeling that I think it is but actually isn’t?
During my time here, I have seen the contacts we have show love to the people around them. Their heart is full of love. With their love, they give so much to the community around them. We only met them a month ago, and they have loved us in a way I want to love others. They want to know about our lives and share their lives with us. Love is sharing experiences and your emotions with another person. On the other side, loving another person is listening and having a heart that breaks with theirs, feeling their emotions and wanting to stand by their side no matter the situation. For example, there is a child that had not been showing any emotions the whole week. Each day I try to talk to him. I was starting to give up on how to love him so that I could show him there is someone in the world who wants to just love him because he is him. I started to draw with him, and he opened up some. He allowed me to pick him up and swing him around. God was able to break the barrier, and a smile cracked on his face that was so pure of joy that, even days later, I still think about it. After that, he got down and dropped his stuff. He proceeded to sing a love ballad to me in his best voice. This was his way of showing love. Also, there is a boy who is deaf and can’t talk. Everyday he waits and runs into the arms of my teammates and everyday when leaving he sits at the corner waving and blowing kisses to us. He loves us and we love him. His love is pure joy of a child. I would love to have this love one day.
Love is not giving up on someone and not ignoring when you don’t have them in front of your face. Love is something that God gives us to help, connect, and have a bond with someone. It is something that is strong and will not break. Love is kind and deep. It lets us share in experiences with another and lead to what God is showing us everyday….his Love.
As we have a week left before Thailand, I am excited to see what other things God has in store for us.
