We have safely arrived at our home for the next month in
Cambodia. It is so crazy to think that it is already month 10 on the World Race
and that I only have one more country before I return home!
Anyway, before I get ahead of myself, we are spending month
10 in Kampong Cham, the third largest city in Cambodia. Kampong Cham does not
have a big city feel to it, especially since the buildings max out at three or
four stories, there are absolutely no tourists, and I can ride my bike around
the entire downtown area in a matter of minutes.
Speaking of riding bikes, our ministry contact has five
bicycles for our use and they serve as one of our main forms of transportation
around town and to and from ministry. Riding our bikes around town is a lot of
fun, but also tiring (we’re trying to keep up with our guide on her motorbike),
slightly scary (roundabouts with lots of cars and motorcycles are a bit
interesting), and ridiculously sweaty (85 degrees with 90% humidity).
Aside from riding our bikes, we are doing a variety of
ministry activities this month. Our contact, Maricel, has a heart similar to
mine and typed up an excel spreadsheet of our daily routines for each day of
the entire month. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, we are supposed to go to
the local prison and minster to the men there. Ministering to them means
singing, teaching English, and just talking to them. On Wednesday, we ride our
bikes to the slum area and gather up all of the children under the age of 5 and
play with them. Playing with them consists of taking their photo and showing it
to them. On Thursday, we take a barge to an island and do prayer walks through
the village there.
After our morning ministries, we have a bit of a break for
lunch, and then teach classes in the afternoon. We each have two or three
hour-long classes to teach. I am teaching a beginning English class and an
advanced English class to university students. There is also a bible study and
guitar class that my teammates are teaching. We’ve done a lot of English
teaching on the race. I’ve really learned that speaking English qualifies you
to teach English in every other country in the world. Also, everyone in the
world wants to learn to speak English. Speaking English can be a ticket out of
poverty, and a way to find a better job, so the students are very eager to
learn.
That’s about all it for this month! Hope you are enjoying
the fall weather back in the states. Come visit us in Cambodia if you miss the
heat and humidity.
A stone Buddah at Angkor Wat
A building at Angkor Wat
This is a country under water.
Houses on the water… because there’s nowhere to put houses except on the water.
Fish for dinner. It was actually really, really good.
