Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia April 2017
I have accepted a 6 month intern position to come alongside the Overflow Missional Guesthouse long-term missionary staff in Siem Reap, Cambodia! But, let me tell you a little more…
If you clicked on this because you were like, “Wait, no. I’ve been following along with Victoria over her last year on the mission field and she definitely wrote a whole blog on how much she hated Asia…she can’t be going back,” you’re fifty percent right! I did in fact write a blog on my-not-so-sunshiny feelings about Asia during the World Race, but you know what? Jesus works in mysterious ways and over the last few months specifically, I can feel Him beginning a redemptive work in my heart.
A huge prayer I had going into the World Race was for God to grant me some direction about the future – where should I be in the world, what should I be doing for work, what role will overseas missions play in the long-run of my life? You know, pretty trivial stuff. And I believe God is giving me some direction with those questions — awesome!
Last April I was seven months deep in the World Race, living in the tiny village of Kampong Chhnang, nestled into the jungle of Cambodia. We had saved up our three days off that month to head to Cambodia’s capital of Siem Reap a little early.
When we arrived in Siem Reap, we were tired, we were dirty, we were sweating with an intensity I didn’t know was even possible, and we were just plain burnt out. Stepping out of our little travel bus we were greeted by the staff of the Overflow Guesthouse; a missional guesthouse and Adventures in Missions (AIM) base. The guesthouse was established by AIM (the organization that runs the World Race) and is open to travelers from across the globe coming to visit Siem Reap. Overflow is run by a mix of local Cambodian staff and long-term missionaries from AIM.
Overflow Guesthouse exists as a place of home and welcome to people coming from near and far. AIM has cast a vision to start more of these guesthouses around the world with the idea that instead of constantly sending people out to the nations, with a guesthouse the nations are literally coming to us. And as I’ve experienced in my numerous stays with guesthouses and hostels over the last year, many of the people who pass through these places are in times of transition or searching in their lives — maybe they’ve just graduated high school or college, or just come out of a divorce, or are trying to find their purpose and meaning in the world by seeing what it has to offer. What I came to love about the travelers who tend to stay in guesthouses, is their openness and willingness to engage in conversations and discussions that so often came back to belief and faith (and Jesus!). I’ve had a chance to sit across from Atheists and Muslims and engage in meaningful conversations about what we believe and where we find hope and truth. I get SO EXCITED when I think about what these guesthouses could be in the hands of Jesus!
During the Race, I realized I had this deep longing to settle, to put down roots in a place and build community and connection — a deep longing to build home. That’s what I see when I begin to dream about what Guesthouse Ministry could be; building home and space for people around the world to encounter the love of Jesus. WOW. Yes, Jesus!
And for the last 10 months I’ve been praying and asking Abba what my part in this could be. I get excited when I think about joining a team who is serving in a ministry that creates home and space to love unexpectedly, while also managing a business that is self-sustaining (generating profit) and able to benefit the local economy and people — partnering with local business owners (taxi drivers, tour agencies, restaurants, attractions) to add monetary gain to the community as well as build connection with the people.
For the last 5 months I’ve been in prayer and conversation with AIM’s long-term missions department about what it could look like to join in this ministry, serving and learning what it takes to build a missional guesthouse from the ground up — because maybe, Abba is watering these seeds of desire to build home in a way that is far more Kingdom focused than I could dream up on my own. After speaking with the base leader at the Overflow Guesthouse in Cambodia over the last few months, I have officially been offered an intern position to serve alongside their long-term staff for 6 months, and I’ve accepted!
Never did I ever think I would want to go back to Southeast Asia, but Jesus has been doing some incredible things in my heart, and I am so excited about the potential in this ministry to share the love and hope of Jesus, and I’m so excited to see what the Lord is up to, and I want to go wherever He leads.
Friends, you guys are my tribe. You are the team that prayed me around the world. You are the team that cheered alongside me when we shared the gospel in a bar in Phuket, Thailand. You are the team that brought me to Uganda where we saw teen mothers decide they wanted Jesus. You are the team that celebrated the truth and change Jesus spoke over me this year. You are my tribe, you are my extended family, and together we are the hands and feet of the Church.
So, tribe, I’m asking you to send me out again. I’m asking you to join me in what I see as a continuation of the work the Lord began on the World Race. I feel it in my bones, that Abba is up to something here, and I want you to journey with me and find out what it might be, together.
With a spirit of great humility, I want to invite you to join my support team both financially and in prayer. The idea of raising financial support again (and in a short amount of time) is an area where the enemy tries to strike a lot of fear into my heart, making me question if God really will provide or people will want to keep investing in Kingdom work through me. But, if there’s anything I learned on the World Race, it’s that I walk alongside a FAITHFUL Father who will never ask me to move forward without having gone before and cleared the way. And when it comes to prayer — none of this makes sense without keeping an ear to the Father’s chest, listening for His heartbeat, listening for His guidance. Will you join me through prayer?
I’m taking a risk here, and setting some pretty aggressive goals for support raising, because when I talk about this with Abba, I believe I’m supposed to head out sooner rather than later. Once I’m fully support-raised I’m able to leave for Cambodia, so here’s what we’re aiming for:
Launch Date: March 1st
Total Support to Raise: $7,500
-Flights to and from Cambodia
-6 months of Food
-6 months of Lodging
-6 months of Health Insurance
-Ground transportation
-A local phone
You can join my tribe right here, on my blog, by clicking the “DONATE” button at the top of the page — that’s the best way to jump in financially — and by subscribing to my blog so I can keep you posted on all the Lord does in the months to come!
What I would love to do is meet with you in person to talk more about this together! Shoot me an email and let me know your availability! If we can’t meet in person, let’s set up a Skype call or FaceTime!
Thanks for being in this with me!
I’m with you, too,
V.
