Caregiver of My Children
As many of you know, I can’t shut up about Cambodia. I absolutely loved it there and felt like I was right at home. It was a month full of healing, overflowing love, laughter, snuggles, and memories! You all know that already by my constant posts and blogs about it! There is something I’ve been hiding from you all though. Well not hiding. More of keeping to myself because the Lord made me promise to wait till the right time to reveal this news.
Story time with Victoria Finlay! Yay!
So when I first got to Cambodia I thought to myself, “It’s too hot. I would never move or want to do missions work again in a place like this.” Well of course the Lord has a sense of humor and was going to prove me wrong. After the first few days something in me was like “Life might not actually be that bad here.” I started loving children like never before. I usually have this love/hate relationship with kids. The Lord changed that hate part to an overflowing love. I had so much joy working with them. Every day that went by my love for them grew and grew to the point when I left I considered staying another month and cried for months about it. Little did I know what the Lord was going to do in my life in beautiful Cambodia. The first week being there, I explained to Vandy, my host, how grateful I was for him. I told him that I’ve always wanted to run an orphanage and had so much respect for him. I did not expect him to respond in the way he did. He looked at me and said “How about you come back to be with the kids for a year or two?” I laughed at him and said I’ll pray about it but deep down inside I was like “Uh heck no. I’m never coming back. Cambodia is hot and there are too many bugs. Anyways I want to go back to South Africa. Anyone who would want to be back has to be a strong person.” Well, that was a huge slap in my face. The next day I started questioning if I should pray about going back. Something in me was like, “Don’t totally shut Cambodia out. You did come on the world race hoping to find a ministry to work with. At least pray about it.” I started praying about it and as the days went by I felt like I was at home at the orphanage and could imagine myself being back. The Lord used Vandy to bring it back up again a few days later. I couldn’t believe it. I was falling in love with Cambodia. As it got closer to the end of the month, my heart started breaking because I was leaving soon. Vandy has Sunday night services and I was asked to speak at it.
OH this is where it gets so good! A neighbor of the orphanage decided to come and listen. She had been blessing us with mangos and dry mango throughout the month. She has donated to the orphanage and been part of their lives. She is in her 70’s I believe. Chiya is her name. That night I spoke to the kids about finding joy in everything. No matter the circumstances or when things don’t make sense. When I got done, she came up to me and put her hand on my chest. Right then I heard the Lord whisper to me “Don’t be sad because you are leaving. You will be back in Cambodia to do ministry.” Then Chiya kissed my hand and walked away. I had to take a moment to take in what just happened. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Me in Cambodia? No. What about South Africa? I felt such a peace about it though. The next day my love for Cambodia grew more and more. When I say that I never thought I could love a place so much, I mean it with all of my heart. Chiya came around when we had fun nights with the kids. I prayed and prayed about what the Lord had spoken to me. Vandy had brought it up yet again to move to Cambodia to be with the kids. I felt such a peace and asked the Lord to confirm these feelings if it was something that I was called to do.
The day we left Cambodia I decided to go to the orphanage one more time to get some wifi and say bye to the kids. When I was walking back to where I was staying, Chiya was standing at her gate waiting for me to pass by. This next part is crazy and I’m still in awe about it! Chiya again put her hand on my chest. I looked into her eyes and began to cry. She looked at me and smiled then she said to me in English “It’s okay to be sad that you are leaving, but don’t be too sad because the Lord told me that you are coming back next year to live here for at least a year. I can’t wait to see how the Lord is going to use you in these beautiful children’s lives.” Chiya took her hand off and started speaking in Khmer to me. This woman doesn’t know any English at all. The Lord answered my prayer through Chiya. When I got back Vandy asked me if I was thinking about coming back. I told him what had happened to me and Chiya. He smiled real big and told me that his wife had been praying for a young woman from America to come and teach the kids English. He told her what happened and she couldn’t stop smiling.
So all that to say, YOUR HOMEGIRL IS GOING TO BE A MISSIONARY IN CAMBODIA! I will be serving alongside Vandy. I will be pouring into the children and will be teaching them English! I will be living in the orphanage! Before I had made the decision I sat down with Vandy and asked him with the cost of living there would look like. Just to see. We came to conclusion that all I would have to pay for is my food, visa, and plane ticket! After days of praying about it, the Lord told me I would need to save up $10,000.00 before going. He also told me that I will have it all by summer time! So yeah! It’s been so hard keeping this in since May but it has been so worth it! I am super excited about this opportunity! Thank you to those who have been praying for me on this journey!
I know this blog is already long but I have one more thing to share with you! So my first week in Thailand, I was struggling being away from Cambodia. Like hard core struggling. We had the lovely opportunity to have our squad leader Lene with us. The Lord laid it on my teammate, Alesha’s, heart to pray for peace for me. While they were praying for me, Lene got a word from the Lord. The words were “Caregiver of my children.” That again gave me confirmation that Cambodia is where the Lord is going to take me! I also had another confirmation!! So the other day I was praying about the funds that I will need to go back. Let’s be real.. Ten thousand is a lot of money to have in such a short amount of time. I’ve been doubting that I am going to get it. Well while I was praying, I saw an image. It was of me holding a child and holding the child’s hand. Then I saw a lions face. It looked kinda like Aslan’s face in Chronicles of Narnia. All of the sudden my image started zooming out and I noticed that the lion was behind me protecting and providing for me. It gave me so much peace and I realized that I am going to get the amount I need, in the time that the Lord told me that it would be provided!
So yeah! I would appreciate the prayers as I am completing the last few months of my race. I would also appreciate prayers for finances to come in!
Thank you so much for everything!
Blessings,
Victoria Finlay
