December 2015 in Cambodia

Well the end of 2015 has gone and passed! I can’t believe what an eventful year it had been. I started last year as a senior in High School, now I am more than half way finished on my journey as a missionary in Cambodia. This last year had brought me joy, heartache, wisdom, hardship, victory, friendship and much more! I have been blessed beyond measure this past year and I am so grateful to God that he has worked persistently in my life.
The beginning of December was mostly preparation for upcoming events. The first event was the departure of our beloved American intern, Amy Wilson. Shanghai, (an intern here) was in charge of planning the event. She did a great job putting it together and directing others toward the end goal! We ate chicken with sauce, vegetables and soup. The staff, interns, and students helped me make the desserts. The favorite was the vegan chocolate peanut brownies and we also had tasty chocolate banana pudding, plus an apple pie crumble. I am always happy to have an excuse to bake. I know I learn a lesson each time I do, this time it was about sugar portions. The apple pie crumble turned out a little too sweet for my taste! The party decorations were festive and looked great. We also watched a nice slideshow of Amy’s time here in Cambodia that Shanghai helped put together. The rest of the night consisted of worship and words from Amy. The trip to the airport was fast, Amy’s check in was quickly after the party and some of us missed our goodbyes. However we wish Amy the best as she is on a new journey for Gods kingdom back in the states! Amy is such a humble, hardworking, caring and passionate person. I know God will continue to have a strong hand in her life, to make a difference for His kingdom.
The night before Amy’s departure we had a small celebration for sister Nys birthday. The staff and interns made a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, with little instruction from me. (They are learning, proud of them!) After sister Ny had settled in from getting back from work, we called her to the kitchen and surprised her. We all had a good time joking around and having some time of fellowship together. Sister Ny works in a Christian organization outside of the school. As she has been renting one of the rooms, she has stayed here at the school for about 2 years now. She is so funny, spunky, faithful, and joyful and it’s a big blessing to see her smiling face every day. Ny is currently going to the village almost every day of the week, so please pray that God will guide her and give her strength and health.
The rest of the preparation time was focused on anything related to Christmas. I may have mentioned before that we were planning on having a Christmas party. Plus we knew we wanted to do something for the kids and people in the villages. So around mid-November, I was working in the office and happened to see an old operation Christmas child box sitting on the shelf. It was then that I really realized we should do something for the kids in the village. I thought it would be awesome if we could give the kids some operation Christmas child boxes. So I spoke to teacher Nelly about it. At the time Pastor Shannon heard us speaking and told me he knew a guy that worked with them and he asked if he could send an email to make it happen. I was ecstatic and we began to pray for Gods guidance and leading in that situation. After November and a bit of December had passed, we hadn’t heard anything, so I decided to check up on the situation. It turned out the email had not been sent because it was now an invalid email address. By that time it was too late to receive anything from Operation Christmas Child. I was a little discouraged and after thinking a bit I finally decided to pray about it. So I prayed and asked others to pray also because I wasn’t sure what we were going to do. A few days later Sandra Beckwith, who is so kindly and graciously helping me with finances, messaged me. She told me that for the month of December I had received an offering $550 to help with the ministry here. I was speechless and overwhelmed with the news. I feel like since I have known and lived this experience of ministry, God has been trying to teach about faith and that he always provides. Whether its money, safety, comfort, love, provision, wisdom or whatever it may be, He provides. For some reason I have had a hard time getting that through my head. So this was another big reminder that God always provides for His children. 
In result of the offering, I was able to consult with the staff and interns to come up with a plan for the kids. We already knew we wanted to do something similar to the boxes, so we made a plan. When we were ready, the circuit girls and I spent a day going to different places in Siem Reap purchasing the items for the kids. We bought; notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, colored pencils, coloring books, pencil sharpeners, dolls, balls, toy cars, fluffy hair ties, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, candy, wafers, small pouches for the girls and action figures for the boys. We give praise to God that were able to give to over 200 faithful children who come to Sunday school on a weekly basis. Additionally, we also were able to give clothes to all ages in the giving what we had planned and more, we still had some items left over from the children’s gifts we are now using those to reword the children in English class and the Bible study. 
The week before the students had parted was the Christmas prep week. I stayed here at the base getting things ready for the big party on Saturday. That consisted of budgeting, preparing the menu, baking, cooking food, preparing gifts and decorating prep. Needless to say, looking back on it, it was a pretty busy week. When Friday came along the students finished their finals and began helping by taking charge of the decorating and lending a helping hand in the kitchen. That day we prepared mashed potatoes and gravy, 34 pounds of pork roast, dinner rolls (props to sister Ny) and a pumpkin Khmer dessert. Somaly and I ended up staying up until 7am, finishing the pork and then starting and finishing stuffing and another Khmer dish that contains corn and pork. When we went to sleep on the morning of the party, some students and staff put on a program for the kids here in the neighborhood. I was sad to miss that but they took pictures and told me about the ministry. A few of the students prepared the drama explaining the birth of Jesus and they sang songs, played games, and gave gifts to the kids. After I had woken up from my nap, the rest of the afternoon was prep for the party at 5pm. When we were as ready as we could be, we all went and dolled ourselves up for the party. We started with prayer, Khmer songs and preaching from teacher Nelly. Afterwards we ate, and then we sang English songs. Including the songs titled: Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, Mary Did You Know, and Joy to the World. During dinner we were blessed by a guest with his musical talents and he sang a few Korean songs for us. Then we played games, danced and opened/exchanged gifts. That night we had around 40 people to celebrate with from a variety of different countries. I was especially excited about one of our guests, Anna, who decided to come and celebrate with us. We met her when she was looking for an apartment in the area. Anna works at an international school, which is very close to the base, as a teacher. The next day was a recuperation day along with some cleaning up. The celebration was yet another blessing from God. Showing me that not only does he provide, but He blesses us with the extra stuff. 
A few days after the party at the base, I was feeling a bit worn out and was having some digestion issues during the day. That evening I stated to feel worse and by night time, I was struggling with a high fever, stomach ache, body aches, and a headache. I wanted to tell about this because I felt really blessed by the girls (Saron, Sothiya, Sreymom, Ny, Sheanghai, Somaly and teacher Nelly) during this time. I think culturally they take care of people differently. It’s more hands on, if that makes any sense. Anyway, I remember being curled up in sister Ny and Sister Sheanghai’s room. Sheanghai cooked me “baw baw,” which is like porridge. That is something they eat when they are not feeling well. Sheanghai also rubbed a Khmer medicine/ointment into my stomach to help with my cramping. After a bit all of them were in there asking how I was doing, what was hurting and just generally being concerned with me. Then they took the initiative to all lay hands on me and pray for me. It’s so powerful and uplifting when people lay hands on you and pray. Especially praying aloud, it makes it easy to hear the emotions being expressed. I felt like the Holy Spirit was there in our presence and felt like I knew the concerns and cares of the girls. After the prayer I could see the emotions on their faces. During that night Saron and Sothiya stayed up, practically all night, putting cold rags on my head and body. Then rubbing out muscle aches, giving me water, taking care of me, and asking me how I was doing. The next night wasn’t as rough, but I spent the night on Ny and Sheanghai’s room to give Saron and Sothiya a rest. Again, that night Sheanghai was up wiping cold rags on my body, giving me water and taking care of me, showing concern. The rest of the week everyone made sure my work load was light, whether I liked it or not. After that experience I felt loved. It was a blessing in a way to see how God took care of me. It made me feel a part of the family herein a way that I hadn’t recognized before. It was so special to start to really see how much the girls cared about me. I thank God that He has brought them into my life. It has been, and continues to be a true joy and blessing getting to know all of them and getting to know their hearts. I love seeing their true personalities and characters revealed over time. I know God is working in all of their lives and their testimonies and stories amaze me, inspire me, and encourage me. Please pray for all of them as they are looking for the future God has for them. Pray that God would give them strength, courage, endurance and wisdom to follow His will for their lives, and that they would feel His love and presence along the way.
Like I said before, during that time all the students were at home. So it was just the staff, interns, and I here at the base. I wanted to mention that I really enjoyed that bonding time with them. We were able to spend more time with each other, in a more relaxed setting and in my eyes; it strengthened my relationship with every one of them. We all spent most of that time cleaning the school, preparing for the parties in the village and then going Wednesday-Sunday in the truck to the villages. We also all had a good time at a Christmas party that we were invited to, at our church in the evening. We had awesome fellowship with our Philippine brothers and sisters, played games, ate a lot, sang and celebrated the Lords birth! That week was the week of Christmas; I got to spend it hanging out with some of the people I enjoy the most. 
We spent the day of Christmas Eve helping share the gospel in the Floating Village to many hyperactive kids. Then I spent the evening relaxing with the girls and thinking about home and the future a little bit. That night we ate up on the rooftop and sister Ny treated us to dinner. We ate fried chicken, watermelon, rice and some veggies. After eating, some of the girls started an intense game of Ninja. That was pretty entertaining to watch and it put a smile on my face watching them have a good time. I do remember thinking how ironic it was that “I am in Asia on Christmas Eve, watching Asians play Ninja.” I never thought I would be able to say that. While they played I had a nice conversation with teacher Nelly about her ministry experiences and the Christmas’ she has had at home and away from family. Its nights like that when I can truly see how blessed I am to be here serving our King. He has been faithful to provide every single thing that I need, in the good or bad. 
Teen Missions Cambodia had one of their most valued staff leave the next day. Saron, who is also my previous roommate, took the next step in the Lords journey for her. She will be getting married on the 14th of this month with her groom Yi. She is now working with a different Christian organization, translating and doing some work in the village. It was a harder adjustment to not have her around. Saron helped me so much with my adjusting to the culture here in Cambodia. It was truly a hand given blessing from God to spend the first 6 months of my time here with her as my roomie. I learn a lot from her character, her relationship with Christ, and her wisdom. I pray God will continue to walk with her and bless her. During the time that Saron was getting ready to leave, one more person came to live with us. Miss Sothiya is now my current roommate and again, God has blessed me with the presence of a kind, godly and caring person. I really enjoy spending time with Sothiya. She is a sweetheart and watching her, I learn a lot about what a woman of God looks like. Please pray for both of these young women. Pray especially for their health, strength and wisdom to follow the Lord and carry out His work.
Christmas day ended up being a pretty great day. I got a little emotional in the morning. Emotional about home, and also thinking about having to leave these amazing people, who’ve come to hold a special place in my heart. I had a nice heart to heart with some of the girls and felt better after I talked it out. After we had spent a short amount of time just waiting in the village, we started the program. That day I had the chance to be a part of the drama as one of the wise men. That was fun and it was a blessing to help out where I was needed, during the program throughout the week. My main job was to take pictures. I taught English in one village and sang in English in a few other villages with my guitar. After we had gotten back from the village on Christmas day, I did some laundry while teacher Nelly prepared a nice Christmas dinner for us. After she had worked hard to prepare the food all evening, we all sat down, prayed, spoke, and ate. We had a Philippine dinner that consisted of rice, bread, a fish similar to salmon, special pork meatballs called “oolah boolah,”and an amazing soup. That was a special time of fellowship and I was lucky to spend it with the women I did. God put a joy and feeling of contentment in me during that time. I am grateful that I was able to realize what a blessing it really was.
As far as the actual celebration in the villages, they were such a blessing to be a part of. At that time the students had gone home for vacation. So the staff and interns put together a presentation to perform for the kids we stated with an English song and the normal starter song for regular Sunday school. After a few songs we secretly pulled out the puppets and sung a few with them. Some of the kids knew the secret to puppets, however many did not. We even had some adults with puzzled faces. Though, I can say that the kids’ faces were so rewarding to see. Next we taught the normal Bible lesson to the kids about the three wise men coming to worship Jesus after His birth. Following the lesson the staff and interns presented a drama of Jesus birth. All the people enjoyed watching them act with the different props to portray the coming of our Savior. When we had finished the drama one of us questioned the kids about the story while the others prepared a snack. Teen Missions provided massive amounts of bread with sweetened condensed milk, which is a common snack here in Cambodia. Along with juice boxes, they also provided our well needed transportation in the truck we gave the snacks and gift at the same time, after the kids had played games with Sothiya and Sheanghai. Then we laid out the clothes for everyone to take, took a picture and sent them on their way! God really touched our hearts by letting us be a part of this experience and blessing in the village. Seeing the kid’s reactions put an ear to ear grin our faces. We hope the kids know that this was from the Father and that He loves them so much. I was moved to see the events and be a small help in it all. God is so good! I will forever remember spending the week of Christmas in Khmer villages in 2015. 
Lastly I want to talk about New Year’s Eve! Around that time sister Ny’s sister and a Philippine friend came to visit here in Siem Reap. I really hadn’t planned on celebrating, but Ny invited me to join them in going out that night to the old market. Downtown was all done up for the celebration and there were foreigners everywhere! We went out to eat first at a place named Happy Pizza. I ate a tuna club sandwich, a nice passion fruit drink and a few slices of the meat lovers pizza, that they had chosen. After we had a nice time visiting, we went ahead and wandered to the bridge to watch the fireworks when it hit midnight. I was fortunate to go out and spend it with a few classy people.
Please continue to pray for the ministry here and the country as a whole. God is working and moving here in Cambodia. Please pray for the students’ wisdom, understanding, health and strength and for God to give them peace. Please pray for the interns and staff, that God would give them guidance and peace for their future. Pray for their strength and health also and that God would continue to give us a passion and desire to serve Him. Prayers for our families would be appreciated as well. Thank you so much to all of you who are thinking about me, praying for me and supporting me. God blesses me through you, in that way I am still able to serve the Lord here in Cambodia. May God bless you all!
Sothiya Soeun, Sheanghai Chhoung, Lay Ny, Sreymom San, Nelly D. Alia, Horn Saron,