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Arrival, Ministry, Goose Chases, Big Cities and Waterfalls!
Arrival in Phnom Phen
Chom Reab Sooah, (Hello) from the Kingdom of Cambodia!
I’m happy to be updating you about the adventures of October.
Hannah Ferguson and I traveled to Florida at the end of Sep. to finish paper work, pack and say goodbye! On Oct. 1st, Miss Pat, (our lovely department head for the past two years) drove us to the airport around 4:30am and so the adventure began! Hannah and I traveled to Los Angeles and from there to South Korea. From there we traveled to the capital here in Cambodia, Phnom Phen. Hannah and I spent over 24 hours in the air and over 30 hours traveling! Praise the Lord, everything went well traveling and Jesus took care of us!
Around 10:30pm on the 2nd, we arrived in Cambodia! Teacher Nelly picked us up from the airport and from there we ventured to find our hotel for the night. Hannah and I had quite a bit of luggage and it ended up raining that evening so we stuck our luggage inside the truck and Hannah and I sat in the bed of the truck. We got a little shower in on the way to the hotel but it was fun and a night to remember!
While in Phnom Phen the next day, Anoun (a staff member here), Teacher Nelly (The Coordinator), Hannah and I went to the mall to pick up some things, then to The Choeung EK Genocidal Center to tour the Killing Fields there. The Khmer Rouge took place between 1975 and 1978. During that time it’s estimated that one to two million Khmer people died by execution, forced labor, and famine. It was difficult to see and hear about the atrocities that took place. Even though it was sad and hard to hear about, it was good to find out more about the recent history of this country. Later that night Teacher Nelly, Hannah and I went to the night market to set up our phones and to get some dinner. Overall the day was eventful and enjoyable!
The South, Siem Reap and The Village
The next day we traveled to Kranktamum near Kampong Chhnang. We stayed at the rural base there for a day, took care of some visa stuff and then we traveled to Siem Reap! While in Siem Reap we picked up a few things we needed, took care of more visa stuff, visited a few tourist places and teacher continued to prepare for the beginning of the term. While in Siem Reap I had the privilege of reuniting with some of my old pals! I saw Sister Ny and Sister Sheanghai came to visit one night after she finished working. It was such a blessing to see them face to face again. I’m so grateful to God for the friendships He has provided in my life. He provides in every way. After staying in Siem Reap for a few days Teacher Nelly, some old students and I traveled south again.
Jesus gave me a great opportunity to go and visit my friends Sister Sheanghai, Sister Somaly and Sister Sothiya in their village before the term started. So I stayed in their village for a few days, visited with their families and spent quality time together! It was so nice to be there and again I’m grateful to God for the friendships He has given me.
Settling In down in the South
On the 13th, I came back to the base in the south, (Kranktamum)to prepare for the students return. Everyone was back here to begin the term on the 15th. This term God has given me the opportunity to teach. Teacher gave me the subject of Public Speaking. I’m also blessed to be teaching about 2 ½ hours of English to the students a week, 3 hours of English to the Interns a week as well as 1 ½ hours of guitar on Friday afternoon. I have really been enjoying teaching. That consumes most of my work time here as well as helping with odd jobs around the base. Last week I was especially excited to help put concrete on the walls of one of the rooms of the dorm.
During the first few days back at the base I tried to get settled in, get some things I needed and set up my room. The students, interns and staff here have been working very hard to develop the base. Now they have an open classroom building, an open kitchen area, an outside dining area, a place to keep the motorcycles, a small two sided building that’s used as 2 rooms, 2 bathroom blocks, a chicken house, an older house building and the newest development is the dormitory they are working on. As of now they have 3 rooms completely finished and 3 more to complete. I’m staying in the room that was completed most recently. In the bathrooms in the room, we have running water from a tank, a sink, and a toilet that we can bucket flush. There is electricity here and the floors are tiled. It’s very nice! The base here is still very rural and they are continuing to try and develop things here. Please pray for wisdom, strength and health as they do this!
Holidays and Driver's License
This month there have been a few one day government holidays. The students like to take advantage of those and go explore. The first time, everyone here ventured to a waterfall on a mountain. It was about two hours away by truck and it was very beautiful. We ate lunch there and swam for a bit before we headed back. The next time we rode via tractor trailer to a different waterfall in the mountains. We went on a 3 hour bumpy ride to get there and it was more remote. Again, it was very beautiful and we ate lunch and swam. The most recent holiday was a nice day of rest. Everyone just stayed at the base, did laundry, played instruments, played games and hung out.
The most recent venture was one to Phnom Phen! Hannah came down from Siem Reap to Phnom Phen in a van and Teacher Nelly and I met her there. That morning, Teacher, Chan (an intern) and I went to visit another intern and his aunt. His aunt was in the hospital with stage 4 bone cancer at 27 years old. She is at home now. After picking Hannah up we all went to the mall to get lunch. Then we tried to find the transportation office here so that Hannah and I could transfer our licenses to drive here in Cambodia. When we got there they said we needed another form and then we could get it. So we traveled two hours back to the southern base and stayed for the night. The next morning we went on a goose chase to get that form. We went from place to place to place and finally made it ourselves at a print shop and got it signed and stamped by the chief of the village and chief of the commune. At around 2:30 we drove to Phnom Phen again and the people at the office told us that we needed our passports and visas (which are not finished yet) even though the day before they told us differently. So we’ll try again later! We ate dinner and Teacher and Hannah went to Siem Reap and I came back to the base here in the south.
Spiritual life & Ministry
Just this Sunday I tagged along with a few students and an intern to go to Sunday School. There were 17 kids there and I taught English. We sang some songs and after I taught, Uran (an intern here) taught the Bible lesson. It reminded me of old times and made me think of my pals!
That’s all of what has gone on this past month in my life! In devotions God is teaching me about relationships with others, love, peace and forgiveness. It is fun and interesting to learn from God about this but it is also hard. God has been reminding me lately that I have a lot of unforgiveness in my life that I need to deal with. So I’m trying to take steps forward with the Lord to restore and rebuild some things in my life. Please pray for courage and obedience as I try to follow the Lord in this!
Sorry that this update is so long! I think from now on I am going to try to write one every 15 days so that there is not so much to say. J Thank you for spending your time reading this and for your prayers. Please continue to pray for me as adjustment has been hard at times.
Please pray:
- For my mom, she just had knee surgury
- That I could continue to learn the language here
- That God would continue to help me adjust to being here
- That God would continue to help me build relationships here. I’m staying at the base here with 12 boys, 1 girl student and teacher when she is here. It is an adjustment, relationship wise to not have girls. Please pray against loneliness for us ladies!
- That God would continue to help me and prepare me for the work He has me doing here.
- For continued growth in my relationship with Him.
Thank you again so much for your prayers and support! Praise the Lord for the opportunity to be used by Him. Let me know how I can be praying for you please and feel free to message me on Facebook or email me. Even if I don’t reply right away I sure do enjoy getting to talk.
The support that you have given has contributed to buying 2 guitars here in Cambodia. One is for the base in Siem Reap and one for the base in Kranktamum. The students here love music and are eager to continue to play and learn. So thank you very much from all of us here!
