His Marvelous Light

I’m sitting here trying to write my blog while 2 Cambodian kids get in my hammock with me and are taking my journal from me and pulling hairs out of my leg. There are 3 other kids in the hut wresting with one another. While all this is happening, I’m just amazed by the goodness of God. Cambodia has been a time of me seeing the Lord’s goodness and how blessed I am to be here. I’ve been reflecting lately about what all the Lord has brought me out of and brought me into. I look back to where I was 2 years ago and just stand amazed before the Lord. The Lord put 1 Peter 2:9 on my heart this morning which reads “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” I’ve really been thinking about the last part of being “called out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Cambodia has far surpassed my expectations so far and I’ve really been seeing “His marvelous light” that he has called me into. Whether it’s through the smiles of the kids, our dance parties after class, meals with my team, worshipping in a hut, or in my quiet time, the Lord has continually been revealing more of His marvelous light to me.

The ministry my team has been working with in Cambodia has been so great. We are working at an English school in a town called Chhuk. We have class Monday-Thursday, where we get to teach English to the students. I teach the younger students so we are doing very basic English like the alphabet, but it’s an absolute blast. I never would have expected myself to be teaching English in another country, but it has been a super enjoyable experience. It’s also a ton of fun to get to know the kids while playing tic-tac-toe or drawing with them when I’m not the one teaching. (This definitely never distracts them from class.) My favorite part of teaching is at the end of each class when we all meet together with the other classes to sing songs about Jesus and dance. Half of the songs are in English and half are in Khmer, but I kind of wish they were all in Khmer because the Khmer songs are amazing and so much fun. It’s really beautiful to see all these kids from non-believing backgrounds sing songs and dance for Jesus. I’ve also really noticed God giving me a deeper love for the kids here. Whether it’s by playing a game of “123” (what they call hide and seek) or “Run Stop” (what they call freeze tag) with the kids during break when all I want to do is lay down, or by giving a kid a piggy back ride for the 100th time, or spending time in prayer and intercession for the kids, I have clearly seen my love grow for the kids we are working with. It’s been really cool to see the Lord work on my heart this way and grow my ability to love them.

Our ministry also consist of a lot of soccer playing. We play soccer pretty much every evening at the field next to the school. Most of the kids at soccer go to our school but there are also some kids who do not. It’s always so much fun playing with the kids and when the older Cambodians come out we can play a competitive match of Cambodians vs Americans. We typically end up losing these matches but we won our most recent outing against them. We also get to see some of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen pretty much daily on the field. Some of my favorite times in Cambodia thus far have been playing soccer with all my friends while admiring God’s creation as the sun is setting. For our final ministry activity we have worship and intercession 3 times a week. We gather in a hut with local believers and just spend time praising the Lord and praying for the community. This is some of the most powerful worship I have ever experienced.

I am so blessed to be in the position I am today. Cambodia has been so awesome and definitely my favorite place we’ve been so far. I absolutely love the people here and also the food is so good. I also feel a lot closer to my team here and we have had some really fun times. Thank you guys so much for all of your support. I am so blessed to have people praying for me and supporting me on my journey. Please continue to pray for my team and I for unity and that we continue to grow in love. Please pray for the children that we are working with that they may come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Please keep my ministry host in your prayers as well, they are here long term so pray for strength and fruit in their ministry for years to come. Again, thank you guys so much.