Country/Dates- Sisiphon, Cambodia. January 4th – January 27th (Awakening & Debrief from January 28th – February 3rd)
Ministry site/Host accommodations- IFLS English School. Slept in an air conditioned classroom with Haley.
Weather- hot. Rained one evening.
Wifi- decent wifi at the school.
Food- all of our meals were prepared for us at a hostel restaurant. Very good! Breakfast was usually fruit and bread. At the end we started getting garlic rice with eggs. Instant coffee packets and Ovaltine. I started bringing my own oats to make oatmeal. Lunch and dinner were always rice and a combo of vegetables, soup, noodles, chicken or beef. It was good but didn’t aways hold you over ’til the next meal no matter how much you ate. I went to Talk to Coffee about once a week to have my sabbath and would enjoy a caramel latte frappe.
Hosts- Dara
Staff- Boxer Boy (the day we met him he was in his boxers and we could never remember his real name so the name stuck), Rachel, Panna.
Words/Phrases- Well…; Praise the Jesur (Jesus); Why are you not blazing (praising)?; We are praising Yahweh; Where’s Jeff? He’s Jeffing.; pass the hot sauce and soy sauce; water!;
Ministry- mornings were usually either visiting schools, orphanage, or community outreach. After lunch I had about an hour down time before leaving to teach English at 1:30 til 7. Austin and I taught at branch 2 with teacher Ourn and her Bubbles class. I had two Hemispheres classes I taught from 5-7 with teacher Andy. Loved my Hemispheres classes!
Exercise- with breakfast at 7 I quickly realized I would need more time to get everything I wanted to accomplish in the morning done. Therefore my usually 5am wake up changed to 4am. It was rough at first but better than not having the time to exercise, shower, get ready for the day, coffee and quiet time before breakfast.
Holy Spirit/The Word- finished Hebrews. Started Genesis and Luke. Continuing to read through Psalms.
Team Sea Salt- had a much more consistent schedule this month that helped facilitate for team times and feedback in the evening.
Health- had some digestion issues at the beginning of the month. (That white rice was not providing enough fiber. Haha!) Had a bit of crud in the throat and runny nose for about 4-5 days at the end.
Defining moment- sharing about God, Jesus and the Bible to my Bubbles class that had never even heard those words before let alone what they meant.
Answered prayers- encouraged a lot of churches and pastors, relationships with teachers and students.
Not what I expected- did not expect to be where we were for the month. When we got dropped off on the side of the road at 5am, I was confused cause there were no dirt roads and there were too many buildings around. Our accommodations were much nicer than I thought they would be.
Areas I want to grow in next month- saying the hard things; pouring into my team more by sharing in their interests; being quick to change my plans to be more involved with my team; listening to the Holy Spirit and what the Lord has for us each day and trusting and obeying His leading.
Personal realizations- when people make goals for themselves, I do all that I can to keep them accountable. I like to see them be successful in their goals so if I have to be the “bad guy” sometimes to help them achieve their goals, I’m ok with that.
How I’ve changed/grown- I did a better job of communicating to my team what I was feeling and what I needed for myself and from other people. I’ve continued to really enjoy morning space to myself and an extended time once a week to myself to process, journal and just be by myself.
Prayer requests for Laos- health! Obedience to the Spirit’s leading. To stick to my commitment of showing up each day with my team ready for the Lord to show us what He has for us each day. For me to breathe life onto and into all those I encounter.
I love your blogs! Thank you for sharing. You amaze me, that 4am exercise. I need you so that you can make me accountable, haha! I pray that God will show his presence in ways that he hasn’t while you are there. Prayers for your health and safety! Thank you for just being you! Love you sweetness!
The 4am’s certainly weren’t easy but they were worth it for alone time! Thank you for all your continued, faithful prayers. Our team is benefitting from them greatly!
Khurry, Such a blessing, and encouragement to hear from you. I am so very proud of you and what the Lord is accomplishing through you. I realize the Lord is responsible but it does take a willing and obedient vessel. May the Lord continue to bless you and all those on the team.