Vivo en Cambodia! Wait, hold up, wrong language. It is true though that now and for the next 4 weeks I’ll be living in Siem Reap Cambodia. I’ve now lived here about two weeks, which is crazy! Time is flying by so fast! Living here has been pretty chill so far and a lot of fun, but getting here was a completely different story. Continuing from my last blog, my team and I had a couple days in Da Nang Vietnam and met up with the rest of the squad before we headed to Cambodia. When travel day arrived, we all piled onto a big bus to drive thirteen hours to cross the border. Many hours later, we pulled up at the border only to learn they don’t let foreigners cross there and we had to drive ten hours back to Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam to cross the border there. Upon arriving, we soon found out we weren’t allowed to cross that border either! I suggested we all grab our bags, lock arms and charge together over the border. Logically they couldn’t stop all of us right? We didn’t do that. Instead, we booked a hotel in Ho Chi Minh and were to stay there until logistics figured out our next move. I roomed with Clayton and Nick the muffin man Furtado at said hotel. The next day, team Othy 412, the other boys team, left in the afternoon to fly into Cambodia. They had to leave before the rest of us because they would be staying eight hours from the rest of the squad and had to fly into a different airport then the rest of us. After saying goodbye to all of them, I went with the all star group of Ceciley, Anna, Kailey, Doug, Ben, Maggie, and Claire to the driving range. We all had so much fun there and only broke two clubs and only hit the roof twice. We then went to get ice cream and then headed to the Ho Chi Minh zoo. We all had a blast there. I loved seeing their raccoon exhibit and also checking out their deer exhibit with Doug as he talked about how he wanted to shoot all of them. The zoo was super cheap and we all had so much fun, but it was also sad to see how all of the animals were treated and that most of them weren’t in great health. Once we got back to the hotel, we all packed up and then drove to the airport. We stayed at the airport overnight as we were to leave the next morning. After a chaotic time trying to get checked in and get our bags checked, not without issues spring up left and right, we finally made it to our terminal with only a few minutes to spare and then took the 1 hour and 15 minute flight into Cambodia. The flight was awesome as I got to fly with Dom and Emma Bland. It was only an hour, but Emma taught me how to play Rummy and all three of us had fun together joking and talking. After landing, we drove to the AIM base where we’re staying with one of the girls’ teams. That team is team Naya. What’s awesome is that Naya is the team that I feel the closest with everyone on the team, and so it’s awesome to get to continue to build my friendships with all of them while we’re here. Our ministry here is twofold and so the eight of us on my team are split into two groups daily. One will go do construction. That has consisted of helping build a new AIM base in a village and helping fix up an old lady’s house. The other group will do kids ministry with two different groups of kids. One group in the morning, and one in the afternoon. The kids ministry consists of helping the kids learn English, helping with the Bible lesson and doing a skit of the Bible story of the day, leading fun worship and dance, and playing games. It’s so much fun, and all the kids are so sweet! It’s an hour plus drive to ministry and then an hour plus back every day, which is awhile, but it gives us a lot of time to talk together and with our hosts, and to sleep on the way back after ministry. One of the coolest moments in ministry so far was watching two Cambodian woman confess their faith in Christ and be baptized. In that process, they each cut off the rope they wore around their waists, which is a symbol of their dedication to Buddhism. They cut it off and threw it away, as they ran to Christ and true freedom from all the legalism and works based faith they’d lived in all their lives. Another awesome thing we’ve been trying to do with our ministry is teach the kids swim lessons. John from my team loves swimming and has swam competitively for a lot of his life. In talking to one of ministry hosts, Vicky, he found out that one of the students drowned in a rice field recently because he couldn’t swim. Unfortunately that isn’t an uncommon occurrence here and so she brought up the idea of him teaching the students to swim. He is super excited about it and started a GoFundMe to raise money for the project as it’ll cost a lot of extra money the ministry doesn’t have in their budget for transportation, access to a pool, and goggles. I’ll throw the link to the GoFundMe at the bottom of this blog, and I just ask that you prayerfully consider giving, even if it’s just a little bit to fund this project. Overall, I’m really excited for this country, because as soon as we got here, I go this feeling and sense that I can and will experience a lot of spiritual growth if I keep pressing in. Pressing into our ministry. Into my teammates. Into team Naya. Into our ministry hosts. And most of all into the Lord and my time with Him. I’m excited for all the Lord will do! Love and miss you all,
Luke
Swim Program GoFundMe
https://www.gofundme.com/f/cambodia-swim-program
Great blog Luke. I literally laughed out loud at the thought of Doug wanting to shoot the deer in the exhibit! Also, my advice would have been to lock arms and storm across the border. I’m pretty sure it would not have worked, but the story later would have been AWESOME! We are a o glad that you are having such a good time, and it’s obvious that the Lord is working through you. We’ll keep praying for you, my friend! Love you, brother!
I’m glad you were able to get into Cambodia, although curious how one method works over another to cross a country’s border. Yes, press in to the ministry opportunity in every place you go. My favorite part is hearing about what difference you make as you move forward, engaging with various people groups and trials. Some outcomes you may never know, but planting seeds along the way, and doing all you can to bless others. There is no greater reward than helping others learn and connect with our Creator. What a privilege to be part of each one’s personal story. I think of Paul and Silas in Acts 16, when persecuted and suffering for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they prayed and sang praises to God, and a miracle of salvation came to the jailer and his family. It wasn’t even “happily ever after” (as we sometimes expect) when the town begged Paul and Silas to leave upon their release, but it was through their submission to God’s will, with grateful hearts to be His servants, that God used them for His purpose, displaying His power and glory. You are on the same mission, and things may not happen as you prefer. Be prayerful, cheerful, and praise God, especially in any way you suffer for the name of Jesus, because it will be to His glory!
I love hearing about all of the wonderful things you and your team are doing through Christ. Thank you for sharing! Prayers for the swim lessons vision to become a reality!