We arrived at our ministry location Wednesday evening and were welcomed by a big banner. The banner included a “Warm Welcome to the team Alabaster”, a photo of us, all our individual names, and the length of our stay. They had it hanging front and center of their main gravel parking lot area. After we all took photos in front of the banner, they showed us our home for the next 6 weeks. We have a big open conference room that’s on top of their radio station. It's large enough for 3 air conditioners, and for us to all have our own little space in the room. We seriously got the best hosts ever! We got to have dinner together and then we were ready for bed as we were all pretty jet lagged.
The next morning we woke up and were instructed on what our ministry would look like. In the mornings we go out into the communities, listen to families stories, pray for them, and get to share the good news of the gospel. We can usually only fit in 1 or 2 homes everyday but it allows us quality time with families and to really invest into every home we have the privilege of visiting. Next we come back for a quick lunch break and have an hour to sort out our lesson plans as we teach children between the ages of 5-12 English. This first lesson block happens from 1:20-4pm, with a recess from 2:30-3:00 where we get to go out and play on the soccer field with them. They are filled with joy and have so much passion for learning. Next we have a 1 hour break from 4-5pm where we have team one ones where we get to spend an hour really investing into one another as were each other's family for the next 8 months. Then we teach one more block of classes from 5-6, where almost each member of our team has their own class. My class is a group of 18-22 year old's who all either work for the church or they are university students studying to become veterinarians. This class is so much fun because it's all about learning the conversational skills of English and all the different connotations a lot of our words hold. Overall our ministry gives us a chance to truly invest our energy into so many different aspects of the community and meet so many amazing people.
Our first house visit was to an elderly woman who was suffering from disease and was unable to speak or clearly communicate the help she needed. From her body language alone you could tell she was in suffering and needed to be cared for. Her daughter was her sole caretaker, however the daughter also had to work to provide for the family so often this woman was alone. We got to hear a little bit from the family about her and after we all laid hands to pray you could see the woman's body relax and the way the suffering eased. It was unbelievable. The woman started grabbing onto our hands and not letting go, just pulling us closer to her.
Our next house visit was to a family who lived in a flooded neighborhood. These floods would last 2-3 months, and they had only started 2 weeks ago. We waded through water up to our hips to get to the next home. Here we heard the story of one woman who was the sole provider for her family, as she would go out into the village everyday to sell snacks. She had 2 young children to provide for as well an elderly man who we assumed was her father. She works very hard for her family and loves them more than anything. Despite the flood she lives in, she has never missed a Sunday at church and continues to praise God for all of the blessings she has such as her family and the income she is able to supply. From the moment we came into her home she was just overflowing with the joy of the Lord. She was crying because she had been praying for a team to come and show her the face of God and she felt as if our presence was answering her prayers. She asked us to pray that she would be able to raise enough money to move into a new home, away from the flood. She is one of the kindest souls I have met and I am so humbled to be invited into her home and allowed to hear her story.
We then went back to the church where we had our first English classes. Our hosts told us that we could teach about days of the week, and the months in a year. I am so thankful for my time as a preschool teacher and I was quickly able to pull out songs for both of these topics. They were fun songs to teach the kids that have motions to help them engage with the material, even if they didn’t completely understand the English on our first days. We have 2 classes in our first time block so each classroom has 4 teachers. I took the classroom with the younger group of students, as our classroom is primarily 5 and 6 year old's. The kids are so fun and are trying so hard to pick up what we are saying and I’m excited to see how they progress over our time here.
For my final class of the day, I work with my college aged students. It’s a little bit crazy to me to go from teaching 5 year old's to teaching adults but thankfully they are so kind to me while I figure out how to navigate this new classroom dynamic. We spent the majority of our class working through general greetings and basic “getting to know you” questions. At the end of class they wanted to teach me a few words in Khmer which is so fun that I'm getting to learn some as well.
On Saturday night we had a huge downpour which was so cool! They have a tin roof over the kitchen and I love listening to the rain. However half way through dinner the storm really started to pick up. We decided that, as a team, we were going to run out onto the soccer field and dance in the rain. This then led to our ministry host family following us out, where we got to teach the Cotton Eyed Joe line dance. Eventually this sweet moment turned into splashing around in the puddles quickly forming on the ground until the whole soccer field was under water. The rain in Cambodia is no joke!
Adjusting to the time difference between Georgia and Cambodia has been a challenge as it is a 12 hour time difference. Still, the work we’ve already begun has been so sweet and our hosts are beyond welcoming. We are so thankful for the space we have and the opportunities that are being presented in this community! The Pastor’s daughter of the church that we are staying at speaks perfect English which has been such a blessing as she is able to translate for us on our house visits and in the classroom. She is the kindest soul and so fun to get to know. Overall, we have been so blessed in every aspect of arriving in Cambodia and getting settled in. I can’t wait to see what our first full week of ministry will hold.
October 18-22