Wow! Things have been busy and I have been tired, but God is soo good. I actually took a day off today! :) Well, kind of, going to meet a friend later today but it’s all pleasure and not business! That said, my life is all pleasure and fun! :) The life of a missionary is fantastic I tell you. Yes, there are the bugs in the food, the inconvenient weather and travel, being separated from your friends and family, BUT the rewards are amazing!! Cambodia has some of the best fruit, I can have fresh coconut water every day if I want and it’s sweet and cold!, you are so much more appreciative of air conditioning and every blessing you get, you make new friendship and are adopted into so many wonderful family’s, everyone you meet and hang out with just inspire you to be better and God is so real and present in every moment of everyday! I love my life!
I haven’t written for a bit because I have been too tired and too busy, though when I write it out J it doesn’t sound like it.
So Christmas Eve the plan was to go to the province. So we all went to bed early, but for some reason I couldn’t sleep until 3ish in the morning. I think all the caffeine for the day kept me awake. Woke up at 6 to get ready and I was surprised how well I did most of the day at the province. The ride back I fell asleep but thorough enjoyed my time there. We got there and all these khmer kids were there so I said hello in Khmer and then tried to talk to them and was handed a present (some sort of popsicle thing that was melted in the plastic container). Always warms your heart when kids like you cause you know you are doing something right. Heheh! They totally see through the facades. J
The day was fun. We had a Christmas program where the khmer kids sang and then we worshipped in English followed by a sermon and then socializing. I liked meeting the whole MTW (Mission to the World) team that the Rhea’s work with. It’s interesting because they are all Korean heheh! It think it’s funny how God connects me to the Koreans in every country I live in. Got to share some stories with them ( got to encourage a girl who was visiting about God and His goodness) and then it was time for the white elephant exchange, but with a twist. If you wanted to steal someone’s gift you had to win a challenge. I loved how even the 60 year olds were up to the challenge J What a great group!
I got to talk to and meet the girl I talked to over the phone who had morning sickness and thanks to my great $5 unlimited plan on the my phone I was able to look up a list of things for her to do to help her. The ginger is already working :) She was so happy and I was happy to put a face to the voice on the phone.
Got home and wanted to rest so we all decided to watch tv. I have heard a lot about the show monk and so we watched that. I fell asleep through an entire episode :) and decided to sleep in the comfort of my bed.
Christmas morning woke up early. I had been invited to a Christmas night thing, but the whole ride thing was an issue. Praise god, an early morning message put my mind to ease! So YAY, I was going. The present exchange was fun. And the rhea’s bought me an extra gift – a wonderfully pretty diary and I know just what to do with it :) Francine was the one who got me and she bought me a purse that although I wondered what I would do with when I got it, it makes a perfect medicine/doctor bag and I already have used it as such. And she got me ankle bracelets which I was able to put on that night and go to the party. I had to take off my gold ones due to danger and but these are ones no one will steal :)
Kimmy picked me up for the party. We went to Diamond Island. We went across the bridge where the horrific stampede happened last year. Met Kimland and her boyfriend and the friend they wanted to introduce me to. My new friend Dilanga – an emt from California. The Sri Lankans are awesome. I met up with him the next day and his story was so cool. He grew up in Sri Lanka and his uncle got killed and his family was on the list so they moved to America. He went to EMT school to get into medical school and fell so in love with it that he kept doing it and became a teacher (even at medical school) and then one day felt like there had to be more. So he quit his job the next day and then moved to india to volunteer for 2 weeks with mother Theresa (he’s Buddhist). From there he ended up else where and has been to Somalia and gotten shot at and done such cool things. His heart is to help and serve. Amazing amazing guy. Pray for him. He feels God is calling him to Him and working with Christians and seeing the love they have has really helped the hurt in his heart. He doesn’t go to church or do organized religion but feels he’s grown more now than when he was going to church and temple. What I love about the Christians and people I meet here in Cambodia that they just want to follow God. It’s not about organized religion and traditions, it’s truly about God. Maybe that is why 5 churches from totally different denominations could hold church together!
So the ride back was interesting. There were three of us on a motorcycle with me in the back! Chotto kowai/a little scary and on top of that we took “short cuts” through this small dingy alley ways in the dark. I loved it! I was afraid everyone would be asleep cause we were super late, but they had just finished eating and I was starving so I got to eat the tasty food and fall asleep watching a movie with them.
So one of the old Indian men we met at the store has been calling me daily since! He’s a nice old man so I said we could have lunch on Monday. Wow! What a tasty meal! Best Indian food I have had out of india! It tasted like a real Indian restaurant! And for $4 I had more food than I could eat. Two people could eat for that much! I mentioned we hadn’t found a place yet that we had settled on but that I liked my PPThmey place and he quickly made a phone call and found a place for $200. I wanted to say, there is no need to look at it, but I didn’t have the heart and I was worried that I would be super late for our next appt (Dilanga had asked that I come and see a sick kid at the mother Theresa orphanage). But I just couldn’t break his heart and it’s funny how when you do something in love, how God works it all out. So the place we were going was near the place the orphanage was and the man who showed us the house has his own NGO, has been around for a long time and knows the ropes and has offered to help me file for my NGO! Am I blessed or what. I love how God works!
So from there went to the Missionaries of Charity orphanage. I have wanted to volunteer at this place since I first saw Mother Theresa’s biography movie a while back. Just love the way she loved and followed God. I didn’t see my friend so made it upstairs with different nuns coming in and out to keep up entertained. Two were from India, one from Kenya and another from the Philippines. I was kind of surprised by them. They were so alive and full of life. We were joking around and having fun and it wasn’t at all what I expected. I loved them and it was obvious they were doing what they really felt called to do. We didn’t know it but they were waiting for us to finish the coke they gave us. Heheh! So finally we finished it (I am not a pop drinker, but was touched by their hospitality) and went downstairs to see the kids. Wow! Such cute kids! I have never seen such cute khmer kids, so healthy and plump and happy. I started with one kid but ended up seeing 4-5 others and loved each one of them. Luckily none of them peed on me, but heheh! They would have been worth it. Was able to change some meds around and I’m going to go back and teach them some basic things cause the advice they got from the pharmacy was a little scary to me. One kid had a candida infection and so we went to the pharmacy and Dilanga bought them medication. I had brought some meds with me, not knowing what I would need and was able to give two tubes away to them to replace their rather scary meds. They obviously weren’t doing anything wrong, but I see more clearly why everyone is wanting me to practice medicine here.
From there the plan was to go to dinner with dilanga and he would drop me off and Michael would be free after he taught his English class, but he really wanted to come to dinner. Hehe! So Dilanga had to go to English class and we made him teach! Of course I helped him out. We started off with hangman which they apparently know, went into asking questions and then answering them and then ended with a quiz game! It was awesome! I love these spur of the moment games and of course I threw in who is your favorite English teacher to the class and won hands down hehe! Actually they love Michael too!
We went out for south Indian and it was really good too! Again, so authentic. Got to hear about his life and realize how wonderful God is and be inspired on how to follow Him better.
Will write more later, gotto talk to a very bored girl right now :)
I haven’t written for a bit because I have been too tired and too busy, though when I write it out J it doesn’t sound like it.
So Christmas Eve the plan was to go to the province. So we all went to bed early, but for some reason I couldn’t sleep until 3ish in the morning. I think all the caffeine for the day kept me awake. Woke up at 6 to get ready and I was surprised how well I did most of the day at the province. The ride back I fell asleep but thorough enjoyed my time there. We got there and all these khmer kids were there so I said hello in Khmer and then tried to talk to them and was handed a present (some sort of popsicle thing that was melted in the plastic container). Always warms your heart when kids like you cause you know you are doing something right. Heheh! They totally see through the facades. J
The day was fun. We had a Christmas program where the khmer kids sang and then we worshipped in English followed by a sermon and then socializing. I liked meeting the whole MTW (Mission to the World) team that the Rhea’s work with. It’s interesting because they are all Korean heheh! It think it’s funny how God connects me to the Koreans in every country I live in. Got to share some stories with them ( got to encourage a girl who was visiting about God and His goodness) and then it was time for the white elephant exchange, but with a twist. If you wanted to steal someone’s gift you had to win a challenge. I loved how even the 60 year olds were up to the challenge J What a great group!
I got to talk to and meet the girl I talked to over the phone who had morning sickness and thanks to my great $5 unlimited plan on the my phone I was able to look up a list of things for her to do to help her. The ginger is already working :) She was so happy and I was happy to put a face to the voice on the phone.
Got home and wanted to rest so we all decided to watch tv. I have heard a lot about the show monk and so we watched that. I fell asleep through an entire episode :) and decided to sleep in the comfort of my bed.
Christmas morning woke up early. I had been invited to a Christmas night thing, but the whole ride thing was an issue. Praise god, an early morning message put my mind to ease! So YAY, I was going. The present exchange was fun. And the rhea’s bought me an extra gift – a wonderfully pretty diary and I know just what to do with it :) Francine was the one who got me and she bought me a purse that although I wondered what I would do with when I got it, it makes a perfect medicine/doctor bag and I already have used it as such. And she got me ankle bracelets which I was able to put on that night and go to the party. I had to take off my gold ones due to danger and but these are ones no one will steal :)
Kimmy picked me up for the party. We went to Diamond Island. We went across the bridge where the horrific stampede happened last year. Met Kimland and her boyfriend and the friend they wanted to introduce me to. My new friend Dilanga – an emt from California. The Sri Lankans are awesome. I met up with him the next day and his story was so cool. He grew up in Sri Lanka and his uncle got killed and his family was on the list so they moved to America. He went to EMT school to get into medical school and fell so in love with it that he kept doing it and became a teacher (even at medical school) and then one day felt like there had to be more. So he quit his job the next day and then moved to india to volunteer for 2 weeks with mother Theresa (he’s Buddhist). From there he ended up else where and has been to Somalia and gotten shot at and done such cool things. His heart is to help and serve. Amazing amazing guy. Pray for him. He feels God is calling him to Him and working with Christians and seeing the love they have has really helped the hurt in his heart. He doesn’t go to church or do organized religion but feels he’s grown more now than when he was going to church and temple. What I love about the Christians and people I meet here in Cambodia that they just want to follow God. It’s not about organized religion and traditions, it’s truly about God. Maybe that is why 5 churches from totally different denominations could hold church together!
So the ride back was interesting. There were three of us on a motorcycle with me in the back! Chotto kowai/a little scary and on top of that we took “short cuts” through this small dingy alley ways in the dark. I loved it! I was afraid everyone would be asleep cause we were super late, but they had just finished eating and I was starving so I got to eat the tasty food and fall asleep watching a movie with them.
So one of the old Indian men we met at the store has been calling me daily since! He’s a nice old man so I said we could have lunch on Monday. Wow! What a tasty meal! Best Indian food I have had out of india! It tasted like a real Indian restaurant! And for $4 I had more food than I could eat. Two people could eat for that much! I mentioned we hadn’t found a place yet that we had settled on but that I liked my PPThmey place and he quickly made a phone call and found a place for $200. I wanted to say, there is no need to look at it, but I didn’t have the heart and I was worried that I would be super late for our next appt (Dilanga had asked that I come and see a sick kid at the mother Theresa orphanage). But I just couldn’t break his heart and it’s funny how when you do something in love, how God works it all out. So the place we were going was near the place the orphanage was and the man who showed us the house has his own NGO, has been around for a long time and knows the ropes and has offered to help me file for my NGO! Am I blessed or what. I love how God works!
So from there went to the Missionaries of Charity orphanage. I have wanted to volunteer at this place since I first saw Mother Theresa’s biography movie a while back. Just love the way she loved and followed God. I didn’t see my friend so made it upstairs with different nuns coming in and out to keep up entertained. Two were from India, one from Kenya and another from the Philippines. I was kind of surprised by them. They were so alive and full of life. We were joking around and having fun and it wasn’t at all what I expected. I loved them and it was obvious they were doing what they really felt called to do. We didn’t know it but they were waiting for us to finish the coke they gave us. Heheh! So finally we finished it (I am not a pop drinker, but was touched by their hospitality) and went downstairs to see the kids. Wow! Such cute kids! I have never seen such cute khmer kids, so healthy and plump and happy. I started with one kid but ended up seeing 4-5 others and loved each one of them. Luckily none of them peed on me, but heheh! They would have been worth it. Was able to change some meds around and I’m going to go back and teach them some basic things cause the advice they got from the pharmacy was a little scary to me. One kid had a candida infection and so we went to the pharmacy and Dilanga bought them medication. I had brought some meds with me, not knowing what I would need and was able to give two tubes away to them to replace their rather scary meds. They obviously weren’t doing anything wrong, but I see more clearly why everyone is wanting me to practice medicine here.
From there the plan was to go to dinner with dilanga and he would drop me off and Michael would be free after he taught his English class, but he really wanted to come to dinner. Hehe! So Dilanga had to go to English class and we made him teach! Of course I helped him out. We started off with hangman which they apparently know, went into asking questions and then answering them and then ended with a quiz game! It was awesome! I love these spur of the moment games and of course I threw in who is your favorite English teacher to the class and won hands down hehe! Actually they love Michael too!
We went out for south Indian and it was really good too! Again, so authentic. Got to hear about his life and realize how wonderful God is and be inspired on how to follow Him better.
Will write more later, gotto talk to a very bored girl right now :)
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