Bittersweet

We just finished our last day of teaching in Cambodia. Suffice to say, it's been a great two weeks for all of us, on many different levels. I think that our lessons went fairly well, and we learned a lot that can be used for future trips, God willing.

We might be having a bunch of different posts over the next day or so, since the only things left to do are pack, do some last minute shopping, and head out to SFO (arrival is around noon on Sunday. Yes, we have rides.)

We spent some time sharing with the three missionaries who are staff here, and a consistent theme was the need for workers and the desire to be walking with God closely. Rather than glorify the role, the emphasis was on being obedient to God's guidance, and de-emphasizing the need for skills or qualifications. God can be, and is, enough.

Our last day was spent with a normal time of lessons at the kindergarten and the village school. I wasn't at the village school, so I'll speak about the kindergarten. Well, it's not really a kindergarten, because they take in kids that are 3 and 4 years old, too. Connie, Christina, and I had the kids do some painting, make some puzzles, and watch puppet shows that taught them colors and numbers. While the previous sentence may convey order and sanity, I assure, there was little of both. I will say that the kids did learn to adjust to us and came to expect song time, story time, and game times, and were easier to manage towards the end of our time there.

Of course, these kids can't understand English yet, but our hope is that they felt our love for them and will remember that a special love exists at this school.

For the last afternoon, we spent our time at the English camp located in a nearby church. The English camp has been one of the most encouraging things for our team, and today was no exception. We taught English for an hour and at the end, gave them gifts of a English-Khmer dictionary and some school supplies. For the second hour, we led a praise set and shared a message about the Gospel and how it helps us get through the persecution. Most of these students are the only believers in their families, and it is mostly an unpopular decision at that. One team member was sharing that he was so moved by how much they consider the Gospel as a true gift. When they asked if their friend or family member was saved, they were genuinely happy and excited when the answer came back positive. They are paying a price for their faith and know how precious the Gospel truth is.

Thanks for praying for us. Many prayers were answered, and our health was largely held intact. No dengue fever. No malaria. We have 20 hours to go, but I trust that God will continue to answer your and our prayers. Now, we appreciate the power and absolute necessity of prayer than we did just 14 days ago. Thanks for helping us learn this lesson.

GC