Greetings supporters! It's Trisha giving you the first blog of Cambodia missions 2018.
AUGUST 1ST, 2018 | Departing America |
I had a lot of mixed feelings as the departure date approached. Much of it was fear. Fear of not knowing how my first overseas mission would go and fear of my physical health in an unfamiliar country. However, the biggest fear among all of these was the difficulty I would have in not being able to communicate with the pastor's family in Vietnamese. Especially as someone who is a full Viet, there's a heaviness in my heart when I tell people I can't speak Vietnamese. I didn't know a lot things in how the mission would go for me personally, but it provided the opportunity to rely completely on God's knowledge instead of my own. This gave me peace in my heart as our departure date approached. Our prayer and send off night was extremely encouraging as well; seeing my family and friends pray fervently for me during my mission filled my heart with thankfulness for the love God has poured out into me, and my fear in the unknown turned into determinedness to go and spread this love.
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made in perfect love." 1 John 4:18 (NIV)
AUGUST 2ND, 2018 | Arriving to Phnom Penh |
Plane right was aight thanks to motion sickness pills, praise the Lord. What struck us as we landed was not finding two out of three of our supply boxes for the mission. Seeing that it was still in Incheon, Korea, we made arrangements to pick it up the next day and move on to greet Muc Su Hung and Co Trang's family outside. Outside, returning members received warm welcomes and hugs. Though I felt awkward at first, Co Trang also greeted me very warmly as she wrapped her arm around my waist and walked me to the van. From the start, I told her I didn't know much Vietnamese at all but she still laughed and smiled with me as she did her best to try to get to know me a little more. I was thankful. Muc Su Hung also reached out to talk to me on the ride to their home. Though he couldn't speak English well, he still smiled and did his best to try to make me laugh and warm me up to the family. I just came to Cambodia still carrying some insecurities about my language barrier, but Muc Su Hung and Co Trang greeted me in such a warm way I became excited to spend more time with their family.
AUGUST 3RD, 2018 | Rest Day |
A rest day for the long hours of traveling. The team slept in to 7am and woke up to gather for morning worship and devotion to align our hearts with God before carrying on with anything else for the day. Though our team was unable to have many meetings prior to the trip because of schedule conflict, our team chemistry was off to a good start as we engaged in God's Word together on a mattress, We shared adorations for God, confessions, thanksgivings, and supplications for the day (ACTS). Through this vulnerability we were able to spark a bond that would grow steadily throughout the trip. Most of the day consisted of eating bomb food from Co Trang and having conversations with her (having translations for myself, of course), and spending time together as a team. Kayla took some time to teach me some Vietnamese words throughout the day, and it was actually fun to learn from her because I saw the excitement in her when I pronounced a word correctly. We ended the night with playing card games with the children of Co Trang and Muc Su Hung ( ) and headed off to rest for our first day of ministry tomorrow.
AUGUST 4TH, 2018 | Khmer School |
It's 3am and I wake up to go use the restroom. When I came back to bed I found it difficult to fall back asleep. About two hours in, slightly haunting music begins to play outside. I thought I was going crazy at first, thinking I was only hearing it myself or a cult was right outside our window. The music became louder and continued for an hour and stopped. Then the singing began. A man singing in Khmer booms through our walls and seems to become louder. Accepting that I won't be able to fall asleep, I talked to Kayla who has also been awake with me since 3am. Lucy is awake too at this point, and all three of our converse and make jokes about what the music could be for at this unholy hour. It ended up being for a Buddhist ritual which apparently required a speaker that blasted throughout the neighborhood at five in the morning. These moments of laughing and not being able to sleep together deepened our bond because people grow closer when sharing the same pain, ya know. Though we knew our first day of ministry would be hard because of the lack of sleep, we were able to laugh it off together and pull through.
Breakfast, Lucy going at it with her Indian accent for the 8954th time, power nap, and we're off to travel to the Khmer School where we would only be speaking English. Anh Hien and Hong An would be helping us translate God's creation of the world in 7 days to Khmer for the kids. In the car ride we see plenty of Buddhist temples along with many gorgeous lily pads and flowers on the other side of the road. The scenery was beautiful even if the car ride was like Ghost Rider (which I have never been on). We arrive at the Khmer neighborhood and the moment the Khmer kids see our van, they smile brightly and wave excitedly at us. Moments later they're chasing the back of our van still smiling and waving at us, following us all the way to the school even if they were eating dust. As we arrive and settle in the small single-room classroom, the Khmer kids start pouring into the area, running in from all sides whether it'd be on foot or by a motorbike they might've taken from their parents. As the program we prepared starts, the 40 kids (ages ~4-15) become attentive and eagerly respond when talked to. Henry reads aloud Genesis 1 with Hien translating to Khmer for the kids and we split the group into two by age, younger and older. Kayla and Henry taught the older kids, helping them learn how to say English sentences while reviewing what they just learned from God's story. Jeremiah, Lucy, and I worked with the younger kids. As they colored in the six different days of God's creation, we went around to help them and review simple English words from the lesson.
Though I couldn't communicate with the younger kids very well, we were still able to exchange smiles and high fives as we worked together on the coloring and reviewing. Their faces lit up whenever I would make eye contact with them and smile. It made my heart light up as well, forgetting the dreadful the morning that rid me of my sleep. It was humid and there was wind with some thunder in the distance, but everyone was shining brightly as we had fellowship together even if we couldn't talk to each other well. When we gifted the kids with treats, they had their hands out and ready to receive the snack, saying thank you in either English or Khmer as it was handed to them, hands placed together like for a prayer. As they left, they left as they came: smiling and waving brilliantly. It was a blessing for sure. My prayer request in the morning was to be like Philip, approaching and helping the Eunuch understand God's Word and it was fulfilled without me being aware of it. Going around and simply teaching the kids how to say, "Sun", and helping them achieve it before moving on was God's way of using me to bless the children and I'm thankful for it, especially because it was done in such a natural way because it shows it was truly the Holy Spirit working with us to bless the children. It was a short two hours, but everyone on the team love every single moment, from the singing worship songs to teaching God's creations to them. Though Saturdays and Sundays are meant to be rest says with no teaching, this was definitely something I believe our team enjoyed to do.
We've only had one day of ministry, yet it feels like I've been here for a week. Muc Su Hung and Co Trang's family is so warm and I love spending time with them, even if I'm ashamed I can't speak Vietnamese. Our team has bonded and grown closer together despite the little meet ups and bonding we had beforehand. And our hearts are filled with so much love for the kids though we're only seeing the Khmer kids twice a week as opposed to our usual group of kids. I'm thankful how Muc Su Hung and Co Trang constantly glorify God and show HIs love through their actions. It's a constant reminder to me to see how God is working in the smallest detail of our lives and how perfectly planned everything is, even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment. Their children have huge hearts to serve and love us, which is also a blessing. Suddenly all of my previous fears are gone and my trust in God has been magnified even more. One travel day, one rest day, and one ministry day. Yet each day has been so full it seems like it adds up to seven days to me. There's more that happened that's not mentioned here, but know that God is always working in and outside of us during this trip. God we praise You for the good Father You are, and may You continued to be glorified. Amen. Pray for our safety, protection from spiritual warfare, Muc Su Hung and Co Trang's family for strength, and for the kids' hearts to be opened to God's Truth. Thank you to our prayer warriors! Stay tuned for the next blog. I shall be going to sleep to catch up on what I missed because of the 5am music and singing. :,)
-Trisha
