So, I figure it is about time to post more about what we actually did; however, we still haven't gotten to the real work part by days 4 and 5. During this time, we were still acclimating to Cambodia and learning about the culture of the place we would be serving at for the next week.
Also, I forgot to tell you... Friday we ate dog.
It was an accident, and I have to say that I don't regret it all that much. It was so good! They put this sauce on it that was like pepper and lime juice mixed. It was super tasty!
Saturday 17 November 2012
I didn't write down much in my journal today, but I can mostly remember everything we did (I hope!). What I wrote:
"Today we prayed together and ate together and went exploring in Phnom Penh. We were tourists today, but I loved it because we got to learn about who Cambodia is! I love the people and the culture. It is so unique. More on that later. Now, sleep."
I lied. I didn't write more on that later. But, I will now (Redemption)! Hehehe...
Most mornings on this trip, we started off with a devotional, led by the incredible Pastor Dave Cervantes! He usually did something from Oswald Chambers or something like that... Then, we had prayer requests and someone would pray for us. It was awesome -- every single time!
Then, we got breakfast at Gateway! (Get used to reading that, it happened every day.) We got an amazing layout of pancakes, french toast, and omelettes. Matt hooked us up!
We went exploring in Phnom Penh after breakfast, which included Wat Phnom and this other place (I am terrible at names, but especially foreign names!).
So, Wat Phnom is where Phnom Penh got it's name, if I am remembering this correctly. And it is a big Buddhist temple (Wat = temple). It was beautiful, but it was also sad because there were tons of people leaving offerings for Buddha and going to pray to Buddha there. There were monkeys there, too! There was a rumor of elephants, but we didn't find any.
So, the other place -- I think it was a palace for the royal family -- was huge and golden and flowery and beautiful. This is the point of the trip where my group became obsessed with photo bombing. We photo bombed everyone everywhere outside this palace. It was awesome! Talk about team building...
Here is a photobomb from later this day by the great Dan Dehart! This was taken in front of our fancy pants hotel.
So, after all of this delightful mischief we went to a bakery, and I'm not sure if I can say the name of it online if I say what it is too...so I will hold off on the name for now. Anyways, all of the girls who work at this bakery have been rescued out of sex trafficking. They are paid a fair wage and given an education. They are also professionally trained in baking and cake decorating; they have made tons of cakes for some very important people! We took a tour and ate cupcakes!
Here is an example of the cupcakes we ate! Mmmm!
The biggest thing I got out of the tour was something that the manager said to us: "A lot of people think of freeing girls from sex trafficking like letting a dove out of a cage; they think they can just go straight out of slavery and into a beautiful, whole, free life. The girls in this kind of slavery are more like sea gulls in an oil spill. You can set them free, but they can't have a complete, whole life until you clean all of the oil off of them." (Highly paraphrased and much less poetic than how she said it.)
These girls need restoration. God is providing for that at this bakery! What a great God we serve!
"He restores my soul. He guides me in the path of righteousness for His name's sake." Psalm 23:3
"I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." John 16:33
That night we ate pizza at Alf and Kelly's home. If you know me, you know how much I love pizza (not at all). But the fellowship was amazing. I love Alf and Kelly with my whole heart! We were all so tired, though; it was hard to fully enjoy the time we had with them. Jet lag is a killer.
Sunday 19 November 2012
Writing about today makes me nervous because church was so incredible.
This morning we changed it up for breakfast! We went to the Evan's house and had cereal/ pop tarts. I felt like a kid again! I love pop tarts! We had to eat super fast so we could make it to church on time. Church was at 7:30AM in Svay Pak, which is at least 30 minutes from Phnom Penh, where we were staying.
So, we left Alf's house at around 7AM to head to Rahab's House for church. Pastor Shantah (Spelling?) was waiting out front to great the congregation, so we got to meet him before the service started. We went up to the third floor (Most of the buildings in Cambodia had at least three floors) and walked into a room that was already busting with song and dance! These people know how to worship! There was so much life in this church!
They let us sit in the front -- and when I say let, I mean made -- and we had two or three disciples to translate the service for us. They played several songs, some Khmer and some English. It was beautiful! Their band was very good, but it didn't matter what it sounded like to them; they cared about the actual worship. Their faces were glowing with the love of God! I can't use words to describe their worship, so I'll let the Bible do it for me.
"I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live!" Psalm 104:33
"Let them praise His name in the dance: let them sing praises to Him with the trimbel and harp." Psalm 149:3
They sang "My Jesus" and I just about lost it when they got to the part that goes: "Shout to the Lord, all the Earth! Let us sing!" It was the perfect picture of the church being unified to sing these lyrics with believers who live halfway around the world.
They were singing and dancing and clapping and shouting because of their absolute love for God! They didn't care what other people thought of their worship; they cared about what God thought of their worship! It was easily the most worshipful church I have ever been to. I wish America was like this. I have been watching people around me worship since I have been back; it isn't the same. Most believers in America are not fully surrendered to God in worship; they care much more about what their neighbor will think of their clapping, or out-of-tune singing, or hands held high... In my journal, I wrote that this church has "more passion than a Latin soap opera." I just had to throw that in!
Americans... More on that later. That is more than I want to put into this post.
They danced, too! They danced to a western song that I am not familiar with, and even though some of the congregation didn't speak English and couldn't understand the words of the song, the dance told the story. It was an amazing fullness of worship.
Then, Pastor Shantah took the stage. Wow! I didn't have a translator close enough to hear, so I just listened to the message in Khmer. I looked up the scriptures he referenced, picked out the few words that I knew, and listened to the few English phrases that he threw out for us. I couldn't tell what he was saying exactly, but I could tell that he wasn't holding back! It was the explicit gospel.
The just of it, as far as I could tell, is that God loves us. We are sinners. Christ died for us. We can resist temptation.
It was incredible. Then, we took communion together. Second time I almost lost it. Being with a whole different part of the body was amazing. God is so good! After church we met a few of the people we would be working with for the rest of the week.
After that we went to lunch at Mike's Burger with Alf, Kelly and kids. The food was super Western, but super delicious! We also met a couple of Obama's secret service workers while we were there... Oh yeah, Obama was in Cambodia the same time as us. So, the roads looked like this:
Traffic was INSANE. Half the roads in the country were shut down for Obama.
The next part is awesome, so get ready. We went to a Western church at LOGOS school. It is primarily for missionaries and the services are in English! Hallelujah! Even better than that, Alf, Dan, Chris Clayton, Kara, and I got to lead worship together! It was one of my favorite experiences worshiping ever, besides the one from this morning! We played four songs: "Those Who Trust," How Great Thou Art," "How He Loves," and "Forever Reign." It felt like home; it was amazing to worship with my dear, beloved family!
The pastor of this church brought it. He preached on God's glory and the gospel, one of my favorite topics! I actually got a lot out of it! I think I will write a separate blog on that tomorrow.
There was an amazing sense of community at this church. The pastor cared about every single person in the congregation. Genuinely. He knew specific prayer requests of the members and asked them how they were coming along, and he introduced all the new people to the congregation. The church cared a lot too, pretty much everyone came and met us before it was time to leave!
We got dinner with Christa and went back to the hotel to rest up. Well, Sandra and I decided to practice aerobics for a while before bed time so I would be ready to lead it the next day. It turned into me doing aerobics, and Sandra laughing at me and telling me I was doing a great job for an hour. It might have been a waste of time, but we had so much fun! I love Sandra so much! I am missing my roommate now!!
Thought of the moment: I don't care how you worship. I don't care if it looks like the worship I saw in Cambodia. I just care that you do worship. Do whatever it is that draws you close to the Lord and don't be afraid to just love Him! 1 Corinthians 16:13 "Be on your guard; stand firm in your faith; be courageous; be strong!"
Verse of the moment: Luke 18:9-14 "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: "God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get." 'But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.'
Song of the moment: Instead of a Show // Jon Foreman It's not about looking religious or what other people think of you when you pray, or sing, or dance for the Lord! It is all about what God thinks! It is about how you are loving God with your worship -- whatever that looks like!
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