Friday 23 November 2012
This was one of the coolest days of the trip. Vince told us before we left, the reasons we do short term mission trips are to expand our worldview and encourage our partners overseas. We had already done a lot of this up to this point on the trip; we had seem Buddhist temples, Khmer Rouge torture camps, palaces, and brothels... We had met brothers and sisters in Svay Pak who loved and served my Lord in a way I have never seen before, and hopefully we lessened their burden for the four days that we got to serve alongside them. Today we hosted a retreat for IJM that was wholly focused on encouragement and relaxation for them.
I woke up feeling a little bit sick (just a stuffy nose and sore throat), but I was praising God that I hadn't gotten sick until after we finished up in Svay Pak! We loaded up and went to Gateway for another amazing breakfast, and then headed off to the IJM office. We got into another van and drove to the site for our retreat! I was a little bit tired though!
Ok, so maybe I was a lot tired...I told you I was sick!
Anyways, when we got to the place we had our retreat at we started with fun games! Pastor Wince (AKA Vince) broke us up into seven groups. We all closed our eyes and he assigned our group an animal. We had to make the noise of our animal to find the rest of our teammates! Pigs, lions, and horses were everywhere!
The next game we played was a little more violent -- clothes pin tag. To play, everyone got three clothes pins and tried to pin them onto other people. At the end of a certain amount of time, whoever has the most clothes pins is out. I was out in the first round!
I also lost the next game first! We played Never Have I Ever. The first ones were things like, "I have never shot a gun," or "I have never been in an airplane." After that game was over, we played the reverse, I Have. You only get a point if the thing you say has not been done by anyone else in the room. I thought I was golden for this one, because I said, "I have been surfing inside." But alas, Sandra, my very own roommate, had done it before! I was shocked! There were some really crazy ones when we played though. Some of the most memorable were "I have eaten a guinea pig," and "I swam with 8 whale sharks."
Then we got with our teams again! I had an awesome team! There were four other people in my group. This was an engineering game that I am pretty sure Chris (small) came up with! Every team got 10 sheets of 8 1/2" X 11" paper and about 5 inches of masking tape with which to make something that could support a study bible at least 12" above the ground. All of the teams came up with something different, some successful and some not, but our team totally won! We made a bunch of accordion folded papers and taped two sheets together to make it to 12" high! It worked perfectly!
So, this whole week, Chris' (big) feet have been swelling up from the plane ride. Today they were about the size of basketballs and were pretty painful to walk on or even stand. But, despite all of this, Chris was still determined to lead worship for at least twenty minutes! I can't remember what the first few songs we did were anymore, but I remember ending with "God of this City."
You're the God of this City
You're the Kind of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are
You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are
There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here
Singing this song of hope with my Khmer brothers and sisters to our God was incredible. Believing and knowing that God was going to change things. Seeing the things He is already doing in Phnom Penh and in Svay Pak and in all of Cambodia...
Then it was time for lunch! There was a pretty big spread. I think it was all Khmer food but I really couldn't tell you what most of it was. It was fun to sit and talk with a lot of the IJM workers over a meal. I really liked it!
After lunch, Pastor Wince sent us back into our groups to do individual studies. Each team had a different topic.
Team 1- Esther and Mordecai
Team 2- Jesus and the Bleeding Woman
Team 3- Gideon and God (My team)
Team 4- Paul and Timothy
Team 5- Barnabas and Saul
Team 6- Elizabeth and Mary
Team 7- Moses and Jethro
At the end of our individual group time we came together and shared. All of them were biblical examples of encouragement. What is encouragement? We got four definitions for it: 1. to inspire with courage, to give courage 2. to attempt to persuade 3. to spur on, or move forward 4. to give help to. Vince emphasized the importance of encouragement in our lives. We need to seek encouragement first from God and then from people; we also need to give encouragement to those around us!
After bible study, we had an unfortunate discovery; about $800 of our money had been either misplaced or stolen sometime throughout the day. So, we decided to eat cheap that night and went to Gateway again. I was feeling pretty sick at this point, so I asked for just a bowl or fruit, not on the menu, and Matt was nice enough to bring me some! I was so happy! Seriously, if you are ever in Cambodia, you have to go to Gateway!
After Gateway, Chris (big), Kara, Sandra and I went back to the hotel and everyone else went to Alf and Kelly's house to babysit so they could have a date night! Alf and Kelly were so sweet though! They came and brought me medicine before their date! Kara and Sandra were in our room making bracelets while I was journaling, but I think I passed out, despite the light and noise, at about 8PM. Nyquil really did the trick!
Saturday 24 November 2012
I was feeling much better today after almost 12 hours of sleep the night before! Thank the Lord!
This was also a day of encouragement, but much more for Alf and Kelly! We got to spend the whole day with them and just love on them! We started off by having breakfast at Gateway all together, and then we went to a craft show with Kelly, called Holly and Coconuts. We did some minor shopping there, and then we went to the Russian Market to really start shopping! That place is incredible! An example of deals there, new Nike's for $20 and a pair of Beats for $15. So far, I'm still pretty convinced that the stuff we bought is real.
For lunch, we went to a place a block or so away from the Russian Market. It is a Christian bistro called Jars of Clay. It was very good! I had this super unique salad that had mangoes and chicken and pesto! Mmmm...
Then, we found a place that had 75 minutes massages for only $10. Obviously, we all went and got one! They were incredible! I think my favorite part of the day was here, but it wasn't because of the massage! Dan was trying to have a conversation in Khmer with his masseuse and it was so funny! We were all laughing hysterically by the end of the 75 minutes!
Then for dinner, the one part of our trip I wish I could take back, we went to a fancy Italian restaurant. It was fun because everyone got to hang out all together and just relax after a long ten days! I got to sit by Krista and Chris (small) and we talked a lot! Krista left for the airport right after our meal, so I was glad I got to talk to her some at dinner.
When we got back to the hotel, we did our packing and somehow managed to take four hours talking and laughing before we went to sleep... I love Kara and Sandra! I miss our talks now that we are home.
Sunday 25 November 2012
I was NOT feeling good today, but I was determined to power through it! We were going to church in Svay Pak one last time before we went back home that night! Well, after we made it to church I discovered I was not the only one who didn't feel well. It turns out, both Chris (small) and I had gotten food poisoning from the restaurant the night before! I don't think I have ever had food poisoning that severe! And here is the real kicker, we had a flight to catch that same day! So, we missed out on the sermon that day. I was so upset!
Then, we went to Alf and Kelly's and I slept the entire day before our 11PM flight. I don't know what everyone else did...
We left at 11PM and went back in time. We had a ton of turbulence on our flight though, and that mixed with food poisoning is a terrible combination!
Monday 26 November 2012
We landed in Korea and I slept in the lounge while my team went on a tour of Korea. 8 hours later, I woke up and we all hoped onto another flight to California. When we landed in San Fransisco, we found out our flight had been delayed, but Sandra, our travel expert, got us all onto an earlier flight!
When we landed back in DFW I was glad to sleep in my own bed, but very sad that our trip was over. I had fallen in love with Cambodia and with the Khmer people I had met in Svay Pak and Phnom Penh. I hope that God will send me back one day!
Verse of the Moment: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 This verse was so true in Cambodia. The believers I met were so full of faith that God was almost tangible. That is what I crave here and now!
Song of the Moment: I have probably already used this song, but I want to use it again now.
So, I'll leave you with this: Do you believe that God is the God of this city? The King of this people? Wherever you are, do you know that God is in control and that God is working in all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28) and for the fulfillment of His perfect justice? There is power in knowing that these things are true. Trust God to do greater things in your city! Pray for those things, and pray expectantly!
No comments:
Post a Comment