Cambodia was never on the top of my list of places to go. It always seemed daunting, the thought of teaching people about the bible and English was a little bit scary, even though I had grown up on learning the Bible and believed it with all my heart, it just felt like something that I wouldn’t be able to do. I’m an accountant, not a teacher, so it was a bit of a jump.
However, some of my dear friends had been here and only had great things to say, so when it came to doing a trip around the world, I thought, what the heck, may as well add it to the list.
One Friday, Tamar, Steve, Lynne & I made the trip out to LCDI, which was a whole other experience. We were greeted by a whole bunch of boys on our arrival, which was slightly overwhelming as they made jokes that as an Aussie I didn’t really get, but they all laughed and had big smiles I couldn’t help to feel completely welcome from the get go. Tame & I just sat in on Lynne’s class with the girls to see what it was like and it really amazed as how interested they were to both speak English and learn more about the bible even though the noise volume around us (as we were sitting outside) was intense and easily caused me to loose concentration.
I managed to get a tour around LCDI with one of the English teachers there, she showed me Loy’s vegetable patches and the kitchen, where I was given what tasted like the dry rice that gets stuck to the bottom of the pan to eat (it actually tasted better than it sounds) and just stood around with the teachers laughing about how in Australia we like to put tanning lotion on and the Cambodians like to put whitening lotion on, neither of us really understanding the motivation for the other.
After the class we were shown the girls dorm, which was a quaint little wooden hut with 2 levels and straw rugs on the floor for beds.
We also got to play a Khmer game, that I still have no idea what the point was, but they loved that we were joining in so it was all a bit of fun & they were excited to show us.
I think one of my favourite days was on the last Sunday we were in Cambodia, the Ecclesia had an ‘activity day’ where we all had lunch together before the meeting, which was delicious and cooked typical Khmer style, with so many kebabs trying to fit on 2 small stoves, it was interesting to watch and oh so delicious to eat.
After the meeting we went to Olympic Stadium in search of a volleyball court because the boys wanted to play, but after failing to find a suitable court the girls directed the boys up to the top of the stadium to have a dance/watch us dance.
It started off with a bit of the Macarena, much to Tamar, Jess & my excitement as we tried to show Sakorn, Davy & Saroun how to do it. Lets just say we attracted a lot of onlookers but it was fun.
It eventually turned into more of an aerobics workout. It was pretty funny watching everyone attempt to be co-ordinated enough to do all the moves in time, most of us failing! But that didn’t matter, we were all having fun after all. It was so lovely to spend good quality time with everyone, getting good photos of the whole meeting. Those memories will always stay in my heart.
I hope so much that I will be given a chance to come back, but that is up to God so until then I leave my heart here in Phnom Penh with all the friends I made & pray even more that Jesus will return so that we won’t have to wait too much longer to see each other again.
Much Love in Jesus
Mikki x
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