Cambodia.
The country of dust, beautiful people and a thirst for learning. 2 months have
already flown by, with 1 and ½ months to go. Only a short visit – but enough to
know that this is a special place. The brothers and sisters were very welcoming
from the start, and soon this distant country became home.
As
a fieldworker living in the capital city of Phnom Penh, life is relentlessly busy.
We have 4 fieldworkers based at Phnom Penh Bible Education Centre (BEC), and a
steady stream of students. At BEC, classes begin at 6am and finish at 7.30pm,
with further night classes at both the girl and boy dorms. Classes tend to be
an hour long, but can be 2 or more hours - depending on student needs. The education
level ranges from basic bible stories such as Creation or Jonah, to post-baptism
classes. We have received an influx of students asking to go through for
baptism, while in the past 2 months I have witnessed the joy of 3 baptisms. So
exciting to see the ecclesia numbers swell!
A
typical day for me is as follows: Get up at 5.40am with fellow dormer (and
fieldworker) Verity Van Rooyen, do a quick reading and head downstairs for our
6am classes. We snatch a bite to eat between classes, and start the next class
at 7.30. The morning will continue with 2 or 3 more classes. A delicious lunch
at 12 sharp, followed by 1pm readings (or field worker meeting if Tuesday). If
I’m lucky, I then might have to time to ring my family! The afternoon only
becomes busier, with continuous classes from 2pm-7.30pm. A good test of our
endurance levels. Dinner is ad lib. Nights become a time to write more classes,
debrief with other fieldworkers and Khmer (Cambodian) friends and head out to
explore the city. It is exhausting but most definitely rewarding!
Mondays
being our official day off, give us a chance to relax and sleep in! As our
fabulous cook has the day off also, we spend these nights discovering new
eating venues. So far I have consumed ants, crickets, spider, worms, frogs and
buffalo. Still to try the scorpion, spider and snake!
In
addition, we have a number of other activities every week, including bible
class, student dinners, dorm seminar and soccer/volleyball. All being opportunities
to strengthen friendships with the ecclesia, dormers and fieldworkers.
There
is an urgent need for more fieldworkers here in Cambodia. Especially in the
more isolated cities of Sihanoukville and Siem Reap. Teaching about God’s bible
and building friendships in the truth, is an incredible experience. I would
without a doubt, encourage those who are thinking of travelling, to come to
Cambodia.
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