ពន្លឺដែលចែងចាំងព្រះយេស៊ូ

(Google translator tells me that means Shine Jesus Shine in Khmer.)

July is flying by. I just can’t believe we only have a week and a half left here. And then adventures in Thailand before heading back to the good ol’ U.S. of A. This past week we got to get back to being regulars in the countryside. And we also got to have “a day in the life of” swap with our friends Cassie and Sarah. 

We started off the week by going out to two villages. We assessed the height and weight of kids at the second village,Ta Lork. This means that we weighed them on a scale and then had them stand against a World Health Organization weight-to-height chart. By lintersecting the child’s height and weight you are able to categorize them into a green, yellow, red, or dark red area which represent good, needs improvement, bad, or the most stunted and malnourished. This is super interesting to see if the snacks are proving effective and to see where the most need is among the villages. Sharon has had the staff assess once before, but many of the stats seemed to be somewhat inaccurate and there was a large change in which kids were attending the program. 

This is a new aspect that Sharon is working with so we did our best to get accurate results this time around so as to better track growth for the next period. In Cambodia, asking a child their name and age proves a little more difficult than you would think. Often birthdays are measured by how many Khmer New Years a child has celebrated (that’s in April by the way). Also, a girl may be simply referred to as “srey” which means girl among her family and many are named accordingly. For example, there are more than a few Srey Po’s (little sister) out there. So besides this confusing tidbit, we made great headway! We went back out and measured on Thursday, this time at Prey Ta Teong and Ra. After gathering courage to hold a crazy pet monkey on my arm at the first village (random, but true) we recruited one of the older girls there, Li Hoa,  who is doing very well with her English studies and is a great helper, to write down results at Prey Ta Teong. After measuring and feeding all the kids, we dropped her off and headed over to Ra to repeat our methods. The villages we measured on Thursday had many more children in the red zones. They are farther out from the city and it just pulls at my heart to see a child that you think is 8 and find out they are actually 12. Once they miss the critical window of nutrition at a young age it is hard for them to catch up. 

As for Tuesday, we went out to see Cassie and Sarah teach English at the Bible school they are interning for. They did a great job and the students were so receptive. We had a fun time walking down to the riverfront with them during the afternoon break. We got to see the little fishing boats that double as houses and see another way of life here in Cambodia. Another way of living in poverty, but working hard and having strong family bonds and striving for joy. We eventually headed back to the building for the children’s English lessons that happen at night. After a few songs and a short lesson, it was lettuce wraps (lok lak in Khmer) for dinner and then a trip to DQ. Yes, that is what we like about Cambodia (and Texas). It was a great day of community and we were excited to have them in the countryside with us just a few days later.

They came out on Friday with us and (after a little bit of a traffic delay caused by some political party excitement) we made it out to show them a few different villages. We ended the day at Throul Pang Petrea. Oh goodness, these kids are adorable. And crazy. Our little friends remembered us and jumped up and down and then a lot of spinning in circles and tickling and high-fiving ensued from then on. I got the little troublemakers to sit in my lap for the lesson and then we were back up and at ‘em. Sarah and Cassie really enjoyed getting to feed the kids and I enjoyed having a break and getting to talk to and play with several of the kiddos. After leaving TPP, we decided to climb a bajillion stairs and enjoy a little overlook out in the countryside. It was fun showing them what we have been up to the past six weeks and letting them enjoy the beauty of the countryside and the way of life out there. We ended up spending the night with Cassie and Sarah and having a really great weekend with them. Its been great to share experiences from different areas of ministry, but in the same culture with them over the past few weeks. 

I have loved getting to be apart of what is just taking off in Cambodia. I want each and every child to not only grow physically, but to grow spiritually, to share in the promise of our great Father. But I am having to rely on the Lord’s timing and the fact that I don’t know when, or even if, I’ll be back to this beautiful place. It’s a hard thing to grapple with, such a great unknown. We have the passion to serve, but don’t know where it’ll take us. We are searching for the balance between trusting in Him for His will to be revealed and being bold enough to move forward with what we think He is calling us to. We are waiting on the Lord, but ready to keep moving and share His love.

For now my prayer and song is: “Jesus, Light of the World shine upon us. Set us free by the truth You now bring us. Shine on me, Shine on me. Shine, Jesus shine, fill this land with the Father’s glory. Blaze spirit blaze, set our hearts on fire. Flow river flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy. Send forth Your Word, Lord, and let there be light!”

‘Til next time,

Shanleigh