Another part of my heart

If you read my previous posts about Cambodia, you might be under the impression that we worked tirelessly every single day! :) No worries...we had lots of time to just enjoy one another's company and experience Cambodia!  With the nature of the work we were doing, the ministry makes sure to leave a lot of time for debriefing, resting, and random fun when making the schedule for their teams.

Just a normal tuk-tuk ride! 

Erik playing around on one of the staff member's motos.  It had been raining, so they just brought it inside the center!

Morgan, Erik, Katie, and I enjoying our 50 cent coffee from the corner stand! Made with sweetened condensed milk, coffee, and ice! I usually had at least two a day!

Morgan and Kelsey acting as boy caterpillars one day during Kids Club.

Our fearless leader, Drew, being goofy with his niece.  She is one of two Cambodian girls that Ally, the founder of Hard Places, has adopted.

Kelsey having some fun at Dream Land!

We shared a lot of laughs with the staff over lunch and dinner and also got to know some of the interns pretty well.  We had a lot of dance parties that involved us teaching the Khmer staff various dances like the Wobble (their personal favorite), the Electric Slide, the Cha-Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle and the Macarena; and they also taught us a traditional Khmer dance.

Full-time HPC staff, Derek, with 17-year-old intern, Ben.  Their pretend father-son relationship was very amusing!

Ben, Josh, and Drew.  Josh and his wife, Gretchen, are interning for three months with HPC.

Dance therapy as some of the Khmer staff called it...they loved doing the Wobble!

One night we ate at Chuck Norris Dim Sum.  They served different kinds of dumplings...and lots of Chuck Norris jokes.

Dinner at Jars of Clay on our last night in Cambodia.  Love these people so much!

Definitely one of my favorite dinners!

One of the first nights, we took a walk down by the River Front, played on the exercise equipment, and tried some of the local delicacies!

This little boy was killing it on the elliptical!

I tried grasshopper, cricket, and frog.  Frog was by far my favorite so I ate five or six of them.

Other reactions to the bugs!

As I mentioned in my first post, we played an American vs. Cambodian game of soccer.  They had been practicing so they won, but we had a blast!

One of the most recent ministries that HPC has started is a touring business.  They helped four guys who were working in male brothels in Phnom Penh get out of the sex industry by teaching them English and training them as tour guides.  So now, a year later, they are starting to give tours on their own to various tourists who come to Phnom Penh for various reasons.  We got to go on a tour, hear more about the country, get to know the tour guides, and see some of the places around Phnom Penh we had not visited yet.

Kelsey, Katie, Morgan, and I on our tour.  It is the year of the snake so they have a huge snake out in front of Wat Phnom (the main Buddhist temple).

Unfortunately, this monkey already belonged to a lady at the Wat. :(

My roommate, Katie, and I playing on the "sacred grass" in front of the royal palace.

My week in Cambodia was full of challenges, brokenness, and spiritual warfare.  But it was also full of hope, laughter, singing, dancing, worship, and smiles.  I feel so blessed to have been part of such an incredible group of people serving alongside such incredible followers of Christ.  The trip really taught me to seek out opportunities to share that same kind of joy and hope in the States and I know God has me right where He wants me.  But I also look forward to the day I can return to Cambodia, where I have left another part of my heart.

All the kids, staff, and team members at Dream Land!

One of my favorite pictures from the trip...It just makes me laugh!

In my weakness, He is made strong

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT) 

"Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." 

This verse kicked me in the butt while I was in Cambodia.  Although I was really enjoying my time there, I was pretty discouraged the first couple of days.  I was astounded by the work of HPC and their staff but I felt very incapable of doing much of anything; primarily because I did not speak Khmer.  I think I was used to going to Mexico and knowing enough Spanish to be able to talk to the kids and laugh and play with them.  

I shared my frustration with some of my team and Deborah reminded me of 2 Corinthians 12:9.  God is able to use us the most when we cannot rely on ourselves.  I do that so often! I look for ways to work out of my strengths, gifts, and talents as I should (1 Peter 4:10) but I forget about how God can use our weaknesses for His glory IF we allow Him to.  

I just started praying, "God, I'm at a point of desperation and need your guidance.  Work through me and in me so that these children will know that they are loved not only by me but by You."  I know I am going to be praying that prayer many times over the next year as I transition into the ESL teacher at Hazlehurst.  I will be working with a totally new group of students (PreK through 12th grade) and their families as well.  I know that every day, I will talk to parents that I may or may not understand.  But, I know that through those situations, God is the ONLY one who can receive the glory!