One day down...

So I'm writing at the end of the first day of English camp. It was, as expected, a crazy and hectic day but it seemed to go well overall. The students, mostly 17 to 20 years old, are divided into 6 groups, each led by an intern. In my group, we have 16 students and 3 short termers, Sharon, Shannon and Dave, who is an associate pastor at a Cleveland CMA church and a teacher for 35 years. Needless to say, I gave him the go ahead to take the lead in the group since he is very comfortable teaching.

The days will follow the same schedule through the week. We have breakfast at the church, where the camp is held and where many of the students are sleeping, at 7 a.m. Then we have a worship service with some testimony and then we have about 2 hours for teaching in our individual groups. My group sat outside under a tree, which felt very missionary-like. Although many speak a little English, most just seem eager to practice and my goal today was just to get comfortable with them. So we played a lot of games like birdie on the perch as Penn Staters call it. It's basically organized chaos in motion. We have lunch at the church again then each afternoon, we will do field trips with the students.

Today we visited the silk farm and the war museum. I never knew how they made silk - now I do and now I understand why it can be so expensive. The cocoons of silk worms are boiled and spun into thread then it goes through a million processes until it becomes the beautiful scarves we love. The war museum is essentially an overgrown field with a bunch of USSR, Cambodian and American weapons and tanks left over from the Vietnam War. Most of the kids had no idea what it was from, they just liked climbing all over it.

The teams seem to be doing well and we interns have settled into our roles. On Sunday, we spent the whole afternoon taking the different groups around, to market, to church, to internet, where ever they needed to go. It was nice to be needed. But we've talked about the importance of getting away for a little each night, so Nat, Stan and I are downtown right now, enjoying some ice cream and spring rolls and checking up on email. To make it through the next 6 weeks, we'll need to make sure we recharge instead of going 110 percent every day.

I've read through James twice now and I haven't felt God's call to leave it yet. Apparently there are some lessons in it that I haven't learned yet.

Prayer requests:
The students - there are some really great kids who seem to eager to learn English, but also about Jesus and what He can do for them
The short termers - most of them are doing great and adapting wonderfully to the food, the different schedule, the need for flexibility, the culture. Others are really struggling with even simple things like walking to the church. Please pray that the interns can push them to not miss what God has for them here. It takes more than just getting on the plane.
The interns - Stan, Elias, Natalie, Emily and Jonathan (and me of course). We'll be together for another 6 weeks and God has blessed us with amazing closeness already

Big crowd

The group increased overnight from four interns to 24 with the addition of the short term teams that arrived. One of the groups is from Canada and the other from Ohio. All, unfortunately, were dressed in Ohio State Buckeye t-shirts when they arrived. I'll have to pray about overcoming Big Ten rivalries this week.

Therefore, the past two days have seen a lot of changes for us interns. Our role and job description is slightly ambiguous so we (a.k.a. me) have struggled with where we fit into the new groups. We want to just be there to help and guide around town in the days before English camp but since we are not officially part of their groups, it takes a slight balancing act. It will likely get easier once camp starts on Monday. The past two days have mostly included showing the groups around and a short orientation about camp. Tomorrow (Sunday), the four interns asked to go to a village church around 6 a.m. then to the main church service. We will probably take the "newbies" to the market as well.

The newbies are a wide array of people. The youngest is 15 but most are middle aged, a few are retired. When we asked each person to say why they are in Cambodia for this trip, half said they are looking to do full time missions in the future and half said they weren't sure, God just said come. Without judging, I can already forecast the different conflicts that could emerge from different personalities. But that is the aspect of any missions trip and the challenge of any missionary. It's something they can't teach you in a missionary class. How do you get the complainer to not bring down the rest of the group? How do you get the person who doesn't want to do ANYTHING to understand getting outside of their comfort zone? Learning to deal and even take advantage of all these different personalities is invaluable.

After finishing Hebrews, I decided to just keep going and read James. I kept wanting to stop and just look over one verse and that kept happening over and over so I decided to spend the next week in James, reading through it carefully. There are so many relevant points in the book to a missions trip and just life in general.

Hot and sticky

The Cambodians understand better than us Americans that the way to deal with the 90 plus degree weather is to 1. stay inside 2. stay by a fan or 3. just stay in the shade. Today the silly Americans did none of the above as we did the Siem Riep market and then the Cultural Center, their attempt at Disney World minus the rides. It involved lots of walking and lots of sweating. But it's been nice to see the town and ride on the tuktuk taxis - carts pulled by motobikes.
The group has changed dynamics drastically with the addition of Emily and Jonathan and their 4 short termers. Traveling as four people is very easy but getting 10 people around is hard. Elias, Nat, Stan and I do a lot of stuff on our own like in the market, since we find no reason to buy anything since we'll be here for 7 weeks.
Tonight more short termers arrive and tomorrow will be church and orientation.
So far, no sickness, sun burn or homesickness (at least not too bad). Pray that will continue!

New town

Welcome to Siem Riep! Elias, Nat, Stan and I arrived by bus this evening. The bus ride was supposed to be 5 hours across Cambodia but ended up being about 8 hours because of the election. Cambodia will have its annual election for prime minister and ruling party next month and the campaigns consist of hundreds of trucks full of people parading around the country. So essentially, we were stuck in traffic for 3 extra hours. At least we got to see the Cambodian countryside.
In Siem Riep, we will be staying at a guest house with the 2 other interns, Jonathan and Emily, who have been to Cambodia twice before. They arrived today with 4 young people from their church who will help with the English camp then go home.
Tomorrow and Sunday will be free days to explore Siem Riep and then English camp officially starts Monday. It's very exciting and the four of us are so thrilled with how close we've become in such short a time. Hopefully we'll still be friends after 7 weeks!

Wed

It's late at night here so this is going to be a quick post, since the jet lag still has me ready for bed by 8 p.m. Today our fourth intern, Stan, arrived and tomorrow the four of us will be getting on a public transport bus to travel for 6 hours to the town of Siem Riep, where the first English camp will be held. Another 2 interns and 25 short termers will meet us there to do the camp with 125 Khmer (Cambodian) people.
Bonding with the other three interns has been exciting, since we're all working through the same jet lag, nerves, and excitement. Natalie (who was a finalist for Miss Canada this year - random fact) is 20, and can only be defined as high energy. On her first day here, after a random off the wall moment, she claimed that she has never been this quiet and reserved. We all just looked at each other in shock. But she's definitely fun to have around. Elias is quiet (the real quiet, not the Natalie quiet) and lives in Queens, NYC but goes to Messiah College. We've had fun comparing PA experience, while Natalie chimes in with how weird Americans are compared to Canadians. Stan, who arrived a couple hours ago, is still new but has been to Cambodia twice in the past 6 years for 10 day trips. All of us have had some good conversations about what it's like to be young 20-somethings in CMA churches wanting to do missions and/or working overseas.
I have a lot more things I've been chronicling on my own laptop about the genocide museum, the markets we went today and other random thoughts, but they will have to wait. But one fun fact of Cambodia; everything is dirt cheap. Northface backpacks (normally $200) are $10. Any kind of necklace with real stones like emeralds are about $10. The markets are a strange mix of Cambodian culture soveniers next to movies for $2. I already bought Iron Man and Prince Caspian, which proved to be decent quality. So any request from home for any movie or TV show are okay!

Tuesday, June 24

How amazing it's been to able to relax and sleep during my first days in the country. My business level will increase a lot on Thursday once the English camps begin. Elias, Natalie and I have been doing some intense language training. For all of my frustrations about my Penn State Spanish classes, learning Khmer has been remarkably easier than I anticipated just because I understand how to learn a language. I'm not sure how much I can remember on a daily basis or when I'm going to need to ask someone "What is your nationality?" but at least I can start to learn a little about the culture. This afternoon we will be going to the genocide museum about the horrible things that happened here in the 1970s during the civil war. Many people may only recognize Cambodia because of the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields and that's what the museum is about. It should be an eyeopening experience.

I've been going through Hebrews in my devotions for a while and I finally finished it today, reading several times through the infamous "Faith chapter" that recognizes all the people of the Bible who followed God through faith. One of the verses really struck me as it read "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance." It goes on to talk about being aliens in a foreign land, looking toward the heavenly home they were made for. Even if we don't get the things we've been promised, or we don't seem to get them, God is taking us on a journey of faith. I can only hope my seven weeks here take me closer to what God wants from me.

Thank you for everyone who has been praying for me and leaving comments. It is such great encouragement. Thanks!

First day

So anyone that read my last post may believe I'm falling apart but I promise today was a different story. My last post was before my last flight to Cambodia, which arrived around 9:30 a.m. Sunday Cambodian time (subtract 12 hours for Pittsburgh time). I was picked up from the airport by the missionary family Bill and Illana, and their two daughters Holly, 13, and Kim, 9. I spent the day mostly trying to stay awake as I ate lunch with them and attended church with them. Dinner was out on the town. So far, I haven't had any Cambodian food, but starting Thursday, that will be all I eat. There will be 5 other interns here, all from the Christian Missionary Alliance, but different areas of the CMA. Elijah, from Messiah College, arrived at dinner last night and Natalie, from Canada, came this morning. Stanley will arrive Wed. and then two more will join us when we leave the capital. The interns will take a 5 hour bus to Siem Reap for our first English camp. 20 short termers will join us there to serve about 125 Cambodians.
First impressions of Cambodia are remarkably similar to the other large cities of the world that I've traveled to. The color of the people's skin is the only thing that seems different. But there are beautiful temples and palaces all over the city that remind me I'm in Asia. So far, I've had little interaction with any people yet as I get situated. But Elijah and I had our first Khmer language lesson this morning. I can say hi and thank you and that's about it. It's a rough language! But hopefully I'll be fluent in 7 weeks. One can only hope.

Whoa. Emotions

Who knows what day…6:30 a.m. Taiwan Airport

I don’t know if it was the emotional week leading up to this trip, but lifting up from LAX airport for a 14 hour flight to Taiwan almost made me start bawling in my seat. I’m going to attribute it to holding in my tears all week about Jacob’s accident. I kept saying I never was in the right place to just have a good cry and get it over with. But there is something about flying away halfway around the world that will take all of your emotions and create a huge lead ball in your stomach and a lump in your throat. I’m not a big crier but spent most of the 14 hours holding back tears, fighting back panic of being trapped, of leaving home, of being alone. As I swirl it around in my head, I think that’s the word I keep going back to…alone. When are we ever truly alone? Even when we find some time away from people, anyone you want to talk to is always just a phone call away. But last week God isolated Jacob and Dad to teach them some things. Now I'm voluntarily jumping into isolation. The LAX airport did nothing to calm my nerves as I ran from terminal to terminal, trying to locate my bags and navigate the insanity that was the international terminal. To be alone is humbling and frightening. I pride myself as a pretty tough cookie that doesn’t blink an eye at traveling around the world, away from family and friends and home. It’s just part of the fun. But this feels different. All I could do was whisper over and over again to God, “Please give me peace.” Peace. It takes on a whole new meaning when you feel like a little girl left alone in the supermarket. God didn’t take away the fear or the emotions I was so frustrated with, but He let me sleep. I feel much better not being stuck on an airplane for 14 hours. Anyone who believes they are strong on their own should face that flight by themselves. God didn’t give me any answers other than “I’ve got something to teach you.” I’d hoped that, prayed for that. It was one of the main reasons I wanted to go so far, in a country where I didn’t know the language. I felt like I needed a good kick in the butt before this last year of school and if I didn’t have the guts to face the lessons God wanted to teach me now, I would never learn them. I just had no idea He was going to start the moment the first plane took off from Pittsburgh airport. Even now, writing that word brings a lump to my throat again. Will this be my first bout of homesickness since my England trip all those years ago? I can only pray that being met by people who speak my language will make the difference. I can only hope.