Here I am ... Send me

Camp ends

2008-08-02T01:35:00.000-07:00

So camp is now officially over. It's hard to believe that my final days in Cambodia are now here. Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be sent taking the short termers around town and Monday morning, I say goodbye to Natalie, Elias and Stan. Then on Tuesday, I get on the plane home. I am really dreading the actual flying. I have a 24 hour layover in Taiwan so it will be a full 3 days of travel to finally get home. But my mind and heart are ready to go. It will be sad to say goodbye but Pittsburgh is calling my name.

Thank you for all the prayer support and comments over the past weeks. I'm not home yet, so I still need prayer but God has protected me and watched over me in ways I probably don't even know. In 48 days, I haven't had a single day of sickness. That's a huge miracle. God has really taken care of me. But please pray for me and the other interns as we finish up our time here and head home.

Almost done

2008-07-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged in days, but I'm only updating right now because I snuck away from lunch early for 15 minutes.

Camp is going great and we only have one day left, which is crazy! But we interns are ridiculously busy (hence the no posting). We are in charge of the whole camp, including emceeing, worship, testimonies, sermons and games. Then we each have a teaching group and are in charge of the field trips every afternoon.

On top of that, Emily, Natalie and I are living in the dorms with one team, which has proven to be the biggest stress of all. Camp is fun and great but at the end of the day, we bring the campers home with us. The team has had a BIG problem adjusting to living at the dorms and spend most of their time complaining. They have also broken most of the things in the house, so the three of us get home at 7 every night and spend 2 hours cleaning, doing laundry, fixing toilets, mopping overflowed showers and chasing rats out of the boys dorm. We have had several talks with the group, which is a youth group of high schoolers and several adult leaders. However, the leaders seem to have the biggest trouble with the few rules we set like "no food left out" (we'll get rats).

As the week has progressed, the situation has improved and I'm still enjoying my final days in Cambodia. It is hard to believe I will be getting on a plane in about 5 days, but I'm more than ready. Nat, Stan, Elijah and I have been here for 6 weeks, and we are definitely ready to come home, especially after this English camp.

This week continues to be the hardest we've had so far, so please keep praying for the teams and for us interns.

Yikes

2008-07-26T06:55:00.001-07:00

53 short termers = 6 stressed and tired interns
It's gonna be a long week

Today was the first day of all 53 short termers and it was absolute insanity. Since the 6 of us are almost completely responsible for every minute of their day, it was pretty crazy transporting them around and practically herding them to places. Most are jet lagged and culture shocked so that adds another component. The coming days will be better and English camp will add some structure to the day but we just have to get through the weekend.

It's a good mix of high schoolers and adults, which is a good ingredient for camp. But we can already tell who will struggle with the unstructured aspect of camp. We say it over and over. It's not about English, it's about building relationships. But we can already tell who will be frustrated with the laissez faire way we will be teaching each day. So pray for everyone's attitudes as they are out of their comfort zones and struggling. They are eating new food, with people they don't know in a really hot climate in a country where they speak another language. I forget that I once was quite uncomfortable too.

Essentially, prayer this week will be the most important time for my entire trip. I'm glad I've had 6 weeks to prepare but this one is gonna be tough. We will definitely be stretched as interns this week and even though I'm enjoying it so far, it's hard at the same time. Pray for stamina and patience, particularly in the dorms with mostly high school students. Also, I've really been feeling the desire to be back at home and definitely sad about some of the things I am missing. But I know God still has stuff to teach me here and I'm gonna make sure I take advantage of every day.

The Aussies arrive

2008-07-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how much time and energy I will have for blogging in the next week or so since the teams are arriving. Bill has given the interns complete responsibility of the English camp and the short termers so we will be spending the weekend escorting the teams around the city, taking them to market, bartering for them and making sure they don't get lost. With 53 people, that should be interesting.

The first team arrived tonight and it reminded me how excited I am for more short termers. One of the main reasons I signed up for this particular internship is that I love being able to help short term teams and after a month in Cambodia, I'd forgotten how much I've learned since being here. We haven't seen a short term team in about 2 weeks and it will be awesome to be able to show them Cambodia.

Pray for them as they all arrive over the next two days. They will be tired, jet lagged, intimidated and culture shocked, just like I was. So I hope God will be able to use us interns to help make things easier for them. Also pray for us interns though. We are pushing through our last two weeks. During a 2-hour break today, we all feel asleep on the guest house floor. What a sight to walk in and see 6 bodies sprawled out everywhere. But we are all feeling great and excited for camp to start again.

Here we go again

2008-07-23T02:56:00.000-07:00

It is crazy to think that I will be heading home in less than 2 weeks. The time is flying by. And it will go even faster starting tomorrow when the first team arrives for English camp.

The interns and I just spent 3 days cleaning the dorms for the short-termers. To say it was an unpleasant task would be understatement. We had spent several nights there while the students were living there about a week ago but now the students have moved out for the week. It took 3 whole days of scrubbing, sweeping and mopping to get the place even decent looking and I know the short termers will still be aghast at the conditions. Cambodians have the mentality of use and abuse for their homes. So they never ever clean. The place hadn't been cleaned since last summer's English camp.

Our greatest adventure? Stan and I were cleaning the kitchen and as I was moving an old water filter, baby rats started crawling out and running everywhere around my feet. I'm not ashamed to say I screamed like a girl and jumped on a chair. But I wasn't too embarrassed because Stan was already on a chair. It took an hour of chasing rats (and hearing Elijah scream like a girl when one ran over his foot) before we thought we got them all. Last night, we lay traps and caught 10 more rats. But we think we've gotten them all and sealed all the holes they were using to get in, so hopefully that's the end of that adventure.

We are going to start at a break-neck speed starting on Friday when most of the teams arrive. During the last English camp, there were 24 short-termers and that was difficult. Now the number has doubled. So I'm sure I will be exhausted by the end. But we're all excited for camp to start and for us to meet the new teams.

Please pray for travel and safety as they arrive and the craziness of logistics as we shepherd 50 people around the city. Hopefully we won't lose anyone.
Also pray for us interns as well. The honeymoon period is now over and we've been together 24/7 for a month now so we have had to find a little more grace with one another. Keep praying for health because I haven't had one day of sickness yet! Truly God providing for me.

Back in Phnom Penh

2008-07-20T23:04:00.000-07:00

Emily, Jonathan and I returned safely to the capital on Sunday and, as I looked at my calendar, I could hardly believe I have little over 2 weeks left in Cambodia. The interns will be in the CMA guest house for several days (yea, hot water and AC!) and then 53 short termers start arriving on Thursday. Bill has already told us we will have a lot more responsiblity this time around for English camp since we know what we're doing. Plus, there will be 3 times as many short termers. I'm really excited. Camp starts Monday and runs through Sunday and then I get on a plane the Tuesday after that!

But I want to write quickly about the past 5 days, which I spent in Mondulkiri. During field forum, we talked to a lot of missionaries about what they are doing in Cambodia. Joyce offered to have three of us to come visit her for a few days so the three of us packed into her truck at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning and drove for 1o hours to the northeast corner of Cambodia. At certain points, Joyce would point to the east where we could see some of Vietnam. There are no legal crossings so all you can do is look at it.

The three days we were there weren't incredibly eventful, mostful relaxing as we met people Joyce works with and traveled to several village churches. Mondulkiri is very different than the rest of Cambodia in that it is both hilly and cool. I actually had to use a blanket at night, which was a welcome change from the oppressive heat I've started to get used to. I found that my 4-week trip to Guatemala two summers ago was great practice for this short trip. Emily and Jonathan were both frustrated with the amount of time we spent just sitting at Joyce's house, or the lack of stuff we were doing. I dealt with that in Guatemala, that it was lot of relational things, and also a time of rest. I think the two of them were hoping to keep up the breakneck speed we've been going at for the past month. But in a small town like Mondulkiri, thats just not the style. I enjoyed it and also enjoyed recognizing that a hard lesson I learned on another trip had prepared me for this one.

In general, it was a nice information-getting trip as we got to know Joyce and her helper Leang. I also enjoyed the time with Emily and Jonathan, although the trip definitely highlighted how different we are from each other. More specifially, me from them. But we made it work and had an especially good conversation with Emily one day about how she walked away from God for three years and what brought her back. It was something I would have never guessed about her and it was good for her to share.

One of the best lessons I've been learning is how easy it is to not even notice when we leave the basics of our faith behind. Essentially, I had forgotten how great it was to be in the word and reading from it. It's something I've gotten into the habit of doing over the past month and I am praying it will continue when I return. I've read more this past month then I've read in 10 years so I'm excited about how much God is teaching me.

Not dead

2008-07-18T03:29:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to update quickly that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I am in a new town for a few days called Mondulkiri with Emily and Jonathan. It took 10 hours to get here and is way way off the beaten path. So Internet is technically available but the electricity in the whole town is turned off 75 percent of the time.

But please pray for travel back on Sunday by taxi, for time with the missionary Joyce and for health for Emily (cold). Also, Jacob's surgery is today and it is hard to be away from the family during this hard time.

Oh and check out the column I am writing for the Collegian every week : http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2008/07/17/work_abroad_counteracts_homesi.aspx

Some pics

2008-07-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry pictures took so long to get up. But here's a few from Siem Riep English camp. The famous palace in Cambodia, Angkor Wat on the left. The worship team (Natalie in the yellow shirt by me) leading the kids every morning at English camp, below.

Two short termers (Shannon and Shannon), me and Stan at the temples near Angkor Wat, the famous Buddhist palace

Moving on

2008-07-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry I seemed to have disappeared for a few days, but I didn't feel any pressing need to post since not a lot has been going on. Field forum ends today (Sunday) and most of the days have been really relaxing, with lots of free time at the beach, time hanging with the kids and just talking with people. I've gotten a lot of time to spend in God's word which has been amazing.
But tomorrow we head back to Phnom Penh. I am officially at the halfway point of the trip so we have two weeks and then the second English camp and then home!
Right now, there are two options for the next week. There are two missionaries that are offering to host 3 interns at a time in their town just to see what they do. One family, the Strongs, live in western Cambodia near the Thailand border. They mostly work with AIDS patients but do a lot of church planting. Elias and Nat really want to visit them. The other missionary, Joyce, lives in eastern Cambodia near Vietnam, in the middle of nowhere. The Strongs can be reached in a 4 hour bus ride. Joyce takes a 12 hour taxi over horrible roads to reach her town. Emily and Jonathan really want to visit her. So...Stan and I are left to decide where we want to go. Because I haven't really spent a lot of time with Emily or Jonathan, and because I'm always up for an adventure, I am right now going to visit Joyce. We will leave Wednesday morning and come back to Phnom Penh on Sunday. It should be quite a trip, which is exactly why I am in Cambodia.
I will likely not have Internet access in the middle of nowhere so I'll do some final blogging before I leave. But thanks to everyone who is praying for me, emailing me and posting comments. They really do mean a lot when I am so far from home and have moments where I really wish I could teleport back to Pittsburgh. So far, I haven't had one moment of sickness which is pretty much statistically impossible. So please pray that continues. All the other interns have struggled with changing towns and changing food. And again. Thanks for your prayers!

Missions beach-style

2008-07-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

All I can say is that I am really glad our first week in Cambodia was NOT at field forum. Our hotel is 20 feet from the beach, the rooms are really nice and the food is amazing! But it will only last a week and then we move into the Phnom Penh dorms, where stories abound about the wonderful wildlife that share the rooms with the students. Great fun. But it is definitely refreshing to spend a week resting after the first English camp and gearing up for our next three weeks. It's crazy to think we're almost halfway done!

Our days here are pretty relaxed. Stan, Nat, Elias and I have the mornings basically off and then are in charge of the kids in the afternoon. Today we spent the whole day in the pool with them doing pool games. It's a terrible thing to spend an entire afternoon playing in the pool in the hot Cambodian weather. I'm really suffering for Christ right now. Emily and Jonathan are in charge of the youth and spend the whole day with them. Pray for Emily, Jon and Elias. They really really pushed themselves last week, doing late hours and getting up early too. Stan, Nat and I were worried that they were making us look bad because we would spend some nights away from the group relaxing and reading. But we knew we had 5 more weeks and didn't want to get burned out. Well, the lack of rest is catching up with the other three and they are feeling a little under the weather. And we caught all three of them napping in the lobby this afternoon. They have a great work ethic, but on a 7-week trip, it is easy to burn all of your energy.

I hadn't realized what an amazing opportunity it would be to spend time with all of the Cambodian missionaries all together at once. The meals remind me of something from heaven, sitting over amazing food talking about what God is doing all over the world. Missionaries are asking what our passions are and sharing their ministries and are encouraging me as they talk. Stan and I sat in on this morning's session as each of the missionaries stood to give a report. The variety of things going on just shows how many different kinds of people and skills God can use. I think people still hold onto the old view that a missionary goes overseas for 50 years and teaches the Bible and preaches and lives in a grass hut. Missionaries now are creating publishing companies, teaching English, developing nutrition supplements, running dorm ministries, doing financial planning, teaching skills. Anyone from anywhere can go overseas and be a help to someone.

Another encouragement was the sermon Wednesday morning by the Blanchard Alliance pastor of Wheaton, Ill. He was sharing from Romans, where Jesus talks about anger. The pastor used these verses to talk about how Jesus was giving us instructions for mending relationships and how we are the only people who can control our anger. We use the phrase "He made me angry" but other people cannot change our anger. Only we can. It led to a great discussion between Nat and I about broken relationships and how God can do life-changing things when we address issues between ourselves and others.

If you don't want to deal with issues, or you don't want God to convict you, or you don't want to be stretched in ways you didn't know you needed stretched...don't go on a 7-week internship to Cambodia. Because all of the above will happen. And you'll never be the same.

Off to a new town

2008-07-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

The 6 interns arrived safely from Siem Riep last night and we spent today in Phnom Penh. What an awesome feeling to not the alarm and be able to wake up whenever! Jonathan is feeling a little sick (possibly from the American food at KFC we had for dinner, ironic) but otherwise we are all doing okay, just appreciating a time to rest. Tuesday morning we will board a bus for a 4 hour drive to Siuankville, a city on the Bay of Thailand, where we will be for a week for Field Forum.

During the week, Jonathan and Emily will be in charge of 12 teenagers and the other four of us will be doing afternoon day care for 7 youngsters mostly in grade 1 as their missionary parents meet. Each year, all the Cambodian CMA missionaries gather to talk about the year and what God needs them to do. We'll be taking care of their kids while they do sessions. It seems as though it will be a little more relaxing than English camp was. The interns will be staying at a hotel on the beach, which likely has my Mom extremely jealous. Pray for the kids we will be working with throughout the week as we get to know them and encourage them.

God has really been working with me on James. Every time I get to the end of the book, I turn back to the beginning. I can't seem to get past those 5 chapters. One of the main passages I was reading today was about the man's tongue and its ability to destroy. As a writer, I have the ability to do much with my words. They can be a gift and an encouragement or they can tear others down. We forget how much power we are given using just words. During a missions trip, it becomes painfully obvious. The slightest comment can affect another in significant ways. It can make or break a trip. Missions trips are usually extreme because everyone is overally emotional, but back in the "real world," we forget how significant our words are. The devil does well in blinding us to how much damage we can do with what we say. If our words do not support our faith, we sin every time we open our mouths.

In addition to James, I have been rereading "Blue Like Jazz." As I was reading through the chapter on the tongue, I was working through a portion of Blue Like Jazz that talks about acceptance in the church. The author speaks candidly about his frustration with the church and their tendency to categorize "good" and "bad" and "Christian" and "non-Christian." The categories should never cross. They take the verse "in the world, but not of it" to the extreme. Donald Miller, the author, writes that one of the main things Jesus preaches is unconditional love yet few Christians ever truly display authentic unconditional love. On a missions trip, it is easy to feel as though you have started to display unconditional love. The poor are literally begging at your feet, approaching your table at dinner and knocking on your door. In the United States, we turn a blind eye. But not to just the poor. What a difference could I make with just having a better attitude about my work, my classes, my friends? We say Americans are generally selfish. But that is really highlighted in a country where many people have nothing, but there is unconditional respect and love for their fellow human beings. We warned the short termers before they left, but it will be extra difficult for me to come home after 7 weeks to face the American culture. I will likely feel angry about how much everyone has, how little they care, their lack of respect for human beings. But when I say "they," I really mean "I." May God continue to teach me that I can change that.

Goodbye my friends

2008-07-05T07:02:00.000-07:00

So English camp officially ended this morning. I haven't had the time or energy to write during the week because the pace of camp makes me literally fall into bed every night. I'm looking forward to the 6 hour bus ride back to Phnom Penh so I can catch up on sleep. The 6 interns will spend Monday in the capital and then take a bus to the coast for a week of CMA missionary field forum, where we will be doing the day care for the youth and kids. During our day in the city, I hope to be able to spend some time catching up on writing about the past week.

But today was an amazing day. I have spent most of my time working more with the short termers than the kids but there are definitely youth in my group that now have a special place in my heart. One girl, Shanghai, is a beautiful girl who speaks amazing English and I spent a lot of time with her this week. One of the traditions of English camp that Bill had told me about is a song called "Goodbye my friends"that essentially says goodbye, god bless, I will see you soon. He said they sing the song on the last day and repeat it over and over until someone cries. We had our closing ceremony where we did worship and presented certificates to the kids for completing camp. When Bill announced the song, some of the kids started yelling that they didn't want to even sing it because they didn't want to say goodbye. We didn't make it through the first two lines before some of the kids were bursting into tears. By the first time through, everyone in the room was crying and hugging. I've seen emotion before but it was amazing to see 19-year-old boys that have acted all tough and strong all week coming up to me bawling their eyes out. Pittsburgh boys would never let you see their emotions. They've been through a lot and they hide their feelings. These boys have been through just as much if not more and yet their emotions were right out there for all of us to see. I almost cried myself.

To work backwards through the week, Friday was an entire day of touring the famous temples Angkor Wat. There was no teaching in the morning so we loaded the buses and spent the morning at the most famous temple complex. It is truly amazing what man can create in the past with just human strength. Even though the architecture is amazing, it is a temple to Buddhism and Hinduism. Even beautiful things can be used for something that isn't truth. The afternoon was spent walking a 4 mile route through the other ruins throughout the countryside near the main complex. In all, we walked about 6 miles. But it was amazing to see the thing that Cambodia is most known for.

The short termers will catch flights back to the real world in the next two days. As we debriefed this evening, it was a little difficult to comprehend that my trip isn't over. They are dealing with a lot of emotions and discoveries and processing that they shoved into two weeks. I have another 5 weeks to process everything I have seen. I came to Cambodia with questions and although God has started to answer some of them, He has brought more that will need processing in the coming weeks. I'm glad He has surrounded me with people that will help me do that.

No energy for creative titles

2008-07-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

It's already Wednesday and although the week seems to be flying past, we interns are pretty tired so I'm almost ready for English camp 1 to be done. There's barely been time for devotions or sleep, much less checking email or writing a blog. Once camp is done on Saturday afternoon, I can hopefully spend some time sitting and writing (another thing I haven't had time to do). With the heat and the pace of camp, it is easy to start dragging through the days.

But camp is going extremely well. I will most likely be completely sick of rice when I leave this country. The food is great, but every single meal is rice with some kind of meat like chicken and some vegetables with a combination of sauces. They are good and filling, but I'll never want to look at rice again after eating it for 7 straight weeks.

There are always minor bumps but the short termers seem to be learning and getting to know the students. They have all shared their testimonies for the kids and there have been some heartwrenching stories they have shared about their lives. I pray they leave Cambodia at the end of this week feeling as though God has taught them something.

This is a topic Stan and I have been discussing a lot. We, as Christians, talk a lot about the need to obey about going and doing things for God. I called this blog "Here I am... Send me." But more and more, I'm realizing it's not enough just to go. We as the church encourage people to go on missions trips, but that's not enough. When they get here, they have be open to learning and being stretched. Yes, they took the risk and went outside of their comfort zone, but if they spend two weeks wallowing in how uncomfortable they are, or how much they miss their family, they will miss what God sent them thousands of miles to learn. I keep saying "they" but I've noticed this because it applies to me too. It's not enough to just go.

One day down...

2008-06-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-27T05:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-26T06:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-25T07:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-23T23:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-22T22:25:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

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.