Dear friends and family,
I thought about different ways to start this email with a BANG, but my mind is still flying all over the place to come up with something. Although one of my bags is missing, Jonathan and I made it back safely to LAX last night! Because of that, we took a lot longer than the rest of the people on our flight to come out and sent a wave of anxiety over the people waiting for us at the terminal, haha! Thank you all again for coming out to welcome us back at the airport and for your prayers, emails, messages, and encouragement! I didn't think I'd be too excited to see my parents and friends since I was sad to leave Cambodia, but all your warm smiles melted my heart away for sure, haha! My flight back was amazing! One of the interns left me some anti-nausea medication that's only sold in Canada, and wow, did it help me sleep well throughout the entire flight! It was my first time feeling so well on a plane, and I was even able to look out the window and marvel at God's creation as we were descending! Praise God!
My mosquito bites are starting to die out now; I sure felt the prayers from y'all for the last part of the trip! I apologize for the lack of email update during the last week of our time in Cambodia. Our schedule was packed for the last two weeks, and we were constantly traveling around. I have to say, though, that it was my favorite time in Cambodia besides the English Camp in Siem Reap. We were exposed to more of the Khmai (Cambodian) life with the Strong's planting rice and spending time with Akphirin and Theary (friends we met from last year's English Camp) in Koh Thom. We slept in traditional Cambodian stilt houses, commuted on motos and packed taxi vans, and ate many Cambodian dishes and snacks... including rice field rats. We were told that rice field rats are a lot tastier than the rats in the city. I nibbled on the meat but skipped out on eating the skin, and Jonathan cleaned up the bones until every bit of the meat was settled in his stomach. MmmMm, yum yum!
A couple of my goals for my time in Cambodia this year was to 1) experience more of the Khmai life and less of the "American" lodging and food we are usually placed in with our host missionary and 2) understand more about and know how to better pray for the different ministries our missionaries are involved in Cambodia. Not to say that I don't appreciate the comfort provided by our host missionary, but I really wanted to have a deeper understanding of life as a Cambodian. It took me six weeks to finally realize that it's not so much of how I can "tough out" the physical discomfort, but rather how much grace God gives me each time. And once I learned that, God opened my eyes to place a heavier emphasis on the spiritual burden and the struggles in partnering with the Khmais our missionaries face everday. It was very humbling. Jonathan said it took me long enough to learn this, haha. I'm sure I'll be sharing more of this at fellowship.
I'm very thankful that God gave us iron stomachs. We were eating and drinking anything and everything the Khmais offered us wherever we went. But no, I still didn't eat a tarantula, and I'm not sorry for it either! Jon ate one though. @_@ I'm also very thankful for all the safe travels, especially the time when I traveled alone to Kampong Saom to meet up with Jonathan and the group at the Vietnamnese Youth Camp. As we were about take a bus back to Phnom Penh from Battambang, my headache increased from earlier in the morning, and I started to feel weak and shaky. The bumpy roads didn't help the pain as the headache grew more intense, but I was able to pop in some tylenol before leaving the Strong's. I spent the first hour of the bus ride sleeping and woke up feeling better. However, my headache was still there, because it'd hurt every time I coughed or leaned forward or lied down.
This continued into the next day and the pain actually woke me up the next morning. (The headache found its way into my right eye too!) Jonathan and I were supposed to take a 630 bus that morning to Kampong Saom, but I knew I wouldn't be able to make it. I tried getting up after using the restroom only to weakly flop back into bed, so I called Jon to tell the rest of the group to go on without me and that I'll try to catch a later bus that day. When I woke up at 10, the headache was still there, although not as severe. Ilana, the host missionary, stopped by to check up on me and advised me to stay and rest up in Phnom Penh for the day. She told me I'll be good to go if my headache goes away the next morning. If not, I'll need to get a blood test. A blood test?! But, it's only a headache! I reluctantly said OK and prayed really hard that God would take this mysterious headache away so I could join the Youth Camp the next day... which He did! God's hand totally led me safely to the bus station and to Kampong Saom the next day! It was actually exciting to be traveling alone in Cambodia! :-) I'm still not exactly sure why God allowed this to happen, but if anything, this taught me to be obedient in unexpected situations.
So now that my two months in Cambodia is over, what's my next step is the question I'm constantly asking myself and God. After many conversations with the missionaries in Cambodia, I think I should finish my teaching credential degree before taking Bible classes in preparation to become a missionary. Haha, actually, I'm still waiting to see if that's where God is leading me. I will continue to exchange emails with the C&MA Candidate Development Team for more advice and guidance.
It's... different to be back in the states, to be in a familiar yet unfamiliar place, to wait on God for what He has for my next step, to swing back into LA time zone and the numerous activities/appointments here, to continue my journaling/processing time, to prepare the team for fellowship sharing, and many more. I ask for your patience and understanding as I'm still in the process of reflecting and transitioning and adjusting through reverse culture shock.
Thank you for reading! Once again, Jonathan and I would like to say thank you for your prayers and for being a part of this experience as one body in Christ in Cambodia. I look forward to sharing with all of you when I'm ready. I'll see most of you at the church retreat on Friday!
All glory to Him alone,
Em
PS- Thank you, Castalia and Rocio, for helping us keep our friends and family up to date with our emails! http://sgvac-cambodia-stm-08.blogspot.com/
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