Believe it or not, after 40 hours of travel, we did, in fact, make it to our ministry spot here in Toch village, Chhuk District, Kampot province, Cambodia country. We’ve been here just about three weeks now, so we’re easily settled in and just living life, so I’ve got a lot to reflect on as I sit down to write the next couple blogs.
Living Conditions
This is always an easy starting point. We’re sleeping on bunk beds in this little building next to the classrooms. We got lights and running water (usually), bucket showers and toilets, and that’s about it. We fill a jug for our drinking water a couple times a day from this bigger container a little down the road (owned by Vuthy’s (our ministry host) parents). There’s no wifi anywhere close to the base, which is why I only get on once a week (although most of my team did invest in SIM cards).
It’s dusty, hot (well into the 90’s by late morning), and there’s hardly a cloud in the sky this time of year, although the wind in the shade feels really nice. We’re surrounded by dirt roads, crop fields, and coconut trees, and that’s about it. (Oh, and also the cows, chickens, dogs, pigs, rats, massive spiders, lizards, and crickets)
It’s the simplest life I’ve ever lived, and it’s amazing.
Daily Schedule
Sam, Clay, and I wake up at 6 every morning and run a mile to the market to get breakfast for the team. The first groups of kids come at 8 for classes, and they last til about 10/10:30.
The kids are roughly ages 5-13, but are split up into three rooms. Each class has one Cambodian teacher and two or three of us, but usually we do the teaching which is actually so much fun. Half way through we have a thirty minute break time, and the kids know just enough English to get us to play “1,2,3” (manhunt) and “run stop” (freeze tag) with them.
Our break between 10:15 and lunch has turned into reading hour for most of us, which is awesome (we’re slowly becoming experts on Christian literature). Lunch and dinner are cooked for us by another one of Vuthy’s relatives (sister I think??) who lives down the road. We have lunch at 12:00, team time (usually) after that, and then the next group of kids start classes at 2. Those classes end around 4/4:30, and then at 5, the high school age kids come in for a class (which Easton, Nick, and Daws rotate through teaching), and the rest of us go out to the field to play soccer. We play until dinner at 6:30, we have worship, devotions, Bible study, or prayer at 7:30, and then my body shuts down in my bed at 10:00.
Every now and then I’ll stay awake long enough to play cards with the teachers, but that’s only if I’m content with getting up three times in the middle of the night to pee. We learned this Cambodian card game called Ting Lang, and the punishment for losing is drinking a lot of water. They’re pretty good, and I’m just barely catching up. It’s kept me hydrated, that’s for sure – just sometimes a little too much so.
We wake up the next morning and the day repeats.
This is Monday-Thursday. Fridays and Saturdays are off with soccer available if we want to go out and play, and then Sundays are a bit different. We have church in the morning on base with some of the youth, a class after lunch, and then play soccer the rest of the afternoon against the high school age kids which is really fun. They’re a solid team and always win if all of them are there, but every week we seem to get closer and closer, so maybe by the time we leave we’ll get a win…
Closing Thoughts
That’s our life here though. It’s simple but tiring, often times difficult but very rewarding, and when life’s this laid back, it really gives you a chance to enjoy the little things. The kids never get tired of the little games we play, and can always find a way to make fun out of something. Even when I’m out on my own though, I’m forced to stop and just listen to the sound of those massive leaves at the top of those palm tree-lookin-things. Also, chicken and rice never tasted so good.
The first day we got here Vuthy was telling us about himself and just giving us a little orientation. At the end he said, “the first two weeks you’re going to end your days tired and exhausted, but when you’ve been here two weeks, I promise you will come to love this place.” He was 100% right. The first week and a half or so I was doing the minimum – showing up to class and soccer on time, but that’s about it, cause that’s all I could really do. Then there was this one night a week or two ago I was thinking about my day, and realized I had ended up playing games or soccer with the kids for multiple hours outside of scheduled ministry time, and how much I really enjoyed that.
It’s a pretty cool place I’m getting to serve here. Next time I think I’ll share a bit more of how God’s been working here.
In Christ,
Jackson
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