Cambodia Journal: Day 4

This is my journal for day 4.

Again we returned to AIM for our second day at Kids Klub.

I woke up on time today, but didn’t feel much different about it. I was so tired that I didn’t even take a shower again. Thankfully, I had taken one the night before.

We gathered at 7am to pray before we left. I am not a morning person anymore, or at least on the days that I don’t go to bed early. And even though I have been going to bed after I finish journaling before going to bed, I am still really exhausted from the days here. On the way to AIM this morning we picked up some bread at a little bakery on the side of the road. We are getting better about scouting food, but I am reminded how hard it is to serve the needs or wants of a group. I can’t imagine what those groups with 20 people do. We were to spend another whole day at Rahab’s House 2 in Svey Park, and off we went.

Again we watched “S” lead the kids in worship as well as our songs. Sooyeon gave her testimony this morning. Afterwards we did our puppet show of “Lazarus.” The kids really seemed to enjoy both the worship and the story so much more today. They really seemed to remember the songs, and the story of Lazarus seemed so much more fun too. We really made some headway there. I think it serves to remind me that information is not the thing that changes people or situations, but relationships that builds and grows. As people who are only here for a short time we want to invest and create relationships in a short period of time that will be loving and supportive.

Today we let/asked the AIM staff to handle the games since they are so good. We kinda sucked it up yesterday, and I think it was much wiser to just be with them and not trying to direct them. Sometimes just being there means more than trying to “DO” something.

As we went to lunch we tried to really initiate relationships by talking with more people we hadn’t gotten to know yesterday. I had this great talk with two of the staff members I had never talked to before. They were so kind and asked so many questions.

I laid down for a while after cleaning up from lunch. After a while had past we went back upstairs to being the 2nd session for today. We had fun once again worshipping with the kids. I got to give my testimony this afternoon, and we did the “Lazarus” story again. Our craft today was the wax cross candles. The kids really seemed to enjoy it and they seemed to do really well with it too.

We prayed for the kids and blessed them as they left for the end of the second day.

It has really been quite the blessing to get to know the staff and the children. Both “S” and The Defender have stuck out because we have had the opportunity to hear their stories and know more about them. It is truly an honor and a joy to know them and witness what God has been doing and has yet to do in and through them. I look forward to our last day with them, but I’ll also be quite sad to go so soon. It has been a joy and a blessing to have some here. To see what we saw, to meet who we met, and to know what we now know.

I hope that we will not soon or easily forget all these things. My heart has been opened wide and it has been filled with so much these last few days. I hope that I can really sink in and cause some forward movement in my life. I pray that God will show me how I could better serve Him and the people of Cambodia better.

If you didn’t get to read these journal entries from the beginning, check it out the first one here!