No More Excuses

When I was younger, I looked up to my older cousins. Two of them came to Cambodia, and ever since then, I had my heart set on coming here one day. I never expected to move here long-term, but I absolutely love it.

At first, I was nervous about teaching. Okay, more than nervous. When Jonny, my husband and BEC Manager, suggested that I should teach, I flat-out refused. I'm not a teacher! I'd never taught in my life. I had been a Sunday School teacher's assistant for two years, but that was it. How was I supposed to teach people by myself? What if I said the wrong thing or made a mistake?

When I arrived, I put it off for as long as possible. Thankfully, we had some other fieldworkers here who could take the classes while I "watched." I only sat in on a few because I was busy preparing for P2P and Bible School, and I used that as one of my excuses for not teaching yet. It was true, though. P2P and Bible School take hours and hours to prepare for, so it was good to have time to focus on that without the disruption of classes.

But after P2P and Bible School were over, I had to teach. We were running out of fieldworkers, and I no longer had Bible School work to do. I had no more excuses, no way out.

I felt like my first lesson went terribly. I had no idea what I was doing, and I didn't really know how to prepare. Slowly, though, I began to grow in confidence. The more I taught, the more I enjoyed it. Those little victories with the students make every lesson worthwhile, when they can recite all the fruits of the Spirit back to you, or finally pronounce a word they had been struggling with. I find myself handing out heaps of high-fives every class because I'm so proud of my students.

Life in Cambodia isn't all about teaching, though. Jonny and I still have plenty of other work to do between classes, and we always seem to have events happening.

On Tuesday and Thursday nights from 9:00 to 10:00 pm, we go to the Agape in Action Home of Help Dormitories and teach the young people there. The female fieldworkers go to the girls' dormitory, and the male fieldworkers go to the boys' dormitory. It's a great way to teach them about the Bible and also to get to know the dormers better.

On Wednesdays, everyone meets at the boys' dormitory for praise and worship. It's a wonderful opportunity for all the dormers to come together and praise God. These sessions are usually led by Brother Zac Forbes from New Zealand with his guitar, and they are definitely a crowd favourite.

Friday nights from 6:00 pm are BBQ and Bible Reading nights. We enjoy a good feed of chicken, rice, sweet potatoes, and sometimes even frogs! After we've feasted, we head inside for a Bible reading, which is usually followed by discussion groups, or we split into smaller groups and act out different Bible stories as skits.

Saturday nights from 6:00 pm are CYC, but not just for young people. We asked some of the young Khmer brothers and sisters to organise it, but everyone in the ecclesia is welcome to join. Most weeks we have a study, but sometimes we play soccer or other games together.

Sundays can be big days. Sunday School starts at 7:00 am for the local children who live in our street. It is usually run by the local brothers and sisters because most of the children do not speak English, so they receive their Bible lessons in Khmer, and they love it. They are our alarm clock every Sunday morning, as we can hear them downstairs laughing and playing together.

The memorial meeting starts at 10:00 am and is quite similar to a Western memorial meeting, except that we have a translator. After the meeting, we have lunch, followed by Sisters' and Brothers' classes at 1:00 pm. During this time, the children also have Sunday School. Most of them are the children of brothers and sisters in the ecclesia, and many can speak some English, so we take turns teaching and attending class each week.

By Sunday afternoon, we are usually socially, mentally, and physically exhausted, but sometimes we still head out with our Khmer friends to Walk Street, a street by the river lined with market stalls.

Monday is our day of rest. Sometimes we are still busy and Jonny and I have work to do, but we try to make sure we do something that isn't work-related, like going out for ice cream or getting a foot massage, which is super cheap over here.

Living in Cambodia has been a much bigger adventure than I ever imagined. I always pictured myself settling down in Australia with my husband, raising our children in the Truth, and helping out in the ecclesia. Getting married and living in Cambodia long-term was never part of my plans, but it was obviously part of God's. I am so thankful that it was, because teaching, serving, and spending time with the brothers, sisters, and young people here has brought so much joy to our lives. Although there are busy days and plenty of challenges, I am incredibly grateful that God has led us here, and I'm excited to see what He has in store for us in the future.

Huge thank you to WCF and all the donors for making this possible.