February 8, 2019; day one of ministry here in Cambodia. This month my (new) team and I are doing village ministry in Tapouk, a small town about an hour tuk tuk ride outside of Siem Reap. I’m still overjoyed when I think about that day and would go so far as to say that it very quickly became one of my favorite days on The Race so far!
We began Friday morning with a short tuk tuk ride to Victory Church, our ministry contacts for the month. We had orientation where they had COFFEE, PEANUT BUTTER, and NUTELLA for us!!! #blessedbeyondmeasure. We had a beautiful time of prayer and worship before we headed off to begin our scheduled day of activities. Now when I say we worshipped, I mean we full out, holding nothing back, kneeling on the ground, arms wide open WORSHIPPED! It was hands down one of my favorite worship sessions on The Race thus far.
My team was then introduced to Sam who worked with Victory Church to plant a church in Tapouk. He is the pastor of the village branch of Victory Church, he teaches English classes to children of the village ranging from 3 to 16 years old, he drives the tuk tuk that takes us to and from Tapouk, he leads and facilitates a Bible study that many of the women from the village attend. Basically… he does it all.
On our first day of ministry our tuk tuk got a flat tire, so Sam told us to jump out. He motioned down the road and said to walk. With no further instructions he was gone and we were left laughing on the side of the road. After walking for about a mile and a half we got picked back up by Sam so we could continue via our fixed tuk tuk en route to the village. We had lunch once we got there, then walked to the town’s makeshift soccer field to pray over Tapouk and the people who live there. We prayed over one another and that God would bless and make our time this month fruitful.
After prayer we walked to one of the homes in the village where Sam led a Khmer (the national language of Cambodia) service. He gave us the opportunity to share with these women as we felt led and prompted by the Holy Spirit and he translated on our behalf. We then had the beautiful honor of getting to pray for these incredible women.
Next came English classes. There are 3 different classes, not exactly broken up by age but more so by each individuals understanding of the English language- levels 1, 2, and 3, each level getting more challenging than the one before.
We boarded our tuk tuk to make the hour voyage home exhausted but oh so incredibly full! One of the most James Bondesque moments of my entire life happened on our ride home… but I’ll save that story for another time. Until then know that I’m loving our new ministry, this new month and country, and my new team!
-Meagan
*PRAYER REQUESTS*
•if you feel led to donate money so that my team and I can purchase soccer balls for the village please reach out to me so we can begin working toward this goal!
•Pray for Team SONshine and get to know my incredible new teammates by subscribing to their blogs and reading all about their own personal journeys!
•Pray for the village of Tapouk, that hearts would be open and eager toward the Gospel and that we will have the most fruitful time while serving here!
Love you! I’d love to donate, I’ll text you about it.
Let me know how to donate. 🙂
I am trying to imagine what a “tuk tuk” ride in Cambodia is like. Love reading your stories. We will be praying for you and new team members this morning at WBA pastor’s meeting. Love that smile!
Praying for you daily! Love hearing all your stories! God is using you in a big way! Love ya!
Thanks for the updates Meagan, praying for you and the team as you begin your ministry in Cambodia. We are blessed by every story you tell and we are looking forward to the things God has in store for ya’ll there, we love you so much.