Riah’s Mission ;)
We are four months in and time is flying by! There is so much I’ve gotten to experience and so much I’ve gotten to be a part of. I’ve traveled to many different villages and cities around Cambodia with different people through the church. Many times, plans are very sporadic and last minute, so I always make sure to pack for overnight no matter where I go. My backpack is always packed! I want to share some of the things I have been doing over here so far.
Every other weekend I go to a small, poor village called Taom about an hour and a half away from Siem Reap with a team of about six or seven people. In Taom, I have spent a lot of time with the youth forming strong relationships and friendships. I am also teaching English as often as I can.
It has been difficult to teach, not knowing the Khmer language and getting the kids to understand what I’m teaching. I’ve had to figure out how to teach with mostly pictures, sounds, and acting. And again, I’m trying to learn how to be a teacher as well! Since I’m new to teaching, Sabrina has been a ton of help giving me tips and resources for what and how to do things. Slowly but surely, I’m figuring things out!
Every weekend after Mass, with a small contribution of money required of them, we serve porridge to the villagers. Following this, Father Glenn, the youth, some members of the church and I walk through the small village bringing food to the poor, praying with them and blessing their homes. Along with this, we visit the sick and offer communion to the ones who are not able to make it to Mass. In addition, we have fed hundreds of people during the recent holiday season. This experience has been eye-opening and truly life-changing. I’ve also spent many hours helping clean the church, preparing rooms for guests, and sweeping and mopping floors. I get to do this alongside Sister Mech, all the youth, and others in the Church. I also participate in anything else needing to be done for the week and at times, I help set up for Mass. Anything I am capable of helping with or understand, I try to engage in.
While learning the Khmer culture, I also get to show them a little bit of mine. I have cooked a few American meals for them-breakfast and lunch!! The classic spaghetti meal and then pancakes and eggs;) They seem to like it! Involving the church, there are also programs that involve hundreds of kids from around the village that come to learn, dance, and form community with each other. I have loved being a part of this too. At times, there will be so many kids hanging on me to the point where I can’t hold myself up! 😅 Taom has presented the opportunity, for both Jacelyn and I, to help on medical missions as well. This village was the first door the Lord opened for me when we arrived in Cambodia and obviously launched my mission right away. These people in Taom have become family.
We live in Siem Reap, so when I’m not in Taom, I spend most of my time here! The parish here in Siem Reap has also provided me with many of my friends and relationships. The church is a home to the priests, a few university students, and others. It is also the office of many!
I enjoy riding the duck(moto) to the church almost every day during the week to pray. While I’m there, I usually run into someone I know and sometimes stay for lunch! It’s a wonderful place for gathering and is usually busy with people coming in and out throughout the day. Here they host gatherings, programs, and activities for kids and youth around Siem Reap. Most recently, has been the gathering of different villages to learn the skit of the story of Jesus’ birth for Christmas. I’ve been here long enough to learn names and be familiar with so many faces young and old which is so fun!! While I’m at the church, I help with projects that need to be done, paper that needs to be cut, or food that needs to be served. It has also just been another huge way to immerse myself with the people and form connections. Since Cambodia is such a small country, all the churches are very intermixed and everybody knows everybody! With many of the synods I have participated in, I recognize faces everywhere I go. I try to see as many places as I can, meet as many people I can, and be involved in as much as I can. Continuing to be around the church, allows for many more future opportunities to be presented.
A huge struggle in all of my mission work so far has been the obvious language barrier. It limits conversations, forming deeper relationships with people, and being able to know how to help in certain situations. It also calls for a lot of miscommunication! This barrier has taught me more how to be comfortable being extremely uncomfortable. It happens over and over again with many awkward moments attached!
With all that said, a big goal of mine has just been to immerse myself into the Khmer culture, learn and become part of it. I think this is the best way to be able to connect with the people. Doing this has also been a super humbling experience and been way outside my comfort zone many times, being their culture is extremely different. It seems I’m always making a fool of myself and all eyes are usually on me in the process HA! In my own life, good role models in the church have been so important to me, my love for my faith and my journey in the church. The Lord uses people in unique ways to continue to draw others to the church. I pray he can use me in this way here. One thing that I learned back home being a camp counselor in the past, was to make every person feel seen, known, and loved. I like to keep this with me and remind myself of this when I feel helpless not being able to communicate.
I’ve come to realize that you don’t need verbal communication to be love and joy for others. In so many ways have I been able to show love and BE SHOWN love by others here that I would’ve never known. The Lord always provides, in every moment. (and google translate of course haha.)
As many of you know, I am also helping with the social media aspect for FGI, putting together videos, blogs, and posts. I am learning how to use different websites, access new resources, and utilize computer shortcuts. I try my best to get photos and videos of everything we do, but I’m finding that it’s difficult to find a balance between living in the moment and trying to get it all on film! Many times, I will be in the midst of everything happening, it doesn’t dawn on me to take out my phone (and I think that’s an okay thing!!) 😉 I do my best to capture everything I can, it’s just not always possible. Praise God for what we CAN do with social media tho!! It’s so fun to be able to report back about our mission.
Four months in and I would say I’ve learned to eat like a Cambodian, dance like one, pack extremely light and live more simply like one. They like to joke with me that I am now Khmer and I should stay forever! 😆 I truly have taken every opportunity to experience anything and everything I can, blindly saying yes to what is presented before me. There have been so many blessings in these past four months, I honestly couldn’t put them all into words. I will say that the Lord is truly revealing himself through this experience and all these people. I can’t thank the FGI Team enough and all the donors who have helped me get here and make this all possible. Keep me in your prayers as I keep you in mine!! 🙂 Thank you God.
St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!!!