Much to my dismay at the beginning of the week, we decided to make the six hour dirt road trek, to Siem Reap. The reason I didn't want to go: Phnom Penh had stolen my heart by the end of day one, and I didn't want to miss a single change of ministry there. Luckily, our fearless leader over looked my opinion. I had no clue what God was going to do in me on this part of my trip.
The trip starts in Phnom Penh,with two fifteen passenger vans, water bottles, and backpacks with two nights worth of clothing. Our first stop was at a rest area, or as I like to call the "Spider Shack". The moment we hopped out of the van a small girl tried to hand me a tarantula. "It has no teeth! I pulled them out! It won't bite!" This was her way of consoling me. I think I had a minor heart attack, spiders aren't my thing. But, we gave the children friendship bracelets (which lead to them remembering us later in the week, on our way back) and a pretty hilarious 20 minutes of these sweet children laughing as they tried to teach me Khmer, and its proper pronunciation. I failed, obviously.
Now I'll skip ahead.
When we arrived at Angkor Wat the next morning for sunrise, it was quite a site to be seen. The sun coming over this ancient temple, I understand why its one of the wonders of the world. We hiked around the first temple and I was in awe. Honestly I had forgotten the reason we were there, until the monks began to sing/speak in their monotone voices, over the speaker. This was the moment of my week when my spirit became frantic, and everything in me wanted to retreat as fast as possible. I guess because I have never heard someone worship a false god. The rest of the day , all I could do was pray over each temple, and each person I passed. As I continued by prayer, I started seeing beautiful butterflies everywhere I turned! I have a history with butterflies, they have this way of reminding me of the Holy Spirit, of mercy and of peace. This continued reminding me that God still has a plan for Cambodia.
God is ready to restore.
*All photos by Connie Rock.
