Kingdom of Cambodia Day 1

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I AM IN CAMBODIA!  Haha, I figured I would start with that, since my mind is still completely blown that I am actually here!  It felt like FOREVER leading up to this moment, especially during the last 40 hours or so when I was stuck sitting on airplanes doing nothing but watching movies (sounds rough, right? lol) and trying to sleep with no success (but I sure slept well last night!). 

To start off, I was quite a bit nervous about getting here (don't tell my mom or she will FLIP lol).  I had never really flown by myelf before, and tackling huge and international airports seemed overwhelming and terrifying.  To top it off, the friend who was going to accompany me was no longer able to, so I was totally alone, with no idea what to do if I got lost or missed a connecting flight.  However, I am SOO thankful for God's little blessings and how faithful he is in ALL things; I was literally standing in a line to check in to my Korean flight, and there were two college aged girls in front of me, heading to Cambodia for mission work as well!  They (Megan and Tamara) were so kind to me, and let me hang with them at the airports.  I even ended up sitting right in front of one of them on our 4367184673 hour long (ok, 13.5 hour long, but there isn't much difference) flight from Atlanta to Seoul. Just knowing that I wasn't alone, and that someone was there to help me gave me so much peace of mind and comfort, and I'm so thankful for that.  And when we parted our seperate ways, we prayed for each others'different mission work for our trips, and for the safety of each of us.  I mean, how amazing is it that God knew how nervous and anxious I was, and sent me THOSE girls, who were so uplifting and kind? it blows my mind that God would bless me with that, even when it seems like such a small thing. 

After getting through Customs (which seemed a lot less scary than it did when I went to Europe) and finding my luggage, I met Vandi, who works at the mission.  He met me and took me back to the mission in one of those cool motorcycle/carriage things, and I was able to see a lot of the city that way.  Flying in the city seemed HUGE, which was not what I was expecting.  Ater landing, though, I was able to see that the city, even though huge, was actually a lot more like what I had originally  accepted.  To be honest, it reminded me a lot of Kensington for a lot of the drive: run-down buildings all connected, trash on the streets, people sitting and sleeping on the sidewalk. It breaks my heart to see how different life here (and in Kensington) is from my middle-class suburb life, and I pray that God will just open my heart and humble it from where it currently is. 

I know that God is going to do AMAZING things this week on our trip, and I cannot wait to see what happens!  I keep thinking of the song "God of this City" as I walk down the streets: "Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city," and I am just praying for that to happen this week.  God is so faithful and can do all things;"We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose,"(Romans 8:28).  I pray that he would just bless the mission house that we are staying at, that he would continue to change the lives of the people of this city through their work and that he would use us to do the same for the short time that we are here.  Please be praying for our trip, that the hearts of the people we encounter will be opened and receptive, that we are able to make a step towards justice in this broken city.