to say that life has been busy over the last term would be a total understatement. I'd say that right now probably has to be one of the busiest and most crucial seasons of my life to date. and i have been on and off sick for most of it which is lame. but God has had my back the whole way through, and countless times he has taken me to a point where i find myself with no words to describe his goodness.
right now, i am sitting in the comfiest armchair, next to a roaring fire, in my onesie with my 'faves'playlist blasting and i have no intention of moving anywhere fast. so beware, this could me a long one.
cambodia.
honestly the amount of times i have gone to write a post-cambo blog since returning has been a little bit ridiculous. i usually get all pumped up to put my experiences into writing but then i end up just sitting here staring at the screen with no idea how to put it into words. i have over 20 drafts on my dashboard all with the title 'cambodia.' i guess in a nutshell my first missions trip was exactly what i expected it to be but at the same time exactly the opposite. the first couple of days i was in phnom penh (the capital), i have to admit, i was overwhelmed. i looked around and said to myself "how on earth will i see hope restored to the khmer people?" but just like God said to Lot in Genesis 13v10, he spoke to me clearly and said "look up." and from that moment on, i saw everything differently. God loves Cambodia, and everyone in it.
while we were there, there was a couple of studnets from alaska who were making a short documentary on one of the projects we spent time at. if you would like to watch it, click here.
there were so many amazing moments in that trip where i saw little glimmers of hope amongst God's precious children, but to be honest when I left I was really frustrated because I felt like I personally didn't do that much to impact people in the long run kinda thing. then I realised that that trip had sewn a seed into Cambodia and into my own life as well. I'm already saving for whenever God decides it'd be a good time for me to go back. Whether that will be next year or 20 years from now, who knows?
project.
in other news, school has been great. i have the privilege of leading the most amazing group of young people who are dedicated to seeing our high school meet their saviour and father. God's hand is totally over burnside high and the doors that he has opened for project over the last term have been incredible. our planning is underway for term 3 and I know that we'll hit it with a bang. watch this space.
the other day, nicola's friend gave her a whole lot of christian movies to watch. most of them are really lame. but this morning i got up and watched this one called Couragious and oh my lanter it was so so good. it tackled the whole issue of the fatherless generation. bro.
so ages ago, i decided that i wanted to go to uni instead of do year 13. i had been pumped about it ever since. part of the reason was because i wanted to grew up, another part was that i didnt really have any quality friends at high school. i hung all my expectations up on that fact. but then i started thinking about the disciples and if jesus came up to me and told me to give up everything to follow him whether i would or not. and sure enough the other night jesus asked me if id be willing to give up the one thing ive been most looking forward to in order to spend one more year dedicated to saving my high school. and i said yes.
ps. photos to come but i dont have them on this computer atm.
right now, i am sitting in the comfiest armchair, next to a roaring fire, in my onesie with my 'faves'playlist blasting and i have no intention of moving anywhere fast. so beware, this could me a long one.
cambodia.
honestly the amount of times i have gone to write a post-cambo blog since returning has been a little bit ridiculous. i usually get all pumped up to put my experiences into writing but then i end up just sitting here staring at the screen with no idea how to put it into words. i have over 20 drafts on my dashboard all with the title 'cambodia.' i guess in a nutshell my first missions trip was exactly what i expected it to be but at the same time exactly the opposite. the first couple of days i was in phnom penh (the capital), i have to admit, i was overwhelmed. i looked around and said to myself "how on earth will i see hope restored to the khmer people?" but just like God said to Lot in Genesis 13v10, he spoke to me clearly and said "look up." and from that moment on, i saw everything differently. God loves Cambodia, and everyone in it.
"he will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." -isaiah 61v3everyone we met there inspired me immensly. God has entrusted cambodia into good hands. we had the privilege of working with some incredible people that are doing incredible things.
while we were there, there was a couple of studnets from alaska who were making a short documentary on one of the projects we spent time at. if you would like to watch it, click here.
there were so many amazing moments in that trip where i saw little glimmers of hope amongst God's precious children, but to be honest when I left I was really frustrated because I felt like I personally didn't do that much to impact people in the long run kinda thing. then I realised that that trip had sewn a seed into Cambodia and into my own life as well. I'm already saving for whenever God decides it'd be a good time for me to go back. Whether that will be next year or 20 years from now, who knows?
project.
in other news, school has been great. i have the privilege of leading the most amazing group of young people who are dedicated to seeing our high school meet their saviour and father. God's hand is totally over burnside high and the doors that he has opened for project over the last term have been incredible. our planning is underway for term 3 and I know that we'll hit it with a bang. watch this space.
the other day, nicola's friend gave her a whole lot of christian movies to watch. most of them are really lame. but this morning i got up and watched this one called Couragious and oh my lanter it was so so good. it tackled the whole issue of the fatherless generation. bro.
so ages ago, i decided that i wanted to go to uni instead of do year 13. i had been pumped about it ever since. part of the reason was because i wanted to grew up, another part was that i didnt really have any quality friends at high school. i hung all my expectations up on that fact. but then i started thinking about the disciples and if jesus came up to me and told me to give up everything to follow him whether i would or not. and sure enough the other night jesus asked me if id be willing to give up the one thing ive been most looking forward to in order to spend one more year dedicated to saving my high school. and i said yes.
ps. photos to come but i dont have them on this computer atm.
