The Days That Were Formed For Me: You Don’t Expect to Take a Week Off on a Mission Trip

Quickly after I arrived in Cambodia, I was told that there was a holiday coming up the next week. Oh, ok, just a day or two off, right? That’s what we’re used to in the States. No, it’s a 3-day holiday, and because it falls on a Monday to Wednesday this year, it means that a lot of Cambodians will take the whole week off. Oh…ok…

When I heard this, it didn’t quite sink in for what it would mean for me. Even though I arrived a week before the holiday, the upcoming holiday was already affecting things that I thought I would be doing. Three days after I arrived, I met the couple that run the Healing Home, a ministry that I was told I would be helping out with. “When should I come visit your ministry and start helping out?” I asked. “Oh, well, our patients are all well enough to go home for the holiday, so we’re closing next week and most of our patients have already left,” they replied. Oh…ok…

I was also excited to get to know the missionaries that work with the church that I am working with, especially the young single women. However, most of them were leaving that first weekend to take advantage of the 5-day weekend, meaning I wouldn’t meet them until almost half of my time was over. Oh…ok…

Because I had been given very few details on what my time would look like while I was here, I prayed a lot about not having too many expectations on WHAT I would be doing. However, I realized that even with trying to prepare for the unexpected, I never thought the unexpected would be not working or serving for almost a week!!

I am still processing what this has meant/means for my trip and time here, but I continue to trust in God’s timing and plan for me being here during this time. I know that I have been a big help to the director of the patient care ministry, who is preparing for a large medical team that gets here this weekend. I also have been learning a lot about being still and being on my own with God.

Even though it was a pretty quiet week (I read a book and a half - both of which I highly recommend), I did find some fun things to do. Here are some highlights: