cambodia and back

the whole trip was a whirlwind worth remembering. the whole day travels today and on thursday didn't stop my adventurous spirit any bit.

i caught a 7:30 bus from Mo Chit bus station on thursday morning. the timing was impeccable. i ran and caught the BTS (sky train) just in time. the bus left within 5 minutes of me getting there. these were only the birth pains of the adventure to come!

sleep was the main hobby on the bus, and keeping my bag wrapped around my legs was the next enjoyable thing. the scenery is amazing. it's amazing to see people driving a motorcycle with 30 young coconuts strapped on, or 10 reed mats folded underneath the passenger on a motorcycle. but, what i find the most interesting is the people and their way of life. the rice fields and the housing. you learn a lot by people just by their demeanour.

anyways, arrived at the border, got past the Thai embassy officials, who overlooked the 2 days overstayed. the Cambodia side of the border went well, and i sneaked my way into a taxi with 3 other locals in order to cut the taxi cost into 1/4 of the price.

those 6 hours were good... but also a little stressful. i don't know why, but when i have a lot of time to think, i do... and maybe not on the most positive things. such as, where am i going to stay? what if i just get dropped off anywhere? and on and on. i usually just tried to quote scripture, rather then focus on my insecurities of what i think God can do.

i also did a lot of praying. praying for friends, family and the trip ahead. prayer against ephesians 6:12 "for our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places". it later goes on to talk about putting on the armour of God... and i hope that we as a church can do that together.

anyways, i saw the word, "imperial" and i also saw a picture of prostitution in phnom phen, Cambodia. I prayed into both.

finding the place to stay was okay. i just found one on the internet that looked good, and went. i looked up the word imperial... but didn't really come up with anything.

next day i went to the thai embassy, and the whole timing went amazingly well. i go off of a time i see to wake up in the morning. i'm like, "God what time?" and then i just wake up then. anyways, longer story short i got to the embassy just as it was opening. everything went much smoother then i could have anticipated.

i then did some sight seeing... by walking in the heat of the day (probably not the smartest, but it was good to get on my feet). i couldn't stop singing. i was just so happy how God had been providing. i went past the independace monument (kinda like a victory monument, they put up a monument in the middle of a round-about to show their "independace i guess." it was cool.

i asked around about something called imperial. this man directed me to the "imperial garden villa" where i had a real western meal. i know that it doesn't sound good, but to put it into perspective last time i went to cambodia i almost swore that i wouldn't go again because i got so sick. it actually reminded me about a luncheon. questions about my future were raised up. oh, i got accepted into TWU... and got a 2500 dollar grant due to my marks! woohoo! pretty sweet... but there's also been some other things on my mind too. this is personally draining for me to think about as it is not a black or white, yes or no, right or wrong answer but just options which will direct the course of my life drastically.

i could go to school. i could go for 4 years, learn sociology through an amazing school and with amazing people. God has also been putting the thought of going to New Zealand. i could hopefully staff a school out in new zealand. i don't have any specifics yet, but i love New Zealand's warrior heart for Christ. if i go back i will need to spend more time with locals and understand their true warrior heart.

and although these are both options, i think that the reasons why i would want to do either are the main issue. i want to live by faith and not by sight. i want to realize that the verse Matt. 19:24 is applicable to me (the camel going through the eye of a needle). i don't want to fall into the day by day routine of things. i want to fall into the daily faith routine of things. i know that i could do this in either setting, and don't get me wrong, i want to go back to school (otherwise i wouldn't have applied). it's just a lot of processing... and i'm not worried, just thinking.


anyways, there's more about the trip, but i'll talk about it later. i'm going to bed!