Goodbyes

So it's Thursday night and I leave tomorrow. I didn't know how I wanted to spend my last night in Cambodia, but I knew I wanted it to be special. The day had already been great, from Kid's Club in the slum (I spent 20 minutes painting little ones fingernails) to meeting some American YWAMer's from Battambang (2 ½ south of Siem Reap) to visiting Common Grounds coffeehouse, an American coffeehouse in the city (free wifi and air con..yes please!). So really it was already a pretty great last day. But the girls surprised me with a special evening. They made dinner specifically for me...sandwiches! Khmer rarely eat bread and sandwiches, so it was not a typical dinner for them. Granted the sandwiches were filled with fried pork and oyster sauce (common cooking ingredient here), so it wasn't a typical sandwich for me either! But I appreciated their effort to make sure I enjoyed the meal. Then we played games together. A banana eating contest, a scarf tying game, an animal version of heads up seven up, and my American favorite, the numbers game. I even counted in Khmer, which was impressive for me! Then they all prayed for me and my journey home. And then each girl shared words of encouragement or thanks to me. I can't believe just a week ago I blogged about figuring how to build relationships with these girls and how to do ministry with them, and then tonight they are telling me they loved me. They hope I can come back and stay longer, so they can know me more. They apologized for not speaking enough English (talk about a different mentality from the States, where we get annoyed when people don't speak OUR language!). And on and on they went. Tears were shed, and we laughed a lot too. God definitely showed up in the midst of language barriers and cultural differences, as He always does. These two weeks have forever changed me and shaped my future. The rest is in God's hands and I am anxiously waiting. So I say goodbye Cambodia, but hopefully not for forever.