Being in Cambodia for a month to explore missions and to spend solitary time with my heavenly Father was exactly how I spent my semester break. Other than the kindergarten ministry, I had the chance to see other ministries, like the children’s village and Methodist hostel. My first week was spent at Community Outreach Service, Immanuel (COSI), a children village. There I taught Grade 7 English Grammar every evening before dinner.
Seeing the older children lead prayer and worship really touched my heart. I truly cherished the times where we could share our life experiences and God moments with one another.
Besides putting in practice what I have learnt in school, having the kindergarten ministry as my main focus also gave me an opportunity to share God’s love. I taught English but that itself was a test of my faith as the children barely understood English. Therefore, they needed translation from the local teachers.
I always asked myself, so what do I do with these children in front of me? I have minimal experience in early childhood and minimal confidence in myself, what do I do? So, I prayed very hard and took crazy faith, to just trust God to lead me throughout the lessons. Of course, God proved Himself faithful once again and I can only say thank you Jesus!
Other than being amongst the children, interacting with the teachers and seeing them so passionate about their job really inspired me to be a better early educator myself.
The entire month here was not easy. Just a girl in this foreign land, I often thought, where do I start? What do I do next? What is going to happen to me tomorrow? Am I doing this right? The list goes on, I struggled and it was painful, but I saw God’s hand in all of these situations. He was dealing with the deepest and darkest corners of my heart, things I do not want to show others, things I try so hard to cover up. I often sit in my room and just cried out to God for help, praying desperately for Him to come and be with me. The devil will come and tear me apart but I saw how important the Word of God is when fighting against the devil. However, God remained faithful and He provided for all of my needs.
After opening up to the missionaries there, it struck me that I have been carrying too much extra baggage with me over the years, and God said its finally time to lay it all down. They were things I did not want to face but if I truly wanted to live for God, I had to embrace total surrender.
I took time to reflect and I concluded that I have been building walls around to protect myself from others, while I should be building a solid foundation to base myself on. That solid foundation is none other than Jesus Christ. With Christ as the cornerstone of my life, nothing can ever waver my faith.
At the end of it all, I learnt that as a precious child of God, I have nothing to fear, for Christ is always near. Also, it is about letting God work through me and the gifts He has given, making a difference beyond myself all at the same time. As I put God’s gifts for me into good use, I saw how much more I could bless others.
Till now, I am still communicating with some of the children from COSI and the youths from the University Hostel and even the teachers from the Methodist kindergarten over Facebook. I really miss them so much and I pray that I’ll get the opportunity to see them again someday.
I want to encourage you to keep seeking God, and to keep waiting upon Him. God will reveal His amazing plans a little by little in His own perfect time.
By Teo Kai Ting
