You have no money, not really any plans, apprehension mixed with excitement and a huge hunk of uncertainty…it’s the start of Luke 10… what do you do?
Well if your blue team and you have been sent out…. You GO! Leaving behind all the “baggage” we didn’t need and taking all God had taught us so far we said our goodbyes. After previously meeting together to share what God had told us about what He wanted for us to do, we met again and decided to trust and step into that. Basically, direction: NORTH towards Laos. SO off we went.
After the first day, involving bakkie rides, we were about 3 hours further north. From there some kind people and the tourist police helped us onto a bus to Bangkok. Another 10 hours more travel north. The next day we spent patiently waiting in the train station, learning to persevere and remain faithful in prayer. By that night we were back travelling on a free train, all thanks once again to the help of the tourist police. 16 hours later we were off the train at the northern border of Thailand. We crossed the border, glad to be out with a few hours remaining on our visas. Only to be greeted by expensive visa requirements for Laos. Trusting that God would provide, we went in search of our man of peace. Sharing our situation with tourists in the no man’s land market; we asked if they could help us out. It was an incredibly humbling experience, realizing more and more of what having no money means. Along with meaning people questioning us and what we were doing. But God was gracious in providing, with the money needed raised in about 6 hours.
However, right at the moment (as we were able to share our exciting story to encourage a catholic priest) the immigration officer came over and told us that they were NOT going to let us in to Laos. That proof of living costs would now also be needed, a conversation ending up with us being sent back to Thailand because the border was closing. With peace that this wasn’t where God had plans for us, we shook the dust off our feet and moved on. Only to encounter and angry Thai immigration man adamant we must go to Laos and not come back to Thailand. Argh! Freak out involving thoughts of that movie terminal running through our minds. Praise God that we found a friendlier officer who cancelled our departure stamps and let us into Thailand. The issues then being that come morning time; our visas would be expiring, making us overstayers…. Illegal. We had advice about being able to get extensions in Bangkok so off we headed to the bus station. Another 10 hours of bus travel later and we were back in Bangkok, same same bus and train stations as a day or two earlier. There we were encouraged to just leave Thailand that day, thus only having to pay a one day overstay fine. But realizing that again we cant leave Thailand without enough money for the Cambodia visa, we again went out trusting God would provide that money. Another rough day of humbling experiences and questioning whether this was how God would choose to provide for us and challenging our faith to keep believing in His provision when not seeing results.
Sensing we must go to Cambodia, off we went, struggling through another 6 hour train ride. Not having enough money once we got to the border the decision was made to use personal finances for part of the visas o we could get out of Thailand. It was another experience that ultimately challenged our pride and faith. Once across the border we were dirty, exhausted and just needing to sleep.
The next day we started out again, now on the road to Phnom Penh. We walked along the highway trying to catch a lift, once again having to be expectant and believe that there is more to come. Eventually someone decided to help us- our friends the tourist police!!! They picked us up, took us to the bus stop and paid our bus fare all the way to Phnom Penh. Such a mind blowing experience, did we really deserve this?
On the bus we were able to speak English with some people. Being able to chat to Eap, a Cambodian man interested in hearing about Jesus and just glad to practice his English skills. As well as Alisa and Van, newlyweds heading back to family in the city. After talking to them they offered us not only dinner but a place to stay for the remainder of our Luke 10!
So once we ended up spending that night in their family home, inside a Cambodian military base! They encouraged us to take showers…. We spent time seeing their wedding photos and getting to know the family. Both the father and mother worked for the military and the younger brother was also studying there. Pink mosquito net over us in their living room we super well.
The next days were spent with the family, really building friendships through eating meals together, helping with wherever possible and just hanging out like we were a part of the family. Their beliefs were strongly based in Buddhism, but it was an amazing opportunity to be a witness in their home, to be able to pray into their family and Cambodia. Opportunities came up to speak truth into their lives which was such a blessing. Meals were the main events, always accompanied by rice, well actually mainly consisting of rice. But also some tasty Cambodian dishes, including (no jokes) sparrows and crickets. It was awesome to experience so much of the culture, to be so welcomed in their family and develop what we hope to be long term relationships.
So we finished off our Luke 10 with a drive across Phnom Penh to meet the team. Sad to leave our new family but excited to see southbound and hear their stories as well. Luke 10 was both not quite what we expected but also so much more, filled with challenges and also such a huge amount of blessing. God truly taught us so much and pulled our team closer together through rough times as well as many laughs. So much more to tell but this taste will hopefully keep you asking for more!
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