Phnomenal Adventures

HAPPY (belated) THANKSGIVING!  WELCOME ADVENT SEASON!  While Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here in Cambodia, it did align nicely with a national holiday called Bon Om Touk (or Cambodian Water Festival), which celebrates the reversal of the flow of the Tonle Sap River.  (Just think about if the Columbia River in Oregon reverse directions).  About an extra million people come to Phnom Penh to watch the festivities.  Since I experienced Bon Om Touk last year, my roommate, Amanda, Bullet and I decided to avoid the crowds and go to Kampot for a long weekend.  We ended up meeting our next door neighbors from Phnom Penh there for Thanksgiving Dinner, which was some of the best hamburgers in Cambodia.  It was a fun night, even for me, since I was just coming back to life after my first ever bout of food poisoning, but I’ll spare you the gory details of that…

Praise God that October’s theme was “seek wisdom,” because November’s was “My Phone aka my map/contacts/translator/photos/communication/calendar/email/money manager/converter/life device Was Stolen” so “chaotic” would be a fair assessment of November.  Not to mention my parents came to visit, I taught my first lecture, started my new job, helped out with another motorcycle race and talked my friend into going to the hospital.

November started off with my parents coming to visit for the weekend, we had a great time together.  We ate a ton of great food, they got to meet more of my friends, explored some of Phnom Penh and just hung out at their hotel pool.  Ironically, I told my mother more than once to keep an eye on her phone as she hung out various tuktuks (transportation here) snapping photos.  After saying goodbye to my folks, I headed home to take Bullet for his evening walk…

…scene of the crime…
I was about 10 steps away from my front door, when a moto slowed down next to me, which was definitely weird.  I stopped walking, thinking it was one of my neighbors.  The next thing I know, this punk grabs my phone out of my hand and takes off.  I run back upstairs and my roommate and next door neighbors all help me log into the “Find my phone” app.  We track it to a iPhone shop and go there to ask for the phone back.  No luck.  We go to the police stations and fill out a report.  But since there was no phone, nothing could be done…

I’ve had more than enough time to process this event and I’ve boiled it down to two big takeaways:

1.  I’m thankful Bullet and I were safe.  It could have been way worse.  I could have been physically harmed, he could have stolen my passport or my money, etc.
2.  It was just a phone.  I’m not hugely materialistic, but going a few days without a phone in a foreign country made me realize how much I use it for managing my life.  Besides my calendar, books, podcasts, I lost all my contacts, my maps, Google Translate, etc.  When you can’t look something up or show a photo or take a photo to remember, life gets hard fast.  (This also makes me really appreciate people who left their home countries before mobile phones.  God bless them!)

Enough of the bad news.  Amanda is heading back to the USA for Christmas so she’s bringing me back a new phone.  Let’s keep talking about the awesome stuff that happened in Cambodia.

After my parents visit, I had the opportunity to teach a day lecture on Facebook metrics and marketing at NOMI Network to 16 small business leaders who are part of the NOMI Network.  It was so great to share the knowledge I had about Facebook metrics to this community that is making a difference here in Cambodia.  It also really opened my eyes to how complicated Facebook can be when English isn’t your first language.  I got a lot of positive feedback from the class and hope to continue to keep teaching this course on a bi-annual basis with NOMI Network.

My first month working at M’lup Russey was a lot of figuring out who does what, how to pronounce names, learning all the acronyms.  My current favorite is “OVC” (orphans and vulnerable children).  I keep thinking of Rachel Ray saying “EVOO” or “extra virgin olive oil.”  They are basically the same thing right?  I had some small wins at work, was able to help my counterpart translate his web pages into English, published some newsworthy updates on Facebook.  Finally, I was able to edit some English subtitles on 13 videos that we hope to publish soon!

November also saw the final Enduro motocross race here in Cambodia.  This time in Phnom Penh.  You can watch the amazing Youtube video of the race here.  I got to volunteer again with the timing team and had a blast as always.  I’m so thankful the Welches invited me to the first race in May.  I’ve made so many awesome friends from this group.  Stef and I even got the chance to ride the course after the races were done.  It took the best riders around 7 minutes to complete the loop.  It took me about 32 minutes to complete a loop.  Definitely somethings to work on in 2019.

Last month, I finished this amazing book on medical cross cultural understanding.  It’s called the, “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.”  I highly recommend it to anyone working in cross cultural situations.  I try my best to learn from every situation, but I know there is always room for improvement.  Medical situations I struggle with the most here in Cambodia.  This is a photo that one of my dear friend here sent me.  10 days after an accident, after her family paid for her to see a doctor to get an injection and advice “not to walk until it heals.”  I lost it.  I’m not even a doctor and I knew something was really wrong.  I prayed then texted two of my friends who spoke better Khmer than me and asked for their help.  A few hours later, a married couple from my Prayer Circle Cambodia team had talked my friend and her older sister into their car for a 1.5 hour drive to a hospital to get her foot looked at.  She isn’t out of the woods yet, but she’s staying at home, keeping it clean and filling the hole in her foot from where the doctor “cut away the bad meat” in with honey.  Please keep her in your prayers.

This is also a great example of how missionaries live here in Cambodia.  We are constantly helping one another out and lifting up others in prayer and helping out Khmer friends, showing that we do love them and respect their wishes.  My friend didn’t want to go to the hospital without her sister, for example, and was a little apprehensive to get into a car with two strangers.  But the next morning, I got a really sweet text from her.  Sharing how kind my friends were to her, how they explained why they were so worried about her foot and why it needed to get looked at right away.  “They treated me like I was their daughter.  Thank you.”

The final milestone of November was Bullet’s 7th birthday!  I shared this funny cross cultural moment in celebration of the big day on Facebook:

Most Mondays, Bullet and I join the local running team, Running Bongs, for an evening run. A few weeks ago, one of my Khmer friends says, “Oh, that man said a mean thing about Bullet about wanting to eat him.” (Eating dog is a common practice here.) And I just laughed and made a joke, “Because Bullet is so cute and he wants to eat him like a baby?” My friend looks me straight in the face and says, “Why would you eat a baby?” I respond with, “No, like babies are so cute you want to nibble on their cheeks. You don’t say that in Cambodia?” Apparently not…

Thanks again to my home church, Oaks Parish, for being my sending church and helping support me.  If anyone is interested in making a end of the year donation, I’d gladly accept some additional funds.  I’m hoping to meet some friends in Kampot (I do love it there) for Christmas and New Years.  I’m looking forward to spending some time reflecting on this year, spending more time in prayer this Advent Season and gearing up for 2019.

Christmas is right around the corner.  I’d love to hear from all of you what you are doing this season.  What you have planned and what you are looking forward too.  How I can be praying for you.  This will be my first Christmas without my family so please feel free to write to me.  Or even better let’s find some time to chat via Facebook or WhatsApp or Goggle Hangout or Skype.  I really love hearing from everyone back home. I look forward to hearing from you!  As always prayer requests are below.

Hugs from Cambo,
ជេនណា / Jenna (and Bullet)

I would really appreciate you joining me in prayer in the following ways:

1.  Continued energy with language learning.
2.  I’m feeling really called to find Khmer woman as friends that aren’t tied to a place I work.  Just some Khmer girlfriends where there isn’t a power play on my end.
3.  Continued financial support.
4.  Just for my heart during the Advent / Christmas season.  I won’t be with my family and most of my friends heading home for this time.  I’m feeling pretty good about it, but who knows how I’ll feel as Christmas day gets closer.  It also means I’ll have more free time to chat / message / email.

October’s theme seemed to be: Seek Wisdom. It came to life in two very different ways – in my Khmer language studies and in my job hunting. At the beginning of the month, I sent out a message to a few close friends asking for prayer when it came to seeking wisdom. I had a few job opportunity options and I wanted to make sure I made the right choice. I just needed to focus down on what I wanted to do. At the beginning of the month I was so energized by so many different options, I was seeking wisdom to focus down and see what God “bubbled up” to the top. I knew that no matter what choice I would make would be the right choice and that God can and would use every opportunity to be glorified. Before I even moved to Cambodia, I had four things I wanted from an employer to know it was the right fit:

1. Year long contract – both for renting out my house back home, but also for visa stuff here in Cambodia.
2. I wanted to use my marketing degree. I still feel super blessed to have had to opportunity to go to college, I wanted to use that plus a decade of professional experience to make an impact here in Cambodia.
3. I wanted to work with vulnerable populations – and human trafficking definitely fit that bill.
4. I wanted to be able to bring Bullet with me.

Now that I have a year under my belt, I’ve added a few other “musts”:

a. I wanted to work somewhere that valued language learning.
b. I wanted to work for an organization that had some checks and balances – a board of directors, grants that they had to report on, and other various forms of accountability.
c. I wanted to work with a team, be a mentor, but also receive mentoring.
d. Had a solid job description with clear expectations for my role.
e. I wanted to work for an organization that allowed me some flexibility while I continue to learn and grow here in Cambodia.

All that being said, I’m really excited to announce that I’m now working as the PR Advisor for an organization called, M’lup Russey (MRO). This is a Christian, non-governmental local organization in Cambodia that works with orphans and vulnerable children to receive care. They believe that communities play an important role in the development of families and children. They partner with all levels of Child Welfare Networks and cooperate with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSVY) to promote Cambodia’s alternative care policies, procedures, standard, guidelines and best practices in case management issues by the Cambodian government. There are so many reasons, why I’m so excited to be joining this amazing organization. (Other than the fact that Bullet will be joining me in office on Wednesdays!) I’ll be working with their really smart, IT Manager, to help get their website up to date in both Khmer (for the communities) and English (for the donors) and highlighting all the really amazing work they are doing in the communities. Just this week, MRO presented on “Orphan Care and Trafficking” with some experts on implementing partnerships and supporting partners at an Integral Alliance Anti-Trafficking and Exploitation Collaboration workshop in Bangkok, Thailand. How amazing is that?! I’ve already hit the ground running at MRO in November getting some new content to be published soon on their website and Facebook page. If you have any questions about this organization or my work there, please send me a note and I’ll be happy to answer as best I can.

The other way I spent October seeking wisdom was in studying for my Khmer language final. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepares in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10 I don’t shy away from sharing this, but I couldn’t read until 3rd grade. I struggled hard to focus and learn basic reading rules. I was in Special Education and honestly didn’t struggle with the shame of that. My parents constantly encouraged me, my mom spent countless hours reading out loud to my brother and I and putting up with summer school homework. As I learn how to read and write Khmer – the same struggles come up – but so do the same coping strategies that I spent years perfecting. I was emailing my mom in October thanking her for investing in me and how at 32 I see it paying off. God is still good. Language is key to understanding. Hard work pays off. With a lot of hard work and prayers, I passed my level 3 Khmer final and am already in starting Level 4 Khmer with the blessing of my new job (since the entire NGO is conducted in Khmer – it’s important to them.)

Like in September, I struggled a little bit with, “I’m a missionary, but I’m not really doing much in terms of missionary things at the moment.” God, in His fatherly goodness, really pressed into me that this was in fact a negative belief. Here are just one of the ways during a month of “no missions” I could see God weaving His story into my story and beyond.

Bumblebee Soap:

It’s no secret I love beer and I also love business as missions (BAM). Erich, my friend from the bar, once asked me if I had any ideas for things he could sell at his bar. My response was, “Well all the hipster bars in Portland, sell things like handmade soap. I know a soap company here. I could see if they would be interested?” He gave me the green light, I asked my friend, who owns Bumblebee Cambodia Soap, a Christian non-profit, teaching women how to make soap, if she would be interested in a beer collaboration. She jumped at the idea! Not only that, but they have already SOLD out of pre-orders for the beer soap – IPA and Stout scents! We were joking it was a good problem to have right before the holiday season. This partnership will allow Bumblebee to continue to employee amazing young woman to learn a fairtrade job and allows Erich, to showcase his beer – just in a different form. It’s been great to connect two awesome people here in Cambodia to make a very fruitful partnership. (Plus, I got lucky enough to get my hands on some samples – it’s an amazing product!)

Thank you again to my home church, Oaks Parish, for being my sending church and helping support me as a Christian missionary. I still get your weekly updates and it’s been great to talk to the Pastoral team as Oaks Parish continues to grow in these upcoming months. It’s been amazing to continue to pray for wisdom for the church as well. So thank you for sharing with me and continuing to share with me.

A lot of other awesome things happened in October, I went to Vietnam for a motorcycle ride, finished an amazing cross cultural book, continued to teach at the Craft Corner at my English church. I seriously would love to share more with you. Please write to me! As always, below are some prayer requests. I really love hearing from everyone back home. I look forward to hearing from you!

Hugs from Cambo,
Jenna (and Bullet)

October 6, 2018 marks one year of living in Cambodia.  Ironically, when I hit my one year Cambo-versary I wasn’t even in Cambodia.  I was in northern Vietnam with two kick ass girlfriends riding motorcycles on a five day ride.  Cambodia had a huge national holiday that week, Pchum Ben.  When Cambodians pay their respects to their ancestors up to seven generations (think great-great-great-great grandparents).  It’s also a specific Cambodian Buddhist practice where monks chant for 24 hours to open the gates of hell for 15 days.

My friend, Stefanie and I had time off from work and language school so we figured we would make the most out out of the time off and met up with one of my American, backpacking friend, Katie.  It was great to get outside the city, see limestone cliffs, jungles that looked like they came straight out of Jurassic Park, and laugh so much.

I also got some much needed “seat time” in prayer with God.  Reflecting over my first year, Cambodia and seeking wisdom for the upcoming year.  I found a great list of questions to reflect on a year and wanted to share some of the best ones with you:

The most important goal that I achieved this year was:

Moving to Cambodia.  This is a goal / dream / something I have been working on since I got back from my tourist trip to Cambodia back in 2014.  It took a lot of hard work.  Being open to letting God do what He wanted in my life.  Finding a NGO that needed marketing skills and was willing to sponsor my visa to move and work here.  Fundraising to make this dream a reality.  Doing a kitchen remodel and getting my home ready to be rented out in a year.  Then landing here wasn’t at all what I expected, so there was a process of adjusting expectations to meet the current realities of my life and some grieving that came along with that.  Now, I’m at a place, where I know that God has called me to Cambodia.  I understand more of how I can use my skill set to help those in need here in Cambodia.

My biggest relationship accomplishment was:

I recently saw a meme that said, “Nobody talks about Jesus’ miracle of having 12 close friends in his 30s.”  Yet, this is something that I feel like I’ve been super blessed to have received while here in Cambodia.  If I’m completely honest, for the most part most of my friends here in Cambodia have come from connections tied to the Everitts who spent 24 years here as missionaries.  But I also managed to make friends through language school, Chab Dai (an anti-human trafficking network), helping out at motorcycle races and through the local beer community.  When I landed here I knew no one and after struggling to find connections during my first few months, I settled back into my naturally extroverted personality and I definitely have some award winning friends who have opened their hearts and homes to me.  (Edit:  I read this blog post outloud to my roommate before posting it and she exclaimed, “are you going to talk about your kick ass roommate?”  Yes, Amanda.  Thank you for being kick ass.  And for our weird sing songs that have words in common while I motodop you around town being two white girls singing Justin Bieber at the top of our lungs.  Thank you.)

These are the skills I acquired this year:

Here is an unending list:  I learned how to speak Khmer.  I’m learning how to read and write Khmer.  I learned how to ride a motorcycle in the city (and avoid cows in the countryside).  I can carry a five gallon jug of water on my motorcycle back to my house without dropping it.  I can also carry another person on the back of my moto during rush hour and am confident we’ll be safe.  I perfected using charades as a basic form of communication.  I can tie a Khmer swimsuit.  I can sleep through funerals, weddings, someone who thinks serenading the neighborhood with his karaoke machine at 2AM is a good idea or thunder/lighting storms.  I learned how to protect Bullet from all the aggressive street dogs.  I learned how to take care of brand new puppies.  How to move via tuk-tuk and what to look for when searching for a new place to live.  How to cook on a gas stove top, like I’m camping every day of my life.  I learned how to make an entirely new friend group at the age of 31 that crosses different nationalities, languages and religions.  Learned how to pray without stopping.  Learned more than I can ever imagine about trusting God and His provision in my life.

An obstacle or a challenge that I overcame this year:

Re-adjusting my expectations once I arrived in Cambodia.  I landed HARD in Cambodia.  It became very apparent once I landed here that things that were promised to me weren’t going to happen and expectations of what I was here to do had changed without being communicated at all to me.  That was a really tough realization for me.  I felt like I had the rug pulled out from under me.  I questioned God’s calling, everything that had lead me to arriving in Cambodia, you name it – I doubted it.  No wonder so many missionaries quit after their first year!  I totally understand why now.  On top of that, I have such a high expectation of myself and thus of others around me, I felt really hurt by those I believed were put in my story to help, support and guide me in how to do life here in Cambodia and those people let me down.  I was crushed and unsure of what to do to untangle myself from this messy web.  Luckily, God brought some amazing friends and mentors into my story to help pick up the slack that had been left by those around me and these friends helped me process and untangle myself (and it I’m being 100% honest, put me back together – both in terms of my spirit and my self worth).

This year, I learned the following about myself:

A wise friend once told me, “You don’t come to Cambodia to find yourself, a lot of people end up lost here.”  I think that is true, I’ve seen a lot of expats from all over the world that just end up “stuck” in Cambodia.  I think Cambodia is a place, people come to escape – something.  It’s tailored to that individual.  But you put that in the context of how innately spiritual this place is, it gets really complicated fast.  I believe the majority of people don’t even realize it – foreign or expat.  I think some of the spiritual warfare I experienced in landing here was just Satan messing with me.  “Just what exactly are you made of, Forstrom?”  I found myself asking God a lot this summer, “Why did I have to go through all this to get here.  Here feels exactly like who I was back in Portland, just in a different location.”  And I’m choosing to believe that God allowed this to happen so I would really know my own strength, His strength in me and the power of community, in being humble in asking for help and admitting when I’m losing it.  Only to reflect back on the hard months this year and remind myself, I did the best I could, I took the high road, maintained my character and learned a lot from this experience.  God is just as sovereign here as He is in America, North Korea, or Switzerland.  He is just as sovereign in my heart as He was back when I lived in Oregon.  I’m still the mermaid-loving, laugh so hard I have to pee, motorcycle riding, Jesus follower, who believes in loving big, a good craft beer, and that the Holy Spirit is full of whimsy and adventure.  That God has called me to this place, to make an impact and always point towards His goodness.  Cambodia is where I’m supposed to be.

The most fun I had all year was:

This had to be camping in Kirirom, with the Welch Family, for several different reasons.  First of all, camping is something I love to do and so it gave me a sense of “normalcy” I had been missing in my life. Plus, Kirirom is the only place in Cambodia I’ve been cold and seen pine trees.  I also got to bring Bullet so he got some much needed “off-leash” time.  This was the first time, where I got to do something that was a major mix of nationalities.  Typically, I do some stuff with my expat friends and other stuff with my Khmer friends.  Motocross opened my eyes to a whole new world of doing things together with both groups of friends.  I also had the opportunity to practice a ton of Khmer with my friend, Ven, who drove Bullet and I up to Kirirom as he spoke about as much English and I do Khmer.  It also strengthened my commitment to the Prayer Circle Team, as I got to know even more of their members who were there either participating in the race or helping out with the race.  Finally, it gave me the opportunity to witness God working in a community of people who know about the sex industry here in Cambodia, but have radically different views about it.  I was able to witness how God is using so many different lives in a way to encourage people to be thoughtful and respectful while discussing hard to talk about topics.  Also, did I mention, I got to camp and be in pine trees!

My best memory of the year was:

Watching my brother get married.  Being able to fly home and be a bridesmaid and stand with all our family and friends to watch him and Kelsey get married was amazing.  It was such a blast and definitely one of the best days of my life ever – not just this year.  While I was home for two weeks, most of which was a jetlagged blur, it was great to be 100% focused on an awesome wedding weekend.  Kirk and Kelsey made their wedding super special, with loving touches – way too many jokes (is there such a thing?), hugs and close family and friends.

The books I read this year were:

I wrote a whole blog post about this.  You can see the list here.

The scariest thing I went through this year was:

When I first landed in Cambodia, my housing situation wasn’t the best.  While it looked great from the outside, it was an open style house, which meant dust from the dirt road, mosquitos and my neighbor who burned his trash all came into my bedroom.  There was nothing I could do to stop it.  I literally blew through eight weeks of inhaler medicine (for my asthma) in three weeks.  I was miserable at work, tried to get ahold of my sending agency for support and failed.  There were nights it would pour down rain so hard and could have clean the apartment air, but I was so weak I couldn’t unlock the front door to get the fresh air inside.  (I also panicked that if there was a house fire, I would be caught in it).  There is no 911 here in Cambodia and even if there was, I didn’t know how to use my new calling company well enough to make a phone call from my phone, I didn’t know how to get ahold of anyone, I didn’t have internet and I knew it wasn’t safe to walk at night to the team house – even if I could find it or have the energy to make it there.  I was so afraid.  It got so bad that I thought about running to the neighbors and asking them to call a hospital and thought about being medevaced to Bangkok.  The only thing that kept me sane during these few weeks of panic attack / asthma attacks was the mantra, “God didn’t call you all the way across the world only for you to die before you do anything.”  I think this is a good example of what a spiritual attack looks like.  It’s both physical and psychological.  And plays to one’s specific fears – for me being choked and dying alone.  It took all the energy I had to find a new apartment to get myself into a physically healthier spot to avoid any more health scares.

The nicest thing someone did for me this year was:

I struggled with finding the ONE nicest thing someone did for me, it’s a tie, in my book.  The first one, was Beckie agreeing to watch Bullet for a month while I was in training in Thailand, that actually turned into three months due to some visa issues on my end.  She never signed up for that and she single handedly took care of her dog, Danner and Bullet.  As stressed out as I was landing in Cambodia and adjusting my expectations, knowing that Bullet was being so well cared for was definitely helping put my mind at ease.  Beckie even sent me daily messages of encouragement from Bullet.  They always brought a smile to my face and made me feel connected to him even when we were literally on other sides of the planet.

The second thing, was having Lisa Everitt respond to an email chain that was started by my pastor at Oaks Parish, went to Josh Butler at Imago Dei which was then passed along as a connection to Lisa, who lived in Cambodia.  Little did I know, Lisa would become a huge part of my life here in Cambodia and if it wasn’t for her friendship – AND – mentorship, I would have moved back to Oregon months ago.  I’m so thankful she responded to the email, was opened to meeting with me and more importantly open to sharing all her friends, connections, insights to Cambodia with me.  I’ll be forever grateful to her.  Even though Lisa (and her hubby, Dave) recently moved back to the States, but the cool thing is – they moved to Portland, Oregon so they are basically stuck having me as a friend forever!

A new food/dish I tried this year was:

Oh man!  I tried so many new dishes this year.  My favorite being my go to breakfast option: baj sac cruk, which is rice, pork and either a fried duck egg or scrambled egg with spring onion.  Then you mix the whole thing up with pickled vegetables.  It’s amazing!  Other food items, I tried included: frog, balut (hard boiled fermented duck egg), chicken feet, Vietnamese egg crepes, custard apples, a ton of vegetables I can’t pronounce.  Various combinations of proteins and noodles together in a bowl as well as various shaved ice desserts with sugared fruits and vegetables mixed in.  The list goes on and on.  I even managed to figure out how to make Bullet his meals here in Cambodia to save money!

Here’s one adventure I had this year:

My mom says, “It’s never an adventure unless at one point you wished you were home.”  I’m realizing “home” is a pretty opened ended definition for myself.  It gets hard to answer the question, “Where are you from?”  Let’s see, I was born outside of Boston, raised in Oregon, I live in Phnom Penh, near the Russian Market.  My parents moved back to the East Coast so my mail goes there now, but I still own a house in Oregon…

All that being said, the only time I REALLY, REALLY wished I was “home” and I’ll be honest, I would have taken either home – Phnom Penh or Portland, was when Beckie, Bullet and I got stuck in the Singapore Airport after our flight to Cambodia refused to let Bullet on the plane.  Even though we had all our documents AND Bullet had just got 17 hour from San Francisco to Singapore without eating or going the bathroom.  I know traveling is hard, but this pushed me to almost being near tears.  I was so worried that we’d have to fly back to the United States or that Beckie would never get to see Cambodia or that Bullet was going to have a dog melt down and then we’d never get on a plane again.  But, Bullet kept his cool and Beckie helped me stay sane and we ended up on a later flight and made it to Cambodia all in one piece.

This year I practiced self-care by:

Aside from $8-$10/hour for non-sketchy massages.  The biggest contributor to myself care was buying my (small) moto, which gave me a basic sense of freedom, both it terms of financial freedom from paying for tuk-tuks everywhere on my poorly designed budget, but also a sense of independence that I was missing.  I’ve told a few friends that riding a motorcycle is a lot like skiing.  You pick a line, drop in and only pay attention to what is happening in front of you.  What is behind you (for the most part) is not your responsibility.  For those of you who have known me the longest know that, I feel the closests to God when I’m skiing.  So it was great to find something similar to that flow state here in Cambodia.  I stepped up my self care in a major way when I purchased my bigger motorcycle and committed to the Prayer Circle Cambodia team.  This has given me more ways to help out in various capacities as well as the ability to gear up and ride for a few hours while I process things happening both in my life but also in the lives of those around me.

My biggest time waster this year was:

Stressing out about things I could not control.  I look back at how much time I spent crying – both out loud and in prayer to God – about things I had no control over or things I couldn’t understand and it’s amazing how much of an emotional time suck that was.  I’m so thankful that chapter of my life is over.  Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  I think I literally told God a few times, “Yes, but have you been to Cambodia and dealt with this exact problem before?”  Which just shows you how spent I was emotional stressing out.  Definitely looking forward to having less worry about things that were out of my control in year two and recognizing the signs that come along with that and putting into practice what I’ve learned in the middle of this to be healthier going forward.

What I am most grateful for this year is:

YOU!  I don’t even want this to come off as corny.  I knew I had amazing family and friends before I started this crazy adventure, but this year has made me truly see how extraordinary you are.  When I first was called to Cambodia, I thought I was going to do this all by myself.  You know, because I’m a strong-willed female, but God specifically spoke over me, that I needed a community to walk through this with.  This was confirmed by so many meetings I had while I was still in the States, friends thanking me for inviting them to journey with me and share my life and what God is doing here in Cambodia even if they had never been before.  This first year had some major highs and some major lows.  Even though I was a half a world away, I knew people were praying for me, rooting for me and checking in on me.  In that same vein, friends have reached out to me and shared some amazing highlights (babies!) and some major downers and asked me to walk along them in prayer and support.  It’s been a real humbling experience.  You guys have shown up in amazing ways, coming to visit in Cambodia, sending me notes of encouragement, finances, emails, Facebook messages and phone calls, seriously these things make my heart burst.  Thank you so much.

Here are three words that would sum up this year:

Gratitude, adventure, and protection.

What I’m looking forward the most to for Year Two in Cambodia is:

There are so many things that I’m looking forward to in Year Two.  I better grasp of the language.  Right now, I’m at the point where I can sound out the letters and finally read signs around me.  I feel like I’ve recovered from a strange sense of amnesia and am starting to finally understand the world around me.  For example, there is this Khmer money place called “Wings”, which is like where you go to pay your utilities bills or send money to your family in the provinces.  Just this week, I realized the name is the character for “w” and the character for “ng” a literal translation of the English word and not the Khmer word for “wing” like on a bird.  I found the whole translation process fascinating.  I’m also really looking forward to more motorcycle rides and encouraging more female riders both in racing motocross and in joining the Prayer Circle Cambodia team.  Continuing to foster great relationships with my Khmer friends as well as my expat friends.  Finally, I’m most excited to get back to work serving those who need help the most here in Cambodia and helping the extraordinary team of amazing Khmer people who are interested in making their country even better.

Have any questions about my first year here in Cambodia?  Leave a comment and let me know.  I’ll make sure to answer.  I know it’s not the New Year yet, but as you are getting back into the new rhythm of fall, what are some ways you have been reflecting on life this year?

I’m working on a series of posts on reflecting on my first year here in Cambodia.  One of the things I wanted to share was all the amazing books I’ve read this year.  I try to keep an update list of the books I’m currently reading here on my blog.  It’s hard to get copies of books here, unless what you are looking for happens to be at a free book swap.  I do have an Audible account that I use to get my hands on books to listen to when I wake up in the morning or before I head to bed.  This helps me feel more connected to my American life.  I’m even part of a Travelers Book Club, where a bunch of girls living in various parts of the world share what they are reading and their thoughts on various books.  Also, having books to read during my first few months here when I was without internet at my home helped me fight my initial feelings of loneliness.

Here are the books I completed reading (or listening to) this year:

Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World, by Scott Harrison.

This book is Scott Harrison’s memoir about his life before he started charity:water and the first 10 years of running a nonprofit focused on using technology to engage with donors, improve sustainability of wells all while trying to give clean water to every single individual on the planet.  I’ve been bleed to hear Scott speak years ago at a Portland Conference called World Domination, he continues to inspire me and I loved learning more about his faith journey.

State of Giving: Stories of Oregon Nonprofits, Donors, and Volunteers by Greg Chaille and Kristin Anderson.

My brother got me a copy of this book for Christmas before I moved to Cambodia.  I finally had time to sit down and dig into the rich history of nonprofits that Oregon has.  It was really eye opening.  For example, the first Executive Director of IRCO (Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization) was a Khmer Rouge refugee.  I love learning more about Cambodian stories in Oregon.

Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People, by Bob Goff.

Bob Goff is a huge inspiration of mine.  He inspired me to raise over $133,00 for the homeless community in Portland, for my 27th birthday and when I found out he had another book coming out.  I had to get a copy.  His ziest for Jesus and living a life completely driven by love is something I constantly remind myself of.  Also, if you haven’t read his first book, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World.  Stop what you are doing and get your hands on a copy.

Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want, by Maria Goff.

On top of reading Bob’s latest book this year, I was also able to get my hands on his wife, Sweet Maria Goff’s book.  I read this over Christmas break while I was in Thailand with my family and was able to hand it off to my mom for her to read as well.  We both enjoyed it immensely.  I think it’s geared towards homemakers and partners of extremely extroverted people – like her husband, but I was able to get a lot of value out of the book even though I’m pretty extroverted myself.

Jurassic Park: A Novel, by Michael Crichton.

This was more of a “fun” read.  My friend’s mom recommended I check it out and I have to admit.  I love the movie, but the book is even better.  It also was great since I read it during rainy season so at points it sometimes felt like I was in the middle of my own Jurassic Park during the intense Cambodian thunderstorms.

The Lost World, by Michael Crichton.

Well, I obviously loved the first book so much, I had to get the second book.  I’m a little bummed that you can’t watch The Lost World on Netflix’s so I’ve never seen the movie to compare it to the book.

Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living, by Shauna Niequist.

I love Shauna Niequest’s book, Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes.  So I was really excited to hear she had a new book coming out.  I was able to read this book during my holiday in Kompot for Khmer New Year.  It was a great week of reflecting on what the first six months of my life in Cambodia looked like and what I was going to do to survive the next six months.

Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend, by Kevin Kwan and 

Rich People Problems: A Novel, by Kevin Kwan.

I believe this was another hot series in America.  I downloaded the first book for the 30+ hours of travel time I had fly to America and ended up downloading the whole series.  Which helped a ton with the travel, jet lag, travel back to Cambodia and another round of jet lag.  I have to admit, while the first book caught my attention, the second book held my attention, the final book was the best in my opinion.  Definitely got me more interested in learning about the history of Singapore.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.

This book seemed to be pretty popular back home in the States and I found it absolutely fascinating.  Between the personal history of Henrietta Lacks to the history of the “rights” of the body and genetic make up.  It was definitely an interesting book and made me think more about the ethics of technology.  It also kick started my fascination with genetic testing.  After reading the book and talking with my aunt about it.  She got me one of those 23&me kits while I was home this summer.  Has anyone else done one of those?  It’s super interesting.

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline.

A friend of mine from the Travelers Book Club, mentioned this book.  Then I saw it was coming out in the movie theater and I figured I should attempt to read the book before seeing the movie.  (Side note, I’ve never been a huge movie theater person in the States, but for $3 you can go to the movies, sit in FREEZING COLD A/C – seriously, I own one sweater for this sole purpose and watch a brand new movie BEFORE it comes out in the USA.)  I’ll be totally honest this book is 1000% better than the movie and Will Wheaton narrates the book on Audible.  Seriously, it’s so cool.

Wonder, by R.J. Palacio.

This was another “better read it before you see the movie” books.  It was definitely a quick read.  Cute, but for a younger crowd.  So if anyone is looking for some young adult books – this is definitely something to check out.

A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeleine L’Engle.

I couldn’t remember if I had read this book as a child or not.  So again, it falls under the category of “read before movie.”  I have to admit, I liked reading the book and just recently learned L’Engle has more in this series.  However, I wasn’t impressed at all with the movie that came out this summer.

What have you been reading this year?  Leave me a note and let me know.

I think if there was one word to summarize August, it would be “move.” I left the USA on August 1st and arrived in Cambodia on August 3rd. After 30+ hours of travel time, my luggage didn’t make it for a couple more days.  Despite that, I’m so thankful for the friends who picked me up at the airport at 11PM and made sure I had a burrito and fresh drinking water at my place when I crashed out. After a shower and quick power nap, another friend showed up at 5:30AM to help me move into my new apartment! Since I don’t own much / have become a pro at moving, it only took a few hours and I crashed out for a couple of hours before picking Bullet up.

The next week was a little bit of a blur, between jet lag, exhaustion from my two week trip home, living in a new place, and Bullet having some stomach issues (I’ll spare you the details). The week was filled with napping at random hours, unpacking, investigating new shops in the new neighborhood, meeting my new neighbors and introducing everyone to Bullet.

The last one came in handy when I accidentally walked through a funeral being set up on my street. It’s hard to tell if it’s a funeral or a wedding being set up until the colors are displayed. White/black for funerals or white/literally any other color for weddings. The giveaway, I realized, was the corpse laying out that Bullet and I casually walked passed. My neighbor laughed at me as I held my hands up in prayer above my forehead and whispered “Soum touk” (I’m sorry) as she showed me the way out.

On the brighter side, I’ve now got a running joke with some of my neighbors that Bullet’s nickname is “Song-ha” (handsome). One of my neighbors was telling me Bullet is a good-looking dog, strong and beautiful. Then I corrected her: “he’s not beautiful, he’s handsome, because he’s a boy!” She got a kick out of my joke and now always greets us with, “hello, handsome!”

I also went on three more practice rides in August. One with my coach, Dennis, and his family, one with my dear friend, Dave, and I even got to lead one with my buddy, Stefanie. My motorcycle got a slight upgrade, better handlebars that protect the clutch and break from snapping off if I drop my bike and I was able to purchase my extra supplies to carry when I go on rides – stuff like tire tubes and the like. There are 25 provinces in Cambodia, I wrote them all out by name in my journal in August. I’ve been to nine so far. I’m hoping to cross them all off my list on my upcoming motorcycle rides.

I wasn’t alone for long in my new apartment before Lisa and Dave Everitt came to crash with me for two weeks. They are back in Phnom Penh saying goodbye to their life here for the past 24 years, before moving back to Portland, Oregon and continuing their role in leadership with their agency as well as a new role of Grandma and Grandpa! Bullet and I were super spoiled to have them in our home for a couple of weeks and getting a good tour of the neighborhood – where the wet market is, the non-sketchy massage parlors, etc. I think Bullet misses having another guy around the apartment to lounge with…

I also turned 32 years old in August.  I had a running joke with my Khmer staff at Daughters, “don’t call me ‘bong’ (big sister) anymore, call me ‘ming’ (auntie).” All jokes aside, I was moved to tears at my birthday party, when I was sitting around a massive table with a group of people who I didn’t even know existed at my 31st birthday party. When I reflect back on how hard landing in Cambodia was and how lonely I felt to be sitting down with 20 people who I have a huge amount of love for and whom I felt a lot of love from- it’s really, truly overwhelming. I’ve traveled with, cried in front of, and laughed to the point of nearly peeing myself with many of these people. They have become more than friends, but truly family and I’m so thankful for that. I think birthday parties (or if I’m honest – any day) in Heaven will be just like this. A group of people, who love each other more than words can express, sitting down over a simple meal of mermaid birthday cake and good craft beer and sharing the highlights of life together. I’m so excited for that and hopefully a few of you back home will get the chance to come meet my friends here in Cambodia – before we all get to Heaven.

Finally, August marked the end of my time at Daughters of Cambodia. This was definitely an interesting chapter to navigate.  Overall, I know I left well, including staying up most of the night before my last day, making cards for the staff I worked with on a daily basis, sharing a favorite moment with them, and a Bible verse of encouragement. Again, another tearful (in a good way) night. I spent the last day handing out cards, making sure what I had wrote was communicated clearly to those who couldn’t read English. There was a lot of hugs and a lot of reminding my friends that I wasn’t leaving Cambodia, just focusing on language, so I was available to hang out, watch soccer matches, and Lord knows I’d need some help with my Khmer homework! To top it off, Martin, my boss and his family had me over for dinner after my last day, “because we are now just friends, I’m no longer your boss,” to quote Martin. It was definitely a fun way to celebrate the end of a chapter.

So here is to the next chapter!  What God has planned for my life here in Cambodia: to more growth, challenges, laughter, and joy.

Below are some prayer requests. I really love hearing from everyone back home. You can reply to this email and share what is happening in your life, and how I can be praying for you. I’m also available to chat via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, feel free to message me that way.   I look forward to hearing from you!

Hugs from Cambo,
Jenna (and Bullet)

I would really appreciate you joining me in prayer in the following ways:

1. That I will continue to listen to God’s calling on my life here in Cambodia and faithfully follow Him.
2. My continued Khmer language studies.
3. Safety and health as always.  I’m currently fighting my first sinus infection.

Wow!  July literally flew by…or maybe it was the 78 hours of travel time going to/from the USA.  But let me tell you – it was totally worth it!  I got to see so many family and friends.  Plus, my baby brother got married and I got an awesome sister-in-law!  Seriously, how cute are they?

And as promised, photographic proof that I did wear a dress:

The wedding was such a blast, filled with laughter, love and so many family and friends.  It was great to have most of our family come out from the East Coast, especially since I didn’t get a chance to travel back to New England during this trip.

Other than the wedding, most of my home visit was a blur.  Between catching up with friends, buying last minute things for life in Cambodia, adulting (aka going to the dentist and checking in on my house) – my father also retired and my parents moved back to the East Coast.  There was a lot of scrambling around for the family.  To quote my mom, “These two weeks were a major season of change for our family.  We need to be gentle with one another.”  While it was an exhausting week, I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to walk through this transition with my parents.

Thank you to everyone who made time to meet with me, ask questions about Cambodia, gave me hugs and offered to drive me around.  I really appreciated each conversation and hope to continue to stay in contact even while I’m abroad.  It was fun speaking at my church, Oaks Parish.  As promised, here is the prayer I shared:

អរគុណ ព្រះយេស៊ូវ
Akun Preahyasu.
Thank you, Jesus.

Also, to everyone who came to my gathering – thank you!  Way more people showed up that I anticipated and I was super overwhelmed (in a good way) by the love and support.  I didn’t get to speak to everyone and definitely didn’t get to chat as in detail as much as I wanted too.  I really do hope you’ll forgive me and send me an email letting me know what is happening in your life and how I can be praying for you.  Also, if you have any interest in seeing the slide show I had prepared for the night – send me an email and I can send you the link.

Before heading back to the USA, I was able to purchase my “big” motorcycle for upcoming prayer rides here in Cambodia.  For months, I have been training to join Prayer Circle Cambodia and also praying for the perfect bike for me and peace with making a huge financial decision.  With the help of some amazing friends, I was able to purchase this beautiful bike.  I have few feelings to compare this moment too – maybe like trying on my prom dress for the first time.  I got a text from one of the leaders of Prayer Circle Cambodia saying the guys at the motorcycle shop found a bike that “might” work and that I should hurry down and check it out.  When I got there, the group of Khmer guys who were looking for a bike for me rolled out this beautiful teal bike!  They were smiling and laughing and I was near tears.  It was such an awesome moment.  I’ve already got two confirmed rides and two tentative rides planned.  Please keep the team and I in your prayers – for safety and wisdom in serving.

Another thing that happened before I flew back to Portland was a conversation with Daughters about wrapping up my time with the organization.  While I have no doubts that I’m supposed to be in Cambodia and working with vulnerable populations here.  I do believe Daughters was the door to get me to Cambodia and for that I’m thankful.  I’m planning on taking some time to focus on language while listening to God direct my path.  If you have any questions about this, please email me and we can set up a call.

I really love hearing from everyone back home.  You can email me and share what is happening in your life, how I can be praying for you.  I’m also available to chat via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, fell free to message me that way.  You can do this by sending me a friend request on Facebook (if we aren’t friends already) or adding my USA phone number to WhatsApp.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Hugs from Cambo,
Jenna (and Bullet)

Happy (belated) 4th of July from Cambodia! I hope all of you have an excellent day of BBQs, family, friends, craft beer and fireworks. I was able to secure some decently made hot dogs here in Cambodia and ALMOST felt like I was home. Words can’t express how excited I am to be flying home TODAY to catch up with most of you. I’m also finally getting that sister I’ve always wanted. (Just think next update will have photos of me in a fancy dress with my new sister! How cool is that?)

(Women’s retreat to Silk Island – various girlfriends from various anti-human trafficking NGOs).

Well June has come and gone. This wave of faith continues to grow and pick up momentum. I recently heard (an English) sermon on 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” The pastor spoke about how everyone focuses on the “love” part, but he wanted to speak on how important faith and hope are. That they are intertwined. That you need faith for hope to grow and you need hope for your faith to be strengthened. I feel like I’m really pressing into that balance of faith and hope in this season of change.

I want to personally thank each and every one of you who reached out after my last update. If I’m honest, I was pretty anxious about leaving my sending agency and then sharing why with people. I felt like I had really let a lot of people down (as well as myself), but the words of encouragement and support were more than I could have asked for or imagined. I found myself near tears as emails and Facebook messages came in. It reminded me how faithful God is and how before I even came to Cambodia, He told me, “I’m not sending you there alone, I’m sending you with friends.” This burden was much too heavy for me to carry and I feel so thankful to have this weight off my shoulders. I also have received pledges of $1,200 / month in support for the upcoming year. My goal is $1,500 a month to cover living costs, health insurance, annual home leave, self care and more. If you are interested in supporting me or want to learn more about it, please send me a note and we can talk more about it. To those who have already committed support. You are the true heroes here in Cambodia. Your blessings are more than I can count.

(Mango catching at Martin’s house).

My housing situation has changed yet again since my last update. At this point I’m a pro at moving via tuk-tuk and I’m so thankful that Bullet is such an easy going pup. I’ve been house siting for my boss, Martin. While Bullet and I have been gone from our apartment, thieves broke in, stole my flatmate’s motorcycle, bicycle, and a couple of washing machines (these are kept on balconies in Cambodia). On top of that, the helper was attacked. I am so thankful the helper is okay, that my flatmate is okay, that nothing of real value (passports, laptops, etc) was stolen. But at this point, my sweet landlord doesn’t believe it’s safe for us to live in the apartment and is looking to sell it. Danielle, my flat mate made the decision to move out and I quickly followed her lead. I found a great pet-friendly service apartment in a new area of town, where some of my friends live with their two dogs.

(Esther and one of the puppies).

The best thing about housesitting for Martin and Valerie was getting to spend time with Esther during her last few weeks in Cambodia. Esther is an 18 year old woman doing a gap year from Germany volunteering at Daughters of Cambodia. On top of all the laughter she brought to our home, it was fun to help her process some of her feelings about returning back to her country after a year in Cambodia and we had some really great deeper conversations that I will cherish for a long time.

(Jeanie, Katrine, Johanne, Esther and I in Kampot).

After Esther left, the other two young women from Denmark serving at Daughters also flew home. Spending time with Johanne and Katrine, have been some of the highlights of working at Daughters: sitting in worship together, translating words together, grabbing coffee and their hugs. The deep conversations from Esther’s leaving continued to flow into their last two weeks in Cambodia as well.

(If only I could sleep that well).

A big surprise of moving into Martin’s house has been one of their dogs had PUPPIES! That is right, we went from a household of three dogs to seven in one night. Rocky (mama dog) has been a wonderful mother and has done much of the work making my life of cleaning towels and mopping up “accidents” pretty easy. I’m so thankful all four survived and continue to grow. Their eyes have opened, they are beginning to walk and I’m a little thankful I get to head to the States before their cuteness is overrun with pure energy once they figure out how their legs really work…

(Bullet after going to the vet with a sting).

On top of the puppies, June was a month of recovery for Bullet. At the end of May, Bullet got an eye infection which required a week of eye drops. Which he hated, but put up with. Followed by getting stung in the face by a scorpion, which required our second and third trips to the vet in one month. Luckily, after medicine three times a day for three weeks, he got a clean bill of health and his shave is finally starting to grow in. While I’m stateside, he will be staying at the boarding place associated with this vet, so I’m so thankful he will be in good hands. After the scorpion sting, we were at the vet and they put a muzzle on him (standard for Bullet even in the States) and I watched this young Khmer guy scratch his ears and speak so calmly to Bullet while the vet looked at his face and while Bullet was trying to give kisses to the Khmer assistant made me tear up. In a country that is terrified of dogs, let alone big dogs, seeing how close Bullet was to this one young man he’s know from daycare made my heart fill with peace.

(One week later, Bullet’s check up).

Things have been a little different at Daughters this month. I haven’t been able to go into the office, which is making some projects difficult to continue working on. Ultimately, it has been a blessing between, helping Esther leave well, the puppies, Bullet’s recovery, moving and my Level 2 Khmer final having more freedom in my day to help out and serve others has been really helpful.

(This is what a typical Khmer language class looks like. Asking, “What size shoe do you wear?”)

Speaking of Level 2 Khmer, thank you so much for your prayers. I didn’t fail Level 2, but I also didn’t pass Level 2. Basically, I did great at comprehension and terrible at speaking. To make up for this, I’m working with a tutor on speaking. In Khmer culture, there is this thing called “saving face” so it’s hard culturally for people to point out when you make mistakes, because it can cause shame. Having a tutor point out your mistakes is a great way to work on formal speaking and it’s really helping me understand the structure of the language so much better. I’m wicked excited to start Level 3 in September, where I’ll start learning writing!

(Wendy and I out riding).

Prayer training rides continued in June. I went on an awesome half day ride to Oudong, the old capital of Cambodia with my friend and female rider, Wendy, and our coach, Yong. I had a blast! Conquering my fears of cows, eating a custard apple for the first time, walking up to the top of the Oudong temple and so much more. I also made a conscious decision to start riding my moto back and forth to my job at the bar past the two streets that are known for sex for expats praying blessings over the women, conviction for the men and protection over the children there. I’m looking forward to my first ride in August and helping out at another race in September! Check out this cool video of me riding in the floods in my neighborhood. (I hit a floating tree limb at the end – don’t worry. I’m okay.)

I’ll be back in Portland, Oregon July 15 – August 1! (AKA TODAY!) I would really love to meet with you. So please send me an email or Facebook message so we can set something up.