Professional Perks!

Have I mentioned lately that I love my job? I really am amazed at what a difference it makes in my outlook on life to have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Having a purpose and feeling like a contributing force just changes the way I feel about myself and others. I am so blessed to be in a situation where I find fulfillment from my “nine to five” week.

My students are the biggest reason why I truly love what I do. All of them have such interesting backgrounds and future aims. Their hunger for knowledge and work ethic put most of the Americans of their age to shame. And they are all so thoughtful.

Though most come from incredibly humble financial situations, I have been overwhelmed with the presents I have received from many of them. Though Cambodians do not celebrate Christmas on the whole, most of the tokens I have been given came around that time. A few were in honor of Chinese New Year. Just to give you an idea of some of the presents I have received: One girl took the time to find out my favorite color and then made an adorable hair bow for me! Another designed a ring with a “J” charm on it. I also got a few candies wrapped in a decorative cloth, a card with a traditional scene from the countryside, and 2 new pens from some of my other students.

Nimol is the student I want to profile for you today. She just returned from a week-long trip to Vietnam. On her first day back to class, her eyes were sparkling with so much joy. I couldn’t figure out what was so wonderful. But then she pulled out a small package from her bag. In the package was a beautiful bracelet that she had bought for me on her trip! I was so overwhelmed that she thought of me and so touched that she obviously took great happiness in presenting me with her gift.

Nimol is a very quiet girl. Our classes are always very serious and we rarely stray from our study to talk about peripheral matters. Raised completely Buddhist, Nimol has never heard anything about Christianity before coming to PIP. So, it is understandable that she has a LOT of questions as we are working through the story of Jesus. It has been so rewarding to be able to be the very first person to tell her about God’s plan to save humanity from sin. She is so impressed when we talk about grace, and has told me on more than one occasion that she thinks “it must be wonderful to be a Christian.” Right now Nimol knows she would have more peace in her life if she were a Christian. The main thing that is causing her hesitation is her cultural ties to Buddhist traditions. I told her that over the next few weeks we would talk about the differences with Buddhism and Christianity. Since she is the expert in Buddhism, we are both going to compare our faiths and talk about the similarities and differences. I’m excited for the chance for us both to learn more and pray that it will help us both to have a better understanding of the truth.

By the way, I know this is another picture-less post and that many of you are probably bored to tears with reading my ramblings. I think that as my situations have changed in India and now Cambodia, the nature of my entries has changed as well. I hope you all will stick with me through these slightly less exciting posts. I love telling everyone what I am doing over here. I know I might not have a lot of you that are reading, but it’s always nice to know others care about my work and want to keep in touch. I just have a few more weeks left in Cambodia until I come back to the states to finish school. I’m sure the blog will go on temporary hiatus once that happens. (until my next big adventure, of course!) But in the meantime, I’m still here!