(Hanging out at a small restaurant on the riverside
enjoying some green tea and a warm breeze)
The time for me to return home is drawing near. I’ll be
packing up everything I own within the next few days. Then I plan on making a
run over to Vietnam for about a week. On my way back into Cambodia, I’ll meet Tim
Atchley and Jeff Kear at the airport before spending a week with them showing
them around Kampot. After having given them the tour of the small riverside town that has been my home for the past two years, we’ll all be boarding a plane
with Lewis Burke back to Knoxville, TN, my home sweet home that I have missed so
much.
I’m going to miss this time here. From where I am sitting, I
can look out across the slow rolling river and to see the end of the elephant mountain
range with the peak of Bokor Mountain resting right where the sun sets each
evening. The breeze blows through my hair and carries the warmth of this
tropical climate over me as the sun shines down on my bare-feet. I’ve got some Pandora
radio (that I have to route through a proxy server because it’s blocked in
Cambodia) in my ears bringing me the sounds of Norah Jones, James Taylor, and Michael
Buble.
I’m going to miss the people here. Their smiling faces,
their peaceful demeanor, and laid back stance in all things. I have had many
frustrations in my time here, but I would go through them all again because I know
I can sit here with a great peace about what was accomplished here, and the
direction things are going. God has been so faithful to me and the work we have
been doing here. I don’t know when I will return here again, but I do hope
someday to come back and see this place and these people once again. The work
that I did here was not the kind that sees results in a few weeks, months, or
even years. I hope that if I see this place in another forty years, I will be
able to see the impact that the work of this ministry has had on this city and
this nation.
My time here has been everything I have expected it to be and
so much more. It has been such an honor to have served under Lewis Burke here.
I rest peacefully on the lessons and the values of ministry that he has shared
with me in my time here. Day in and day out he has lived out his convictions
and beliefs faithfully and gracefully. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time living
with the Burke family. The boys have been a continuous source of amusement and
companionship. And Lewis and Kristen have been role models both in ministry and
in the home. I have been so blessed to have had such an opportunity laid at my
feet. I would encourage any person of any age who is feeling the leading of God
to do something to not let fear or doubt get in the way. God knows what he’s doing.
I know breaking from the norm and stepping out of our comfort zones is not an
easy thing, but believe me brothers and sisters, God does know what he’s doing.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in
green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my
enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the
LORD
forever.
(Psalm 23
ESV)
