A Cambodian Christmas

A Christmas to remember.

Christmas looked a little different this year. My team of 6 goofballs is located in the Kampot Province of Cambodia. We are staying in the humble town of Paum Toch. Cambodia has been one of my favorite months, but also hands down the toughest living conditions so far.

If there was one word that I would use to describe this month it would be simplicity. I love the song Simplicity by Rend Collective and the line that I’ve been thinking about this month is, Lord strip it all away, till only You remain. The Lord stripped away quite a lot this month.

We lived in a building with no air-conditioning, no wifi, and cold showers. We all started the month in bunk beds inside, but quickly realized that mice come out at night and become your bunk buddies. To escape the mice and try to avoid sweating through the night, we set up our tents outside. However, outside had its own adventures as we encountered some dog parties in the yard and a rooster that doesn’t quite know when sunrise is.

So you’re probably wondering why I said this was one of my favorite months…Well, I didn’t fall in love with the ministry or the house we were living in or the food we got to try. I fell in love with the in-between. Ben Rector said it best when he said, “life is not the mountaintops, it’s the walking in between.” The quiet moments I got to read in a hammock, the meals I got to share over deep laughter with my team, and the view of palm trees and endless rice fields in every direction filled my time in between with joy.

My team decided to have a Christmas Eve service together, so we gathered in the small church on our property. The church isn’t decorated with garland or a tree or anything Christmas-y like that. We read scripture. We worshipped from a phone speaker. We prayed together.

That’s it. It wasn’t some huge performance or grand ceremony. We remembered. We thanked. We praised. Simple.

In this small gesture to God, I felt Christmas more than ever before. This whole month I thought I was missing out on the Christmas season. I wanted to decorate cookies and drive around looking at Christmas lights and wear a cozy sweater with Santa’s face on it, but I didn’t have any of that. Jesus reminded me that even without all of that – without the family dinners, the traditions, the gifts, the candle-lit church services…I still had Christmas. Every year I get so caught up in what Christmas looks like, that I rarely ever take the time to strip it all away.

In the humble church in the small town in the middle of Cambodia, God allowed me to see Jesus’ birth with new eyes. I heard the words to the songs I sing year after year and actually felt the weight of them.

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth”

“the weary world rejoices”

It turns out that I’ve been missing out on Christmas all along. So yes, I still love Christmas sweaters and ornaments on trees and lights hung everywhere…but my hope and prayer is that next year and each year after that, the celebration and joy of my savior’s birth is what spurs the decorations and singing and merriment.

I am so thankful that this year Jesus knew to give me better than what I asked for. I asked for lights and food and decorations. He said no. But He gave me joy and celebration and thankfulness. I learn more and more each day that He knows what I want even more than I do.

Merry  Christmas from Cambodia!

Love y’all,

Em

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