Christmas Blankets!
God loves me so much. I am in a country where I do not speak the language, and 99% of the time, I am completely oblivious to what is said to me and or about me. Sometimes it gets sad and lonely not being able to talk to others outside your family. I miss having another female friend to talk to and laugh with.
I love how God has met my needs. Every day I drive through the village to do work on the property because there is a better internet signal there than at my home. For the longest time, the people we drove past would stare at us because we looked quite different from them. It was the kind of stare that made you feel uncomfortable. So, my husband and I decided that we would start waving at the children. Little did I know that persistence would pay off. After a while, the children started waving back at us. Then they started to say hello. It was the best sight to see even the little babies come running to say hello to us. It melted my heart tremendously. Some days I was so overwhelmed, and they would say "hello, hello, hello" until they could not see us anymore. Sometimes they'd be sleeping under the house or in the hammock, sometimes they'd be crying, and when they saw us, they'd come to a halt just to say hello. Then the most amazing thing started to happen: the parents began smiling, and then the old ladies. Not only did they start smiling, but they started waving and saying hello.
In this culture, they do not wave and say hello. They clasp their hands together and give a slight bow. I could not believe it. I was and have been so happy. Last weekend, I wanted to do something to show my gratitude to the children. I did not want to give them food. I wanted to give them something that would last a long time. In these areas, children are not accustomed to receiving personal gifts. So, I decided to get them blankets. It gets cool here in the mid-sixties and sometimes very windy. I went on a mission to get blankets. We asked the village chief how many children there were. He said, "60." So, I got 75 blankets just in case. So, on the Sabbath, we went to verify the time we would meet the children, and we picked 3 pm Sunday. Then the village chief asked us what ages of children we were giving the blankets to, and I said ages 1–12. Then he said there were 100 children at that age. So early Sunday morning, we went back out to get more blankets. We had a total of 105 blankets. I was so excited. When we got there, we got to see and hear all the children waving and saying hello. It just melted my heart so much that I started crying. Can you imagine all that emotion over one word, "hello," and nothing else? Anyway, we distributed 80 blankets to children ages 0–12. There were some extra blankets, so four little old ladies said, "We are like children; we need blankets too." So I gave them blankets, and the next thing I knew, more adults started coming. I cannot find words to describe the joy and happiness in their faces and eyes as they received the leftover blankets. I was truly overwhelmed. 25 adults received blankets.
God knew the outcome before I did. He knew their needs before I did. I am so happy that he used us to bless them. I want to thank God for giving me the idea. My husband, Billy (Lloyd), for taking me all over town and beyond to get the blankets. For my daughters, Alysa and Christy, for accompanying me and assisting me. Thanks to Jesus for Asia (JFA) for making this possible. For Seyha, for driving from Siem Reap (SR) to help me, especially with the translation. And to Ankas, SamPhy, Sakar, Sokhen, Raksmey, Chandy, Kimhun, and Theavy for the help they gave, and last but certainly not least, our youngest student, Shulamit.
Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!
