Day Seven

We were lucky to have another sleep-in this morning, meeting for breakfast at 7:00am before heading out to two local churches and distributing some more Operation Christmas Child boxes. 

The morning began with thankfulness for the extra sleep we were able to have last night. Our options for breakfast were: fried noodles, noodles and soup, an omelet or fried rice - quite different from the our Australian breakfast options. We have, however, slotted into a nice routine here and are adjusting to these small differences.

After breakfast, the team split into their two groups and went out to local church services. Team A went to a small church, just outside the city. They were there for just over an hour and Mr Conoulty, with the help of a Khmer translator, gave a sermon on Acts 4. The service was quite long and hot, but a fanastic insight into Christian culture and worship over in Cambodia.

Team B went to a small church, not too far from the hotel. The church was beautifully decorated with flowers everywhere and gold seat covers. It felt like a wedding and made everyone really understand the pride that the local people take in their church and worship of God. During the service, the group presented a short song to the congregation and invited them to join along. It went really well and, after the service, the team was able to speak to many different local people and hear about their lives and experiences.



Both teams came back together for lunch before heading out to a house church in order to distribute Operation Christmas Child boxes. This experience was one of the best that we have had on the trip so far. The children were so thankful and excited to receive their boxes and it was incredible to be able to share this experience as an entire team.









Below are some different students experiences and highlights from the box distribution:

"It was so heartwarming to see the children so excited about the items in their boxes and I had the best time playing with two boys and their tennis balls. Today’s visit was extremely humbling and to see how happy they were with their gifts was an experience I will never forget."

          Grace Barry

"The kids were ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get home to their families to show the gifts they had received. However, one child was unable to as their bike chain fell off. With a few quick actions, I was able to get the girl off on her way and put a big smile on her face."

          Josh Brodie

"I was really confronted by the realisation that I had today: I loved having the opportunity to see the excitement on the kids faces but it also made me really sad. It made me realise that I really don't appreciate all that I have enough. I met this little boy who, I thought, must have been around 2 or 3. I went through his box with him and we started drawing on the notebook and pen that he received in his box, we also started to play with each other. By the time we had to say goodbye I was in tears because this little boy had impacted me so much in such a short amount of time." 

Paige Grinham

After our afternoon we returned to the hotel and had about an hour of down time before heading out to dinner. Many of the team have been commenting on how this experience has exceeded our expectations; we can't wait for what tomorrow will bring as we head back to a small primary school to paint a mural and play with the students. 

If you are praying for us, please continue to pray for health and safety. A few team members have been sick because of dehydration, and many are missing home. Prayer for comfort, peace and constant joy would be incredibly appreciated.