Vol.# 281
Thank you to all who prayed for me as I left on the 31st.
Both flights were smooth. God gave me the gift of having an empty seat between myself and my window seatmate, and another plus, she only got up once in the near 14-hour flight to go to the washroom! Boarding was also smooth and there was someone there to help me put my carry-on in the overhead compartment.
The second flight was FULL and as we were slightly delayed in Toronto, by the time I cleared Customs again in Seoul, and walked that long walk to the boarding gate, I had about 25 minutes to chill. I met an older Khmer couple who now resides in the USA and we had fun just chatting. The boarding flight next to us was so loud that we thought that they were calling our flight to line up, and I went to line up thinking ‘hmmm this flight is not so full’, only to be told by the Korean Air attendant that we were not boarding as yet! LOL!
On the second flight, I was amused when some older Khmer men were asking for selfies with my seat companion and his wife. When it happened a third time and the guy was so gracious in taking the photos, I turned to him and apologized and said, “I am sorry, but you seem to be known by everyone here, but I do not know who you are”! It turns out that he is a famous martial arts fighter coming in for a special event on Nov.5th and would be meeting with the Cambodian P.M. today! His name is Dave Leduc, he is from Montreal but has been travelling with his young family for his sports profession. Apparently he and his wife also won The Amazing Race Canada three years ago!
We chatted a bit and it turns out that they just found out that day that they are having a baby boy (already have one son) and they were discussing baby names! They asked me what my name was and thought that Vidya was an original name with its meaning (wisdom, education…Hindi origin…vida means life in Spanish). They wanted to know if it is a boy or girl’s name. And in India it could be both! Then later on they both said, we got a name, and it was a brand name starting with As… and they were thinking of how to shorten the name into a nickname. I, of course, pointed out the obvious, that little kids playing in the playground would shorten the name to a not-so-nice word. (You all can figure it out as I have given you the beginning of the name!). Both Dave and his wife were laughing and thanked me for pointing out how the nickname might NOT be good for the kid! I blessed his wife with a healthy safe pregnancy and a no-injury tournament for Dave, as he will be fighting later on in the week.
So I got in, walked straight on to Customs, as I already had my visa. I was waiting on my luggage thinking that it might take a long time since we came in when it was raining, but I only waited for 10 minutes, and as I was struggling to get my suitcases off the baggage carousel, this Khmer woman came to help me take them off and put them on the trolley! I was met by Lokru Samdy and his wife Navy, and Bro. Krong and his wife, Liep. He is the head of church planting team ministry. Waiting for me at the house were Julia and her husband Chetra who were there to help me bring the suitcases up the 32 steps! Julia had the A/C on for me, and had milk, bread etc. in the fridge and yes, Ferrero chocolate with a welcome note. They said a prayer of blessing and covering over me!
I want to thank God for His gems for me. For my last Sunday at RAC, I had prayed and asked God for a blessing sign from Him, and guess what? HE GAVE IT TO ME! I had prayed and asked God for 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord O My Soul) to be sung and it was the last song sung! The previous week one of the seniors just randomly came up to me and said, ‘Vidya anytime I hear that song, I think of you but we have not sang it for a long time at church!’ I was so moved that I had to go down to the altar to praise our Jesus who would do this for me. HE KNOWS your heart and I just want to encourage my faithful dance partners, to seek Him and yes, to share with HIM each detail of your life, no matter how small you think it is!
The other gem was that I was having brunch with my friend N, and as we talked, she said, ‘Vidya you are like an influencer’, (like the Tik Tok ones, not influenza, spreading bad germs!) in your setting’. Ramona, who had prayed over me on the phone, also mentioned the word ‘influence’ as being part of my mission here. Also when Pastor T.J. spoke on Eccl. 9.and 10 he talked about influence and seeking wisdom! I am overwhelmed of how God just drops these affirmations of mission and clarification of His plan for me in the last week. Even this morning as I woke early (I got in around 12:30, but fell asleep around 1:30 and woke up at 3) to have my coffee with Jesus, I read from Heb.3 these words, ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul…’ and I smiled thinking of my sending song so many years ago. The chapter talked about the greatness of God and I began to thank Him for the many things He had done for my parents while I was in Toronto, and I began to thank Him to start my day! As usual I cannot wait to hear the message on Sunday, as God always weaves a theme in His mission statement for me in my last week in Toronto and my first week back here!
Please continue to send me snippets of your life and your prayer requests. I am really humbled that you allow me to go to Our Father on your behalf!
Love, His Warrior and Disciple,
Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia,
Your sister, Vedya
