Goodbye Cambodia.

I will finally be on my way to Pattaya tomorrow! Here are some more pictures from my time in Cambodia: 

The road...

The illegal border- where thousands of people from Cambodia cross every day to work in Thailand. 

Cambodian countryside

The streets of Phnom Penh

The garbage dump- where people live and work every day sorting through the garbage

The one time when the road was too hard to drive with more than one person so I walked alongside Allison as she drove...

The necklace I helped design : )

Please pray for safe travels and my first few days in Pattaya : )

Welcome to Cambodia.

So I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Phnom Penh, finally enjoying good coffee and some reliable internet. It's been a little over a week since I came to Cambodia, and I have already learned so much. I'm struggling as I write this because I wish I could share with you all the realities of life here in Asia. I want you to experience driving through the busy crowded streets of the city with horns honking and moto-dops (motor bikes) coming straight at you as you hang on to your bags with one hand and the back of the bike with the other. Or I wish I could take on a ride in Poipet with the incredible scenery of rice fields, vibrant green trees, and beautiful blue sky as we drive down the bumpy, dusty roads through villages as people stop and stare. I wish you could understand what it means to eat rice at every single meal of the day, and for meals to no longer be an easy task of getting something from the fridge and putting it in the microwave, but that usually involves a trip to the market (hoping you don't get caught in the rain), the preparation of cutting vegetables and washing the rice, and then the hour or so of waiting for the rice to finish. 

But even more than that: I wish I could take you down the street to the karaoke bar (or modern-day form of a brothel) and introduce you to the beautiful girls I went to Church with last Sunday. I wish you could hear the stories of girls trying to earn much needed money for their family, but instead end up stuck in the prison of the bar, feeling the coercion of the bosses who really give them no option but to stay. If only you could hear the stories of the 10,000 illegal migrant workers who cross over the border to work in Thailand every day because they desperately need the money, despite the chance that they may be cheated from their earnings or given water to drink filled with drugs. And really...I wish so bad you could meet the fifteen precious teenagers employed by Freedom Stones as they learn to type on their computers, string beads for a necklaces, or draw pictures of their own jewelry designs. 

But I am here and you are there. And my words will have to do, even as they seem to fall so short of truly describing life here. I pray that Christ can open up your hearts to experience life here in Cambodia in some small kind of way. And for the rest, maybe some of my pictures can help: 

Check out my pictures of my life in Cambodia!

The one thing I can tell you that needs no pictures or description to experience is the biggest lesson I've learned since being here and that is: We need Christ. I need Christ, as I struggle to bring hope to a dark place. Poipet, in its brokenness with its corruption and injustice, needs Christ for transformation. You, even so far away from here, need Christ. I've been undergoing job training, learning the skills and essentials to managing the Freedoms Stones site in Pattaya, and yet what I've learned the most is that my effort, my expertise, my smile, my friendliness- they all mean nothing if they don't have Christ. We can create all the programs we want, implement incredible strategies, network with numerous other NGO's, but real, deep, lasting change can only be brought through Christ. And I pray with you that we can live lives that depend on that very fact. I pray we all can live in the knowledge of Him and His hope. 

Thank you Jesus.

This has been repeating through my mind constantly since before I even left last Sunday. I am finally here, and God has blessed me in incredible ways every step of the way. I want to write all that I have seen so far and tell you all the stories, but right now all I can say is: Thank you Jesus…

…for incredible support and community, who reassure me I’m not alone. Thank you for incredible sisters  who drove hours to surprise me at the airport, surrounding me with prayer with my wonderful family in front of the security gate.

…for an amazing friend who collected so many letters of encouragement and for those who wrote them, so that I can be reminded I am not alone when things get hard.

…for bringing me here safely, with all my luggage safely arriving, despite my worries and doubts.

…for giving me a co-worker, Allison, who is close to my age and shares the same passions and thought processes and for Leng, another co-worker with a precious smile, a beautiful heart, and servant attitude. Thank you for Sophie, Allison’s Cambodian roommate, and her passion for serving God even when it is hard.

…for preparing me for this in so many ways, not just in the past two months, but throughout my life, because I don’t know if I could do this without having those experiences first.

…for my first night of good sleep last night.

…for reminding me of your justice and love as I hear real-life stories about this world of injustice, darkness, and despair.

…for reminding me that I love to play in the mud and rain when we are driving down muddy, dirt roads with three people on a moto-bike barely able to stay upright as we slide across the road.

…for the fifteen amazing children in the Freedom Stones program. Thank you for their beautiful hearts. Thank you for allowing me to create jewelry right alongside them yesterday.

And finally: Thank you Jesus that you bring light to dark places.  

Today is THE day.

After 2 ½ months of applying for a visa, raising money, visiting friends, and most recently condensing all of my belongings into one suitcase…I’m going to Thailand!! I am leaving this afternoon and will arrive in Thailand on Tuesday at two in the afternoon.

Please pray for safe travels, that I remain rooted in Christ in the midst of many emotions, and that I will find Allison (the woman from Cambodia meeting me) and arrive safely to Cambodia.

Many of you have asked for my address in Thailand, and it is:

Kelly Jacoby

c/o Pattaya Slum Ministries

PO Box 485

Pattaya Chonburi THAILAND 20260

Also, to keep in touch with me, you may email me (Jacobykl6@gmail.com), message/call me on Skype (at Jacobykl1), iMessage me (I will have to pay for all non iMessage texts), or use all the wonderful smart phone apps (Whatsapp or TextNow). 

With my cake at my goodbye party! 

Love you all! Thank you for praying with me : ) 
Talk to you next time from the other side of the world!