The Adventures of Queen Jam and Pretty Girl.

We have been in Cambodia for about three weeks now.

Life is good. We are still teaching English to the kids and doing soccer ministry with a sprinkle of construction in there.

It baffles me that Khmer (Ku-Mai) is a language that people can actually process. That is definitely my ignorant American brain talking, but it is incredibly difficult to even begin to understand. But to these people, it is all they have ever known. Me and one of my teammates, Ethan, teach 5 to 8-year-olds. With the help of a Cambodian teacher named Lanete, who has given us the nicknames Queen Jam and Pretty Girl. Honestly, I have no idea why. The first day we were here, we introduced our names to the kids, and for some reason, they couldn’t say “Drew.” So Lanete asked if I had a nickname. I said James as a first reaction, although no one has ever called me that. But the kids didn’t like James either, so Lanete shortened it to Jam. And then this week, she thought it would be funny to give us nicknames, so I got stuck with Queen Jam, and Ethan got Pretty Girl. It makes no sense, but the kids think it is hilarious, so we don’t care.

In other news, every Sunday, we lead a youth group for the kids, and then we have soccer practice in the afternoon. But to be able to play, you have to come to the sermon right before. I say sermon it is more of just a basic talk one of us gives about what God has been teaching us lately. But sometimes, the simplest messages are the most effective. Soccer has been fun, though, and honesty Team Israel has been able to hold our own ish.

Every night we have a conversation class which is basically an English class for high schoolers. Where we play Games and have conversations (which, given the title of the class, is probably shocking), it is fun to get to know kids my age who have different backgrounds and experiences.

This will be the section of the blog titled.

What stupid or fun things has Drew done this week?

1. I get a coconut pretty much daily from the local market; they are fire.
2. Me and Ethan are filming a video (It will be on my Insta soon) to help him raise support which involved us getting in a skecthy lake. We could die horrible deaths from various diseases now.
3. I shower with lizards on the regular.
4. We get absurdly cheap beverages everywhere.

You can continue praying for everything mentioned in previous blogs. Also, pray for this guy named Chai; he is 18 and in conversation class. He is super lonely and doesn’t have a lot of friends, but he is incredibly smart and has a lot of self-doubt. We have all bonded, but we can’t stay here forever. So pray he makes lasting friendships and sees himself as Jesus sees him.

Thanks for everything.

-Drew McKinney

P.S. Ethan still needs support. If you feel led, here is his support link. (Absolutely no pressure)

https://adventuresinmissions.servicereef.com/events/adventures-in-missions-3/2023-world-race-gap-year-route-3/participants/ejkinzley