I had spent the second half of December 2016 trying to decide where and whether or not to go on a solo trip.
There was a sale (turned out to not really be a sale) on Jetstar’s website and the “promotional pricing” would only last till the end of December. I felt the pressure to make a decision on where to go but with the perceived complexities of only having a carry-on, and then deciding on where to go, the decision was not easy. I did, however, at least manage to decide on an entire week in February (9th to 15th).
On New Year’s Eve, the day I started writing the first words on the first post of this blog, I finally gave up trying pick a destination while simultaneously deciding to commit to go for that solo trip, wherever and whenever it may be.
As it was a Saturday, before I headed out for the NYE celebrations, I went to church to attend Mass.
I don’t usually pick up the church bulletin but for some reason, this time I did.
In the bulletin was a request for volunteers to help out with a Church mission to build water filters in Siem Reap. It was also a 7 day trip in February though from the 12th to the 18th!
Most of the time, when I notice God helping me out, it tends to be in a very cheeky way and this seemed to be no different. It’s kinda like He lets me try to make the decision first and if I can’t decide or if I come to the wrong conclusion, He steps in and points me in the right direction.
So inwardly, I was grinning like a little schoolboy at God’s help in the matter. If I had committed to my solo trip, I would not have been able to go for this one!
In fact, it was more than just that.
As this was to be a mission trip, one could expect at least a few meetups prior to the actual trip itself. 3 days before I found out about this trip, an event that would have clashed with one of the days, was cancelled.
As I got to finding out about what would be involved in the mission, I began to have doubts about my ability and value, especially since it was pointed out to me that only 9 slots were available. I eventually suggested that the organiser consider me only if there weren’t enough people.
As it turned out, there was such a positive response that they added even more slots for the mission. For reasons unknown to me, despite the extra slots being filled at first, one eventually opened up and I was invited to join the mission.
So that’s the story of how my first trip ended up being to Siem Reap.