These were the students that Zach got to teach in Uzbekistan.
Everyone loves to travel, mostly. It’s adventurous, it’s eye opening, it’s stretching and challenging. In a lot of ways, it strengthens or changes opinions in people or even directs the course of one’s life, which is what it did for me.
Depending on what you decide to do overseas – study, travel, teach – you could have a variety of experiences. I have had the opportunity to do each of these on different occasions and in different places. One of the most impactful experiences was when I went to Southeast Asia to teach. This was a few summers ago, and oddly enough, my fiancé had a similar experience in a few other countries during the same time.
I went to Indonesia and Cambodia, for three weeks each, and Zach went to Uzbekistan, China, and Kazakhstan. We went on very different trips, both of them mission trips, and we each taught English in some capacity. I had two very different experiences that have ended up shaping my future, as did Zach.
I was amazed in Indonesia how well the students knew English. There was only one girl in my group of high-schoolers who was constantly trailing behind. The others had a massive vocabulary, I found, and knew very specific words like “Savior”, “blessed”, and “evangelism” to name a few. I got the opportunity to lead the same group of girls on outings to various villages and cities in Indonesia and also to lead them in Bible studies every other night. During the day, I got to help a different group of co-ed high-schoolers practice their debate skills. One day, the two groups debated whether or not boys should wear pink. Another debate argued over whether Justin Bieber is a good role model or not. Everyone in Asia knows who Bieber is, and he is just as big of a sensation over there as he is here.
It was interesting, the differences and similarities I found in just the few weeks I was with these Indonesian girls. One thing I loved was that no matter the culture or the age, all girls want to talk about boys. No matter how quiet the girls were, on any day the topic of boys was an open segue for conversation. One huge difference was these girls’ struggle to cling to their faith amidst a nearly completely Muslim culture. They would be severely persecuted and made fun of for their belief in Jesus, which I, as a Christian in America completely take for granted. These girls opened my eyes to heartaches I had never seen in front of me before.
In Cambodia, I had a much different experience. I had a partner for my trip. He and I went into small villages to help a church and the village children with their English learning. Though the Tosue village had a teacher who spoke English, her English was very limited, and the children didn’t understand much at all. These children were anywhere from four to ten years old, and I fell in love with them. My partner and I taught them a bunch of commands, which they have definitely since forgotten, but our favorite time of day was after our evening lesson. All of us would play ball, kicking and throwing the soccer ball to each other for at least an hour. My partner and I started calling this the Soccer Club. It was amazing how strong our connection with these kids was despite the lack of words. It is incredible how people can bond cross-culturally without using any words. Both the Cambodian and the Indonesian cultures are very touchy, and even when we girls would lack something in communication, we could always hold hands or sit right next to each other, showing our affection through touch rather than words.
As I said earlier, my fiancée Zach also participated on missions to three different locations. Although his experiences were different, they still helped shape him into the person he is now. When I picked his brain about his experiences and why he went to Central Asia he responded, “That was where God called me to go.” While in Central Asia, Zach went to three different places, and each place was a different experience for him, “In Kazakhstan, we put together an activity for the kids – we watched a movie and discussed the movie, like a conversation type thing; we watched the Matrix. In Uzbekistan, we worked with Uzbek teachers to make a two-week English summer program, and that was for novice, intermediate, and advanced English speakers.” Zach’s favorite part about the teaching was that “it was more like having conversations with them and getting to know them than it was teaching them the basics of language. So I had fun just getting to know people.”
When I asked what Zach had to say about his future, he said, “I’d say that because of various things that I saw when I was there, especially in Uzbekistan, and really in Central Asia, I’d say God put on my heart to live and work overseas and just be part of what He’s doing in countries that aren’t inundated with Christianity and the Gospel.” What a man. My experience in Asia paved my future as well. I can think of nothing more filled with joy than teaching kids English, whether it’s more tutoring and games like I did in Indonesia or teaching from a knowledge base of nothing. I’d do either. I, too, am excited for the God things happening around the world. I would love to be a part of that movement with my future husband.
We are most excited for the people and the culture of Asia. We loved the hospitable culture and how people were constantly feeding us and letting us try new things. We loved the openness to our American culture and to our clothing and to our opinions. Zach and I are planning on moving somewhere outside the U.S. in the near future because of our great love for travel, for people on that side of the world, and our love for them and what God is doing there.
