jenniferrasmussen - Thanksgiving in Cambodia?

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done” (1 Chronicles 16:8).

I am a born and raised city girl from Phoenix, Arizona. You want to bake something? I can tell you 5 grocery stores within a 5 minute radius of my house that will have almost every ingredient or food item you could want or need. In Cambodia, baking becomes a little trickier. I can still get to a store within 5-10 minutes, but the search for “common” ingredients is usually a frustrating scavenger hunt and waste of time. So I have learned to get creative, however; some items just do not substitute well. Last week a package arrived from my family. “Could it be?” I thought, “were they able to send the main item I had requested and hoped for?” I cut open the box and there it was! Right on top- happiness in a bag; a giant, Sam’s Club bag of real chocolate chips! There was jumping and celebration in our house that day We were ready for Thanksgiving Extravaganza!

What does Thanksgiving Extravaganza look like in Cambodia?

Saturday, November 26th, at 6 p.m. about 35 men, women and children from all over the world gathered at our home for a Thanksgiving potluck. Friends from Australia, England, Denmark, Cambodia, and various states in the U.S; a glimpse of Heavenly parties to come! People of different nationalities, different ages, different organizations, different visions and reasons for living in Cambodia, but united by the same God. Many people

asked what Thanksgiving was all about. It was good to reflect on my country’s history and the reasons behind why we celebrate this day each year, besides being a good excuse to eat incredible food!

So, I know what you are thinking, “what did you eat??” Well, there

was no turkey on our table, but we had a giant platter of delicious chicken we got from the market! Stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, various salads and Rolls! Many traditional items plus some foods to add to the tradition like, sweet and sour pork and Cambodian fruit salad! Don’t forget the dessert table! Homemade brownies, pumpkin-chocolate chip bars, chocolate chip banana bread, (as you can see the chocolate chips were put to good use

) and, YES, pumpkin pie! (I also learned how to make pumpkin puree from real pumpkins- definitely not something this city girl ever had to do before!)

“I love Thanksgiving! I think we will have to start celebrating this holiday in Denmark.” - a new Thanksgiving fan

It was so much fun sharing a feast together with new friends, but what made this evening really special was celebrating our thankfulness for the Giver of every good gift. God pours out numerous blessings every day over each one of his children and our spirits were uplifted and encouraged as we shared about these blessings with one another!

The last guests left just after midnight. The stairs to the second floor are on the outside of our house, and as Helen and I were heading to our rooms we looked up to see one final thanksgiving present from our Giver of gifts; the brightest night sky we had yet to see in Phnom Penh. One star; one special star, shone exceptionally bright that night and we just stared up and thanked God for this heavenly goodnight kiss.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).