"Jum Rip Sua" from Cambodia!

It means hello in Khmer and is accompanied by clasping your palms together in front of your chin (or your forehead if the other person is older) and bowing.

Of most importance: Thanks for all the encouraging emails and comments! It is great to hear from you!

MINISTRY

We continue to visit the villages over rough and muddy roads. Many of the team have learned not to sit in the back of the tuk-tuk, as it takes the worst of the bumps, but I have to face forward (which means the back seat) when riding in a vehicle, so I get an adventure every time we go out! As well, we had a problem with one of the wheels, so stopped along the road for emergency repairs (photo on left - yes that is an ax that he is using to hammer with!) - never a dull moment (pardon the pun)!

One of the village families who host a Bible study spoke of the challenges they faced when they became Christians. Their neighbours and friends rejected them and wouldn't come to their hut, because it was now "Christian land". However, over the months they have seen this family's farm prosper, their health has improved, they have more joy and peace. As a result, now the neighbours are curious and want to know why this has happened.

In my last post, I mentioned a family where the little boy is quite sick. We think unless he is treated he will die. We prayed about it and decided to fund a trip for him and his sister to the nearest city about 3 hours away. However, the mother (who had a stroke and is paralyzed on one side) has refused the assistance for her son, as her daughter is the only one who is able to work and they can't afford for her to be gone for 5 days. And of course, we cannot take him for many reasons, not the least of which we cannot speak the language. We choose to believe in the power of prayer for his healing, and I ask you to join us in that prayer.

I made a neat connection with Sryrum (that's her cooking on the left), a 44-year old village woman (of course always through a translator). It's amazing how there can be a feeling of sisterhood even with the lack of direct communication. She is expecting her fourth child - her oldest is 21. She was quite surprised by my age (it's the first question usually asked by the Cambodians - very important detail to them) and the condition of my skin and the fact that I could run around their dirt yard with her son; most of the Cambodians look older than they are due to the living conditions here (and move slowly). We spoke to her and her husband of Jesus, and they were quite interested. The biggest challenge for them is access to a church or even a Bible study or a Cell Group. We asked if we could go back and they were eager for us to do so. We will continue to plant the seed. I also had such fun with her 10-year old son (photo on the right), teaching him how to play volleyball in their dirt yard - although quite tiring in the 33 degree heat.

OTHER EFFORTS

Some of us outside the World Vision Bldg

We met with the Cambodian leaders of the Kampong Thom division of World Vision. First we attended their meeting, and Sasi gave an inspired message on Holy Spirit, then we sat with them and discussed what we have to offer and what their needs are during the time we are here. It became evident that it is better to teach them what to do rather than us going and doing (teaching to fish versus giving them fish). Because of the skill set of our team, we are able to offer their staff training on such things as: Health/Hygiene, Water/Sanitation, Micro Enterprise/Entrepreneurs, Business Mgmt/Mktg, Natural Farming/Natural Pesticides, Communications, Computer skills, Christian Leadership. As well, they want spiritual training, so we will be teaching on Hearing the Voice of God, Relinquishing Your Rights/Laying Down Your Cross, Holy Spirit, God's Love, Simple Church. Of course, any of our training has to be done via a translator. We will be spending two full days training their staff in early August.

LIFESTYLE HERE

When we meet in the families' huts, we often sit on these wood bed-like structures that serve numerous purposes. They use them to have naps, to serve meals, to prepare food, to sit cross-legged, or whatever strikes their need. We foreigners sometimes stress the support system of this furniture, and had a good laugh when the man of one hut had to go find wood to strengthen the legs.

Bible study on one of these versatile pieces of furniture (note the original leg on the right side slanting inwards, and the additional piece of wood)

Locals in the Rice Paddies

Most families get up at around 4:30 (yes... A.M., Becky & Shari!) and go to work in rice paddies. Many of the children must go and help. If their parents are progressive and want a different sort of life for their children, they allow them to go to school. In the villages, school is from 7:00-11:00am OR from 1:00-5:00pm (each month the students switch from am to pm and vice versa). They go Monday to Saturday, but Thursday is used for cleaning the school rooms, and the students must participate in that.

Classrooms in 3 different villages (note the differences)

The men who work at our guesthouse are here almost every day and their shifts are 18-24 hours. They continue to be friendly and helpful, even though they have been up all night. Tonight, I stopped to visit with one of them, a 30-year old named Narith. Sasi and I had bumped into he and his 4-year old son at the nearby park the other day and I had emailed him a photograph I had taken of them and wanted to be sure he had received it. He shared with me what life was like growing up here in Cambodia. He was born the year after Pol Pot and his army were taken out of control; however, a lot of the army hid in the local forests to escape imprisonment. They continued to create disruption and fear in the rural areas, including planting land mines and mine traps in the forests and along the roads. Narith told me how they were warned as children not to go into the forest, nor to stray off the actual roads, nor to pick up any money or anything off the road (sometimes there would be wire connecting money to a land mine). These children lived in constant fear. These men would also come with their guns and take adults from whatever they were doing, whether it was teaching school or working in the fields and make them carry their equipment or do other work for them. Amazingly, even with all of this, Narith has turned out to be a gentle young man who is eager to improve life for the next generation. He has taught himself English by interacting with the guests who stay here (he's worked here for 10 years) and is training to be a teacher (he took a cut in his 24-hour shifts, which meant a pay cut as well). He is one of the men we are spending time with sharing the gospel; please pray for him.

One of the markets

The markets are up and running extremely early; they set up at 6:30am until about 7:00pm every day, without breaks it seems. Many of them bring their young children and they just sit around all day, and then have a nap on a makeshift hammock. These markets are open-air and on dirt ground or rocks or rough pavement. The flies are in armies and move from raw fish to raw pork to vegetables to fruit - it's a real smorgasbord for them ..... and often an appetite suppressant for us!

Neatly layered small fish (about the size of a woman's pinky finger)

Sampling of other meats

OUR ONE DAY OFF OF THE WEEK Walkway to the pool

Our "day off" is supposed to be Monday, but July 18 has been our first one since arriving in Cambodia even though we know the value of looking after ourselves. One of our team found a guesthouse nearby that would allow us to use their swimming pool if we ordered something from their restaurant. So, we loaded into a couple of tuk-tuk's and set off for our day of rest. You know things are hot when I actually get into the pool! It was really refreshing and even though I only spent 2 hours there, I felt like we had spent a whole weekend there. I don't think it's something I would do very often, but am glad to have taken a little bit of "self-nurturing" time.

Mike, Felecia, Jane, Jadyn (happy!)

The health of our team has much-improved and we are functioning well. We continue to be responsive to the every day last-minute changes that constantly occur on outreach, and still maintain our sense of humour for many situations that occur. More about that in next post!

Bye for now!

HUGS!

June