The Fun Things I Get to do in Cambodia!

Another month in Cambodia has gone by!  Some days it feels as if time is going very slowly and other days, like today, it seems as if time just flies by.  This past month has been one of gaining solid ground, building new friendships and saying goodbye to 4 wonderful people who have lived with me for 8 out of the 11 weeks I’ve been here.  I have been posting photos on my Facebook page as I can.  Please be aware that I cannot post many pictures of the children I’m working with since they are highly at risk of being exploited or trafficked.

            Daily life for me in Cambodia is busy and plenty rewarding!  Each day I am accompanied by 2 of the H.P.C. interns and our 2 translators all day as we partner with what God is doing in this city.  I need to tell you about our translators.  They are brothers, Panha and Veasna, they have just finished high school and have also just signed contracts to work full time with the H.P.C. Veasna is 18, Panha 17, they have lived in the city their entire lives with 2 younger brothers and both parents.  They grew up Buddhist in belief but not holding to many of the traditional practices.  Their family believes in all kinds of traditional Khmer and Buddhist rituals for luck, health, prosperity, etc.  Veasna was the first in his family to accept the truth of the Gospel, Panha followed and now they are praying for their father, the last member of the family who has yet to see the Truth.  These boys have a passion and zeal for the Lord and for the broken people of their country that is extremely rare in anyone here let alone young men.  Pray that He would continue to reveal more of His heart for His people to these brothers of mine so that they may step even more fully into the Kingdom destinies He has for them!

My mornings are spent teaching English in Svay Pak.  I have grown to really enjoy and love my students.  I have been so blessed to be able to keep the same group of 8 students that I have had since June when the team from Metro was here and 4 more students were added to my class in July.  My class is made up of students between the ages of 14-21 which allows us to have some great conversations and to really get to know one another.  This month, Veasna, (who, by this point, has become a very good friend as well), is teaching with me each day. Having him in the classroom is really helps all of us!  Please pray that Veasna and I would continue to find opportunities to share Jesus with these students, that I would be able to come up with new and creative ideas to teach this curriculum that is geared for European students to my Khmer students and pray for blessings upon Rahab’s House as they have opened up their doors to allow these classes to be held there.  

Each afternoon I go to Wat Phnom (one of the biggest Buddhist temples in Phnom Penh) and we do Kids club there in the afternoons. Things at Wat Phnom are really beginning to shape up well!  During the past 3 weeks we have been doing Kids Club (a Bible story/skit, craft, games, songs and snack) 3 days per week leaving the other 2 days as time to continue to build relationships through simply hanging out with the people there.  As we told the story of creation God sent tangible reminders that He is with us-the elephant and the monkeys who reside at the Wat all started coming towards the pavilion where we hold our meetings right as we talked about God creating the animals!  There is also a hospital near the Wat.  This hospital is free for needy families and as a result many will travel from the provinces outside the city to receive treatment.  This gives us many opportunities to pray for little ones and their families.

            Last Friday was the most fun Kids Club meeting yet! We all dressed up as superheroes to demonstrate that Jesus is far more powerful than any of us, the kids had a blast and then were thrilled when we gave them each a coloring book we’d made and some crayons to keep. We also had marshmallows for snack that day which is a huge treat (we usually bring fruit in hopes of helping keep the kids as nourished as possible).

            We could use prayer in the area of creativity and energy.  We must be creative as we figure out what kinds of resources we can find to work with here.  Doing Kids Club in a public area limits the parameters we can set as far as controlling the environment so please for wisdom as we deal with the children as well as all the other onlookers.  Kids Club takes place from 3-4:30 and the team plans from 1-2:30….we can all use some supernatural energy and strength during these hot afternoons!

             During July I had the honor of visiting a few brick factories not far from Svay Pak.  I was able to join with a team from California who were working with the church in Svay Pak (the church is called Rahab’s House) giving out rice, shoes and oral hygiene products. There are many of these factories all around Phnom Penh.  They are mostly staffed by women and their children.  These people work in sweltering heat then go into a room where the bricks are baked.  The room has no ventilation system and reaches temperatures well above 100 degrees.  Due to the poor ventilation many are diagnosed with pneumonia and eventually die. They work long days for less than $1/hour.  Many Khmer people don’t understand the concept of being compelled to give because of love; they think we are only giving so that we can receive good Karma in return.  As a result, we spend lots of time in prayer before and after we go out to the factories.  Please pray with us that the Truth would shine through us…..

            There are so many stories I could tell, I might just have to write a book someday J

            Thank you, friends, for taking the time to read this, for your prayers, for your encouragement through emails and Facebook….thank you! I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me.....

Friday the 13th in Cambodia ;-)

Friday the 13th in Cambodia was a good day:

-7am-maintenance workers banging on our door so they can tear apart our bathroom to fix a leak/flood (at least we're all wide awake now)

 -7:45am-walk outside to find that the construction workers who tore up our sidewalk last week are now laying wet cement in a 4 foot span directly in front of our front door (to see last weeks' adventure look at my In Cambodia Photos album)
-10am-during English class I taught my friend, Veasna, the word "hoodie" (because he wears them all the time) and at one point there were 4 languages being spoken at once: Khmer, English, Vietanamese and Spanish
-11:30am-lunch with Veasna and Panha at KFC (very fun-drank green soda, attempted to eat cheese wedges-not so good...)
-12:30-2:30pm-at our apartment (along with all the maintanence guys) making costumes for Kids Club
-3:30pm-we're all dressed up like superheroes (I'm Superman with a blue cape/poncho and can fly!) to tell the kids about how powerful Jesus is!
-5:00pm-I'm reminded about how much value I place on going to church....and how much I miss church
-5:30pm-I'm right!!! It DID rain!!! (supposedly, only Khmer people can tell when it is REALLY going to rain, but tonight, I was right),
-6:00pm-great salad for dinner with Shannon
-7:30pm-an unexpected phone conversation with one of the students in my English class
-9:00pm-very encouraged about Svay Pak from reading Coen's note about it (shared it with Shannon and we both started laughing about the joy we are honored to experience in that place every day). It was a good day :-)

Just wanted to share with everyone some of the fun times I'm having here!

Thanks everyone for your prayers and constant encouragement, it means so much to me!!

Lots of Newness

            Another month in Cambodia has gone by!  Some days it feels as if time is going very slowly and other days, like today, it seems as if time just flies by.  This past month has been one of gaining solid ground, building new friendships and saying goodbye to 4 wonderful people who have lived with me for 8 out of the 11 weeks I’ve been here.  I have been posting photos on my Facebook page as I can.  Please be aware that I cannot post many pictures of the children I’m working with since they are highly at risk.  If you’d like to see photos, even if you don’t have a Facebook account, you can see my In Cambodia Photos. 

            Daily life for me in Cambodia is busy and plenty rewarding!  Each day I am accompanied by 2 of the H.P.C. interns and our 2 translators all day as we partner with what God is doing in this city.  I need to tell you about our translators.  They are brothers, Panha and Veasna, they have just finished high school and have also just signed contracts to work full time with the H.P.C.  Veasna is 18, Panha 17, they have lived in the city their entire lives with 2 younger brothers and both parents.  They grew up Buddhist in belief but not holding to many of the traditional practices.  Their family believes in all kinds of traditional Khmer and Buddhist rituals for luck, health, prosperity, etc.  Veasna was the first in his family to accept the truth of the Gospel, Panha followed and now they are praying for their father, the last member of the family who has yet to see the Truth.  These boys have a passion and zeal for the Lord and for the broken people of their country that is extremely rare in anyone here let alone young men.  Pray that He would continue to reveal more of His heart for His people to these brothers of mine so that they may step even more fully into the Kingdom destinies He has for them!

My mornings are spent teaching English in Svay Pak.  I have grown to really enjoy and love my students.  I have been so blessed to be able to keep the same group of 8 students that I have had since June when the team from Metro was here and 4 more students were added to my class in July.  My class is made up of students between the ages of 14-21 which allows us to have some great conversations and to really get to know one another.  This month, Veasna, (who, by this point, has become a very good friend as well), is teaching with me each day.  Having him in the classroom is really helps all of us!  Please pray that Veasna and I would continue to find opportunities to share Jesus with these students, that I would be able to come up with new and creative ideas to teach this curriculum that is geared for European students to my Khmer students and pray for blessings upon Rahab’s House as they have opened up their doors to allow these classes to be held there.  

Each afternoon I go to Wat Phnom (one of the biggest Buddhist temples in Phnom Penh) and we do Kids club there in the afternoons. Things at Wat Phnom are really beginning to shape up well!  During the past 3 weeks we have been doing Kids Club (a Bible story/skit, craft, games, songs and snack) 3 days per week leaving the other 2 days as time to continue to build relationships through simply hanging out with the people there.  As we told the story of creation God sent tangible reminders that He is with us-the elephant and the monkeys who reside at the Wat all started coming towards the pavilion where we hold our meetings right as we talked about God creating the animals!  There is also a hospital near the Wat.  This hospital is free for needy families and as a result many will travel from the provinces outside the city to receive treatment.  This gives us many opportunities to pray for little ones and their families.

            Last Friday was the most fun Kids Club meeting yet! We all dressed up as superheroes to demonstrate that Jesus is far more powerful than any of us, the kids had a blast and then were thrilled when we gave them each a coloring book we’d made and some crayons to keep. We also had marshmallows for snack that day which is a huge treat (we usually bring fruit in hopes of helping keep the kids as nourished as possible).

            We could use prayer in the area of creativity and energy.  We must be creative as we figure out what kinds of resources we can find to work with here.  Doing Kids Club in a public area limits the parameters we can set as far as controlling the environment so please for wisdom as we deal with the children as well as all the other onlookers.  Kids Club takes place from 3-4:30 and the team plans from 1-2:30….we can all use some supernatural energy and strength during these hot afternoons!

             During July I had the honor of visiting a few brick factories not far from Svay Pak.  I was able to join with a team from California who were working with the church in Svay Pak (the church is called Rahab’s House) giving out rice, shoes and oral hygiene products.  There are many of these factories all around Phnom Penh.  They are mostly staffed by women and their children.  These people work in sweltering heat then go into a room where the bricks are baked.  The room has no ventilation system and reaches temperatures well above 100 degrees.  Due to the poor ventilation many are diagnosed with pneumonia and eventually die.  They work long days for less than $1/hour.  Many Khmer people don’t understand the concept of being compelled to give because of love; they think we are only giving so that we can receive good Karma in return.  As a result, we spend lots of time in prayer before and after we go out to the factories.  Please pray with us that the Truth would shine through us…..

            There are so many stories I could tell, I might just have to write a book someday J

            I am so grateful and humbled by all who are praying for me and those who give financially. 

            Thank you, friends, for taking the time to read this, for your prayers, for your encouragement through emails and Facebook….thank you!