Life in Cambodia is beginning to set in. The reality of living in a place like this takes some time to set in and to mentally BE HERE. Once you accept the fact that you are living in new place you begin to enjoy the small things and to make it your home. You invest your heart into the place you’re at you begin to see why God has called you there and what he actually wants to do through you. I have to quickly turn my focus from the minor discomforts to seeking Gods presence perspective.
We were able to spend a week at an orphanage in a village a few weeks ago. As we adjusted to sleeping on the floor in mosquito nets and taking bucket showers in rain water, we had our lives changed by these kids. They were mostly between the ages of 3 and 12 and were mostly all Christian. These kids wake up at 5 every morning to do chores before breakfast and then have a time of prayer and worship before school. They have prayer and worship three times a day and the rest of the day they are either at school, doing chores or playing games. The simplicity of their lives and their pure desire and devotion to God was nothing like I have ever seen. “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.”(Matthew 5:8) Seeing these kids sing to the Lord and cry out to him brought me to tears, not because of their lack in material things but because of the reality of Christ established in their lives. Those kids taught us more than we could have ever taught them.
“And he said: I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)
God is working so visibly in people’s lives here. We were able to take a two day trip to a city called Siem Reap which is home of one of the Seven Wonders of the World Angkor Wat. God had been speaking to me allot about sharing the gospel and being available for him to move. I had these things on my mind as we headed there and had a good feeling that it was going to be more than just a weekend trip. I ended up running into two people that I was able to talk about Jesus with and pray with one of them to have a revelation of Jesus.
Our team is doing Korean classes and dance classes at the Youth Center we are working with. One of the classes has added a bible study and both have kids that are asking for bibles. The openness of the people here is incredible. They are truly hungry and wanting to know about Jesus. There is so much hope in my heart for this nation to be transformed and be built up with a foundation of Christ. What an amazing opportunity it has been to speak the love of Christ to the future leaders of Cambodia!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Week One!
Hello everyone! I have finally found internet and a chunk of time to write. Since leaving Kona over a week ago it has been an amazing adventure learning how to lead a team of 11 all the way to Battambang, Cambodia. Our trip took us from Kona, Hawaii to Bangkok Thailand where we spent the night and left the next day for Cambodia. We had to leave one of our students back in Kona because of visa problems which ended up causing him to have to join our Haiti team. We had a three hour drive to the border which ended up being more than just a normal border crossing.
Our van driver that picked us up from Bangkok drove us and dropped us off at a official looking small office where a very polite, English speaking Cambodian man greeted us and had us sit down to start filling out visa paperwork. He kept talking to me and telling me all about how great the visa process was and how fast they get it done. I started feeling very uncomfortable looking around at all of the workers staring at me. We were just about done filling out our paperwork when the man began to tell me about the price. He was asking for 1200 per person baht which is the Thai currency. Now it's been a while since I was in Thailand and the numbers were not making sense in my head. grabbing a pen and paper I realized that he was asking $40 to process a $20 visa. This is where I started getting a little frustrated. I looked behind me to see if the van that dropped us off was still there and I didn't see it! I quickly realized that the van driver had moved the van and was sitting right behind me.
So I spent a few minutes arguing with both men about the price and why it was so much. The Cambodian man, swearing that he was an honest man, was trying to tell me that he could get it done in 10 minutes and that the real border would take 3 hours and since it was closing in an hour that we wouldn't make it in time. At this point I was angry that we had wasted our time there and knew that we were right in the middle of a scam. We packed up in the van and headed for the real border. Getting out of the van the second time was a little different. We were surrounded by men asking to carry our luggage and to help us get visas. We kept our mouths shut and walked across into Cambodia.
Battambang is a pretty large city about two hours east of the border. It is very hot and humid especially when it rains. I would compare it to breathing through a sock. The streets are pretty dirty and and very busy with people on motor bikes and a random Lexus SUV. Right now we are staying at a house that is owned by a retired Cambodian pastor. We were able to sit down with him one night and hear his incredible story of how during the time of the killing fields him and his family were taken across the border into Thailand for two years to work in deadly conditions. He was an English teacher at that time and since he hadn't worked for the government at that time he was not a target but out of suspicion there was a order sent for him to be killed three times. The man in charge of the camp liked him and protected him each time since he knew he was a good man.
The ministries we have worked with so far both involve teaching English. One of the ministries is a restoration ministry that takes care of girls that have been rescued out of sex slavery or abusive situations. The other ministry is in a poor area of the city that teaches kids English and is an amazing opportunity to disciple new Christians and share the love of Christ with the ones that aren't Christians. We will start teaching more specialty classes when the youth center starts its new quarter after next week.
I am amazed at how much English the Cambodian people speak compared to Thai people. It is amazing because it is allot easier to do friendship evangelism since open evangelism is illegal in Cambodia. A few days ago we found a gym and went that night where I met a young man named Ponits. He was a very good English speaker and very talkative. We didn't have allot of time to talk but we planned to meet back at the gym another night. I am amazed at how open and excited the people are to hang out and talk. We are very excited to spent six weeks here and live life with the Cambodian people. We are definitely getting Gods heart for the people and excited to see what God is doing in their lives.
Well that is a taste from week one. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to settle in here and build more relationships with the people. Thank you for all your love and support! God bless.
Our van driver that picked us up from Bangkok drove us and dropped us off at a official looking small office where a very polite, English speaking Cambodian man greeted us and had us sit down to start filling out visa paperwork. He kept talking to me and telling me all about how great the visa process was and how fast they get it done. I started feeling very uncomfortable looking around at all of the workers staring at me. We were just about done filling out our paperwork when the man began to tell me about the price. He was asking for 1200 per person baht which is the Thai currency. Now it's been a while since I was in Thailand and the numbers were not making sense in my head. grabbing a pen and paper I realized that he was asking $40 to process a $20 visa. This is where I started getting a little frustrated. I looked behind me to see if the van that dropped us off was still there and I didn't see it! I quickly realized that the van driver had moved the van and was sitting right behind me.
So I spent a few minutes arguing with both men about the price and why it was so much. The Cambodian man, swearing that he was an honest man, was trying to tell me that he could get it done in 10 minutes and that the real border would take 3 hours and since it was closing in an hour that we wouldn't make it in time. At this point I was angry that we had wasted our time there and knew that we were right in the middle of a scam. We packed up in the van and headed for the real border. Getting out of the van the second time was a little different. We were surrounded by men asking to carry our luggage and to help us get visas. We kept our mouths shut and walked across into Cambodia.
Battambang is a pretty large city about two hours east of the border. It is very hot and humid especially when it rains. I would compare it to breathing through a sock. The streets are pretty dirty and and very busy with people on motor bikes and a random Lexus SUV. Right now we are staying at a house that is owned by a retired Cambodian pastor. We were able to sit down with him one night and hear his incredible story of how during the time of the killing fields him and his family were taken across the border into Thailand for two years to work in deadly conditions. He was an English teacher at that time and since he hadn't worked for the government at that time he was not a target but out of suspicion there was a order sent for him to be killed three times. The man in charge of the camp liked him and protected him each time since he knew he was a good man.
The ministries we have worked with so far both involve teaching English. One of the ministries is a restoration ministry that takes care of girls that have been rescued out of sex slavery or abusive situations. The other ministry is in a poor area of the city that teaches kids English and is an amazing opportunity to disciple new Christians and share the love of Christ with the ones that aren't Christians. We will start teaching more specialty classes when the youth center starts its new quarter after next week.
I am amazed at how much English the Cambodian people speak compared to Thai people. It is amazing because it is allot easier to do friendship evangelism since open evangelism is illegal in Cambodia. A few days ago we found a gym and went that night where I met a young man named Ponits. He was a very good English speaker and very talkative. We didn't have allot of time to talk but we planned to meet back at the gym another night. I am amazed at how open and excited the people are to hang out and talk. We are very excited to spent six weeks here and live life with the Cambodian people. We are definitely getting Gods heart for the people and excited to see what God is doing in their lives.
Well that is a taste from week one. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to settle in here and build more relationships with the people. Thank you for all your love and support! God bless.
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