Today's Heartbreak

So today while I was at the center I saw one girl sitting all alone on the swings so I thought I would go talk to her. When I asked her how she was doing she told me. This young teenager has a one year old son and she really misses him. She's under 15 by the way.

As the time to go home was drawing near I sat down beside another young lady. This girl is one of those people who are beautiful inside and out. She told me how she is excited because she gets to go home soon. She told me a bit about her family and about how they are all Christians and how she learned some English at her church (note: we were talking in Khmai). Then she started going through some songs in English that she knows. One of them really struck me. She started to sing: "In His time, in His time. He makes all things beautiful in His time." Wow. I wanted to bawl like a baby. I can't imagine what this girl has experienced, but when she sang this song she sang it from her heart. What an amazing example of faith.

Christmas Time in Cambodia

A dear friend of mine sent me the list to this person's blog about Christmas in Cambodia away from western commercialism and the real St. Nic. For those of you interested in reading it, you can access it from:

http://msainfo.org/articles/the-real-santa-claus

Its just something to reflect upon as we enter the Christmas season.

Life and Death

Last night I stood by a dying man and watched his heart rate slowly decrease. My friend (who is also one of my Khmai teachers) was called to go to the hospital to pray for a man who worked at the Bible college and she asked me to go with him. We spent 2 hours standing beside him praying for him as he lay unconscious. Shortly after we left he passed away. The critical care unit of the hospital consists of one room with beds side by side (literally one foot away from each other). A child was playing with some of the medical tools on the floor. The room was crowded with people.

I left the hospital tonight in a very reflective state. I was constantly reminded tonight of how grateful I am for Jesus Christ and that I do not need to fear death because death means that I will get to spend an eternity with Jesus. Last night was a reminder for me of the things that are really important in life.

Variety of Thoughts

- The director of my orphanage posted a video of the kids. If you want to watch it you can find it at www.youtube.com and search for "Hope orphanage". It should say "A great video of a great orphanage in Cambodia...please watch and get involved".

- We think that one of the older students at the Vietnamese school is being sold in the evenings! Sick eh!

- A couple days ago I drove past a tuktuk which had two old white guys in it. Sitting beside each of them was a younger Cambodian girl. One of the girls was affectionately rubbing the arm of the man next to her. Unfortunately they looked too old to do anything about it but still young enough to make you sick to your stomach.

- On different note, the street people are back and street ministry was fun. I played with a couple of the kids before it started and they were soo cute. It's heartbreaking knowing that at the end of the day the kids stay there and sleep there amongst the garbage, urine stench, and adults sniffing glue. The girls were missing, except one. I can only imagine where they were and what they were doing. We are planning on starting to teach Khmai and English to another group of street people who live close to my house. Unfortunately the government made them move and so now we have to find them before we can begin.

My Church!

Two weeks ago my pastor borrowed my camera to take some pictures of the church (I went to the international church that Sunday). They announced the new leaders for the church and prayed for them. So I thought I would share with you a few of the pictures. This first picture is of our congregation. Pastor Neit is in the very front in the brownish/gold shirt and his wife, Pastor ChenRot is in the first row of people standing up. She is wearing the solid black top.This is a picture of Pastor Niet praying over one of the new leaders.

This last shot is a picture of the young people who attend the church -- some of whom are my friends, students, and even my language teacher. They are wonderful, very encouraging, and a lot of fun!

Response to Homeless Situation

In response to your comments on the street people being put into jail, I don't know if its a better place for them or not. We are talking here about a Cambodian prison. They wouldn't get much food there but maybe to them a shelter is better than selling their children. I don't know?! What is the worse of two evils?

Water Festival

Last night I went to the water festival with Tabi and her assistant teacher Socheat. The streets near the waterfront were packed with people.

We went and ate dinner at a restaurant along the waterfront with a balcony, so we had an excellent view of the festivities.

There were approximately 400 boats entered into the race, some had rich financial backers while others didn't.After the races they put on a nice long firework show accompanied by floats.

We played 'guess the float' as each one represented a ministry in Cambodia such as the ministry of financial or agriculture. It was a challenge as there were sooo many floats. After a while we got bored and went back to my house for some sticky rice.

A Smile

This morning I went with Marije to the airport as she is going back to the Netherlands. After I left the airport I was plagued by loneliness as not only is she gone but most of my friends have left the city for the holiday too. I was walking down the street feeling down and I past another foreign couple and the girl smiled at me. It was just an acknowledgement kind of smile but it encouraged me so much. So I just wanted to encourage everyone to keep smiling because you never know whose day you can brighten. :)

Street Ministry Cancelled... Why?!

2 weeks ago I went to help out a couple of my friends with street ministry. They do a 30 min presentation with puppets and songs for families that live on the streets who usually sell their children at night. I was going to join again tonight but it was cancelled. Why? This week is the water festival where people from all the provinces pack into Phnom Penh for boat races. So, the street people can't be around right?! Instead, they are arrested for the week. Injustice!

Tuesdays and Thursdays

I just thought I would highlight what I do on my favourite days of the week. Every Tuesday and Thursday I teach at the orphanage and at the Bible College. I get to eat lunch at the Bible College (soup and rice) and I have language class in the afternoon.

Today, I was teaching the kids at the orphanage about buying things at the market. As it would be too difficult to take them all to the market -- and too expensive -- I decided to bring the market to them. I went shopping yesterday and bought various things (which I got a discount for because I was able to say in Khmai that they were for Cambodian orphans). Praise the Lord! So today I brought fake money and all the things and set up shop at the orphanage. Each child had to dialogue with me to make their purchase at the store. It was so fun and they loved it because they got to play with fake money and get to keep something! Here's a picture of our chezzy shop and a picture of the kids with their new items.
Every time I go to leave the orphanage, several of the children smother me with hugs and then stand in the street waving goodbye and blowing me kisses. It is my favourite part of the day.
This month I teach at the orphanage first thing in the morning and then I go straight to the Bible College to teach. This is what happened to some of the stuff that didn't get "sold" :)
Don't worry, my students study too.
Another praise report: this afternoon's language class went well and afterwards I chatted with my landlady for 20 min in Khmai. It is amazing how much I can understand! I just have a lot of difficulty with asking questions in Khmai and speaking Khmai to a group of people.

I just want to say thanks you again to the small group that sent all that stuff with me. Some of the stuff that I still had I used today for my little store. Thank you for bringing a smile to many children's faces.

Tuol Sleng

Last Saturday Marije and I finally went to visit Tuol Sleng. Tuol Sleng used to be a high school and then it was transformed into an interrogation and extermination center during the Khmer Rouge. Sadly, those used as guards to torture and kill were children between the ages of 10-15.

In the following picture, I am walking through one of the rooms containing the cells where the prisoners were kept. You can still see blood stains on the floor. Between 1975 and 1978 it is estimated that a total of 10499 prisoners were kept here. Unfortunately only a few lived to tell about it. Our tour guide told us that they would keep prisoners for a month, then, whether they were able to get any information out of them or not, they were killed. Even foreigners were killed here including one or more Canadians. Babies too were murdered on mass.

Before prisoners were taken to their cells, they were forced to have their picture taken. To do so prisoners had to sit on this horrid contraption which held their head in place so that they looked directly at the camera. Also note in the picture below how the victims number was safety pinned to his throat instead of his clothing.

It is heart breaking to see what we as human beings are capable of doing. Many of the guards who worked at Tuol Sleng are now working freely in Cambodia. I pray that they will find God's mercy. I also pray that Cambodians will be able to forgive and find healing from a cruel past.

If you haven't read "Tears of My Soul" by Sokreaksa Himm, I highly recommend doing so. It is about his experience of living through the Khmer Rouge and how he learned to forgive those who brutally killed his family.

The pictures...take 2

Here are a few pictures of things I mentioned in my previous post. If you want to see more pictures of the countryside then please refer to Marije's link in the post below.This is the ferry that we took to the island.

This is Chloe, the girl we met on the ferry. Her moto driving skills were excellent. I was amazed at how she managed the mud with two of us on the back of her moto -- though there were a few really bad areas where we had to get off and walk.This is the cattle guy that I had mentioned -- notice how he is smiling for the picture. With in a minute of this picture being taken that big bull decided to plough one of his horns into me. This strange looking this is called a jackfruit. It tastes like a weird blend of an apple and a pineapple.