What Happens When You Go?

     This last friday my bible class wanted to take class to the slums.  One of my students knew some families in the nearby slums and so we went.  It was drizzling, the dirt road was extremely muddy, and we had no real plan.  This is exactly what I wanted.  I wanted God to guide our every move.  I didn't want a plan, I didn't want to know what I was doing, I wanted God to lead us.  There was me a translator, and about 7 students.  At the very start some had concerns about what we were doing, but I knew that it was only an attack and that we were supposed to be there.  This was something I desired to do, but it's difficult to just walk up to people, and talk if you don't know the language.  I think God put this on my heart because only a few days after one of my students asked if we could do the very thing that was on my heart.  And so the circumstances and the attitudes around me would not effect me.  I was determined to go and be used by God.  It took us about 10 minutes to walk to the slums from the youth center, and once arriving we just began walking down the narrow muddy road.  There were homes very tight together that were nothing more than a shack with one room raised from the ground.  Only walking distance from luxurious hotels and modern cafes.  It's a hard thing to take in.  To know that people are living so comfortably so close by, and yet many don't even have a bed to sleep in.  Yards and landscaping don't exist.  Home furnishings and decorations are not even on the radar.  Whatever they can find to build a shelter is what they use.  
     When I first got to Cambodia and saw the vast difference from the upper to lower class it didn't phase me.  I didn't understand it.  Now, God has been giving me His heart for the poor.  To see them as people who are hurting.  To see them as people who need so much.  To see them as people...
    As we were looking around and feeling awkward I had to fight not to feel defeated or that this really wasn't a good idea.  I was trusting in one of my students, Sok Na, to lead us because she knew some of the families.  She looked a little lost and a little out of place.  Still I was fighting the defeating thoughts.  God had told me to come here, God was going to do something.  I asked God to bring us someone who he wanted us to minister too.  I felt like it would be a women, but I just prayed out to God almost in desperation.  I didn't want this be a failure, I didn't want my students walking away without feeling like we did anything.  So I prayed.  
     Sok Na found a family that she knew.  I was relieved.  She a few of my students were welcomed into the house and they quickly had me come in with them calling "teachah teachah".  So I went, Sok Na told me a little about them and we all prayed for them together.  It was great and I was glad to pray for them.  I knew that not being able to speak their language wouldn't allow me to do too much and so I was content to pray.  As we left that house I saw another one of my students, Dareth, talking with another family across the road.  I went over and asked if he knew them.  He said no, he started laughing nervously and I did the same.  So I introduced myself to a couple people in the family.  I asked Dareth to ask if they needed prayer.  There were 6 or 7 children in the house watching TV.  (They have nothing, but almost all of them have TVs)  They told me that all of them had colds and were sick.  And so they gathered all the kids around and I put my arms around a few of them and prayed for their sick bodies.  One of the girls at the house new YWAM and had taken classes at the youth center and it was great to be able to talk with her and bless that family in our short visit.  
     As I left that home the group I had been with walked to the end of the road and were talking with a lady with a young child named Ya.  Sok Na told me that her husband had another wife and things were very difficult for her right now.  My heart went out to this lady.  I prayed for her but this time that wasn't enough.  I had Sok Na translate for me and I just began speaking what I felt God wanted to tell this sweet lady.  As I spoke I watched her as she looked down and fought to keep the tears inside.  I knew that what I was saying was penetrating her heart.  God had come through, He had brought me to the person I had asked him to.  Though I don't speak the language God still used my words through a translator.  You can't limit God.  Sometimes it means doing things that are uncomfortable, sometimes it means putting yourself out there.  When you obey God, you are never disappointed.  Listen for His voice.  He wants to speak to you, He wants to use you for His purpose and His glory.  Even when it means walking to an unknown place with muddy roads and only a word from God to go.  
     I hope to go back, I hope to meet Ya again, I hope to be God's voice to this lady, I hope that if she does not believe in God that by my love and by what I say, she comes to know Him.  To know Him in a way that completely transforms her life, that gives her hope, that gives her comfort.  I want Ya to know the God I know, to know how much she is loved, and to know that there is hope in salvation.  That Jesus died for her, that He is alive, and that she must only believe on Him for eternal life.  
     

Monsoon!!

This is what happens when it rains.  Somehow not much changes except that there are more people on the roads than normal.  A student at the youth center where I teach and also where I live offered to give me a ride on his moto.  I put a ziplock bag with a hole cut out for my lens over my camera, put a rain jacket on and rode with him along the streets of Battambang.  This is what I saw.

This is Where My Heart is

     I spent the morning at the orphanage.  The place that God put on my heart from the first day I spent there.  I felt like God had a purpose for these orphans and that they had a voice to speak out.  It's been over a month since God first spoke to me about these children and teenagers.  I don't feel any different about them and what I feel like God is raising them up to be.  But after a month I've felt like our time with them hasn't amounted to much.  Our game times, our teachings, our hugs, our songs, our dancing, and our goofing around.  I've seen more joy from them if nothing else.  When we arrive there are usually so many children waiting to give us hugs and to greet us with big smiles and lots of hellos.  Today there was only one or two children.  They didn't run up and greet us but ran and got everyone else to tell them we had arrived.  The smiling faces came running to us, the hugs, and the hellos.  These children love us and we love them.  It's a small place, the girls cook the food for the day, all from scratch.  The children sleep about four kids per bed.  Sopath told me today that he sleeps where the chickens are.  I kept asking him over and over since his english is pretty good, but still hard to understand.  He had told me correct as he pointed out the window showing me where he slept.  I really thought it was just a joke at first, and then I hoped it was a joke.  I felt my heart sink as I realized what he said was true.  It's no place for anyone to sleep, especially someone that has become a friend. He is 18 and has taught himself english.  He can speak and write and understand very well. I was impressed today as he had me correct some of the work he had done in an english book given to him by a friend.  There were almost no mistakes and he can spell words better than many Americans I know.  

     Please pray for this place.  I don't want to leave still feeling like not much was accomplished.  This is a place were children are going to rise up and make in impact in their country.  Many Cambodians have dreams of impacting the world and not just their country.  Their dreams are big, but their resources are small.  Pray for this orphanage and these orphans.  God is working and God is using us there.  If nothing else, they have seen love.  I have a class to teach in only a few minutes so I'll get the pictures up later.  Please don't read this and do nothing.  They need your prayers, they need people to care.  There are many needy and hurting people here in this country, so I'm asking you start with these orphans.  Pray for them and see what God puts on your heart for them or for this country.  God is moving and things are about to change drastically here in the next 20 years.  But not without our prayers and not without support from believers around the world.  

   Chue



   Cheak



    I'm going to start taking the time to teach english to the older guys       
   here at the orphanage.  They love to learn it and I've found that I     
   can build a stronger relationship with them through that.



Ratha








Sopath



   Thou

Rice Fields

I spent the morning with my friend/leader Zach Fry.  I thought after leaving Hawaii there wouldn't be an opportunity to see such amazing beauty again.  Then I went to a rice field.  I was wrong, Cambodia is beautiful.  This is what I saw.

We've Only Just Begin

     Hey everyone, Battambang is starting to feel a little more like home.  I'm learning about the best places to eat, where the nice pools to swim at are, and where to find internet.  This is a beautiful country because of the beautiful people that live here.  I was able to visit an orphanage a couple of times already.  It has quickly become my favorite place here in Battambang.  The children are amazing here and have so much joy.  There are no sad faces or any signs of self pity.  When we arrive they light up and joy fills the orphanage.  I can't wait to be back and I would spend all of my time there if it were possible.  Sompath is 21 years old and still stays at the orphanage.  I hope to learn his story soon.  When I first got to the orphanage he sat right next to me and we talked as well as we could with my very limited Khmer and his very broken english.  But we've begun a relationship and I've been praying for him a lot.  I really feel like he has an opportunity to be a light to many other people his age.  I talked to the whole orphanage yesterday with a translator and I told them that there was hope for them.  That there is hope for their future and that God has a purpose and a plan for them.  I told them that we wanted to tell them more about Jesus so that they could go out and tell others about Jesus.  Many in this generation are hungry for something besides Buddhism and I want to lead them to someone who loves them so much that he died for them.  About 80% of the population here in Cambodia is under the age of 30.  That's exciting for us because that means this country is on the verge of complete change.  Many of the youth know that the government is corrupt and see many of the issues facing this country.  They want to see change and they are beginning to see that there is more to life than Buddhism.  

     I also had the opportunity to meet with the principal of the Salaa Hope School.  A few members of my team and I met with him and talked about what it would like to teach english and Bible there at the school.  He was a very friendly guy and was so excited that we wanted to help out at the school.  It is a christian school and had tons of life with a whole bunch of children running around playing.  He asked me if I played soccer and I told him that it was my favorite sport.  He then asked if I liked basketball and I said I like any sport.  He told me the only thing he played was ping pong and he was real excited when I told him that I loved playing ping pong.  He invited me to play sports with the children everyday and 3.  So far my schedule is open and I had looking for an opportunity to play sports with some kids here.  

     There are a few other things going on here with some other people on my team that are very exciting.  God is doing things with this team that have not always been done in the past.  People are finding ministries here in Battambang that they have passions for, but that they did not expect to be able to do here.  One example is a a girl on my team is a cosmetologist and never expected to be able to do that here.  Just yesterday she was able to  plan with the leaders of the organization how she could teach women who have been rescued from sex trafficking how to cut hair.  Here is a link to their site (http://www.raphahouse.org/#/what-we-do).  The place she is teaching is called the "Freedom Center".  It is part of an organization called "Rapha House".

     God is doing some amazing things here and its so fun to be apart of.  It's only just beginning, and already we can see that God is here and that God loves the Khmer people.  Its a privilege to be the instruments that God is using to love these people.  

You might not always see it on the outside, but inside many young people of this next generation is the passion and determination for change.

Meet Mohey, he's the cutest kid I've met here in Cambodia.


   I met him at Jeevit's House (http://jeevitshouse.org/).  It's a place
    that helps out the neighborhood and beyond.  They supply food to families and children are often invited to play in the yard.

   This is the Phsar Nath Market.  You can find knock-offs for just 
   about anything.  Some "Nike" or "Puma" shoes can be bought for 
     only $10.

 Not much of mall, but this is called the Battambang Mall.  Its   
   mostly empty as the city is being more developed in this area.



The base leader, Garth, is trying to keep his title as pit spitting champion at our 4th of July day party.



Garth failed to spit a pit further than this DTS Staffer named Pok













   Road 3 in Battambang.  There's never a lack of motos or any 
  vehicles on this road.























Josie, one of my teammates is sipping some coke in the best way possible... a glass bottle.



   Some beautiful children from a village about 15 minutes away by 
  tuk tuk.