Goodbyes

     It has arrived.  The end of my time here in Battambang.  Today I had to say my first goodbyes as it was the last time I'll be going to Ghost Head Village.  It was difficult, but the hardest goodbyes will be to the orphanage children on thursday and all of my students on friday.  I'm not looking forward to having to say goodbye to the people I've loved and poured into for 2 months.  But with our time here ending that means there is a new beginning.  

     Our team will have one week in Poipet, aka the armpit of Cambodia.  We don't have much of a plan, but we are going to trust God to lead and guide our team while we are there.  There is no lack of pain, struggle, prostitution, trafficking, sex slavery, gambling, alcoholism, poverty, racism, and many other things in this city.  It's right on the Thai border leaving it almost a safe haven from all authority.  Cambodian government looks the other way from all that goes on in this place because it is so close to the border.  I'm excited for our time there.  I believe we will really be able to shine in the midst of intense darkness.  We will have to be bold and overcome the fear that will hit us when trying to minister to the people.  

     We will leave for the 3 hour journey to Poipet this Saturday and from there we will make our way across the Thai border to Bangkok the following Saturday.  We will spend about two days in the city, getting to experience all that is Bangkok.  We will make our final journey to an island called Koh Samet where we will have to take a boat in order to experience its beautiful white beaches.  Entering Thailand means the end of our outreach and the final stage to my DTS. 

      Although it's nearly finished, God is not. There is much more He wants to use our team for and much more He wants to do to love the Khmer people.  It is up to us how much we want to see Him grow us and use us in this final stage of our journey.  He's waiting, we just have to be willing.  

    Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, its not that I haven't been taking any.  It takes awhile to get them all edited and uploaded.  There will be many to come in the future when my schedule is not so full.  Thank you all for supporting me during this time and for taking the time to read.  Your prayers are changing things and helping me a lot.  Continue to pray for these last couple of weeks.  I want to go back to Kona with a bang, knowing that I did my part here in this amazing country.  

Angkor Wat

This is Angkor Wat.  Built in the early 12th century I'm pretty sure this is the oldest thing I've ever seen, touched or photographed.  Luckily the sky cleared up just enough to get this shot with a little bit of blue sky.  It began to rain as we walked up to the temple, but I looked around and saw that it must just be a passing cloud.  Me and a couple other friends hung around for about 2 hours walking all around and in the temple.  The skies cleared and we walked out to this perfect spot in front of the water.  It was an amazing day touring various temples.  The whole area where the temples are is bigger than the city of Siem Reap where they are located.  I'll post some of the pictures in the near future along with more details from my trip to Siem Reap.  For now you can enjoy this one.  It's probably a once in a life time opportunity, but you never know...

Around Town

   Have a look and see Battambang for yourself.  

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Ghost Head Village

     I realized that I hadn't mentioned anything about the village yet.  Every Monday and Thursday me and a few others take the 20 minute tuk tuk ride out to Ghost Head Village.  The first 10 minutes of the ride are fine. It's all paved road, the only thing you have to worry about is the dust that pollutes the air whenever a car or truck goes by.  Getting things in my eye has become almost as common as blinking while on a tuk tuk.  Street cleaning does not exist here and somehow I feel like even if it did, it wouldn't make much of a difference.  The second half of the ride is on a dirt/mud road.  Sometimes we have to get out and push the tuk tuk out of a ruts or puddles of mud.  Not often but when there's 5 or 6 people in the tuk tuk it can get pretty heavy.  The air here is a little better because there aren't many cars that ride this road.  Mostly just motos and Cambodia's version of a tractor.  The thing to worry about here are the potholes.  There are too many to drive around and sometimes I feel like the driver only dodges for his moto up front and not all of us riding in the back.  Praying on the way is usually humorous when we can't even get the words out because of the pothole situation.  Some places the ruts are a foot or two deep.  I'm not sure how the tuk tuk is still functioning because of the beating it takes every day.

     Eventually we do arrive, and arriving is a relief.  We are greeted by many smiling faces that are awaiting our hugs.  The lack of attention and hugs some of them get during the week is made up quite well in the time that we are there.  Today I sat with a young boy for about an hour and not once did he get fidgety or want to get down.  We played together and with another little girl who also loved all of the attention.  It was hot and a little sweaty, but worth the time spent and loved shared in that brief hour.  At first time spent like this didn't feel like it was enough.  I thought there must be more to loving people and showing them God's love.  After a day like today when it's easy to see that all they want is to be held and given attention, it feels ok. 

     I was able to share a little about Moses with the children today.  There were so many there was hardly room for them to sit.  We were interrupted briefly by some boys who had taken a lizard and put it on a leash.  They enjoyed laughing at people as they flung it towards them.  It was soon followed by a number of screams from the little girls who were trying to get a close look, but definitely not that close.  They would pick it up and just let it hang on the leash.  With this as an example and many other things I've seen here in Cambodia, not too many people believe in a thing we like to call animal cruelty.  Once all the drama had ceased we began class again and they kids struggled to pay attention as I taught them about Moses.  I was able to throw in a few things about God and few life application bits.  This is pretty typical when it comes to teaching here.  Us talking and them struggling to pay attention.  But things do get through to them.  They remember our stories and they are getting stronger in their faith.  It has been the dedication of others before us that has opened this place up to the Gospel.  Buddhism is still here, but it is slowly losing its power to that of the Lord of Lords.  It's a joy to share about God in a remote place where they are excited to hear.  We also teach them English a few days a week.  Everyone wants to learn English, including the children out in the village.

      After the teaching time we play games as a group and the boys always get the volleyballs out to play on their newly made volleyball court.  Here, you only need two people to play a game of volleyball and if you have more that's just a bonus.  I don't think they know what a game of 6 on 6 even looks like.  Besides all of that we spend time hearing their stories and just spending time with them.  This is my favorite time, when I can sit and do the best I can at communicating with the children.  They love hearing our attempts at speaking Khmer and we try to encourage their attempts at speaking English. 

     It's a place where there are strong demonic powers.  Children suffer from nightmares where they are being chased and wanted dead.  Others have been physically tormented by demons and there is great fear among some of the people.  They need spiritual protection.  There is a definite battle going on here and we hope to shed light in the darkness.  God is moving and God is changing things here, but there is still work to be done.  There is still a shrine where incense is burned to the ancestors, and not all believe in Jesus.  We hope that our time here has helped fight the powers of darkness.  We bring love, joy and peace and that is a pretty good attack against the fear and torment that some of these children are going through.  Keep Ghost Head Village in your prayers and that we can bring light to this place that is very much in need of it.  

Life at the Orphanage

      I wanted you to get a little glimpse of what life at the orphanage for these kids looks like.  There are lots of animals, it's like a small farm here.  They have Geese, pigs, dogs, cats, chickens, and turkeys. Just this past week one dog had little puppies and two of the pigs had piglets.  Chhun Ly, her daughters and some of the other older girls cook the meals for the orphanage every day.  Whenever we go to visit they are busy plucking chickens, preparing rice, and peeling and cutting the different spices.  And they add a lot of spices to their food here.  Everyday Rosh and Srey Mom are working with the pigs.  They clean their pens, make sure the new piglets are each getting enough milk from the mother, and they wash the pigs with water they get from a nearby jug of rain water.  Living here doesn't mean you get a free ride.  Many of the kids work hard to keep this place going.  Some of the older boys study English all of the time.  I get to help correct some of their work and help with pronunciation when I go.  They love having the help and having someone to study their English with.  Most Cambodians are excited to learn English and take every chance they get to learn it.  I love being able to so easily entertain the younger boys and girls when we go.  It takes nothing for these kids to have a great time.  They have so little, just us being there is exciting for them.  Arriving is one of the best times that I have had here.  Being greeted with so many hellos and hugs.  At first the greetings were very formal, but now they run to us with hugs and like little monkeys clinging to each of us.

      We recently got to paint the inside of the church with all the kids.  We made a mess on the floor that took a lot of cleaning but it was great to get the kids involved on the project.  Some really worked hard and some worked hard for a few minutes until running around the room playing tag looked more fun.  We had lots of little blue foot print marks all over the floor.  Apparently the paint here is too thick and so we had to add gasoline to it.  I'm thinking that wouldn't work with the fire code in the states, but here it works I guess.  We still have more to paint but the church looks much better and much more inviting.  For our next project we are having all the kids make their own picture frames from scrap wood they find in the orphanage.  They tie them with wire or vines or anything else they can find.  We plan to print pictures of the kids and the orphanage and put those in their frames.  I'll have to make their frames a little more sturdy from supplies at the hardware store but they have done a great job making them so far.  I can't wait to see all the pictures of them hanging around the orphanage in the picture frames they made.  They can have a sense of pride knowing that they help create the artwork that decorates the place.  The walls are very plain now and we want to give the place a little life even after we are gone.

   The church is on the bottom and most of the kids rooms are on the top.

    Squatty potty anyone?

    On the left is where some of the older boys sleep.  On the right are the pig pens.

    Here is one of the girls rooms.

    Cheak and David enjoying their Coke and Sprite!

    This is one of the small boys rooms.

   Up on the balcony where all of the girls rooms are. 

    Cheak and his drawing inspired by the pictures of NYC I was showing the kids.

 Cheers!

    They waste no parts of the chicken.

    Here is the inside of the church building.

    Srey Mom is washing down the pig pens and the pigs

    Cheak and David being themselves.

   This gets pretty muddy after the rain, which is just about every day.

    Thoue caught a bunch of fish and even some snakes in his trap.

    A little glimpse of the how things are cooked here.

    The door to the church.

    The geese with attitude.

   The kitchen and sleeping area where the older boys sleep.

 

   The view from the back of the balcony.

    Me showing the kids pictures from all the places I've been.

   The pigs were intrigued by my camera.

   This mother is very protective.  She tried attacking me when I wasn't even near her puppies! 

    Another one of the girls room.

   A side view of their main building

       Smey and his coke.  It's been awesome to see him warm up to us over the past couple of months.

   Somnang getting lunch ready.

    Srey Mom worked hard painting and removing the paint from the floor.  She's always got a smile    and is always ready with a hug.

    Their sandals get too muddy to keep on when going up stairs or entering any room.

    Getting that wall looking blue and shiney.

   Thoue the fisherman.

        A view from the balcony.

AT $50 a piece these pigs can help fund the orphanage.