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.