Good Bye Again

Dubstruck at how fast 3 weeks can go by. Amazed at the differences in our group. Blessed at the sight of children at the feet of Christ. In love with the culture. Excited for the next adventure. Teary for what we leave behind.

"a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them in, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to be silent and a time to speak" Ecc 3:4-5, 7

What a journey we have been on here. We have watched some of the best laid plans fall apart. We have seen some scattered, thrown together projects come together beautifully. We have witnessed Gods work and love in a country in desperate need. We came as friends, leaving as a troop, tired from battle but bound together by the memories of what happens when you spend 3 weeks serving the poorest.

The words of As We Gather play over and over in my mind. The last part says it best, "Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship, you'll be blessed because you came. Lord we've come to praise your name."

My heart is heavy and eyes full as we spend our last day here. Forever we will remember the sound of 80 khmer prayers, sounding off all at once on our behalf. Children and adults standing and kneeling tightly around us praying for our lives, our safety, our walks with Christ, thanking Him for sending us.

Wait a minute, isnt that what we came here to do for them?

Happy Thanksgiving

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks unto the Holy One

Because He's Given Jesus Christ


His Son

And now, let the weak say I am strong

Let the poor say I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done

For us

Give thanks.

Give thanks.

So Much To Do So Little Time

We have been packing the days with things to accomplish so much so that we have hardly had a minute to rest. At night, by the time dinner is cooked and cleaned up, the kids are bathed and in bed, I am exhausted and I fall into bed asleep before my head is on the pillow. Typically weekends have a slower pace and more free time. Not so on this trip. We learned that the only time to see ALL of the kids at CPCDO we needed to be there on the weekend. We already had plans with the Sovanapoom kids too so that meant we had to keep moving and get to everybody. Saturday we took the older girls from Sovanapoom shopping for fabric for projects of their choice. This is a real treat for them. Shopping in the city is something the LOVE but also to have their own money to spend and on a project that they choose is special. Top it off with a lunch at KFC and you have some happy girls!

After that we raced over to CPCDO to sing and play with them. We also were quite pleased with ourselves to find shoes that morning for $1.25 each. We brought 25 pair or so and handed those out. Needless to say we needed more shoes. We went to a different market Sunday before church and found more shoes for $.50 - $.75. Crazy prices here. Another 40 pair or so, now we think they are set. Our time at CPCDO is sweet and we have built relationships with them. They know our names and keep reminding us of theirs. I am getting better at the name game. I always try to find a word that is similar to it and really really really try not to forget. Hard when there is so many.

Sunday included the feeding program where 1620 people came to hear the gospel and receive their two packages of noodles. I love the feeding program, it is a highlight every week. We crossed the river again to make it to church with the brief shopping trip thrown in too. Church at New Life is an experience for sure, I enjoyed it. Course, I enjoy any church! A quick lunch then off to CPCDO to sew bags with the kids. I love how they are all about anything you have to teach here. We handed out the material and they were off like shots. It was very sweet. Now they all have little drawstring bags for themselves. Very sweet. The Sovanapoom kids made them too which means that we have helped make somewhere around 100 little bags! Too funny. Ryan like to help with this project, he sure knows how to line everyone out. It was fun to watch him. They were all sitting on the ground and he would hold up a pin and say "This is a pin. Does anyone need one of these? Anyone? A Pin? Does anyone need a pin?" then he would go on to needle and then thread. They would just stare... and smile. I love it.

Lori is trying hard to manage the mountain of sewing projects that have landed in her lap. I can hear the buzz of the machine as I type. She has been sewing since 7 this morning and it is after dinner now. Tomorrow is going to be another early morning, leaving here at 6am to be there by 7. I dont normally go until 7, however this time I forgot my homework! I have a pile of little hearts and gingerbread men to cut out in the morning.

The guys finished making bridges to go over the unfinished basement trenches. They look great and get lots of traffic. I think you could drive a car across them, they are very sturdy! They raised the bunk beds at CPCDO so that they are not wet in the rainy season, that will help Im sure. There is a return trip to the farm being planned. The well driller should be setting up on Thursday so they are leaving that morning to watch the progress.

I think everyone is feeling a sense of urgency as we try and fit in all that we want to see and do. Our schedule remains full and we are happy have it that way. We are in the home stretch of our trip and that is bittersweet.

When Words Are Not Enough

This has really been an emotional week for me. Being here again feels as if we never left. I only feel more and more tight with these kids and see more and more need around me. I keep pretending we arent leaving so soon. The real topper for me is the other orphanage we have been visiting. This place is near our New Tribes friends home and is a place they have been trying to establish relationship and connection. The guys wanted to do some work around there but the list is so very long and the time short and the money getting thin. Try to imagine living in this place with no shoes, now picture it during the rainy season when there is at least 7 inches of standing water. Or being a baby here, lying on the tables playing, eating, sleeping and of course with no diaper. They usually run out of money for them to have formula late in the month, they were out when we saw them and were drinking sweetened condensed milk. The "cook" prepares food for 70+ children on two buckets of hot coals. Refrigeration and hot water are out of the question. We tried to mend a few of their clothes, but many were beyond repair. So full of holes and so thin that the stitches would pull through. It broke my heart. What child deserves to live in a dark, wet, rat infested shack with meager food to sustain them? I tried so hard to learn their names. To put a name with their sad face. To KNOW them as they so desperately wanted to be known. Sadly I can remember only a couple and feel as if I failed. These are real children in a real place with real hopes and dreams. Children that should be outside playing on swings and building forts, not living here, not like this. I feel haunted by this place, the crying babies with no arms to run to, the dead hopelessness in the young girls eyes. This is a Christian organization funded by a church in Hong Kong. Let this be a lesson to us all that being a Christian does not mean we are always right. Being a Christian leader does not mean that you always make the right decisions. Sadly when many of those unwise decisions are made in succession, you can impact many and end up with a place like CPCDO. Jesus help us.

Wheres The SUV When You Need It?

I know I havent been writing as much on this trip. Sorry to my faithfuls. Shelby and Lori have really enjoyed their time blogging and I am happy to let them use our one internet cord. We did go to another orphanage yesterday. If I can I will post a few pictures. Honestly I am really not ready to talk about it. I am still a bit angry about the whole thing. What is there to be said?

The last couple days we have been hauling building materials, teaching supplies and a few other odds and ends that we managed to get over here to the orphanage across the river. It is interesting to get anything from point A to point B here, I always find it amusing. Here are pictures of us trying to get a pack-n-play and bedding in a tuktuk. Even Cambodia has bungee cords!

From The Heart

Typically I share with you what is on my mind and a bit of what is in my heart. Today I feel led to share more heart and less mind (a bit of a scary place to be I might add). Church yesterday left me reeling, so much so that I journaled what was going on in this head of mine. I am just going to share what I wrote and hope it makes sense.
I just need to take a minute and write out the fullness of my heart. It is hard to put words around the emotions of being amongst these children and their "leaders." Church services in Khmer are only a joyful noise to me but what a noise it is. Watching these children praise, worship, pray, sit and explore any teaching or song presented is incredible. At least 10 children were saved thru faith in Jesus Christ. Also among them was the mother of Lita, Lakina, and Bopar. What a privilege to welcome them to the cross. I am reminded of why we support, love, and work for and with Sovannapoom. We are offered the chance to watch Jesus change lives, to see Light cast our darkness, to see God high and lifted up. It is as if I am living out every praise song in my mind, that feeling of surrender, worship and awe culminating at the sight of these children getting a renewed chance at love, a cleaned slate and a new beginning. Thank you Father for the revelation of yourself not only to them but to me. What a humble sweet blessing it is to worship among the saints.

What A Day....

Wow, today was packed with wild sights and laughs as we introduced the newcomers to Cambodia's random craziness. This morning the gals and most of the kids went to a little market near our apartment and shopped for a few household items. I ate a coconut waffle that was one of the best things I have ever tasted here, of course it was made on an iron that was sitting on top of a bucket with a fire in it, but... if you could get past where it came from it really was good (or legit, as I now know a new cool word.)! Kenden was all about it, he ate most of it while I packed him in his backpack (where is James when I need him?).

The guys went to the Garden Center for breakfast, a fav from the last trip. They made shopping lists for their projects and tried to get a plan together for the coming week. Honestly, I think we had more fun than they did, I am not a huge fan of the Garden Center for sure.

Next we went to Wat Phnom. Remarkably different from the last time we were there, better this time with more to look at and more people to watch. The latter is always a plus.

Lunch on the riverfront then off to Oresay market, definitely one of the more colorful ones in town. Maybe a little to much for some of our group but I must say that I totally love the markets. It is fascinating how these people live so differently than we do. You cant begin to understand them, or converse with them unless you can relate to their lives. Seeing how people work and eat says alot, again, fascinating.

We just finished dinner here at the apartment. It is fun to all eat together and rehash the days events. So far things are good and going as planned, well that is if we had a plan.

~Yes, those are crickets!