High School Students + Remote Village Part 3

Here is the conclusion of Abby's account of our trip to the village. It truly was privilege to be able to serve Christ in this way. Thanks for sharing!

As the brisk morning began to unfold many of us once again were woken up by one of our neighbors playing obnoxious Khmer music through speakers. Most, if not all, of us woke up with a mix of joy and sadness because we would be leaving a wonderful village with wonderful people in just over 4 hours. And yet again, for breakfast we all met at the little “restaurant” for some delicious Mama noodles, eggs, and instant coffee. Nearing the end of breakfast about all of the guys and a few of the girls (including me) left to go and check on the lady who had sliced her foot open the night before and the little girl who had an oil burn. When we arrived at the woman’s house we noticed that the bleeding had not leaked through the guase that my dad wrapped around her ankle. That is one of the things that we had prayed for nonstop the previous night. After the visit ended at the lady’s house we made our way to the sweet little girl’s house. When we arrived at her home her parents communicated to us that her fever had gone down a fair amount. Praise God! And her burn was already looking better. When I was making my way back to the Chief’s house with Victoria we talked about how we were all brought here to this village for a few reasons and purposes. A few being that if we would not have come in the time that we did the lady would have possibly died and the little girl would have been severely injured. So, again we all praised God when we arrived back at the house.


Soon after we came back from visiting the little girl and the woman we were all packed and ready to start the 5 kilometer hike again. I have to mention that I think that it was a bitter-sweet moment for all of us. We had all gotten attached to the village and its residents. The people there are some of the sweetest people on earth. As the 5k walk began many of us had the wonderful idea to try and get a cart to take our stuff to the van for us. But as it turned out, we ended up not getting a cart for our luggage, so we swung our backpacks on our backs and started walking. In the middle of the long walk Stephen grabbed his iPod and my speakers and started blasting all sorts of different music through them. As he did this it interrupted many of the conversations that were going on at the time, but it turned out to be okay. As a result, many if not all of us joined in singing to Hillsong, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Carrie Underwood, and many other artists. While we were having fun singing and jumping to the beat of the music I heard so many laughs coming out of my friends mouths. For me, it was an awesome time. Not only because it really helped pass the time of the walk, but it was fun to all be singing our hearts out again. As the 5k came to an end, and we reached the van I looked around and everyone was sitting under a tree in the shade with soaking wet shirts from sweat.

After about a 20 minute rest we piled all of our luggage and ourselves into the hot van and headed back to Phnom Penh. During the ride back to Phnom Penh we all did the same thing that we had done as our journey began on Sunday morning. We got Pierre’s guitar and Peter’s iPod and started singing and playing music together. About 3 hours into our trip home, which actually felt more like 45 minutes because of the music, we stopped at a shop/restaurant in a village for some lunch. When we all got settled down in our seats around the table we all ordered some pork and rice. Although noodles and eggs were an option, no one wanted it. While we were all scarfing down our rice and pork my dad had the idea for us all to go around the table and share our high and low part of the trip. When each of us were going around the table sharing our thoughts of the trip I noticed that a lot of us had the same highs and lows. There were also some people whose highs were someone else’s lows and vice versa.

When we finished lunch we once again piled into the van and continued our trip back to PP for three more hours. When those hours came to an end we made our way to Logos and climbed out of the van where we all went in our own separate directions. It was sad to see the awesome trip to Kraviek come to an end. But hopefully we can go back to the village again.

My short testimony of the trip:

This trip changed me so much. Because before the trip even began I knew a lot of the people who were coming with on the trip but I didn’t know them well. To be honest I was scared that during the trip that I would stay quiet and I wouldn’t talk very much. However, God really changed me while we were serving the people in Kraviek. I became closer to a lot of people and I am not as shy as I used to be. Also, I am so thankful for all 17 of the people who came on the trip with me. I could not have asked for any other 17 people to share this adventure with. God knew who was going on the trip and what was going to happen while we were out there before any of us did. And he also made the timing of this trip perfect for each of us.

This trip was amazing in so many ways, and I honestly wish I didn’t have to leave the village and go back to school. I would give anything to go back out there and eat noodles, eggs and instant coffee for three days or even a week.

High School Students + Remote Village Part 2

Here is Abby's account of Day 2 in the village:

The next morning we all woke up to our neighbor blasting our ears with crazy Khmer music through at 5:30, and also to the cold, brisk air blasting the rest of our bodies. I crawled out of my hammock with my blanket wrapped around my shoulders and went to the little “restaurant” where hot instant coffee was waiting for me. Soon after I arrived at the “restaurant” more of our team members started to wake up and come over to get coffee. A little later into the morning after we all shared a nice breakfast of Mama noodles, coffee, and eggs we changed back at the house and made our way up to the little schoolhouse where we were going to share our awesome Bible lessons with the village kids. However, God had different plans. When we arrived at the school house we found that there were about 8-10 kids at the school who had just finished being taught by two men who were being supported by the government to come to the village to teach the kids. They explained to us that it is hard to teach the kids because they are working in the rice fields all day long, and they don’t have the supplies to teach the children properly. So, the teachers asked us if we could bring pencils, crayons, note books, and other supplies for the children. And sure enough that is what we had packed along in our backpacks for the kids! I think it is so cool to see that before we had gone to the village God had already planned for us to bring all of the supplies that the children needed, and also that what we were going to bring was just what the teachers asked us to do. God is so awesome


After we finished talking to the teachers some of the kids had started to leave because they had to start on their chores in the rice fields. For a few minutes we thought about waiting until the afternoon to do our lessons. Then Ms. Harris had the idea for a few of us to go walk through the village to try and get some kids to come to the school house with us. So, Deborah, Dillon, Tia, Ms. Harris and I walked through the village for about and hour trying to find kids to come with us back to the school house. At many of the houses that we stopped at in the beginning there were kids at home who were either too scared to come with us or they were working with their parents in the rice fields. I have to admit that I wanted to give up looking for kids and asking them to follow us, but then I said to myself, “What would Jesus do? I bet he wouldn’t just stop looking for children because it was hot outside and wanted to do his own thing.” As a result of that I decided to press on in the heat and do what God would want to see me do. While we were walking through the village, we came across a house where a little girl was laying on a table and 3 adults were watching the little girl. When we walked up to the people and the little girl we asked what was wrong with the girl. The adults communicated to us that the young girl had gotten an oil burn two days before we arrived in the village. Not only did the innocent girl have a bad oil burn, but she had a high fever and her skin started to get very hot and red looking. Before we left that house we decided to pray over the little girl, and that God would heal her completely and take her fever away and also to make it so that her burn did not get infected anymore. Later on that day, my dad came back to that little girl’s house and treated and covered her burn and gave her some medicine for pain and for her fever.

When we left the little girls house and made our way back to the school house there were at least 15 kids sitting in their desks waiting to be taught. I was so shocked and amazed to see so many kids at the school house who had stopped working in the fields with their parents just to come listen to what we were going to share with them, what had burning in our hearts to share with them ever since we heard that we were assigned to this trip. Yet again we can see how God was already working in the hearts of these young wonderful children, and the hearts of my team and me. God is so good!

After we finished two awesome lessons with the kids David and Goliath, and the creation story we took an hour break and went to have Mama Noodles, eggs, and coffee. Then we gathered the kids again and led them down to the river where we were going to give the children baths and get them all cleaned up. About half of the kids who had been at the school house followed us down to the river to get cleaned up. While we were down at the river I saw about 4 young girls who were afraid to get into the water and play with us, so I decided to get out of the water and I walked over to them, talked to them for a few minutes then asked if they wanted to get their nails painted. They all said yes immediately. So, I sat on the rocks and in the dirt cleaning the dirt out from under their nails and painting them in brilliant colors. The rest of the students either played ball with the kids in the river, helped paint nails or scrubbed the hair of the village kids. Right before we left the river we hung a large rope from a large log that fell over the river. It made a really fun rope swing for the kids.

When we came back from the river most of us changed into our PJ’s for the night and talked and hung out for a while. Soon it was time for another round of Mama Noodles, eggs, and coffee. A few minutes after we got settled for dinner and started eating our noodles and eggs about 10 Khmer people came up to us and waited until they got our attention. When we finally noticed that they were there they explained to us that an old lady had sliced her foot open with one of the tools that you use to cut weeds with. Immediately almost all of the guys on our team dropped their cup of noodles and were headed towards the woman’s house, including my dad with his first-aid kit. Time flew by when the guys were gone and finally I couldn’t take it anymore because I was so scared for the lady and no one had come back to tell us if she was okay or not. I said that we should all gather in a circle and pray for the lady, and that God would give my dad and the other guy’s wisdom to help the woman. After we finished praying the guys came back and told us that the lady had sliced open one of the arteries in her foot and if they had not gotten to her house and fixed her foot when they did, the lady would have slipped into a coma because she lost so much blood. When I heard the news I was so thankful that we were in the village that weekend. If we hadn’t been, the lady with the cut foot might have slipped into a coma and maybe never would have come out of it. And who knows? The little girl’s oil burn might have gotten badly infected and something might have happened to her.

Later that night we had worship time and again, quite a few Khmer people came to watch us sing. During the time that we were worshiping a Khmer lady asked Deborah what our purpose for singing was. And Deborah told her that we were singing because we were praising our Father in Heaven, and giving thanks to Him for all of the amazing things that He has done for us. After Deborah explained that to the lady I saw an expression on her face that I had never seen before. It was almost as if she understood. When the worship time was finished Ms. Harris and my dad decided that we should all walk up to the schoolhouse and have devotions. When we reached the schoolhouse we all gathered in a circle and sat on the desks. It was pitch black outside except for a few dim flashlights that a few of us brought along to make the atmosphere a little more comfortable. As the devotion time began, my dad spoke from two different scriptures, Matthew 14:22-33 and Psalm 37:4. While my dad was talking every once in a while he would stop and ask us questions about what was happening and he also applied some of what was happening in the scriptures to his own life, like what had happened with his previous job. As my dad closed up his talk, a few people took a courageous step to share some of their testimony with us all (I’m not going to name the people.) Anyway, as the testimonies continued to pour out of the hearts and souls of my friends and classmates I could feel Satan trying to make us scared and not believe in God. I am so glad that I can lean on the truth that God is so much more powerful than the Enemy.

As the wonderful devotion time came to an end, my dad and a few others prayed to God and thanked Him for bringing all 17 of us students together to a tiny remote village so that we might become closer to each other and to our Creator. When we started making our way back down the trail that would lead us back to our hammocks, many of us walked without saying a word to one another. Some of us were still replaying the scene that we had just witnessed at the schoolhouse in our minds. Some of us probably didn’t know how to react at the moment. When we arrived back at the Chief’s house many of us grabbed our toothbrush’s and brushed our teeth and got ready to crawl into our hammocks for the night.

Our students helped wash the kids' hair in the river.

Some kids waiting for us to do our program for them.

Giggly girl enjoying time with our students.

Treating a little girl's leg. She had a fever and a bad oil burn. Praying she recovers.

Abby doing one of the things she loves most.

Abby and the rest of the girls on our team took time to clean under the girl's nails and then paint them.

Beauty time in the river.

High School Students + Remote Village Part 1

Last weekend I had the pleasure of taking 13 students and 3 other leaders with me out to the tiny, remote village of Kraviek. We had a great time and really saw the Lord move in this "uttermost part" region of the world. In the 36 hours after returning, Abby wrote about 6 pages chronicling our time there. I would like to share it with you in its entirety...but over the course of 3 different posts since it is quite long. I hope you enjoy.

Here is the first day:

It was Sunday morning when all 17 of us students and supervisors gathered at Logos and started to pile into a 15 passenger van that would lead us to a tiny village where we had no idea what was ahead of us…or what was going to happen. The car ride was very enjoyable because the whole 5 hours we were singing our hearts out with every song that we knew accompanied by Peter and Pierre who were playing the mini guitar. On the way to the village we made a stop at some hot springs where we had a nice lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chips…etc. We also hung out for a little while by the extremely hot water. Then we continued the adventure toward Kraviek. After a very bumpy, slow trek we arrived at the village where we would leave our van. We all started to unpack our luggage from the van and prepared ourselves to walk 5 kilometers…in the heat and through river crossings on a path through the jungle. Besides our bags of clothes and hammocks that we had brought for the 3 day trip ahead of us, we had boxes of water and Mama noodles that we purchased earlier that morning which all had to be brought with us as well. I have to admit that many of us had complained a few times about the walk, and how horrible it will be to walk in the scorching hot sun not to mention the fact that we had extra bags on our backs but Pierre had a great attitude and encouraged us by reminding us that we needed to keep our attitudes in the right spot. God brought us out in the middle of nowhere for a reason and we were going to the village to serve our Father, not for our own benefit.


The walk lasted about one and a half to two hours long. During that time we came across a few ox carts that offered us a ride to the village. Although we all wanted the ride the price was too high. However, we managed to get the price down from $12 to $7.50. Since we had bargained down the price with the Khmer people we took the ride and piled all of our luggage and food onto the cart, long with Daehan, Deborah, Stephen, Dillon, and me. Surprisingly enough our driver for the ox cart was a little boy that was about 10-12 years old. The ride on the ox cart was a great adventure. At least I thought so, even though the cart did almost flip over a few times because of the bumpy roads. While Deborah, Stephen and I were holding onto each other and the luggage for dear life and trying to not fall off into the mud, Daehan was in the very front of the cart swinging his hands in the air saying, “everyone lean left, lean right!!” haha. When we arrived at the Chiefs house in the village we thanked the young boy for driving us through the mud to our destination.

Soon after we arrived in the village we started setting up out hammocks in the cow shed and in trees. Then we decided to go the river to wash the sweat, dirt, and mud off of our bodies. In my opinion, the river was actually pretty nice because the water was cool, clean and it allowed us the chance to get “cleaned” up. After we dried off from being in the river we walked back through the village and to the Chief’s house where some of the guys (Aaron, Pierre, and Peter) picked up their guitars and started playing worship music. They played music for a little while but had to take a break for dinner. We walked across the dirt road to a little “restaurant” that was run by a man and his son. This is where we ate our meals every day that we were in the village. For every meal we had one package of Mama Noodles, one hard-boiled egg, and as much instant coffee as we wanted. To be honest, after the second or third meal I was already sick of having the same thing for breakfast, lunch and, dinner. After dinner we went back to playing guitars and singing together. Before we knew it, time had flown by and it soon got dark and there was a crowd of about 20-30 people who came to watch us sing. It was fun having people watch us sing praises to God. I had to keep telling myself to give the glory to God and to not draw attention towards myself. After we finished singing at about 8 pm many of us kids gathered in a circle with Ms. Harris and talked about last year’s chapel when Satan and Jesus were having a battle in front of all of our eyes. As the conversation continued I shared with my friends and Ms. Harris that lately I have had a feeling to share my testimony with the school. However, every time I want to do it I feel the time is never right. So as I was finishing up talking Pierre and Stephen told me that if it is something that I feel like I want to do, and that I also feel like God is telling me I should, then I should share my testimony with the school. As the conversation ended that night around 9 o’clock I went to my hammock feeling blessed to have friends who cared for me and encouraged me to do the right thing during the conversation.

 

I will post day 2's adventures in a few days. Thanks for reading!

Kids in the Hood

I have been so blessed for the past year to be overseeing our Neighborhood Kids Outreach ministry. We have been pleasantly surprised and blown away how it has really taken off over the past few months. For all of the last school year I lead it while incorporating students from my Service Leadership class at Logos. We were thrilled when we had 2 dozen neighborhood kids show up. We would share a story with them, play with them and occasionally have them swim in our pool. Then over the summer some of our short-term teams engaged with the outreach and some of the Khmer teaching assistants from Logos really plugged in. That is when it took off. We are now having on average 140 kids come every Saturday. What a blessing!


Here is what a typical Saturday looks like during the outreach:

• 12:30 - our volunteers begin arriving.This is when we pray for the day and and talk through any changes. Simultaneously dozens of kids are lining up outside our gates.

• 1:00 we open the gates and a flood of sweet, smiling faces begin to swarm in. There is so many smiles and so much laughter. It is amazing to watch.

• 1:15 we corral all of the kids into the gym. We divide the kids into 3 groups which are roughly categorized by age/size. Some kids aren't sure exactly how old they are. Grades levels aren't a sure-fire way to divide kids either since in a 3rd grade class you might have an 8-year-old studying along side a 14-year-old. During this time we sing some songs and do some quick participation contests. This time really gets all of us energized.

• 1:30 each of the 3 groups go to their first "station". We have 3 stations: Bible/English in the gym; games and soccer on the playground and soccer field; swimming in the pool. At 2:00 the groups rotate to the next station and then again at 2:30. These activities are such a blessing to the kids. They rarely, if ever, get to play soccer on grass. It is either dirt or concrete. Similarly, the option of swimming in a pool is nearly non-existent for them. It is so fun to watch their enjoyment. We also provide them with shower facilities and soap before the pool time. For most of them, that is the only time all week that they can get cleaned up in a real shower.

• 3:00 all of the kids have now been to each of the 3 areas and have hopefully felt loved on and cared for.

• 3:10 after having the neighborhood kids line up and giving them any instructions they may need for the following week, they are dismissed to leave...until next Saturday.

An exciting new development from this outreach is a SIS (school in school) at Logos. It is a program run by our Khmer TA's that helps some neighborhood kids get caught up to where they should be in their education. We offer it free of charge from 5:00-6:30 Mon - Fri. The focus is the Khmer language but many academic subjects are addressed. It is just another way we are trying to love on those around us. God has blessed us so we want to spread it around. Hope you enjoy the pictures.



The whole group last Saturday



Alex helping out in the pool

Me with an accomplice

Abby from behind during praise time

More pool fun

Abby and some friends scooping ice cream

This pic doesn't need a caption. Absolutely sweet!

Soccer time

Tire swings are a universal thing I guess.

Pchum Ben

A girl earnest in prayer with jasmine and incense sticks

Monks are usually overwhelmed with gifts during this time.

In Cambodia, we are just entering the Pchum Ben holiday season. This is one of the most important and widely celebrated holidays in Cambodia. For at least a couple of days, almost every Khmer-run business will be closed, including the popular markets for tourists. It also happens to be a highly religious holiday, one in which a lot of ancestor worship and fear of evil spirits is prevalent.
Pchum Ben means Ancestor's Day. The day falls on the 15th day of the 10th month on the Khmer calendar so it fluctuates some on the traditional Gregorian calendar. Buddhist monks at pagodas around the country chant for a full 24hours leading up to the actual day. They do this in preparation for, according to their belief system, the opening of the gates of hell. It is during this time that ghosts and spirits of the dead are free to roam the Earth. During this holiday season, most Cambodians travel to several different pagodas, likely near their home province, to leave food offerings. It is amazing to watch as people dressed in their best clothes file in and out of the grounds of the temples with elaborately decorated and packaged food gifts.  These are gifts of appeasement. Cambodians in general believe that if the spirit of one of their ancestors was to be released temporarily and went in search of food at a pagoda and didn't find any, they may be more inclined to curse them.

Gifts being brought to the temple.

Please pray for our family during this time. Pray that as we encounter many Khmer celebrating this holiday that we may have words to say to infuse truth into their hearts and minds. Pray also for protection as the spiritual oppression is more intense during this time. Finally, pray that God's love and the truth of His word would continue to penetrate the hearts of the Cambodian people.

Latest village adventure

Our truck slid off of a small bridge on the way. In all we spent about 3 1/2 hours stuck in mud on this trip. God always provided a way for us to get out though.

Distributing water filters

I am hanging the screen for our movie.

Right in front of the village chief's house people gather for the movie. Without electricity, this is probably the first time any of them have seen any type of video.

Right before we left, I handed out a lot of books and kids bibles.

Some of the local village residents after getting a new book.

My most recent trip to Kraviek village was both the most difficult and adventurous while getting there and also the most productive in terms of what we accomplished while there. We left on Tuesday morning (Sept 6, 2011). The first 4 hours were relatively uneventful. We knew that our last 12 miles would be the hardest...and that proved more true than we would have imagined :-). It was at the 12 mile mark where we turned off of a "major" dirt road and headed right toward the Cardamom mountains and Kraviek village. It was there that it began raining. This was the last thing we wanted since more rain = more mud. But we continued on and it wasn't long before it stopped raining. However, the damage had already been done. We still rolled along slowly through many rough spots until we encountered a very deep mud hole. It is so deep that no one tries to get through there now. The locals have actually made a "bypass" path to avoid this spot all together but that has now become impassable. So now they have built a bridge. Now the word "bridge" might be eliciting some images that would be incorrect in depicting the bridge that we encountered. It consisted of a few logs haphazardly placed together to allow motos and some cow drawn traileres to pass. I dont think they had in mind a heavy 4-wheel-drive truck when they built it. Nonetheless, we tried to pass...a couple of times. The last time we tried, the bridge actually partially collapsed sending the truck off the edge. It wasn't high but it does put the truck right into the deep mud. Some very kind and curious locals used their "tractor" to pull us out (actually twice). Again, don't assume anything when I say tractor. It is more like a self-propelled lawnmower engine connected to wheels pulling a wagon. Regardless, they were successful in pulling us out of the mud. Once again we were on our way. About 25 minutes later we were pulling into the village. A 5 hour trip turned into an almost 8 hour trip.
Once in the village, we were again greeted with open arms. First, we distributed 8 water filters to the villagers. Within 15 minutes of being there, we sold all of them for 10,000 riel each (which equates to about $2.50).  We didnt sell them to try and make money, but to give them a sense of appreciation and ownership of the filters and to also try and avoid creating or increasing a dependency/expectant attitude on their part. Every family that bought one seemed happy to have it.
After getting cleaned up and having a quick bowl of noodles, we began to set up for the video presentatioon. It was so fun to watch as most everyone in the village assembled at the village chief's house to watch a dramatic presentation of the Gospel: from creation to the resurrection. Although some ended up leaving, many stayed and watched the entire presentation. We are trusting that the truth's communicated in that movie would resonate and stay with the villagers.
The next morning we packed up to leave early since we didn't know how long it would take us to get back home. Right before we left, however, I distributed some kids books and bibles to many of the kids in the village. It was such a pleasure to watch them devour the books, young and old alike. Part of it is that they have very few if any books in the entire village. Regardless, I love the fact that they are poring over books about Christ.
On our way home, we averaged about 1 mph for the first 3 miles. Yep, 3 miles; 3 hours. About 15 minutes after we left the village, we got stuck again...for 1 hour 45 minutes this time. We weren't lucky enough to have a "tractor" help us this time. We had an ox cart driver hook up his cart and try and pull us out...to no avail. Eventually, we had about 8 khmer men help us get out. We had been stuffing logs and rocks under the tires to provide some traction. I was a bit skeptical when the locals began cutting green leafy branches off bushes and stuffing them under the tires. However, I figured that they had probably done this many times before so I just joined in and helped. With the new traction tactics, and myself and all of the guys pulling on a rope that was hooked to the truck, we finally found success. Once again we were on our way. A few minutes later we encountered the same bridge that had given us so much trouble just 15 hours before. This time we spent a while evaluating the bridge and widening it (a couple more logs and some strategically placed rocks). That was all we needed. We passed successfully and slowly but surely made it back to Phnom Penh.
Despite all of the excitement, we are so thankful for the opportunity to bring the Gospel to so many great people and are already looking forward to our next trip. Please enjoy the video.  If you are interested in joining one of these adventures, email me at dohlin@asianhope.org.
If you would liket to donate to help us to continue making a difference in these small villages, click on this link:  https://secure.qgiv.com/for/?key=MRLAKT2DSXG9BXJ6QDVE; select donate to staff and select "ohlin" on the drop down menu.
Thank you so much for joining us on this journey.

The Rainy Season

So what is the rainy season like here? Wet.

Safety violations?

Life goes on as usual.

A boy doing chores (collecting cans) despite the rain.

Thanks so much for reading.




More detail? Okay, I will give you a glimpse into the rainy season here. The rainy season in Cambodia goes from May - October with the wettest months being Sept and Oct. We receive about 55 - 60 inches of rain every year. October is typically the wettest month with an average of 10 inches. A typical day during this season will be nice and sunny in the morning and into the afternoon. Then the clouds start to build. After that, the rain begins to sprinkle down and without much warning, a torrential downpour is soaking you to the bone. Since most drive motos over here, every object than can be possibly used as shelter has people packed in like sardines to avoid the precipitation. Luckily though, most of the times the bulk of the rain is done in less than an hour.
With such an intense deluge and less than adequate infrastructure in Phnom Penh, we are often left with "rivers" for roads. Sometimes it looks like a scene from a beach as kids are splashing and playing in the waves from cars and buses as they pass. However, the water is filthy and gross to play in, but for these kids, they will take whatever they can get. They don't have the options of going to a pool, beach...etc so they enjoy the cool relief any way they can.
A few months ago I asked a local girl what she enjoyed more; the rainy season or dry season. She just smiled and said she prefers to refer to them as the muddy season and the dusty season. Each have their benefits and drawbacks but on balance I think I prefer the rainy (or muddy) season. It brings cooler temperatures and less dust.
I hope this gave a little glimpse into life here. Thanks again for keeping up with our lives here. We appreciate each one of you.

Living in the "10/40 Window"

The "10/40 Window". What is it? I am sure that many of you have heard of it,  but I am also certain that many of you have not. And even if you have, you may not know exactly what it is. I know I sure didn't until we moved here. So I thought I would dedicate a post to give you a brief glimpse.
The 10/40 window simply refers to an area of the globe stretching from the west side of Africa to the east part of Asia; from 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the equator. So why is this area so significant? Here are some statistics that might answer that question:

• 2/3 of the world's population - about 4.4 billion people - live in the 10/40 window.
• 90% of these people are unevangelized - either they have never heard the Gospel or there is not enough of a presence to make an impact.
• 85% of those living in this region are the poorest of the world's poor.
• It is estimated that only 10% of the global missionary force are working in this area.
• Of the 44 people groups in Cambodia, 31 of them remain unreached.

I wanted to share these with you so you could better understand where it is that we live.  I am thankful almost daily that we live in a country that is, for the most part, open to the Gospel. As of right now, we do not encounter persecution or any danger when sharing our faith or hosting a religious meeting. However, we never know when that might change. For us, though, it is difficult yet important to keep in mind that almost everyone we meet is lost as 96% of the country is Buddhist. Beyond the poverty, sickness and suffering, our heart is for the eternal lives of these wonderful people. Every day when we walk down the street or drive through town and people say "hi" to us, it is imperative that we view them through this lens. That is the real reason we are here. Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers and please let me know if you would like to become more active in reaching this area of the world with the Gospel.
Here are some pictures you might enjoy:

Me sharing the Gospel with some attentive kids in the remote village of Kraviek



Attending a stilted house church in Prek Pneu, the community where Asian Hope is starting the Village Development Program.



Cameron and Alex participating in a prayer time at our new facility in Prek Pneu

 

Carolyn interacting with an elderly woman at the house church in Prek Pneu.



New facility in Prek Pneu

We (Asian Hope) just signed a lease on a facility in Prek Pneu where we can base our Village Development Program out of. It is a house that was previously occupied by a Khmer family. It worked great as I was hosting a team here when we signed the lease. It was perfect since we could use the team to help clean the place before we start painting/renovating....etc. When we got to the house to clean on the agreed upon day, the family was only about 20% moved out. So the first hour or so was spent moving the family out.  Since they were just moving into the house right behind their other house, they told us we could just set everything outside...so thats what we did.
Once the cleaning commenced, we realized just how much of a mess it was. Filthy!! There was dust that looked like it had been accumulating for years. The floors needed a hose more than a broom. And the spider webs were so large and plentiful, they should have been charged rent. Regardless, we tackled the task.  With a team of 12 and 3 AH staff, we put in a total of 90 man-hours and the place actually looked like it could house a ministry. Yeah!! Thanks God for your timing.
We really look forward to watching the building take shape. Please take a look at this link Prek Pneu Facility to find an album of pictures from the new facility. I will update once we begin painting, furnishing and bringing the kids and families in. Thanks for joining us on the journey. Please keep this new ministry in your prayers.

Cameron with some new friends on the day we cleaned the facility. These kids enjoyed following him around.  He really does great with them.

A new school year begins

Wow, I can hardly believe it.  The kids just started their second full year of school here in Cambodia.  All 4 are still at Logos International School and all 4 still really enjoy it.  In fact Cameron, the most reluctant last year, just told me the other day "Dad, remember last year when I hated to go to school? Well its funny because this year I love school.  I can't wait to start 1st grade". Needless to say, that was music to my ears.
Calli is starting 7th grade, Abby High School and Alex 11th grade. I am so proud of all 4 of them and how they have adapted to our new home. Although it is sad to say good-bye to summer, it is great to be back on a regular schedule again. Now, we are only about 10 months from our first visit back to the States.

A few days before school started we said good bye to our last team of the summer break.  It was a great group of US military and civilian staff working on a military base in Okinawa, Japan. Our family treasures the brief (but hopefully lasting) relationships we can make with so many great people who are seeking to serve the Lord just as we are. Together, as each of us fulfills the plan God has for us, we can achieve great things. That is one thing that has become so evident to us here.  If you have any desire to come, visit and serve, let us know.  We would love to have you.

Village Development

Imagine you are a 30 year old woman. Now imagine that you have 5 children from age 12 years old to 1. Your husband, and his income that you lived on, is suddenly gone due to his death. Your $60/ month in now down to almost nothing unless you can find some recyclables to sell. The unclean river water that is your primary water source is taking its toll on your family's health. School is not an option for your kids since you make almost no money and besides, they have to work to help make money. With your 3 oldest able to gather some bottles and cans to sell, you are all able to at least have 1 meal a day, maybe 2. Still not enough to have any of your kids go to school.  It breaks your heart to think that they are caught in the same cycle that you are in since they will not be able to receive an education. But still you are able to feed, clothe and house them, even though that means 1 meal a day and only one set of clothes.

One day you realize a growth on the neck of one of your children. After a couple of "expensive" visits to the state hospital, it is determined that the treatment needed will cost $200. That is an unfair choice to make...there is no way you could come up with that kind of money but there is no way that you can let your child go untreated. Then you remember some of your neighbors sending their daughters 15 km into Phnom Penh and returning a few days or a week later with a lot of money. All of a sudden that seems like a reasonable option.  But is it trading one child's life for another?

This is a fictional story compiled from different anecdotes of real families and real lives here in Cambodia. Many of these moms and kids are not sure exactly what awaits their child once they get where they are going. Often times it is prostitution or forced labor or factory work in poor conditions.

At Asian Hope we have a real heart for these families. That is why our family is so excited about the new VDP (Village Development Program) that AH is starting. We have isolated a community, Prek Pneu, where decisions like the one above are faced regularly. Our family visited a church up in that community and plan to spend one Sunday each month worshipping with and encouraging the believers there. Through the new VDP, Asian Hope will help bring clean drinking water, sanitary toilets and some minor health care to the 1000 families in the village. We will also start a "catch up" school which, in part, will help children successfully enter the state school in the grade that they should be in. Along with meeting these physical needs, we are already supporting an existing Christian home church in Prek Pneu and will use our partnership with them to bring the Gospel to this wonderful community. It is our desire to bring hope to the residents by meeting each of their needs; mental, physical, spiritual and emotional.

Please visit the link to view some pics of the sweet faces in Prek Pneu.

As a family, we are so humbled and excited to be a part of such an amazing ministry. We are also humbled and grateful for your partnership with us. Thanks for reading.  We will keep you updated.

Year and a Half

Thank you so much for checking back in with us.  It has been a while since our last post.  Our last few months have been extremely busy and it is good to through that crazy time. At 1 1/2 years in Cambodia we are definitely settling in here, which has both good and bad attached to it. One of the good things is that we just saw the kids finish their first full year of school at Logos.  Cameron is moving on to the first grade. He is really excited to be moving upstairs for his classes now. He and Rain, his best friend, will try and play a lot during the summer. Calli is moving on to 7th grade.  She really excelled in her class writing a 60 page book, among other things. She has several friends that she enjoys hanging out with and one really close friend that she hopes to spend time with over the summer.  Abby is moving into High School (Really?? I can't believe it myself). She really enjoys school and has many friends.  With her deep care for others, she really is in her element here.  There are plenty of opportunities for her to us her gifts. Alex had a great year and will be a junior in the fall. He played basketball and volleyball and also played one of the brothers in our Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat production at Logos. He is doing an internship with me over the summer as well as getting a 1/2 credit for Bible by doing the Truth Project video series.

Another good thing about getting settled in here is that it is feeling more like home.  The neighborhood that we have been in for a little more than one year offers so much to us in regards to the "home" feeling. We can walk and see neighbors, the kids can bike without concern, walk to a friends house for dinner, play a pick-up game of ultimate...etc. Carolyn and I are also finding our niche here and learning what it means to survive and thrive successfully in a foreign culture. That doesn't come without its struggles but God has been gracious to us and we are both still enjoying our lives here.

One of the bad aspects of  "getting settled" is the saying of good-byes. Especially in an international culture, this is just a part of life. With many of our school staff only staying here for a 2 or 3 year period, at the end of every school year there are always good-byes to be said.  And also, at an international school, teachers, students and parents become quite close. For so many, they are so far from home so your friends and peers become a very tight-knit community. In our kids' case, they not only see their teachers at school but often at church, social gatherings and sometimes even at our house for dinner.  Again, this is great for relationships but hard for good-byes.

This is also true for short-term teams that come and volunteer with us. As the primary host of volunteers for Asian Hope, our family gets to know a lot of the visitors better than they would otherwise.  This results in children who are mastering the art of getting to know new people quickly but also learning to grieve good-byes well. I am sure those are skills that God is instilling in them for the future.



This is a picture of me sharing the Easter message to a group of kids in Kraviek village. We had a great response from the villagers.




Alex helping kids in Kraviek village.



 All in all, we are still so thankful to be where we are. We are witnessing so many great things that God is doing here and are so thankful to be a part of it. Thank you so much for being along with us on this journey.

The whole family on a boat ride on the Tonle Sap river with the team of 51 from Seattle.

Kraviek Part 2

Last week I had the privilege and opportunity to visit Kraviek village again.  For more background on that extremely remote village, you can read the post entitled "Kraviek" which tells of my first trip there a few months ago.  This most recent trip was used to deepen our relationships there and ask if they would like to have a small team of people come to help teach English, interact with kids...basically help with whatever they need.  Their response was very predictably enthusiastic.  However, even though we expected it, we were still very encouraged. 
Shortly after we got there, one of the men came and asked us for a Bible.  My friend had a picture Bible in Khmer and we gave it to the man.  He received it with great excitement.  Now, part of his response is strictly to have a new book, part of it is also to receive a gift from foreigners but whatever the motivation, the word of God is in the hands of a man in the village and for that I am so grateful.  Now it is up to the Holy Spirit. 

However, that was not what encouraged me the most on this trip.  What served as the greatest encouragement for me was when we were about ready to leave and the village chief asked us if we could bring a movie about Jesus with us the next time we came.  After I thought about it for a while :-), we gave them a huge YES!  It was hard to believe but in this tiny, remote village, the Holy Spirit is moving.  In order to watch it, they agreed to try to bring some sort of vehicle  back to their village so we will have power and we will bring the movie and projector.  I am so excited for this opportunity to literally bring the Gospel to the "uttermost parts of the earth".  Please pray for this time as I am certain that the enemy will not want us there.  I am planning this time for June 6th-8th.  Thank you in advance.

If you would like to see more pictures of Kraviek and its people, please click on this link to view an album from my January trip. 

51 - A record

Just a few days ago we said good-bye to the largest group (so far) that Asian Hope has ever hosted.  I had a very busy week but we had a great time.  With that many people, they can get a lot done...and they did.  I had them work at Goldstone and New Life schools and at Joy Children's Learning Center. None of these are officially Asian Hope facilities but they are all in some ways affiliated with or impacted by Asian Hope.  Our largest school, Logos, supports both of the schools with resources and teacher training.  The coordinator of the learning center spent a few years in Asian Hope's boys home.  Each of the sites were enhanced through painting walls, painting pictures, cleaning, removing trash, playing with kids, teaching students, ESL activities...etc.  I think many people were positively impacted both here and on the team.  Here are some pictures from their time here.


Games at New Life School




Khmer kids love interacting with foreigners...and vice versa.




Cleaning a roof while standing on a narrow cement wall.




The whole gang on a river boat ride on the Tonle Sap/Mekong rivers





Some talented students really made some preschool rooms a lot more inviting.



Tuk Tuks were the main mode of transportation.

They were an attentive crowd at the Killing Fields.

Leading a class at Goldstone School.

On the roof at Joy Children's Learning Center

Games at Goldstone

Thanks guys for all of your help!