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.