Faithful

When we moved to Phnom  Penh 2 1/2 years ago, we prayed that God would be faithful in knitting our hearts to people here and creating a new home where we could give and receive love. We knew that we were leaving so many people who were so dear to us but in obedience to God we set out on this new adventure trusting Him who had called us. One of the promises I would remind God of during this time is found in Matthew 19:29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." 


At the time I had no idea that God would be so faithful. We all know that God keeps His promises but sometimes I just don't see it so clearly as I did this time. I don't think any of us would have imagined how intense our paradoxical feelings would be as we visit America for the first time since our move. On one hand we can hardly contain our excitement as we get to see so many people we love and places that we miss and conveniences that we forgot we didn't have any more. But on the other hand, we never imagined (even in our wildest dreams) that we would be this connected to Cambodia and its wonderful people in just 2 1/2 years. When we moved here, I only envisioned us being excited to visit the States...not sad to leave Cambodia, a poor, developing country. But God is faithful! He did give to us 100 times what we left. I was secretly planning on maybe 50x or 80x what we left...but it was 100x for sure.


It really sounds good when you read that verse during a quiet time but when it happens to you, practically speaking, it just means that you have people that you love with all of your heart and you would give your life for on opposite sides of the world. I wish that had been in the study notes or the fine print of my Bible. It isn't as great as it sounds but at the same time it is way better than it sounds. Crazy, I know.


We are so thankful for our lives in Cambodia and wouldn't change a thing. Thank you so much for joining us on this journey.

Inhabit

The long walk to Kraviek. One of the several river crossings.

A boy washing his cow along the way.

Beginning praise and worship.

Villagers gather to listen.

Kids enjoying activities during our time with them.

Some kids enjoy showing us their home.

A young girl playing enjoying a balloon.

Salvation bracelts. God's truth is being spread to the uttermost part.

The kids sometimes join us in the river for bath time.

Abby holding a shivering  boy.

Village children going about their chores.

Young monks along the way. 

Along the way to the village.

Kraviek village embodies the portion of Acts 1:8 that speaks about going out to the "uttermost parts" of the Earth. There is really only one way in and one way out...and it isn't easy. On our last trip (a few days ago) I brought a team of 11 people from Georgia, 3 translators and my assistant. We set out early on Tuesday morning and gradually throughout our travels, our modern conveniences disappeared. Eventually we made it as far as our van could go and left it at a home in a village that was already very remote. But very remote wasn't enough...we were going for extremely remote. So we exited the van, put our packs on our backs and set out for Kraviek. We had a 5k, 1 1/2 hour walk ahead of us. Just 2 weeks before I had been out there with another team and we had to wait a day for the river to go down before we could cross. It had rained and the river was about chest deep with a swift current. This day, however, the water was down and we crossed it getting only up to our knees wet. Through deep mud, rice paddies and several shallow rivers, we finally crested the hill into Kraviek.
It was wonderful to be out there again. The villagers never know for sure when we are coming (they aren't as bound by time there as we are so it probably wouldn't really matter anyways) but are always glad to see us. We set up camp again at the VC's (village chief's) house and headed to the river to wash the sweat and mud off our bodies. When we returned to the house, we made our dinner: 1 package of noodles/person. Not completely satisfying but somehow enjoyed by all. As night fell, it got dark (obviously). The kind of dark that you experience when you are camping away from the city and you can see the stars beyond the stars that are beyond the stars that you normally see in the city. I love those nights. They are without electricity so when the sun goes down, there isn't much to do. This is the time that I probably love the best in Kraviek. That's when we all gather under the house and spend time worshiping our Father. We always ask if the family would mind and they always say no and that they would enjoy it.
Under the stilted house is a large wood platform where the family sleeps and eats. It is probably about 10 feet wide by about 20 feet long. It is also where the VC's father-in-law lays all day and night. He was the VC until he had a stroke. Once we all gather, get the guitar out and begin singing, it is like the atmosphere changes. The darkness outside turns to black as we all sit around a small kerosene lamp praising the One True God! It was at this point on our last trip that I was reminded of the verse "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." (Ps 22:3 KJV). I felt like God was telling me that we are His people and we are praising Him in this tiny village and He is inhabiting our praises. He is right here in our midst. In the midst of a village full of people who are lost. They worship the spirits of their ancestors and are trapped in the grips of a false religion. Yet God is here, inhabiting our praises. As we continue singing and the light flickers, we catch a glimpse outside our circle and in the darkness we can barely make out shapes surrounding us. It is the majority of the villagers gathered around to listen to us. Partly out of curiosity, partly because there is literally nothing else to do but regardless, they are hearing praises being sung to their creator. And despite the fact that they are being sung in English, God is present and his power can break through the strongholds of false religion. His light is piercing the spiritual darkness through the simple praises of his people. For a moment, he has a place to inhabit in this tiny village in Cambodia.
Please pray for these precious people of Kraviek. Pray for Lao, the Village Chief. Pray that the truth of God's word will transform this community for himself. Pray also for a Cambodian to have a heart to move to this community full-time or that God would raise up a believer from within to start a church there.

High-Beam

I'm going to paint a picture for you. Not literally, of course. First, I am not a very good artist and second, how could I get it to you? I am going to paint a word-picture for you to hopefully bring you along with me and a team on our drive from Siem Reap (home of Angkor Wat) to Phnom Penh a couple nights ago.

Here it goes. Picture a semi-busy interstate or highway near your home. Got it? Now make it 2 lanes (one in each direction) and put it in rural Cambodia. Now, turn off all the lights, it's night time. Night time in central Cambodia is dark. No street lights to illuminate the road. Dark.
Next, reduce the width of the road by about a foot on either side.
Erase most (if not all, in some cases) of the shoulder.
Now let's add some things. All of these came one by one throughout the trip:

• 2 dozen  or more people (men, women or children) riding their bicycles in my lane without lights or reflectors. Remember, this is a highway so I am going highway speeds. The children especially ride their bikes quickly at a perpendicular angle to the road. This is so they can get enough momentum to make it up the small hill to the edge of the road. Then at the last second, they turn to ride just parallell to the road. I know they are doing this but it still freaks me out every time thinking they are going to pull right in front of me.
• 4 dozen cows or water buffalo walking across the road at various paces. BTW (again, the acronym for the hip younger crowd), water buffalo are large and dark greyish blackish, blending in perfectly with the dark night...and they don't have any reflectors either. Oh yeah, and they are large.
• 6 or more motos pulling loads of lumber on un-illuminated trailers that blend in with the night. They were going about 1/4 my speed.
• Motos (and some vehicles) coming the other direction with their headlights turned off. Why? I have no idea. Makes passing a slow vehicle in your lane a bit more interesting as you are constantly concerned about what may be in the oncoming lane without lights on.
• 4 trucks broken down in my lane, remember, shoulders are mostly non-existent. When trucks break down here, they break branches off the nearest tree and put them in the lane about 25 feet from where their crippled truck is. This is a substitute for the orange reflective triangles or flares I am used to seeing in the States. The bright green tree branches actually work fine...during the day. However, they don't really reflect well so a parked car can come up on you quickly. 
• 5 LOUD parties with dozens of inebriated guests set up literally feet from the edge of the road. That's how they do things here. Big tents, loud music, a lot of beer and a speeding vehicles.
• At least half of the approaching vehicles are being driven by people who do not have the (what I think should be innate) knowledge of the rules of highway driving at night. Those include but are not limited to: turning off your bright lights when another car is approaching; don't pass on a corner...etc).
• Large pot holes or eroded portions of the highway at various times.

Passing through a small municipality on National Road 6. Just as night was falling. On the right is an ice vendor.

A food vendor is sharing the road with us.

All of these are various shots of the same road. Gives you a small glimpse into the drive.

Water Buffalo.

Are you getting the picture? I hope so. It was quite the adventure. Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy driving here. It can just feel a bit stressful sometimes...like when I'm driving :-). 

Anyways, something that I realized on this trip more than any other that I have taken was how extremely helpful it was to be able to switch from my low to high-beams once a vehicle passed. There is that brief moment, just as I am passing the oncoming car, when it seems like I can't see a thing and I am praying that there is not a biker, water buffalo or parked truck in front of me. But when I switch on my brights, the road ahead of me becomes clear again. 

As I almost wore out the lever for the brights, I couldn't help but think of the people of this wonderful country and the spiritual condition they are in. Most are in spiritual darkness with no knowledge of where they are going and how to get there. They are unable to see the road in front of them and they have no idea whether or not the path they are on will lead them safely to their destination. But as a believer here, I have a responsibility to be that light to those around me. Especially in Cambodia, they may not see Christ anywhere but in my life and the lives of other believers here. If that isn't a sobering thought, I don't know what is. Through the grace of God, we will be the high-beam for them so that they can see the road ahead and enter the peace and safety that only comes through a relationship with Christ.

"Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16-17

Empty

A couple weeks ago I had a real "LOL" (trying to relate to the hip younger crowd) moment. What made it even better was that I LOL'd at myself. Truly out loud. Why? I will recap the incident for you.
I have a dirt bike that I use as my main mode of transportation. I love it. It is fun, fast and I wouldn't choose any other way to get around town. However, it is also finicky...and can be high maintenance. In fact, Carolyn once said, "Your bike is more high maintenance than I am." (I will go on record that I never said that Carolyn is high maintenance...which she isn't :-). So a couple weeks ago I had an awesome team here from Hong Kong. They were a group of 27 from an international school and contributed greatly to our work in Cambodia. Since they were such a large group I had them split up into 3 separate service teams. It worked out great, but it meant that I was driving all around Phnom Penh visiting their ministry sites to check up on them. It was toward the end of one of these particularly long days that I noticed my bike "acting up". It is hard to explain what it was doing but suffice to say  that I just knew that something wasn't right.
On may way to one site, my bike just stopped. I was in a time crunch and didn't have time to figure out what was wrong. I rationalized that it probably needed to just "rest" since I had been driving it so much. I decided to hail a tuk tuk. I explained that I needed him to drive to our guest house. As I held on with one hand and had him pull me along, I felt as if my arm would be pulled out of socket but luckily it didn't. I successfully lasted the mile to my desired location and left my bike. I continued on with my day not thinking much of it. Later that night, one of our volunteers had an incident where her purse was stolen. I had to quickly go and meet her down at the police station, which I did not know exactly where it was. However, I got some partial directions and jumped on my bike to head that way. It started up just as I thought . It just needed rest. However, 2 minutes into my ride, my bike began to make the weird sounds again and then just quit. Late at night, I had no where to park my bike. So I hailed another tuk tuk and tried to give him the directions to the police station that I didn't know directions to. Sound complicated? Yep, it was. Well, I grabbed on again and through rain and several phone calls and conversations, we made it to the police station.
Things at the station were sorted out as best as possible and I decided to find somewhere secure near the station to leave my bike. I successfully found a place that was also near my bike shop/mechanic, parked my bike and headed home. The next morning, I checked on the teams and went to retrieve my sickly property. I I got to the place where I had left it and it started right up again. I drove it directly to the shop. I explained to them the problem (luckily it was making the crazy noise as I drove up) and they got it right in. I decided to wait around for a bit to hear the bad news. With my description of the problem, they accurately decided to begin their diagnostics at the fuel pump. They checked the valve and quickly isolated the problem. They looked up at me and told me I WAS OUT OF GAS. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard at myself. I was embarrassed but also relieved that it wasn't more serious.
As I drove off, I reflected on the whole process. My gas tank was running on empty but I was still trying to do life as normal. I would get part of the way to my destination and then just quit. It reminded me of times that I would try and do life successfully without being filled up with God's Word. It just doesn't work. I try to live my life successfully but I am not running on the fuel that God created me to run on. God has designed our lives to work successfully ONLY when running on the strength of Him and His word.
But then I thought, how lucky I am that I HAVE HIS WORD. How selfish of me to think that God was trying only to remind me to fill up on His Truth's each day. This is important but it was not the only thing that God was trying to tell me. This thought came to mind when I saw our neighbor bowing continually in front of his altar of incense to the spirits of his ancestors. His hope is in dead relatives and their spirits. He doesn't have the Word of God. He can't fill up on the only thing that will satisfy him because he doesn't know about it. Neither do 90%+ of all of Cambodia. That is roughly 13,000,000 Cambodians. That is why we are here. To bring His word to those who have never heard. To fill up their tanks that are empty...when they don't even know what is supposed to fill them. To love on the sweet people here and help them to understand that they are filling their tanks with things that will not only not help them but will keep them empty and eventually lead to death.
Thanks God for the great reminder!