Ohlin's Outside the Box

Holidays for the Ohlin's

2012-01-12T00:29:00.000-08:00

Our second Christmas here was pretty cool and, for the most part, enjoyable. I say for the most part because we would have enjoyed some colder weather (but that would have to wait until New Year's). One of the highlights was on December 23rd when Asian Hope hosted their 2nd annual Christmas outreach. This was something that I was in charge of organizing since it was an outreach to the community where we are doing our Neighborhood Kids Outreach. For the event, we invited 300 kids and their families to our school grounds for a Christmas celebration. During the event each person received a plate of fruit, a Christmas t-shirt (with a Bible verse on it) and a tract with the Christmas message and an invitation to a Khmer church for a Christmas service. We were so excited to see between 350 and 400 people attend. We also had a local Khmer ministry come and perform a Christmas drama that communicated the real meaning of the holiday in a culturally relevant way. It seemed to be powerful and well received.
One of our friends was talking to some of the attendees at the event. The boys he was talking to were some of the "tough" boys of the neighborhood. He asked them if they had ever heard of Christmas before. They had. Then he asked them what they knew about Christmas. It is somewhat ironic but not surprising that they had heard of Santa, snow and exchanging gifts but not of the birth of Jesus. My response was "awesome"! Those are exactly the type of people we want at one our outreaches. Needless to say that they did end up hearing about the TRUE meaning of Christmas. We are trusting God to speak to the hearts of these young people.

Some Asian Hope volunteers wait to hand out food, t-shirts and tracts and fruit to our neighborhood friends.

Residents from the neighborhood wait to receive gifts in an orderly fashion.

The fruit, t-shirt, tract line.

A couple volunteers with a couple girls from the neighborhood.

Our volunteers were busy.

The crowd, many of whom already put their new t-shirts on (green colored shirts), wait for the Christmas production to begin.

A couple of neighborhood boys waiting to watch the Christmas drama.

An older couple from the neighborhood came to find out what Christmas was all about.

Our audience watched as the Christmas story was performed for them in a way that was culturally relevant without compromising any of the content. What a great night!

After that, we made it a point to spend some time together as a family. With the weather being in the mid 80's to low 90's it can be hard to get into the Christmas spirit. What can make it more difficult, though, is that fact that Dec 25th is no different to Khmer people than any other day of the year. Nevertheless we had a great Christmas. After skyping some family, we made some western food and went out for a western dinner on Christmas eve. Then on Christmas day we skyped some more family and celebrated our Christmas as a family. We felt so blessed as we opened gifts from here in Cambodia and from halfway around the world in America.
Then on Dec 27th we were blessed with the gift of a trip to Viet Nam. We left on a bus to Ho Chi Minh city. After 6-7 hours we reached our destination. We spent a lot of time walking around a new city and just enjoying time together as a family. Ho Chi Minh was a great break for us. It is more modern than Phnom Penh so we were able to enjoy some things that we aren't used to...two of the most popular for our gang were Subway and Baskin Robins. Such a treat for us. On our second day there we went and visited the cu chi tunnels. Those are the tunnels that the were used extensively by the Viet Cong during the war. It was an informative tour and well worth taking but at times a bit uncomfortable as an American. The tour guides are very friendly toward us but some of the exhibits and scripts they use to describe the war are very anti-America. Nevertheless we enjoyed our time.
After some more sightseeing in Ho Chi Minh we flew to Hanoi. For me, this was the highlight...mostly because I had to wear a jacket. It was probably 55 degrees at the coldest but we hadn't felt that temperature (other than in our refrigerator) for 2 years. It was so refreshing. We spent all of our time there in Hanoi's Old Quarter. That is a cool area with a mix of Asian, old French and modern architecture. While in Hanoi we also got the opportunity to do an unusual tourist activity...we saw the body of a man who has been dead for over 40 years. One of Viet Nam's former leaders, Ho Chi Minh, is on display for people to walk by and view. Weird, I know, but interesting to learn more about him.
New Year's Eve was also spent in Hanoi. It is fun since, unlike Cambodia, the Vietnamese people do celebrate Christmas so most of the decorations were still up. Another highlight was that there was an old Catholic church near where we stayed. We are so used to Buddhist architecture so this was a real treat to go in and walk around. It was so refreshing to look at the large nativity scene that they had displayed out front as well. That night they had set up a huge stage right near the lake. As I was listening to the loud music, watching all of the excited people and participating in the countdown, I was struck by the fact that here we are in Viet Nam, celebrating New Year's with people from all around the world and the entire celebration was done in English. Anyways, midnight came and went and we ushered in 2012.
The next day we went back to Ho Chi Minh and then on the 2nd bused back to Phnom Penh. Even though our time was busy and full of new things and places, we came back refreshed and excited about the year ahead. We are really seeing God make some exciting changes and adjustments in our family and ministry, which are not always easy or enjoyable but when they have God's stamp of approval on them, they are always good. We are also eagerly anticipating the first visit back to the States for our family since moving here. That is only about 5 months away now. Thank you again for being on our team. We appreciate each and every one of you.

Speaks for itself!!

Cu chi tunnels.

The many tastes of Viet Nam.

The nativity scene in Hanoi. So cool for us to see.

Calli, Cameron and Abby!

High School Students + Remote Village Part 3

2011-12-08T16:42:00.001-08:00

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

2011-12-04T17:22:00.001-08:00

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

2011-12-01T17:25:00.001-08:00

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

2011-10-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-21T00:21:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-26T02:07:00.000-07:00

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"

2011-08-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-10T02:24:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-29T02:04:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-08T04:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

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!

Settled

2011-03-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

So as we are a couple months into our second year here, life has become very routine...and that's a good thing in a place where EVERY day we see things that cause us to say "I have never seen anything like that before". One thing that has been most instrumental in helping me feel settled is watching all of our kids not only survive here but really engage and thrive here. Sure there are challenges and struggles but God has really confirmed to my heart that we are right where he wants us. We are so blessed to have them in an excellent international school where they can make good friends, be challenged intellectually and be spurred on to growth spiritually as well. One thing that warms my heart is to watch Alex, Abby, Calli and Cameron interact with eachother on the same school campus. There are about 330 students from 20+ different countries from Pre-K 3 to 12th grade at LIS (Logos International School). It seems a little crazy at times but it works great. A few weeks ago, when Alex had just gotten back from the HS Bible Camp, Cameron came running as fast as he could from one side of the soccer field to the other and jumped into the arms of his big brother. That warmed a father's heart like few things can. I didn't even mind that he ran right by my open arms to greet his bro.
Last week was "Spring Fling" week. It is similar to "Spirit Week" back in the States but using "spirit" here would carry some connotations that could be taken negatively. Anyways, it was a fun week where kids can dress up in some unusual costumes and have fun playing games at lunch. These are some pics of our kids and some of their friends. As one of the judges for crazy hair day, I decided to get into the action on that day. I hope you enjoy.

Cameron and his best friend Rain on Crazy hair day.

The whole crew that rode with us to school on "Crazy hair day". Not sure who the nerdy bus driver is.

Calli (in the middle) with her friends Jenny and Jordan.

Abby (left) with Michaela and Micah

Alex and David dressed up for character day.

Cameron dressed up as a clown. A mop + a rug + a hair tie = an improvised clown costume. No costume shops here.

Kraviek Village

2011-02-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

I am so excited. Several days ago I was able to take a second trip to visit a remote village in Kampong Speu province. What a privilege. This time my friends and I visited the village of Kraviek. It is the last village you come to on a road that dead ends into the Cardamom Mountains. The road actually turns into a more of a cow/moto path for the last 3 miles. It has river crossings and many places that have experienced their fair share of erosion. Nonetheless, we made it there and spent about 20 hours meeting villagers, playing volleyball (a huge sport in most every community here), handing out prenatal vitamins to women who were pregnant or nursing and bringing Christian tracts to almost everyone of the 60 families in the village. It was an absolute pleasure to spend some time with these wonderful people and I look forward to going back.
One of the most exciting aspects of our trip was that we were able to share the Gospel with one of the patriarchs of the village. He was a bit confused at first, as he wondered if he needed Christ with his ancestral worship and Buddhist traditions. We assured him that Christ was all he needed and he seemed to understand although not totally accept it yet. As one of the few in the village that can read, we also asked him to help the others in the village to read the tracts. The tracts are fun and colorful with many pictures so no matter what the content they are eagerly accepted and poured over by everyone in the village, but how awesome to think that so many are having their first exposure to the Word of God. I am humbled and thrilled to have been a part of it.
As my friend and I plan to make future trips to Kraviek, please pray as we seek the leading of God as to how to best serve these wonderful people.

Main Street entering Kraviek

Home of the village chief. I slept on the upstairs porch.

Our host while we were there. This is the man we shared Christ with.

Chores!

This was a sweet older lady in the village. She could only say that she was older than 90.

Some of the moms we gave vitamins to.

This baby was 1 day old when we were there.

Some sweet kids.

Pals

Moouy Chhnam

2011-01-23T06:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, so the title of this post is a pathetic attempt at a phonetic spelling of the Khmer words for one year. That is how long we have been here (as of January 20^th). And since there are 6 of us in this family, I thought it would be fun to have each of us take a few sentences to a paragraph to let you know how this first year has been. So, here it goes:

Hi! I'm Calli and I am eleven years old, in sixth grade at Logos. When we first moved here, I thought that it would be so tough to survive here without my friends and family here, but God has really blessed me with good friends and comfort from my family. This past year has been great and I have really enjoyed living in a new country with a new culture, but I have most enjoyed learning the new language. I have learned quite a bit of Khmer and I like going to the markets and using my Khmer. I think that God has also blessed me with an amazing school. I love going to school because of the people there, fun, funny, friendly, and also diverse. The teachers there are also very kind and encouraging and funny. My homeroom teacher is really funny, and one thing I like about him is that he likes to draw pictures on the white board that helps us understand things. Even though I miss everyone back home, I still love it here, and this has been a great first year here in Cambodia.
Hey! I’m Abby, I am 14 years old and in eighth grade at Logos int. school. I can remember the night that my family and I left all of our family and friends behind very clearly. I can also remember thinking that I would not be able to survive life in another culture without my very best friend. But the second I got off the plane in Cambodia I knew that I was home and I completely fell in love with everything here! Less than a week from arriving here my siblings and I were off to start our first day of school. I think that starting at a new and completely different school was hard for me, because I didn’t know anyone and everyone else already knew each other, and were already close friends. But after going to Logos for a while I started to develop a few good relationships! I think that from living in a completely different culture God has taught me many new things and has thought me to trust him more. After being here for a year I have caught myself saying many times that I could never imagine my family and I moving back to America, because this is my home and I love everything about Cambodia (especially the people)!
Hi I am Cameron. I am 6 years old now. I am in Kindergarten at Logos. Some of my friends are named Rain, Ahyoung, Min Chan and Chris. The 3 best things I like about living in Cambodia are: the markets (except the smelly ones), school and the food (especially the fruit). What I don't like about it is that I am an unusual sight for most Cambodian people so they like to squeeze my cheeks, ruffle my hair and grab my hands while I walk through the markets. I also like living down the street from the House of Hope (Asian Hope's Boy's home) That means I have a lot more friends. Mostly, I am glad we live here.
Hello, friends! I have to start by saying that today, as I am celebrating being in Cambodia for one year, I am humbled by God’s faithfulness. As I look back at the last 12 months in our new home, I am moved to tears, thinking of how well we are loved. Not only are we loved across the miles by our dear friends and family, but we are establishing relationships here and feel the love as well. I am especially in awe of how well the Lord has loved me throughout this journey. He has cared for my heart so thoroughly. That is not to say that the road we have traveled has been easy…oh no! My heart has been stretched to where I thought I could not bear any more of the pain…and then it is stretched even more. The fact that my children are adjusting well and loving life here is a testimony to God’s love for us. I am finding that walking the journey of obedience is not easy and without heartache but, it is one of life’s greatest privileges. As we are muddling through learning the language and I am beside myself wanting to make a few real, heart connections with Khmai women, I know that as I continue to walk in obedience, everything will come together. I so want for everyone who reads this to come over here and meet some of my wonderful new friends! The teens and children who spend time in my home are fabulous people that I am blessed to have in my life. As I am trying to find an ending point here (I could go on and on for pages :), I need to say thank you. Thank you to all of you who love us and support us in so many different ways. This journey is not just the Ohlin family journey, but it is yours as well. Thank you for standing by our sides and journeying with us!

· This past year has been full of crazy experiences that have changed my life. The beginning of the year (January 2010) was a bit rough, starting school less than a week after we arrived and then starting basketball 3 days later. It was all a bit of a culture shock, but I think that with the support of friends and family back in Colorado and mostly God, I was able to hit the ground running and adjust pretty quickly! At times I really wished that I was back in Fort Collins, but then there were other times when I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else but here! I can’t wait to see what God will do with my life in this next year! Miss ya’ll!

2 Timothy 4:7

Alex

I hope these past few paragraphs have been insightful into our lives here. I thought it would be fun for you to read firsthand what the rest of the family is feeling on this one year anniversary of our arrival in our new home. If you are curious as to how I am feeling about our past year, in a word I would say I have loved the past year (okay, maybe in 6 words). Most of the thoughts in the prior posts would go into greater detail as to how I am doing here. Thank you so much again for reading. We really do appreciate all of you who so faithfully keep in tune with our lives on the other side of the globe.

The Holidays

2011-01-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

So our first holiday season in Cambodia is officially over now. That would make this our first post of 2011. Such milestones. All in all, I would have to describe our first holiday season here with 2 words: different and wonderful.

The kids opening their stockings. Yes Santa did make it here, too, and no we do not have fireplace to hang them over.

What will now be an annual Christmas event: Skyping with relatives.

Christmas cookie time. We had to be fairly quick as the ants can find sugary substances in a flash.

An excited 6-year-old. Cameron scored with Legos.

Abby and Calli helped Carolyn make a ton of cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. They were awesome.

Different: It was different because, well almost nothing was the same; hence the word different. The weather felt more like we should be preparing for Independence Day not Christmas or New Years. I think it was a high of 93 on Christmas. It was also different because one of our traditions used to be driving around looking at Christmas lights and picking out our favorite. It was easy this year. There were maybe 3 houses to choose from and one was ours. Also in years past, one thing I also enjoy is the festive mood of everyone in stores or on the street. However, in a country where 95% of people are Buddhist, almost no one you meet even knows that it is Christmas. We were also missing many of the foods that we enjoy over the holidays. We were priced out of the Ham or Turkey Market so we settled on Mexican for our big meal (which was awesome by the way). And there was no egg nog to be had. I did try to make my own but it was about as popular as the fried crickets around these parts. It did not satisfy the craving for egg nog.

Wonderful: It was wonderful because we were celebrating with family. With a lot of nothing to do, we were able to just enjoy being together, watching movies, playing games...etc. We also made our house look and feel very Christmassy (if that is a word), complete with 2 trees, garland, ribbon, stockings, candles that made it smell like Christmas, fake snow and much more. Something else that helped make it wonderful was that we had an opportunity to Skype with our family as they celebrated back in the States. We spent several hours with them, which was a lot of fun. It was not the same as it used to be but it was fun to be a part of the festivities from many miles away. We also participated in a couple outreaches here to many of our Buddhist neighbors. One night we went Christmas caroling. We went to about a dozen or more homes in our neighborhood. At each house we sang, gave out candy canes and gave a tract explaining why we celebrate Christmas. On another occasion, we walked around the neighborhood of our school and passed gift baskets to about 80 families. On both occasions, people were very grateful and listened intently to what we had to say. We even had families come out and clap while we sang. I am glad we had many there to sing to drown me out, otherwise the response may have been different. We were also given the wonderful gift of a family trip to Bangkok over New Years. It was not the same as spending time with loved ones but it was a great time for our family to experience something new and exciting together. Most of all, it was wonderful because we were able to celebrate the birth Christ in a meaningful way despite the incredible distance from what we know as familiar.

Thank you again for taking time to share in a little part of our holiday experience. Praying you and your family will be blessed in this New Year.

Service + Leadership

2010-12-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, where do I start? A week and a half ago I had a great opportunity to spend a weekend with some amazing teenagers. I brought a group of high school students (most from the service leadership class that I co-teach at Logos) to Koh Kong, one of Cambodias coastal provinces. The students that came were an eclectic bunch. They were from Cambodia, Philipines, Korea and the US. They ranged from children of wealthy business owners, missionary kids (including Alex, our 16-year-old), as well as some very low income kids who are in our scholarship program. Although the kids were diverse, the impact that they had and the impact that was had on them was consistent. Although I would love to chronicle the entire trip, it would take me a long time and your eyes would probably eventually glaze over. So I will just hit some highlights.

13 of us left from Logos before school on Friday Dec 3rd to drive out to the coast. We arrived in Koh Kong, got settled and met our host from World Team. We spent some time with him, got unpacked and went to our first project. Our first project was to spend part of the evening at a local school helping the students with their English. The school has about 120 students crammed into small, hot classrooms. The students range anywhere from beginners to intermediate English speakers and ranged from about 8-years-old to 18. This first night it took our students a while to get in the groove. What was expected of them was not totally clear. They could converse, play games, sing songs...etc, just as long as what they did was helping the kids with English. Our kids are used to clearly defined expectations but they did not have that here. However, after about 20 minutes, each of the 6 classrooms were buzzing with different activities. At the end, there were smiles, hugs and laughter all around. Some of our students were sad as this was the last time we would see these kids, or so we thought. Fast forward to Sat morning.

Saturday morning had us heading out fairly early (for a group of H.S. students). We drove about 10 minutes to a densely populated village filled with Cham people, Cambodian Muslims. Our stated goal was to pick up trash for them. Clean up. Make the area where they live a bit more inhabitable. So we did. Very diligently and joyfully. Our not-stated goal was to help establish a bridge between the Cham people and our World Team contacts there. Both goals were accomplished. However, God did much more than that. First, our project became publicized enough so that the government decided to get in on the action. They sent a large group from the Ministry of the Environment as well as some students that belong to their version of the Boy/Girl scouts. Second, much of the project was filmed in order to air on national television. Only God could orchestrate that. Third, he touched the lives of many, if not all, of our students.

Our team in front of the school wih some of the kids.

Tirot, from our House of Faith, interacting with the kids. A natural!

David, from our House of Hope, with Sharon leading a class in learning games.

Alex was great to have along. I love being able to serve along side him.

Some Buddhist monks attend this school.

Our team lined up ready to pick up trash with representatives from the MInistry of the Environment and boy/girl scouts.

Hara very focused on the trash at hand.

Pree working alongside a very hard working girl. They made a great team.

I loved interacting with the kids.

Tirot throwing trash into the truck.

Pierre and some other students led the kids in some songs.

One example comes from one of the girls that came with us. She had never been away from her family overnight. Ever. She is from a Buddhist Cambodian home, comes from a family with means and is not someone you would picture walking around picking up trash willingly. However, God used some poor, dirty children from this village to soften her heart. They smiled big at her and helped hold her trash bag as they walked around together picking up trash. For one of the first times in her life, she was interacting with kids from the lowest social class and she really enjoyed it. God used this weekend to impact so many lives, maybe more so some of our own students.

Once we left the Cham village, we were going to go have lunch and spend the whole afternoon at the beach. Sounded like a nice, relaxing conclusion to the day. However, our students had another idea. They had had such a nice time connecting with the kids at the school from the night before that they wanted to go back. Khmer schools are in session 6 days a week so I knew that it was an option so I asked our World Team host. He called and the school was thrilled to have us back, but not quite as excited as our kids. In short, our team from Logos chose to cut their beach time short in order to go back and spend another evening with the kids at the school. I was so proud of their choice to do so. This second night was about 10x better than the night before since there was not a need for the kids to find their comfort zone. They were already there. They just jumped right in and hit the ground running. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Then on Sunday morning we headed back for Phnom Penh. It was a quick weekend but one that God to impact his kingdom in many ways. I was thrilled, humbled and blessed to be part of it. Thanks for sharing in our journey.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is here. I know that is somewhat of a proverbial statement, but this time I really mean it and not just because "it seems like we just celebrated the 4th of July yesterday". It doesn't feel like Thanksgiving at all to me. Why? Here is a list of what comes to my mind when I think of Thanksgiving:

Cold (or cooler) weather. Sure in Colorado it could be 65deg and sunny, but most of the time it is colder. Last year we had snow on the ground.
Football! Both playing it with my brother against Alex and my nephews and watching it (Detroit and Dallas vs. whoever their opponents are).
The smell of Turkey roasting.
The warmth of the house in contrast to the cold of the outside.
Family all around.
Christmas season in the air all around.
Stores decorated for the holidays...luring willing consumers through their doors.
Christmas lights going up.

Those are just to name a few. My how things change. This year is so different. I will go through the list and compare/contrast this year's Thanksgiving:

Okay, it is "cooler" than the hot season. Low 90's on Thanksgiving doesn't seem cool to me though. I long for a blast of cold air in my face. Hold on a second...let me run and stick my head in the freezer.
Football. Wait, no...I mean American football. We have plenty of what the rest of the world calls football over here. I want the real sport. We don't get it though. No cable TV for us. You can get it here, including American football but we haven't as of yet. Maybe sometime. Part of it is that it is near impossible to watch a game live. The 2:15 (Mountain Time Zone) Sunday afternoon game will be played at...well lets see...4:15 a.m. Monday here. Yikes!
Smell of Turkey...Nope! $50 for a turkey here. I think chicken will do just fine, although they do not smell the same when you roast them.
Okay this one we do have, the warmth of the house. Although we do not have the contrast of the cool outside to the warm inside.
Family all around. Well, kinda. My parents are here for Thanksgiving and for that I am eternally grateful. Other than that, just Carolyn (for whom I will always be the most Thankful for) and our kids (okay, I am thankful for you guys, too) as far as family goes. But we are very glad to have HOH (House of Hope; Asian Hope's boy's home) and their house parents as well as a teacher and his wife over, too. I think 24 in all. The more the merrier.
Christmas season in the air...well, no. 95+% Buddhist. Need I say more?
I think I can count on one finger the number of stores decorated for the holidays. For reference, see previous bullet point.
Haven't really seen Christmas lights going up either.

So am I complaining? No, I am not. I wouldn't change where I am for the world. I am simply grasping onto our new reality and being real with what I miss this time of year. Allowing myself to feel the emptiness and loss from what we are missing also allowed me to reflect more clearly on what I have to truly be thankful for.

A God who wants me as I am, not as some perfect package.
Loving family and friends all around me
A job I really love and the chance to make an eternal impact often.
Amazing people back in the States partnering with us to make it all possible.
Health.
The joy of living out what I truly believe God has prepared for me to do.

So, our thanks go out to each of you. Even having you read about our journey here encourages us. It makes us feel connected more to you. We are so grateful to each one of you who keeps us in your prayers and those who faithfully support us and the work we are doing here. We love you all lots and are remembering you on this Thanksgiving Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Uttermost Parts

2010-11-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

We are really enjoying ministering to the many unreached people here in Phnom Penh. It is a whole different feel than outreach in the States. Whenever I taught kids at outreach events in the US, I could be about 99% sure that every kid there knew the name of Jesus, knew what the Bible was and had probably even read some of it. Here I can be pretty sure that no one will have heard the name of Jesus. That is a sobering and exciting reality all at the same time. However, there are still more remote places here, where people are even less likely to hear the Good News.
That is why one of my friends and I took a motorcycle trip out of the city a few weeks ago, to evaluate needs in outlying villages and assess how we can minister to them best.
Our trip took us about 40 km west of Phnom Penh on a highway. Then we went north 5 km or so and then headed west on dirt road for another 100 km or so. The dirt road began as a wide, fairly well maintained road, much like the pic below with the ox carts. Then the last 20 km or so was like the picture right below that one: difficult to navigate, but well worth it. We were able to visit with several families and make valuable contacts. Our plan is to make a couple more trips out there in the next few months to set up ways that we can efficiently help the villagers and ultimately bring the Gospel to them. When you think of it, please pray that God would direct us and prepare the hearts of those we will minister to that they would be receptive to the Gospel.

One of the families we were able to visit with.

Sharing the road with a train of ox carts.

This is actually the same road. This is how it looks the further we get toward the end of the road.

Some spectators. They were great.

Dinner is delivered.

My friends bike got stuck. The last 20 km or so was a lot like this.

Reaching Out

2010-10-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that it is almost November. In the past, I look so forward to the cooler days, first snow storms, changing leaves and , most importantly, football. Although I have caught myself looking forward to those things several times, none of them are our reality this year. I guess cooler days have come in the form of low to mid 80s instead of 95+ degrees, but no snow...yet. These are all changes that I expected and anticipated, yet they can take some getting used to. We did manage to watch the last 5 minutes of a Denver Broncos pre-season game a few weeks ago. It was great, even though it was about a week old at the time we watched it. Nonetheless, we are continually adapting.
One really exciting thing that we are a part of this fall is an outreach to the kids in the neighborhood that Logos is in. Logos (Asian Hope's largest school and the one that our kids go to; http://www.logoscambodia.org/) recently moved and is situated in the midst of a couple dozen homes. The homes around our school are in various states of construction and crumbling. Some are completely open with just a roof, a few have sheet metal leaning up against some precariously stacked bricks and some are even worse.

Since we moved in, as a school we have had the desire to be a good neighbor. One that will leave a positive, sweet taste in the mouths of those who interact with us. Part of making that a reality is pursuing spending time with those around us. The primary way this is happening is through our Neighborhood Kids Outreach. I am coordinating this ministry through the Service Leadership Class that I am co-teaching this fall. The game plan for the outreach is easy and effective. We invite kids from our neighborhood to come into our school grounds for an hour to 1 1/2 hours every Wednesday. While they are with us, we love on them, teach them a Bible story and then let them play. We offer soccer on grass (many play on dirt or pavement) with a real ball, playing on our playground and even sometimes swimming in our pool. Instead of playing, some of the children opt to stay in the classroom and learn English from some of our High School students. It is such an amazing opportunity to serve and impact these lives for good.

Last week, I was teaching the kids about the birth of Jesus. At the beginning, I asked them to raise their hands if they had heard of the Bible...no one raised their hands. Then I asked the same question about Jesus...and got the same response. Please pray with us that God will bring to our outreach the children that will be receptive to the gospel. Also pray for the Spirit to move in their hearts as they hear the Truth. We are so grateful to be working and living in an area that is so ripe for harvest. Thank you for joining us on this journey.

The more things change...

2010-09-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

Just past eight months here and the paradoxes (or maybe paradoxi; or paradoxen...?) never end. What I mean is that the more used to this new culture I get, the more comfortable I feel trying new things and in doing so I again realize how far this life really is from everything I once knew to be "home". To me that is a good thing, by the way (or BTW for the younger generation). Following are just a couple of examples of how seemingly uncomfortable things turned out for the best.

First, I went back to my favorite "restaurant" yesterday (see post titled "Empty" if you want to know more about my favorite restaurant). When he didn't have my usual, he offered me the house special. I politely accepted and waited for it to be delivered. My bowl of "soup" arrived shortly after and he proceeded to add some extra toppings on it, which I again accepted without protest. Once he had placed the finishing touches on it, I began to dig in. The noodles were fine. I didn't hesitate at all either with the herbs and vegetables. In fact, probably about 80% of the soup went down the hatch without any hesitation at all. It was the other 20% or so that presented the problem. I was sure that some of the meat products that were in the soup were only there for flavor and not intended to be eaten. One piece looked like a wad of silly putty. Another looked like a bone, until I poked at it and it was squishy. I covertly looked at the man sitting at the other table eating the same dish and I didn't see him leaving anything in the bowl. That is when, again not to offend as I am a people pleaser, I decided to consume the whole thing...mystery meat and all. Most pieces went down without chewing the obligatory 20 times. In fact they went down whole. It was tasty, though and the smile on the guy's face was worth it. Don't know why I can't just stick with PB&J. I am glad that I can't though because while he was still smiling, I was able to give him the book "50 Reasons Why Christ Came to Die" by John Piper...in his native tongue. He was pleased to receive it and I will be pleased to follow up with him many more times.

The other example comes with language barriers. For the most part, I can get by with English. Almost anything we need can be purchased from someone who knows enough english to make the transaction. However, I am in Cambodia and I want to learn their language. However, since I am far from fluent in Khmer, I have to stick to English. I am constantly in awe of the many Cambodians I come in contact with who can make me feel very comfortable with the level of English they speak. But even though their English is lightyears beyond my Khmer, it still lacks many key components which cause it to make sense. One great example of how all of the right words might be placed in a certain text, the arrangement leaves you wondering: WHAT? This is demonstrated in the sign above. Another came in the form of a business card. The well meaning business owner was trying to promote his computer servicing business by stating that he was the "One stop shop for all of you computer needs". All of the right words were there but the end product was less than desirable. It read: "One of your stop shops for all of you computer needs".
The cool thing about this is is that as a result of a different translation miscommunication (or miscommunilation), I am now meeting with a local businessman weekly to help him learn English while also introducing him to the Gospel. God works in such cool and amazing ways. It is so fun to be caught up in them. I will keep you posted on both of them.

Desire

2010-09-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

A sweet little girl I saw at a local market

I have been reflecting lately about our move to Cambodia almost 8 months ago. That always leads me back further to the year and a half leading up to our move. We had many people standing by us, cheering us on but we also had our share of people saying "what in the ... are you thinking?" or some derivative thereof. Believe me, I have been in the second camp at times myself but thankfully only for short periods.

Those questions always left me thinking, why did we move here? When we are walking down the sidewalk stepping over trash; passing naked, dirty, begging children; sweating almost constantly; being stressed out by CRAZY traffic; being so far from what is familiar; unable to find what you need and if you do, often unable to communicate with the workers selling the item you need...etc. Those don't even take into account the fact that it is the "wrong time" to move the kids, as we had many people say. Wait until they get out of school...etc. The list of reasons is so long as to why we shouldn't have moved. So what were we thinking?

A car amongst unusual traffic

A boy begging for money, presumably with his sibling.

We wanted to. It was our DESIRE to move here. Really. It is not that we are overly spiritual but we just wanted to come. It sounds so counter intuitive. No one wants to move to one of the poorest countries in the eastern hemisphere, do they? Before we visited I even had to find it on the map. Not exactly a top 10 desirable destination for most. But that is where God comes into play. He says: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Now, I am not sure exactly what we did to "delight" ourselves in Him except to walk in obedience to His leading. And I guess when we boil it all down, that is really all He wants. Obedience. "To obey is better than sacrifice". As a father myself, I know that feeling. I have told my kids before that there is nothing they can give me that I don't already have...except their obedience. Which really represents the gift of your heart. To obey is to trust the other person's heart for you, even if you can't see the end result.

Some sweet kids we brought clothes to after they were displaced by a fire.

So that brings us to where we are. Enjoying our new home...trusting God's heart for us...excited to walk in His plan for us in Cambodia...the best place on earth to live.

The Runs :-)

2010-08-22T23:23:00.001-07:00

You can read on because I am sure this post will have nothing to do with what you are thinking right now. I will leave that for another one...or maybe not. Anyways, Carolyn and I have been running together. We are training for a half-marathon race in Siem Reap (home of Angkor Wat) in December. We have committed to this in part to keep in shape, in part to maintain sanity and in large part to connect with eachother. Although it isn't easy in the heat...it has been the highlight of my last few weeks. We often run at a pace where we can converse while running and the sights we see are more than enough fodder for conversation. Many times we chuckle about how different it is to run here than in Colorado, and the weather is the least of the differences. Here are some of the observations and differences we witness on our "runs":
*We have really changed our standards for what constitutes good running weather. It used to be low to mid 60's was ideal and we wouldn't even think about running if it was over 85. Now, since it NEVER gets below 68 (and I do mean NEVER) that has had to change. After one day in the hot season when we returned from running and our thermometer read 103 F, a few days later I found myself saying "wow, the run felt nice today, it is only 89 degrees."
*We get greeted by "Hello" more times than I can count every time we go running. The person may be 2 years old or 82. We will be running by and hear that wonderful greeting, always accompanied by a huge smile, which is accentuated by the contrast of their white teeth and brown skin. For many, it is the only English word they know so they use it whenever they can. It is such a fun way to connect with our community by shouting back a "Hello" or "Susedai" with a smile and a wave.
*Herds of oxen and goats are often obstacles on our running path. We also dodge many types of poultry. There are more loose dogs than I can count. I am very thankful that they seem as interested in chasing us as they are the world economy.
*Long, dusty, dirty roads.
*Beautiful palm trees dotting the landscape.
*There is even something resembling a mountain in the distance. Comes close to making us feel at home. I didn't see any snow on it though. Probably because it probably only towers 100 meters above sea level and the average daily temperature is 82.635 degrees F. Anyways, I digress.
*People. What we both really love are the people we see. The man herding goats; the women harvesting rice; the children digging through trash to find recycable material to sell; boys walking through a chest deep pond with a fishing net in order to catch a meal; families washing their clothes in large bowls in front of their houses; the unclothed children playing in the dirt and water trying to escape the heat...etc. All of them are going about their days, doing what they can to survive, but almost all of them will pause, stare at us unapologetically and greet us. That is what we both love. That is what at times makes us smile and at times can move us to tears. The utter brokenness of so many here contrasted by their outer joy. That is why we are here. For the people. It breaks our hearts to see their outer circumstances but it pales in comparison to the condition of their hearts. In a country where 95%+ are Buddhist, our hearts ache for the fact that almost everyone we pass would spend eternity apart from their Creator if they died today. Please join us in praying for the people of Cambodia and for the lives of those we interact with on our "runs".

I included a link to more pictures from our running route. Copy and paste it into your browser and enjoy getting a glimpse into what we experience.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=ohlinsincambodia&target=ALBUM&id=5508558802471745377&authkey=Gv1sRgCOWxwaqshb3HTA&feat=email

Empty

2010-08-14T02:31:00.001-07:00

How do you empty yourself of self while fighting for self-preservation? Are self-preservation and selflessness mutually exclusive? Those are questions that I am being faced with more and more these days. How do I empty myself, pour myself out for our new culture while at the same time cultivating a life that promotes longevity? They must co-exist. As a result of the path that we have chosen for our family, we have to successfully merge both of those numerous times every day. This is one of the many factors that cause you to live each day here at a constant level of higher stress. Higher stress because almost NOTHING is easy and EVERYTHING is different here. Not only that but the cultural differences can boggle the mind sometimes. One minor, but indicative way this played out just the other day, was when I went to my favorite restaurant for lunch. (I say "restaurant" strictly to mean a place where you can buy and consume food. Just to make sure you don't mistakenly create images in your mind that aren't correct, I added pictures of it J). It is 2 carts on the side of street 315 in Phnom Penh. One cart is for making fried rice or noodles and the other is for compressing sugar cane and making sugar cane juice. It is my favorite for several reasons. The food is great and I love the atmosphere and the price is right. I get a plate of fried noodles with an egg on top for 2000 riel (about 50cents), it is out in the open, the guy who runs it is a happy older guy who always wears a "Live with Regis and Kelly" hat and he always gives me a free cup of sugar cane juice. I think he does this because it usually takes a while since he needs to stoke his fire before he starts cooking my noodles. However, today he broke from tradition and gave me a glass of iced tea instead of sugar cane juice. Sugar cane juice seems relatively safe to me because it is naturally contained in the cane and just squeezed out (of course it is added to ice that is less than clean; but I try not to think about that). Iced tea on the other hand is mostly water…the water that most expats never drink. It just might cause some bowel conditions that I won't discuss on our blog J. This being the case, I found myself really pondering whether or not I should consume the free gift. Should I leave my glass "empty" which would communicate appreciation despite the language barrier? Or should I leave it sit and communicate…who knows what? I am sure some of you now are thinking "It is a glass of stinkin' iced tea…not a big deal. Just dump It out. The guy will get over it." I did think that as well but instead I opted to gamble with my bowels. I would rather offend my innards than a man that I am beginning to develop a relationship with. In the grand scheme of things the iced tea may not matter much but I think it is good exercise for my "emptying myself" muscle, muscle that I need here more than almost anything. So I ended up leaving the glass almost empty even though it tasted a little bit like tea flavored lake water. I also ended up leaving with the confidence that I didn't offend him and that we will continue building our relationship as I frequent his "restaurant" more and more.

Anonymity

2010-08-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

One of the things that has particularly struck me here in Phnom Penh is that no matter where we go in the city, anonymity is nearly impossible. Why? We stick out like a sore thumb...really. Although there are many westerners here, the overall percentage is very low. The way this plays out practically is really quite comical at times. For example, we can be driving in our van and we will look out our windows and everyone around us are unapologetically staring at us. And when we make eye contact and smile they just continue staring. Another time I had stopped by a little place to get my motorcycle washed. I sat down at a small table to read while waiting. About a minute after I sat down a man sat down in front of me about 3 feet away and just stared at me. He continued even as I looked up periodically and made eye contact. A few months ago this would have seemed weird to me but I am somewhat used to it now.
All of this is compounded by the fact that we are starting to show up at the same places over and over again. People are beginning to realize that this American family is here indefinitely. I love that. This has all caused me to reflect on why we are here. We are certainly engaging here with ministry as a vocation but I am not so sure that our ministry apart from vocation won't be more profound and impactful. What I mean is, our lack of anonymity here means that no matter where we are...it could be in the middle of hundreds of people in the most crowded market in Phnom Penh...we are being watched by dozens of people. Our attitudes and actions towards them and each other transcend the language barrier communicate a lot about who we are and what we represent. As God's word says, "they will know that you are Christians by your love". I looked but I haven't found anywhere in the bible that says "they will know you are Christians by how often you go to church" or "if you uproot your family for ministry" or "by how much you give...etc". So please pray for us as we begin to become more and more a part of the landscape here that as a family we will represent our Creator in a manner worthy of His name. Thank you so much for joining us on this journey. By the way, all of the pictures are from our "back to school" shopping today.

570 Lives

2010-07-25T22:39:00.001-07:00

As one of the few families with Asian Hope who stayed in Phnom Penh over the summer, we have the opportunity to witness and help facilitate the arrival of new and returning teachers and staff. The summer was nice with the less rigorous schedule of Summer School but we look forward to the return of a set schedule and increased order in our lives, as many parents do this time of year. However, most of my excitement comes from thinking about the 570+ kids that our schools will have the opportunity to impact this year. The majority of them are not first time students at an Asian Hope school although many are. Regardless, it is so exciting to think of the lasting impact we can make on these lives. Our rigorous academic expectations produce young people who are well prepared for their future school/work plans. This is especially beneficial to our many indigenous scholarship students. It gives them a real, tangible hope of something more in life. A future where they will be equipped to contribute positively to their community, avoid selling their bodies for money and one that will offer infinitely more than the default of poverty and oppression. If that wasn't enough, being a Christian organization with 3 Christian schools, we also offer a hope that will transcend this life into the next. An education, regardless of how good it is, will not matter at all when God says your time on Earth is over. This has even more impact in a country where 95% of the population is Buddhist. So as we enter this year, we are trusting God to implement His sovereign plan in all 50 lives that we have the privilege and opportunity to cross paths with.
I am also excited to be co-teaching a High School class this fall called "Service Leadership". In this class I will have the opportunity to help students plan, develop and implement service projects around the community, city and region. I love being a part of helping broaden the minds and hearts of students, to help them see past themselves. No matter who we are, what history, talents and gifts we have, God has uniquely equipped each of us for a powerful place in His kingdom. Please pray with me that the hearts of the students would be open and receptive to God's leading in their lives and that they would be obedient to the point of follow through. Blessings!

181 Days

2010-07-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe it has been 6 months since we began this chapter in our lives. There are times when I look back and it seems like it has been a week. Whether it is because there are still so many things I am still learning and still need to learn or that we are just enjoying ourselves so much that time just flies. I am sure it is a good mixture of both. Then there are times that I feel like it has been forever that we have been here. That happens on days where nothing is going according to plan and discouragement fights its way in. At those times, the struggle seems particularly pronounced and small things that usually seem charming reach in to tip your glass until it's half empty. Luckily those times are few and far between. The other times it feels like we have been here longer is when we take time to look at the relationships we have developed here. There is a neat community of people that have taken different places in our lives, each one different and each one adding one more building block to our lives here.
Six months, on one hand seems short in the grand scheme of things but on the other hand is a fun milestone to commemorate. We are so thankful to God for calling us here and blessing us with so many amazing support people both here and abroad. We are also so thankful to each of you who support our work here, keep in touch with us, read our blog...etc. Each one of your plays an important part in our journey. I love this journey that we are on and am honored to have each one of you along with us. I am also beyond proud of Carolyn, Alex, Abby, Calli and Cameron for the amazing way they have adapted in a situation that is anything but easy. I am honored and humbled to be partnered with such an amazing team. Thanks guys. Blessings!

Longevity

2010-07-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

So we are creeping up on 6 months here and still cannot imagine ourselves anywhere else right now. We are continuing to be amazed at how God is blessing us in so many ways that we couldn't have scripted for ourselves. One way that we prayed and hoped that God would bless us is with community. We have seen that happen in ways that we could never have imagined. On June 1st we moved into our new place which is near our largest school, Logos International School (www.logoscambodia.org). We did so for several reasons 2 of which were it was under budget for us, it was close to school and we had a lot of friends that lived there. The last reason is why we are really glad we moved where we did. There are at least 4 other families we know living within a 250 meter radius of us, not counting House of Hope (Asian Hope's boy's home). For many reasons this has blessed us and contributed to our desire for longevity. First, we love and have been wired for a busy home. For the most part, we are not content closing our door and gate to the outside world and keeping to ourselves. This has resulted in many days and nights of some of the boys over for ping pong, cards, movies, hang-out, popcorn, discussions or like today, a hospital visit. Each of the boys are amazing in their own way and gifted beyond measure, which our creator does with each of us. We love getting to know each of them as time passes.
As if those relationships weren't enough, it seems our community relationships are starting to deepen as well. Take for instance our connection with our favorite tuk tuk driver, Wibol. He is in his early 30's and married with 2 kids. Shalom is 8 and she is in 3rd grade at a state school, Mongkol is 5 and attends Asian Hope International School. Our relationship began out of need. We were without transportation for a month and a half and needed to call on him many times. Now it has developed into a friendship where we can call on each other in times of need. Late one night I received a text from him asking us to pray for his son who was running a high fever, another time I called him for some "emergency" help in translating during a situation with Khmai police officer, just recently he called and asked if we could help out in a small way in getting some health care for his Dad. We prayed about it and were pleased to do so. It was so cool while talking to him last night, with evident emotion in his voice he said "Dan, every night Mongkol prays for you and your family. He never forgets." We love how our roots are growing deeper here.
In the interest of longevity, we are also trying to structure our lives in a way that will support it. In doing so we are taking the advice of many missionaries that have been on the field for a long time as well as advice given during our training and we are getting away from the city for a few days. Next week (July 5th) we are taking advantage of rainy season rates in Southeast Asia and driving to Koh Chang, Thailand for time of family connection and renewal. Whereas we love where we live and what we do, it is so easy to get caught up in day to day activities and lose sight of each other and WHY we are here. It also allows us a breather and forces us to step away from our work. As many of you know, when work is ministry to others sometimes you can find yourself working almost 24/7. We are all so excited to venture out on this road trip and see a new part of Southeast Asia. We are praying for and trusting God for a healthy, safe and fun time of renewal for all of us.
Thanks again for joining us on this journey.

Month at-a-glance

2010-06-22T01:55:00.001-07:00

It seems like just a week ago that I posted to our blog but when I reflected back on our last month I wasn't terribly surprised that it had been as long as it had. I wish I could go into every detail of our last 30 days or so but: 1. I wouldn't remember everything and 2: if I did, your eyes would be rolling up into your head by day 3 or so. In light of this, I am going to give you our month at a glance.

I would say the first big event that happened in our family is that the kids finished up the school year at Logos International School. Alex finished 9^th grade, Abby finished 7^th, Calli finished 5^th and Cameron finished Pre-K 4. We are so grateful to God and proud of the kids with how well they adapted to their new setting. They went from homeschooling in America to attending a private international school in Cambodia and did it well. Besides the major, obvious differences, one big thing to get used to in an international school is that many teachers and students are only there for a limited time. Most of our teachers sign 2 year contracts and then they are done. Also, many students' parents are only here for a short amount of time so the good-byes will maintain a sort of regularity. That is just another unanticipated aspect of living internationally.

The second big thing that happened to us in the past month is we ended our 15 months of homelessness. I do use the term lightly as we always had a comfortable place to lay our heads but we hadn't had our own place for over a year. It was difficult to not have a place to call our own, a place to personalize and have friends over. Our yearning for a place of our own came to an end on June 1^st when we moved into our own place here. We are in a new and growing region called Phnom Penh Themey (meaning New Phnom Penh). It is near the kids' school (15 minute walk) and just down the street from House of Hope (HOH; Asian Hope's boy's home). Our neighborhood also has several other families that we know so it really feels like home. We are also really enjoying living near HOH. Several times per week the boys stop in to play ping pong, hang out, play a game, watch a movie or just eat some banana chips and chat. It is so much fun and very consistent with our family's heart to have an open home and open hearts. Thanks God!

I could write for hours on the humorous journey of purchasing EVERYTHING for our new home but that would take…um…hours. But suffice to say, it was a crazy time. First finding where they sell a certain item, then negotiating a price (with language barrier), arranging delivery of larger items (all done on moto's), trying to communicate our address or directions…etc. Some days it was charming and endearing and other days I would select a descriptive word which would be the antonym of endearing (unendearing?). However, through all of the unpredictable and sometimes unimaginable obstacles we had to endure, I am so grateful to Carolyn for so patiently and thoroughly making this house into our home adding touches that really do make it home. To add to our excitement, right as we were starting to move some of our stuff over to the new house, I pulled, tore, strained or otherwise injured my hamstring playing street hockey. OUCH! I quickly looked up treatment for a hamstring pull and read about the RICE protocol and was relieved because we are in Southeast Asia and we have a lot of rice. But then I realized that RICE was an acronym for rest, ice, compression and elevation. So out of those four, I did roughly none of them and I think it is healing just fine. My hamstring has reminded me several times, by way of a sharp shooting pain, that it is still not back to normal but nonetheless we successfully moved in during that time.

The third big event that happened during the past month was that we hosted our first official mission team for Asian Hope. It was a group of 10 wonderful college students from Louisiana Tech. They were here for about 3 weeks and during their time here we ended up kind of adopting them into our family. It was busy but fun. I love having a job where I can have some of my kids or even all of my family be a part of it. While they were here we spent a lot of time serving many who are less fortunate alongside the students from our House of Hope and House of Faith. We hosted some VBS/fun days at our school, taught children from the dump, scraped and painted, removed trees…etc. It was such a great help to have them. The timing worked out great, too, as we were able to host some get-togethers at our new house. A couple times while they were here we were able to have about 3 dozen people at our house, which presented an awesome time of fun and fellowship. Alex, Abby and I also accompanied the team to Kampong Thom, a province about 3 ½ hours north of Phnom Penh. There we visited a ministry which houses, teaches and trains and nurtures orphans. It was a great opportunity to serve and also for me to connect with another ministry. God sure is moving here in Cambodia.

I know this is a brief description of our last month but I will diligently try to make more regular updates to our blog. Reflecting on our last month, I am left with a greater excitement for what God has in store for the people of Cambodia and more specifically for our family. There is a lot of oppression and pain in Cambodia but the longer we are here, the more we can see God's hand at work. We are humbled and honored to be a small part of that. A huge thank you from our family to each one of you reading this, because in doing so you are joining us in our journey.

Hotwheels

2010-05-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

As Carolyn and I were out with Cameron the other day looking at paint colors for our new place, God used a unique way to help us create some relationships. To give you a little context, Cameron's world has been rocked by our move. The weather here is so hot, he is continually touched like a new little puppy and he has to say thank you and hello in a totally new language. So sometimes he just climbs into his shell when we are out. That was the case at the paint store. He was just sitting on a chair, resting his head on the counter, holding onto 2 hotwheel's cars. Some of the workers were trying to interact with him but to no avail. Then one of the gals there grabbed one of his cars and began to drive it on the counter by him. Soon he grabbed his other one and they were playing together. Not long after that, a guy came over and started playing and that eventually got Cameron and him on the floor pushing the cars quickly so they would "crash". Then another worker made a paper airplane for him. Soon, pretty much all of the workers were involved in this impromptu playtime. As Carolyn and I were talking after that, she was commenting on how amazing it was that, despite the language barrier, God used something as simple as a little toy to draw people in. Because of this, we won't consider using any other store for paint and we look forward to seeing where these relationships may go. As you can see from the pictures, the time ended up with Cameron playing with many new friends and really enjoying his time. It was a blessing for him...and us. We so enjoy continuing to get to know people here and look for opportunities to be a witness and make an impact for Christ. As we do this we ask you to pick one person from the pictures and pray for them. Pray that we may deepen our relationship with them and that God would give us an opportunity to share our hope in Christ with them.

Easy Does It

2010-05-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

{Pics are of a beautiful temple in downtown Phnom Penh, our family at a Wat in town, a view ouside the front door of the Sanctuary and Cameron and Fanny}.
Life here fluctuates between "This is amazing, we are living out our dream here" to: "NOTHING here is easy...just give me something easy". Somewhere in between those 2 sentiments the 6 of us are settling into life here. One thing that makes us long for "easy" is shopping. Let's take for example shopping list A: bread, milk, nails, new t-shirt, new flip flops and a soccer ball. I used to think "Super Wal Mart", spend 45 min (if I stopped at the Subway inside) and I was done. Now I think "I can get bread and milk at the gas station on the corner, nails at the little shop with all of the hardware stuff (My Home Depot), the best bet for a new t-shirt would be across town at the Russian Market, I think I can find some flip flops at that little vendor on the corner but if not I will get those at the Russian Market too and finally I will stop by one of the sporting goods vendors down in the city". 5 hours later my list is complete, if the vendors weren't out of what I needed. Another thing that sometimes causes us to desire "easy" is calling any business (lets say a dentist) to ask a question or make an appointment. No more "I'll be done in 30 seconds, I just need to make an appointment with the dentist". One bonus, though, is that there are no prompts saying "For English Press 1". I spent about 5 minutes on the phone with the dentist office last week and at the end I was pretty sure that I had actually made an appointment and fairly certain of the time but had no idea which of this Dentist's locations I was supposed to go to. He is part of a group of very good well trained dentists and their group has 3 offices in Phnom Penh. Me: "You have 3 offices in Phnom Penh. Which office should I go to?" Receptionist "Yes, Dentist office". M:"What street is it on?" R: "Excuse me sir. I do not understand." M: "I have an appointment for the dentist. What street is the office on that I should go to?" R: "Yes, your appointment is at 10:00." "Okay, thank you." That is just a snippet of actual events. Regardless, I made my appointment and as a bonus received 2 root canals.
It is true that we sometimes look at the complexity of life here and marvel at it but I can honestly say that none of us would choose differently. As stated by our 2 teenagers (Alex and Abby respectively) "I love that we moved to Cambodia" and "Dad, I really want to graduate from Logos". Carolyn and I are thrilled to hear statements such as these. As I survey the ministry that God has placed us in I cannot be more thrilled either. One of the major things I have on my plate now is the Sanctuary, which is Asian Hope's new hospitality house. We are using it as a place to house visitors to Asian Hope and anyone else who is looking for a nice, comfortable, affordable place to stay here. But even more importantly we use it to train and mentor some of the students who have come through our boys and girls homes and also graduated from high school at Logos. It has been an incredible opportunity for Carolyn and I to work alongside each other and even involve our kids in it. Most recently (this past weekend) Abby stayed overnight Friday and Saturday to help feed and host a group of 27 from Hong Kong. She was up late and awake early with Fanny, the Asian Hope student who is managing the Sanctuary right now, making cinnamon rolls and washing dishes...etc. She loved it and got many compliments on here attentiveness. We couldn't ask for more as we pour into the lives of these young people here and they in turn pour into ours. We really could not have asked for more. We pray that as we become more and more closely tied to these wonderful students and people here that our lives may serve as an encouragement to them, causing them to seek Christ either for the first time or to deepen their relationship with Him. All good things come from our Father above!

A Non-Contradiction

2010-04-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

A moto isn't usually the best place to have a meaningful conversation so they don't usually happen there. However, that doesn't keep me from trying every once in a while. So a couple of days ago I picked Calli up from school on the moto and on our way home I decided to try and connect with how she was doing. So I asked her a couple of simple questions which ended up with her giving simple and profound answers. It just so happened that her answers sum up very well how we all feel. The questions I asked were: "What is your most favorite and least favorite parts about living in Cambodia?" She thought for a minute and replied: "My favorite thing about living here is how everything is so different from what I am used to...and my least favorite part about living here is that everything is so different." Those answers seemingly contradict but I totally feel the same way. I absolutely love the differences and cherish them at times. Other times, when all of them seem to be screaming at me at the same time, I can't stand them and just want something to be familiar. The neat thing is, things are beginning to feel familiar here. Whether it be running into people you know in the city, understanding the price of an item when it is given to you in Khmai or just recognizing and waving at friendly neighborhood faces while on a run. The ratio of familiar to un-familiar is still tipped way in the balance of "un" but regardless, we can see God taking care of our wants and needs on a daily basis by making us feel more and more comfortable here. There are still hard times (you get those anywhere) but none of us have ever looked back and wished we would not have moved. What a huge answer to prayer. Blessings!

I added some random shots from our time here so far.

Tasty Treats

2010-04-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

So this morning started out with a fresh mango and pineapple smoothie. I don't know if a better breakfast exists. I then did some work at Asian Hope International School and the Sanctuary (Asian Hope's new Hospitality house). Busy times around here. Later on, after trying to find some things for our new place, Carolyn and I ran to the "grocery store" with my 10-year-old, Calli. She has been blessed (or cursed) with somewhat of an adventuresome spirit like myself. So as we were pulling up to the store, she suggested we buy some crickets. When somebody says that here they are not meaning the kind you buy to feed to your pet reptile. They mean the fried kind supposedly for human consumption. So we did our shopping at the store and took off on the moto to find crickets. Hoping it would take long enough so she would get discouraged in the search, we found some within about 47 seconds of leaving the parking lot. She had made me promise that if she ate it I would too (or maybe it was vice versa). Anyways, we purchased a bag full of fried crickets from a roadside (actually on the road) vendor. She had a pan of boiling oil right on the cart with a fresh batch brewing. We somehow communicated what we wanted and she communicated in Khmai that it would cost 2500 riel. That is about 60 cents. Okay, I think I can spend that on what some here consider a delicacy. So we brought them home and some in our family (I would never let on that it is Carolyn and Abby) were completely disgusted by the sight but the rest of us were okay with it. Calli and I eventually proceeded to make good on our agreement. The crickets were first dumped out onto a plate and set on the counter. We waited 5 minutes and if that wasn't enough, when we took the cover the plate, ants had swarmed the pile of crickets. Not to be discouraged, we decided that if we had resolved to eat one type of insect, why not 2? So we pressed on. I was volunteered to go first. So I bravely and confidently (at least on the outside) stuck one fried cricket in my mouth and chewed it up. Much to my surprise it wasn't bad. It almost tasted like a crispy piece of bacon. If you didn't have to deal with the long hind legs poking the inside of your mouth you could almost forget you were eating one of those things you stomp on when you see it alive. Nonetheless, my ingestion of the cricket preceded Alex and Calli eating one as well. Then our brave Cameron tried by putting a leg in his mouth. He did end up spitting it out but it was a try. The 2, perhaps smartest, members of our family, Carolyn and Abby, stood by with cameras and much moral support. All in all a great bonding experience for our family. Sorry Jiminy. Pics are of the 3 "partakers" of the crickets, the crickets themselves and Calli trying to brave the cicket).

Distribution to Victims of Fire

2010-04-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our family was able to take part in distributing donated items to families who lost everything in a fire that happened about a month ago. I would have to say the event was overall a success but it left me with a feeling of "there is so much to do". It was definitely a morning of paradox. On Monday Abby went to school, although the kids are off all week for Khmai new year, and sorted clothes, food, toiletries and other small items to be distributed. Along with a couple teachers and 1 other student they made about 70 bags to be given out, each geared toward a specific gender and age group. Then Tuesday morning all of the bags were loaded in a van and we all went over to the site where the displaced families are now living. Once we got there, we all got out and started interacting with the kids and it was a lot of fun. Even though we can't communicate verbally with them, there was still a lot of smiles exchanged. We had one of the teaching assistants from Logos walk around the "village" and let some of the most needy families that we were there to give out some needed items. That worked for a little bit...until it was clear that we had more people lined up to receive bags than we had bags. Toward the end people were grabbing the last few bags instead of waiting. Although those who received bags were happy and thankful, it was sad to not be able to give to everyone. It left all of us with a feeling of joy to serve but a desire to do more. That is the paradox. We could have avoided the sadness if we had done nothing but we would have missed the joy and all of the smiles. To be honest, I wouldn't trade either.

New Life School

2010-04-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

It is so cool to be here in Phnom Penh working with Asian Hope to see what kind of difference they are making outside of the obvious. We have 3 schools, a girls and boys home and a hospitality house. They are all great ministries and I enjoy being a part of them. However, since moving here I have realized that our impact is felt beyond the confines of our official programs. One such example would be New Life School. NLS is a small christian school that was started only a couple years ago for the poorest of the poor in Phnom Penh. Each day they receive children from orphanages who could never pay tuition of a private school or the price to pass through a state school. They would be relegated to a life of servitude and probable abuse. Now they are given a chance at a new life through education and Christ. So how does Asian Hope play a part? Well the principal and the 6th grade teacher (both are Khmai women in their mid to late 20's) were once teaching assistants at Logos International School. If you ask either one of them, and I have, they will both tell you that they would not be where they are today without their experience at Logos. Their time with us taught them lesson planning skills, classroom discipline/control, and gave them the confidence and experience needed to affect a change in so many other lives. This is one of the reasons why in most of Logos' classrooms they have an experienced western teacher and a Khmai teaching assistant: it allows us to help produce excellent Khmai teachers who can then leave our school and make an impact in areas that we couldn't. We also support NLS with ongoing teacher training and curriculum.
With this in mind, we wanted to bless the students and staff of New Life school. So last week we bused in all of the kids (in 2 shifts on 2 different days) to enjoy a carnival at Logos. Our 5th and 6th grade classes helped plan and host these students. They were able to run in grass on an obstacle course, swim, play basketball, throw water balloons, get their faces painted, listen to music, watch a puppet show and maybe best of all, eat ice cream. Our hearts were truly blessed to watch these kids light up with all of the choices of activities. I am not sure who had a better time the kids or those of us who could watch them enjoy themselves. I wanted to share some of these pictures with you but really wish I could bottle up the sights and sounds of that day. I look forward to many more of this type of event...they are priceless for these kids. Please know that any of you reading this would be a welcome set of willing hands and feet during any of these events. If you are interested, leave a comment. Blessings!

“Normal” Can Change

2010-03-29T19:29:00.001-07:00

Life here is starting to take on some sort of normalcy at times. For that we are very encouraged and I am somewhat surprised. I guess I thought we would eventually view our lives here as normalizing but I just didn't think it would be this soon. Don't misunderstand and think that I am saying we are fully settled. That is absolutely not true. What I mean is just that the newness and differences are now taking on some sort of familiarity. For that I am thankful and excited. For example, I had about 5 hours with Alex and Cameron to get 5 things done and when I completed all 5 in that amount of time, it really was an accomplishment. I felt like I had a successful and relatively efficient day. The 5 things were: haircut for Cameron, flip flops for both of the boys, 2 light bulbs, flea/tick collar and a few groceries. Back in the states I would have run to Walmart or Target and been done…45 min to an hour tops. Here, 5 hours is a successful day because for 5 things you may need to go to 6-8 places or maybe more. In short, so many things that were normal or taken for granted have to be re-learned and now seen through the filter of where we live now. Another example of that is driving. I have used the example of watching an anthill after it is kicked to compare to the traffic here. Everybody drives in a way that allows them to get to where they want to go the quickest. It may mean cutting someone else off, going the wrong way on a street or just driving through an intersection when it is not their turn. Most, if not all, of these moves would earn someone showing you the universal sign of displeasure in the states but there isn't any road rage here. People just understand that that is how things go here. It is part of the pulse of the traffic here. Inside I can be saying "what is he thinking? It isn't his turn!", but slowly I am learning understand and join them where they are at instead of being the one non-conformist (besides, I really didn't have a choice).

However, in the midst of these things we have found joy and peace. Not because of the differences but in spite of them. We have embraced the differences although not always enjoying them. In almost everything we have found beauty and something to enjoy. Here is a great example: the dirty air. Phnom Penh has very dirty air. There is a lot of pollution from all of the cars (mostly diesel) and motos…in the city. That is compounded by the fact that most streets surrounding the city as well as quite a few within the city are dirt. This combination causes a lot of particulates in the air. So you can look at it as an annoyance and nuisance, which it definitely can be. The other option is to look for the positive you receive from it: beautiful sunsets almost every night. With the risk of sounding "Pollyanna-ish", it really is an amazing thing. Blessings!

The Van: It isn't German

2010-03-13T16:56:00.000-08:00

(Pictures: Two are of the shop where I originally saw the van, one is of paperwork for the van and the other is of the van. Notice the emblem on front :-)So we took another step in forward in getting settled in Cambodia. We purchased a van. This was a fairly long but exciting process. It started basically a week after we arrived. I was trying to gather advice and input from people who have been here a while as to what they would recommend as well as evaluating what exactly we wanted in a vehicle. We concluded that we wanted a van so we put out there to everyone we knew to keep their eyes out for a van for us. They also have a couple of email lists that are as close as we get to craigslist that list many items for sale. What it finally came down to was our tuk tuk driver, Wibol. I say "our" tuk tuk driver because we have used him a lot and have developed a relationship with him. Wibol knows all of us by name and is very protective of the kids. He is a Christian and has an amazing life story. So he told me that his brother was selling a van. I went to look at it an drove it and liked it. However, I wanted to look around. I took a few other vans out for test drives and had each of them evaluated by a trusted mechanic here to get his opinion. We ended up purchasing the van that he said would be his choice out of the ones we looked at. We have owned it for aobut 24hrs now and we all enjoy it. It wasn't until last night when Carolyn were heading out on a date in it that we realized: none of us have been in a vehicle for about 6 weeks. That is yet one more area of change we are experiencing. By the way, the van is actually a SsangYong Istana. It is a Korean company that has some sort of official partnership with Mercedes so Mercedes actually blesses them using their logo. Weird, I know.
From a more interesting personal story, when I went to pick up the van, it was at Wibol's house. Many family members live together, including Wibol's father and mother-in-law. They live in a typical Khmai house which is one level and many units connected to each other. In front is a large swampy area. As I was there waiting for 30-40 minutes for them to install the rest of the seats, I noticed 3 or 4 trash trucks backing in and dumping trash into the swamp. At first I was appalled. I thought "How dare they dump waste in the front yard of their house!" That was until Wibol informed me that his mother-in-law and some of their other family will enthusiastically go through the new trash to find anything they can that would be worth selling. One of the most coveted items is a large ricepaper bag. They are large bags that rice comes in. Many people use them for trash bags so in each load there are usually a lot. Wibol informed me that with each load they can make up to $10 from the items collected. I was amazed and humbled. Imagine, sorting through a pile of trash that was just dumped in your front yard all for $10. My perspective is consistently being challenged and modified over here. His mother-in-law also works at our hospitality house as a cook. She used to own a restaurant but then quit. She began working again when her husband had a stroke and could no longer work. Needless to say, we are thrilled that we can help them out a bit. May God's name be glorified!! Blessings!

The Accident

2010-03-10T02:31:00.001-08:00

The Accident

Okay. We are 10 days out from the accident and I wanted to fill everyone in on the details of the past week and a half since it all went down. I haven't yet partly because of time and partly because it was one of the most horrible things I have seen, watching Carolyn get hurt so badly. With that said, here is the story:

It was a dark and stormy night (not really but that sounded like the beginning to a good story). Actually it was hot, humid and clear last Saturday night when Carolyn and I left to go out. We had helped host the open house for Asian Hope's new hospitality house earlier in the day and had just gotten ready to go out with friends for the evening. We were both looking forward to going to a Mexican restaurant that we heard had good, relatively authentic Mexican food. So we took off on our moto, me driving and Carolyn sitting side saddle in back. We had done this many times before so we didn't give it much thought at all. We took a few back streets to make it out to the main road, Russian Boulevard. We waited in the left turn lane to get the green arrow. We were in front which ended up being a very good thing. As our light gave us the go ahead, we were able to take off and leave the other cars and motos behind (when you are further back there are so many vehicles trying to go at once that as a group they take off slower). So we were a ways in front of the other cars with an empty road in front of us. This is the main road in Phnom Penh so the speed limit is higher although we weren't going more than 25 mph. Just then I looked up and saw a Land Cruiser pulling out in front of us from a side street without stopping. He was crossing our lanes of traffic and was going to head in the opposite direction on the same street. When I saw him enter our lane I braked and turned to the right to avoid him. That is when Carolyn fell off the moto. The moto didn't go all the way down but it did tip quite a bit. This is where it is good that we were far enough ahead of everyone else as Carolyn was laying in the street. I went over to help her to the side of the street where she could sit down and we figure out what to do next. It was nice as we also had many Khmai come to help us as well. They asked us if we wanted an ambulance. I said yes right away as there was a lot of blood coming from her forehead which later we realized was lacerated from her helmet visor cracking when she went down. Her arm was also banged up pretty bad. A couple minutes passed and we decided the best option was to go to a clinic that the locals said was just right around the corner. So we went there and our illusion that it was the best option was quickly dispelled. The "clinic" was a storefront (see picture) with some pharmacy items in the front. Then you walk through a doorway and there are 2 beds right next to each other, I mean right next to each other. Then if we had walked through the next doorway we would have been in the living room of the family that owned this clinic. There was an old lady sitting on a couch watching TV right there. It was crazy. Once I got a better look at Carolyn's head, I knew we needed more than this.
I would have maybe stayed there for a paper cut, maybe. So I called a friend to come and pick Carolyn up and bring her to a hospital that was close and I would meet them there.

So we left and went to Royal Rattanak Hospital. It is a satellite location of a very good Thai hospital. It was clean, bright, sterile and just what we needed. They took great care of Carolyn as they cleaned, sutured and dressed her wounds. They also took an x-ray of her head which cleared her of any fractures (I am an even bigger proponent of helmets now). We left there with an appointment to return on Wednesday for a follow-up. Carolyn rode home with our friend and I followed on our moto. Since the staff seemed to forget to check for correct pupil dilation, I checked that at home several times that night. We also looked up symptoms for concussions and they pretty much matched with what Carolyn was experiencing: dizziness, ringing in her ears…etc. The follow-up appointment was on Wednesday and the Dr. said that since Carolyn was still experiencing those symptoms in her head that we should do a head CT scan. The funny thing about that is, just as they were saying she needed one, I saw an advertisement for "Brain CT scan for 50USD" but the rest was in Khmai. When the receptionist said the CT scan would be $185 I told them I wanted the special $50 price. Then they tried to explain to me that that special price was only for Khmai. Of course Cambodia is known for bargaining so I told them I still wanted the $50 price. After a little more conversation as well as some phone calls, they acquiesced and gave us the Khmai price. We praised God when it came back clear.

A week and a half later, Carolyn is still recovering from the trauma. The stitches in her forehead look great and the road rash on her arm is healing up nicely. Her black eye is going away little by little as each day passes. She is still dealing with some ringing in her ears and headaches, which can be frustrating and discouraging. Please pray for continued healing for her and protection for all of us as we continue to seek God in our lives over here.

Masks, Weddings, Laughter and License Plates

2010-02-26T02:24:00.000-08:00

There is never a boring day over here. Even menial, daily tasks can become adventuresome and something new is always experienced. For instance, in one second I fully realized why so many wear masks (like surgical masks) outside over here. I was driving the moto and a large truck passed. He kicked up much of the dust and sand from the side of the road and in an instant my gum was filled with tiny particles of sand. Yum. Another thing to get used to is how weddings are celebrated here. Picture the second busiest road in your town. Is it a major artery for your city? Great. Now imagine a young couple in love is going to be getting married. So the family rents a large awning to set up tables, chairs, dance floor, music, food...etc. Where better to set it up? Why don't we take up half of the street in front of our house? Perfectly logical, right? That is exactly what they do here. At least half of the width of major streets are bottle necked by wedding tents, elaborately decorated in pink and yellow. The next thing I am recognizing is just how out of place I/we must seem to the Khmai. Fair skinned, light hair yet we don't go home like most westerners. We just keep showing up. One thing that always garners a laugh from the locals is a new phrase I learned. It is: "bien moto high" (strictly phonetic...I couldn't attempt to write Khmai and I am sure you wouldn't be able to read it). It means "I have a moto" and is used while pointing in the general direction of your moto. I use it when walking out of a market when invariably there are a half dozen moto and/or tuk tuk drivers ready to bring tourists to their next destination. It is probably the last phrase they are expecting to hear come out of my mouth. They always laugh and smile.
The last thing that I will share with you this time is my license plate story. There is so much to the story but I will just hit the highlights. The purchase of the moto (found on the "The Moto" post) was only the beginning. When purchased, the dealer gives you a record of import tax paid since there is no sales tax. Then within 15 days, the seller has to accompany you to the license plate place to verify the authenticity of the transaction. So I showed up at the sellers at 7:45 this morning. I had all of the appropriate documentation including passport, visas, signed proof of address, proof of employment, $50, sales receipt...I think that was it. Then I took off on my moto following Meng, the son of the owner of the shop, on his moto. That in and of itself was a challenge. He was weaving in and out of oncoming traffic, up onto sidewalks and through some less than green lights. Nonetheless I made it to the right location right behind him. That definitely boosted my driving confidence. So we pull up to an open air but covered waiting area with 120+ people and there is not another fair skinned person anywhere. That doesn't bother me at all since we are in Cambodia. I walk in and I feel so out of place yet at peace. Out of place because every sign, every form, every name tag is completely illegible to me and at peace because this is right where we are supposed to be. To give you a little indication, the font on the top of the license plate says "Phnom Penh" in Khmai and that is the font that everything is in. As one of the brothers that works at the moto shop was filling out all of my paperwork for me, I was told the wait would be about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. Then about 40 min into my wait, the guy who filled out my paperwork for me motioned for me to follow him. I then got up, followed him past the row of windows with the workers, through offices in the back, up some stairs, along an outdoor corridor and into an office. The man in the office looked important as he had pictures of himself shaking presumably the prime minister's and king's hands. After short dialogue in Khmai (not with me) I gave my thumbprint on a couple more documents we went back downstairs. Much to my pleasant surprise, about 15 min later I was out the door (or gate) with my new plates. I don't really question what happened, I just know where I am going for my next moto.
These definitely are interesting times and we are embracing the differences and appreciate the opportunities to share them with you. Blessings!

A view from Chapel

2010-02-20T03:17:00.000-08:00

This is a video clip of a Middle/High School chapel service at Logos. The kids have chapel twice a month. It is usually comprised of worship, fun and a teaching. We joined them a week and a half ago and enjoyed it. The video is a shot from the 4th floor cafeteria of Logos where the chapel time takes place. This is also where our church is held. It is a strange mix of beauty and poverty. I hope you Enjoy. Blessings!!

Jog-a-Thon 2010

2010-02-19T05:29:00.000-08:00

Today we participated in the Logos Jog-a-thon. The 300+ kids at Logos ran a course, different based upon age group, to try and raise money for the school. It was an amazing time to meet people and connect with kids. Carolyn spent a lot of the time taking pictures for the event and scooping ice cream, I ran with all of the students, Alex, Abby and Calli ran and Cameron just got to play around. The course for the middle/high school went outside of the school's walls and weaved throughout some very poor areas. It was enjoyable to run by families with kids as they paused to watch all of the students run by. I greeted many of them in their indigenous tongue which always makes them smile. Overall the event was a success. It raised much needed funds for the playground and many other important items. The playground at Logos has a lot of fun equipment but the surface under the play equipment is concrete so the added funds will be very welcome.

The Moto

2010-02-15T05:21:00.000-08:00

So we finally became independently mobile. We purchased a moto last weekend. Before I let you know how it all happened let me fill you in on motos real quick. Motos are to Phnom Penh as ants are to picnics. They are as plentiful and look equally as random in their traffic patterns. Since they are so small, agile and quick, they don't seem to feel the need to observe a lot of the traffic laws. Going the wrong way down streets, not stopping for red lights...etc. What are we getting ourselves into? So anyway, Alex and I set out last Saturday to look at a moto. We both hopped on to the back of a moto that a Christian Khmai man was driving. He works with a OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) here and has a lot of insight on where to get good deals on motos. So he took us to a "dealership" in toward the middle of the city. We looked at one the owner of the shop had in mind for us (pre-arranged by the man taking us there) and it seemed like a very reliable one. We settled on a price that was very good and after graciously declining an offer from the shop owner to have "Chinese New Year" dinner with he and his family, Alex and I were off. Now is the time I should tell you that the last time I drove a motorcycle was about 25 years ago. It was a small one that we used to buzz around my grandpas farm on. Now is also the time I should mention that for Alex and I to reach the helmet shop, we have to drive on what may be arguably Phnom Penh's busiest street. With that context, imagine us entering traffic. I am sure it was interesting to say the least. Two caucasian males, no helmets riding a moto in a less than impressive way. Nonetheless, we reached our destination and purchased 2 helmets. Since then we have had one stolen, re-purchased and then purchased a helmet that fits Cameron so he can ride as well. It has really helped as we don't have to rely on tuk tuks as much (although we do have to use one when the whole family is going anywhere). It comes in very handy though for running to the store, date nights for Carolyn and Me, bringing one kid to school for an activity...etc. In fact, today Carolyn, Cameron and I rode it deep into the city for some errands. It can be a little nerve racking at times but as I am getting more used to driving it, the nerves get a little rest. Now my nerves are focusing on Alex as he is learning how to drive it. Makes me thankful we are all in God's hands.

A run in with the law

2010-02-11T01:31:00.000-08:00

The title makes this post seem a little more exciting than it really is. Basically I got a traffic ticket today but there are a few details that do make it interesting. To start, I will explain how the traffic cops work over here. Each morning groups of cops are dropped off on random corners and streets throughout the city. Then they wait until they see someone "breaking the law" (I will explain quotes later) and when they spot someone, they walk out into traffic, step in front of your vehicle, blow their whistle and point to the side of the road. Then they will proceed to explain to you what you did and a final price for the fine is negotiated and agreed upon. Weird, I know. The quotes earlier were because often times no law was actually broken. Sometimes westerners will be pulled over because the cops assume you have money and you may not know all of the rules and may be willing to pay more. In fact I was told I may get pulled over 3-4 times my first month here. We are 3 weeks in and this was my first time so not bad.
So this gets us back to my story. I was driving into town with Carolyn and Cameron. I proceeded to enter an intersection on a green light which turned yellow as I was in the middle. Once through, an officer stepped in front of our car (only going about 5 mph because of heavy traffic) and motioned for me to pull over. I did. He came to Carolyn's window and I greeted him in Khmai with a smile and he returned the greeting. He then talked for about 2-3 min in Khmai with me smiling and saying I don't understand at each pause. So finally the moment of truth came: negotiating the amount of the fine. When I heard him say in understandable english that the fine would be $10 I politely looked at him, smiled and said "there is no way I am paying $10". The gauntlet had been thrown down :). He then replied, "Okay, how much will you pay?" I said I would pay no more than $2. He then said that that would be fine. So I gave him a $20 bill and he made change for me. The whole thing was hilarious and not nearly as intense as the story may sound. Traffic cops here make their living off of fines. The more they can get the more they make. We were told never pay full asking price for a fine and NEVER over $5. After we paid up, I smiled and said thank you and good-bye in my best Khmai, he returned the sentiment and reached in and shook my hand. The whole experience was fun, interesting and one I will remember for a long time. Thanks for sharing it with me!

Haircuts and Red Lights

2010-02-09T04:24:00.001-08:00

Today was a productive day. We got an unusable vehicle towed back to our house from the mechanic still unfixed (hope that's a word) because the mechanic is taking 2 weeks off for the Chinese new year. Then Cameron and I went to get haircuts (see included pictures). That is a big splurge over here and frankly I spent twice what I had planned on spending. And for Cameron, even though he is just 5, his haircut was still half what I paid. I was shocked. Our total bill once we were all said and done, including haircut and shave for me and haircut for Cameron, was $3. See, I was planning on only $1 for myself but I had to go and include a shave with mine which doubled my bill to a whopping $2. Then tack on another $1 for Cameron and our whole haircutting budget was blown. From there we went to open up our new bank accounts. That took a while as most new accounts do even without language barriers. Our banker spoke pretty good English and we could say hello, good-bye and thank you in Khmai so that made things flow a lot easier. From there we had to run into the city to pick up some household necessities. Once in the city it began to dawn on me. I think this is the only place I have been where I feel out of place and a little like the odd one out when I stop at red lights and stay that way until the light turns green. I think traffic lights are viewed here as a loose suggestion or a courteous reminder rather than a mandate. At any given 4-way stop there are cars, bikes, motos, buses, vans, pedestrians, ox carts…etc coming from all 4 directions. And all yield way to the Escalades, Lexus and Mercedes that are driven by the wealthy upper class. Traffic over here truly takes a lot of getting used to. From there we went to pick up the girls from school and then home for dinner and homework. I will be having a conference call tonight with our CEO and chairman of the board tonight to discuss our new Hospitality House.

Superbowl Monday?

2010-02-08T02:17:00.000-08:00

Superbowl Sunday was a bit different for us this year than it has been in the past. We'll set aside the fact that we are trying to assimilate in a 3rd world country and really everything is different. So Superbowl Sunday started out like any other. We woke up, went to church, had lunch and then I went to the market with my family. That didn't seem right seeing as how it was the day of the Superbowl and all. But nonetheless, we hung out afterwards and got Alex ready to go to High School Bible camp this week. He ended up riding away from our house with a friend of his on a moto to spend the night at the boys home. Alex and all the boys were planning on walking to school in the morning to catch the bus for the 5hr trip to bible camp. We are so excited for him. But that still leaves us sitting at home on Super Sunday without a game to watch. Quite an adjustment as I was not relishing nor resenting a win or loss, I was preparing to meet some friends at a sports bar at 6:15 Monday morning. Superbowl Monday! It was actually quite enjoyable. Different but good. There were many expats there watching the game and the restaurant capitalized on it. They had special menus printed up with the Superbowl logo and special prices, higher than normal Khmai prices for food. I had a bacon cheeseburger (at 6:45 a.m.) and it was worth the inflated $6 price. And for those who are reading this and may be a little more on the legalistic side, I will have you know that I did not have a beer at that early hour...although it was 5:00 somewhere.
So we watched the game and it was good. The satellite feed was really consistent with one problem. We got the whole game but it was on ESPN out of Thailand so we got exactly zero of the highly anticipated commercials. Every single commercial (EVERY ONE) was an ESPN commercial. We also got football (soccer) and cricket updates...thrilling. Regardless, we enjoyed the game and I got my fix of AMERICAN football. God does care about the little things.

Take Take a Tuk Tuk

2010-02-04T03:35:00.000-08:00

We had a great opportunity to adapt to some unforeseen circumstances today. The vehicle that we are temporarily using is just slightly unreliable. So today when we went to leave to pick up the kids from school, it wouldn't start. My natural response when this happens is to turn the key again, this time with more force because if the car knows you mean business then maybe it will start. Well I tried that to no avail. My next step is to open the hood and start jiggling wires around and maybe pull on a few hoses because I am sure that will fix the problem. Well, I am sure you will all be surprised to know that it still didn't start after all of that work I did on it. So finally, after burning about 10 minutes, I acquiesced to Carolyn's original request which was to call our favorite tuk tuk driver to go get the kids from school. So 2 weeks after getting here, thousands of miles from our old home and everything familiar, we called Vibol to pick up our kids. Carolyn's mother instincts were out and she was a little anxious but when they showed up at home, even sooner than we thought, all of our fears were calmed. God showed himself faithful to us again.

Cameron and a makeshift beday

2010-02-02T00:47:00.000-08:00

It could very well be that Cameron is having the most culture shock out of all of us. Don't get me wrong, he really is adjusting wonderfully. Whenever asked, he enjoys it here, largely due in part to his new 4-legged friend that was awaiting our arrival. That being said, since he is the youngest and the only one of us who hadn't visited here before, he was the least prepared. Here are a few examples of things that are rocking his world a bit. First, being a fair skinned, fair haired boy, people feel the liberty to let their hands glide through his hair as he walks by or tickle him under the chin, all without warning. Another thing that is unusual for him is the way we cross streets here. Crosswalks? Nope. If you want to cross a busy street, just start slowly walking. Cars and motos move around you in front and once you get out far enough they start going behind you until you are across. This can be a little unnerving at first as an adult but picture all of these cars and motos coming at you at 3 1/2 feet tall. He does very well with it, though. Now the piece de resistance happened today for Cameron. (Disclaimer: The following may be a little graphic for some :). We were at a store today and Cameron had to go to the bathroom and he had to...um, we'll just say he had to "sit". So once he had already started I was frantically scanning the bathroom for toilet paper. Once I realized there was nothing resembling a roll of soft fluffy paper, I quickly re-scanned the room for anything that would double as toilet paper (ie. paper towel, tissue, pamphlet, brochure, leaf...etc.). There was nothing. That is when I spotted the "kitchen sink sprayer" hanging on the wall next to the toilet. I tried to break it to him slowly that there was no paper and that we would have to use the sprayer hanging next to him. Talk about culture shock, let alone other types of shock. Nonetheless, he handled it fine and we both kinda laughed about it on our way out.
So there you go. A glimpse into adjusting to a 3rd world culture through the eyes of a 5 year old. I can't wait to see him in a year or 2. He will probably be fluent and able to get around better than any of us.
By the way, I am including a pic of Cameron with our dog Hanah instead of a pic of him in any of the other above situations. Blessings.

Connecting and reconnecting

2010-01-31T00:26:00.000-08:00

We really enjoyed fellowshipping this morning, connecting with new friends and reconnecting with old ones. The service met in the 4th floor cafeteria of the Logos building. The walls on both sides are completely open and there is no a/c so it was quite hot. Probably mid 80's with a similar humidity reading. But it is really cool to be praising God while looking out at beautiful tropical trees and hearing the birds that go along with them. The service is relatively informal but the worship is authentic. It is cool to see so many different backgrounds and nationalities come together and worship the same amazing God. It is a no frills church as they have their Sunday morning service and that's it, no kids programs, adult Sunday school classes or student ministries. But so far we really enjoy the realness of the fellowship. I took a couple snap shots this morning that I included.Blessings!

This is the Day

2010-01-30T19:05:00.000-08:00

It is a beautiful Sunday morning right now. 10 in the morning mid 80's with sunny blue skies. It only cooled off to 79 last night so it hasn't warmed up too much yet. I was thinking this morning about where it says in God's word "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it" and how true that is. Church doesn't start until 1130 here so we had time to enjoy some coffee (Starbucks beans ground with a mortar and pestle), swedish pancakes, bacon...and some nice family time. We don't always get that for breakfast, though. Traditional Khmai breakfast is much different. For instance, I met a friend for breakfast the other morning and my options were different variations of fried rice and noodle soup. I thought I chose safely when I chose "Chinese sampler". I was joletd back to reality when I received my "breakfast" with many unidentifiable items in it. Through some lanuguage difficulty, I found out there was pig intestine in it, among other things. So needless to say, pancakes are a welcome treat.
So getting back to this morning, we are headed off to church soon. There are many good churches here and the one we are trying today is "Shalom" church and it meets in the Logos building where the kids go to school. I am including some pictures of the building. It is about 10 minutes from our house and is situated right in the middle of a very poor neighborhood, which really describes about 95% of Cambodia. Hope you enjoy the pics. Blessings!

Tuk Tuks and Markets

2010-01-27T18:48:00.000-08:00

I know we have referenced taking a Tuk Tuk to the market and we have had some questions as to what exactly a Tuk Tuk is and what the markets are like. Let me describe them and give you some pics as well. First, a TukTuk is a moto (small motorized bike the size of a scotter but looks more like a motorcycle) pulling a trailer with seats in it. There are thousands of them around town and they are like taxi's. When you walk out of a market there are atleast 4 drivers that will ask if you need a ride, trying to get your business. We have one that was referred to us that we can call if we need one. It is a great way to see the city as you are basically outside right next to the traffic and the people.
The markets are basically like a mall in the states in that people sell stuff there. That is about where the similarities end. They are huge buildings that are surrounded by vendors selling anything from fruit to clothes to toys to meat (raw and hanging in dusty, hot, humid air) to cd's, plates, decorative items...etc. Then you can venture inside where the interior is packed (I can't stress that enough) with as many vendors as they can fit in, selling all the same stuff you saw outside. Bartering is expected as two adjacent booths may be selling the same things. Typically the very interior has the bulk of the food and a "food court". It is usually dimly lit, dirty and kinda smelly as people are preparing fresh fish and chickens to sell. They are lopping off the heads and gutting them right there, not refrigerated or anything. You can only imagine the aromas. Despite all of this, the markets are charming. There aren't a lot of fair skinned people there so we all get looked and smiled at often. Cameron is especially a hit as many people will let their fingers run through his hair as he walks by. He has gotten used to it as part of the experience and so have we. So with the attached pictures I hope this has given you a little glimpse into this aspect of our lives here.

One Week In

2010-01-27T04:05:00.000-08:00

So we have been here one week and are settling in well. We are doing many things that are helping us feel more established mixed with things that are just necessities for everyday living. What we are finding is that no matter why we do things, they all take considerably more effort and energy than they would in the states. Example: I went to get my drivers license 2 days ago (Monday). Simple enough, right? Well, I drove downtown (I know there are some of you making connections in your mind...how is he driving without a license? That is a subject for another post)to get my 6 photos it takes to get one. Then, Tuesday when the photos were ready I drove back into town to get them and I took them across town to a driving school to get my actual license. So I handed the lady my photos, paperwork and $45 dollars and walked away with nothing. Yep. I had to drive back there today and get handed a piece of paper on which I can only read my name, trusting that it really is the temporary license they were telling me it is in hopes that I really will get my real one in a couple months.
So that is a little slice into our lives these days. We have similar stories with many other things. The remarkable thing is, none of this deters us. Our hearts are still united and excited about what we are doing. (By the way, that picture is of the $45, or 193,500 riel, piece of paper I invested in).

First Day of School

2010-01-25T04:35:00.000-08:00

Five days into our tenure here in Cambodia and it was time for the kids' first day of school. Each of them had their own unique balance of excitement versus anxiety but they were all tipping the scales on the side of excitement. The real testimony to the day came when they were all more excited than not at the end of school. Many new friends were made and old friends were reacquainted. It was so fun to watch them head off to their first day at Logos. While the kids were busy studying, Carolyn was shown around the city by a friend. She was able to locate some new markets and shops where we can buy various items we need. She also connected with a new friend which is very valuable for her. Cameron and I spent the day driving around exploring our new city. It is amazing how you can be driving down a major boulevard, turn off and be on a dirt road that is about wide enough for a car and a sheet of notebook paper. Phnom Penh truly is an experience of poverty of with all 5 senses. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches are all laced with varying degrees of deprivation. Whether it is the smell or taste of waste in the air, the sight of a partially clothed, dirty child accompanying their physically disabled parent begging for anything that would resemble food or a chicken clucking in the midst of traffic sounds, they all make our new home a unique and amazing place to live and assimilate. We truly are blessed.
One of the things I accomplished while driving around town was getting my photos for my new drivers license. Hopefully I will be able to pick up pictures tomorrow and complete the process of being a legal, valid driver in Cambodia. So many new things to do and experience. We have seen God's faithfulness so evident thus far and look forward to seeing his continued faithfulness in the future. God's richest blessings to all of you.

Experience our traffic :-)

2010-01-20T23:37:00.000-08:00

We wanted to let you guys experience our traffic over here. It is a little crazy...but I love it. I started driving in it just a few hours after we got here and it actually makes driving exciting again. No more falling asleep at the wheel for me. When you watch the video, it may not look like they have any rules, but let me assure you, they do. They have traffic rules just like a group of boys have rules for a backyard rugby/football/wrestling match: whatever you can get away with, goes. Truly. Another way to imagine it is to think back to the last time you kicked an anthill and what the ants looked like a second later. That is kinda what I view Phnom Penh looking like from the air. By the way, I hope I din't offend any card carrying PETA members by what I just said and I take no responsibility for the injury of any ants that may result from this post.

Finally!

2010-01-20T05:48:00.001-08:00

Well, we made it…finally! It did take a while but at last we touched down in Phnom Penh at 9:05 a.m. local time on Wednesday, almost exactly 23 hours after our original flight would have landed. Since the last post, we had an almost 10 hour flight, followed by an 8 hour layover and then a 1 ¼ hour flight. The flight from Narita to Singapore seemed very long, compounded by everything that had happened the night before. I caught myself thinking, "so I waited in line, spent a lot of time on the phone listening to elevator music and jumped through countless hoops just to sit in an uncomfortable seat with my knees up to my chest all while eating something that somewhere before it made it to me, had passed as food." Lines are for roller coasters and other fun carnival rides not for self induced torture. While that thought really did pass through my mind, it actually wasn't that bad at all. We made it to Chainga airport in Singapore and had a great time trying to fill 8 hours of otherwise boring time: from about 12:15 until about 8:15 when we finally boarded the last leg of our trip. The flight to Cambodia was short and sweet. We got our visas with no real problem. In fact someone with airport security was waiting as we walked off the plane with a sign for us and a packet with our visas. And then another one took Cameron's passport and pretended to not give it back. And yet another one was saying to his co-worker "those are the 'ahlins'" or some derivative thereof. Needless to say we felt welcomed. We were met just outside by Joe and Rene Hansen, the tireless house parents of the boy's home We hung out with them for a while and one of the most exciting parts was that I was able to do a fair amount of driving in the city. With this traffic, I was a little nervous but mostly excited and it went great. Can't wait to get back out there tomorrow and do it again. Also toured the new school. All in all, a good day. I am putting a few pics on and will hopefully follow up with more as the days. I will post more lately…a little sleepy from some jet lag.

Blessings and Turbulence

2010-01-18T23:50:00.001-08:00

We were so blessed to be sent off by about 2 dozen of our closest family and friends at the airport on the 17^th. We left with many tears and smiles. We are blessed beyond words to have so many people to miss and to miss us. After almost interminable good-bye's we went swiftly through security and set out for our 23 hours (or so we thought) of travel time. Everything was perfectly normal the whole way…until we got to our first gate. This is how our itinerary was supposed to look: Leave Denver at 9:04 p.m. and get to San Francisco about 10:40p.m. After about 1 ½ hr layover we would board a plane for a 14hr flight to Taipei, Taiwan. After that, a 1 ½ hr layover before boarding a plane for a 3 ½ hr flight to Phnom Penh. Easy enough…23 hours and we are at our new home. However, that is not quite how things went. That brings us back to our first gate. Our Denver flight was delayed about an hour and 15 min due to mechanical problems. So our 90 min timeframe to make our connecting flight in San Fran was diminishing quickly. We were grateful to have such helpful staff call ahead and even ask all other passengers to wait and let us off first even though we were basically riding in the tail cone of the plane (that is the "aft" portion of the plane for those seasoned air travelers). So we exited the plane in lightning speed (imagine how fast that is…6 of us with a total of 12 carry-on's each with the equivalent of 2.2 cinder blocks in them), and ran/walked/panted our way to the security checkpoint that would bring us to our next gate. Apparently we didn't look pitiful enough as the staff there just looked at us and with as much of a smile as they could muster at 12:30 a.m. told us we just missed it. Needless to say we were all thrilledJ. Actually, the kids (and Carolyn and I) rolled with it well. Consequently, we were guests of United at the S.F. Hilton and also had breakfast on them. Later, after about 33 phone calls and 94 min talking to a woman at the United counter who was "somewhat" difficult to understand, we ended up doubling our total travel time. 23 hours of travel is now about 47 hours. So as I type this it is about 1:00 p.m. pacific time. We are somewhere over the Pacific en route to Tokyo where we will spend 2 hours. Then we will be on to Singapore where we get to spend 8 hours. Yippee! From there we will fly to Cambodia where we hope our layover is about 3 years. All in all this "turbulence" has us arriving in Cambodia about 23 hours later than we first thought. Oh well, we are all together, healthy and ready to begin this next phase in our lives. Thanks again for joining us on our adventure.

It's Here

2010-01-17T14:13:00.000-08:00

So the day has finally arrived. We leave for the airport in an hour and I don't think any of us have really wrapped our minds around it. How do you adequately prepare for a move as big as this? Not that we haven't spent the last year preparing (mentally, spiritually, emotionally, logistically...etc.) but we know that no matter how much time we put into getting ready there will always be some surprises that we didn't anticipate. Oh well! That is part of what we signed up for and are running at it full steam.
We spent a lot of our last week and a half visiting places and people that we wanted to say good-bye to and shed our share of tears. We are truly blessed to have sadness (on our part and on the part of others)as we leave. The alternative would be worse (people cheering our departure from the country).So far we are all healthy and so thankful for that. Again, we are so blessed to have so many of you sharing in this journey with us. We will be updating you on our progress...hopefully during our travels. Blessings!!

Grateful

2010-01-11T15:43:00.001-08:00

We are so grateful for so many amazing people God has placed in our lives. So many of our friends and family showed up for our open house/going away party on Saturday. We were blessed, honored, humbled, thrilled, excited…etc for the outpouring of love that was shown to our family that day. I think we ended up with enough encouraging notes to open one every day for the first year we are there. Wow! We truly appreciate each and every one of you. There were some tears, a lot of laughs and great conversation. It is a great way to leave the country…with great memories of great people. We were also commissioned at Faith E Free church in Fort Collins yesterday. It was good to connect with old friends after both services. Then Alex had a going away party with some of his close friends. He has some amazing, supportive friends that we will all miss. Abby had a neat time with her friends in her 7^th grade small group as well. She felt very loved and honored by their words of encouragement. In all, it would have been hard to script a better weekend for connecting with so many valuable people in our lives and saying so many important good-byes. Thanks to each and every one of you!

January 17th

2009-12-06T07:59:00.001-08:00

This is the day our family will say good-bye to one home, one phase of our lives and hello to a new one. January 17^th is the day we board an airplane and start a new chapter in our lives. It did seem a little disconcerting buying 6 one-way plane tickets to a third-world country but nevertheless, we are all excited…most of the time. At times each of us are filled with paradoxical feelings. Excited one minute and scared the next. Happy and then sad. Fearless and then fearful. Certain of the direction we are going and then at times wondering "what are we thinking?". But above all of this, we are confident that this is the path God has laid out for us. We rest secure and peaceful in this. It is amazing to look back on the last year to see where God has brought us, uniting all 6 of our hearts around one common goal. Thanks to all of you who are sharing this journey with us. Just know, if you ever happen to find yourself in Cambodia (I know it is a common layover stop for many flightsJ) you will have a place to stay!

Amazing Gift!

2009-11-30T10:39:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago our family received an amazing gift from a friend of ours. It goes without saying, although I will, that we have been blessed in so many ways over the past year since we decided to move. Many of our friends and families have shown us tremendous generosity and kindness in our many facets of change. However, one of the most unique gifts came a few Sundays ago. Rachel Olsen, a photographer friend of ours, gave us the gift of a one hour + photo shoot of our family. The pictures came out so beautifully and we are so appreciative. We could not have imagined what a blessing it would be and now we have keepsakes for a lifetime. We recommend her very highly to anyone who needs pictures done professionaly and at the highest quality. Please check out Rachel's website at www.rachelolsenphotography.com. To see her blog and some of the pictures of us you can go to www.rachelolsenphotography.com/blog. Thanks again Rachel and thanks to all of you who are so actively involved in our journey. We are truly blessed to have you all along.

Being Helpless

2009-11-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is hard to believe it is already November. We are continuing to move closer to our goal of moving to Cambodia and excitement hasn't been greater. We just had a church take us on as their missionaries which could really boost our monthly support goal. We also have a meeting with the missions pastor from another church scheduled for next week. God sure is moving. We are at 70% of our monthly support now and are trusting that we can report a large jump in that number once all of the details with these 2 churches are ironed out. Thanks so much for your prayers.

In the midst of all of this, we had an opportunity to experience receiving help when we were helpless even as we prepare to do the same for kids in Cambodia. It happened on our way back from a trip to Minnesota to visit Carolyn's mom. It was a nice and productive trip as we were able to help her out when she had back surgery. On our way home we looked at the weather forecasts and knew we would hit some snow in Eastern Colorado. No big deal, right? That's what I thought until the interstate was closed...about 50 miles from home. What a bummer. With an entire interstate full of travelers converging on a small town, I knew our chance at a hotel room was slim to none. We simultaneously looked for a room and another road out. Neither would yield positive fruit and we were stranded and helpless. We didn't know anyone in that town, the snow was piling up and it was getting colder by the minute. But thanks to the kindness and generosity of strangers we ended up safe and warm. We secured a room in hotel Red Cross. We ended up spending the night on the floor of the local High School Gymnasium with 80 other stranded travelers. We were fed and housed by people we had never met and will probably never see again. It was a humbling experience to be so dependent on strangers but it is also an experience that we will never forget and showed us the other side of being helpless.

A Little Fall Fun

2009-09-17T10:43:00.001-07:00

To be honest, we were hoping to NOT see the fall colors this year. Not that we have anything against them but we were hoping to be in Cambodia by now. For whatever reason, God does not have us there yet. As we continue to look forward to moving we also continue to put our hope in the One who has called us there as well as in His timing. As Carolyn put it, "Our hope is not in our circumstances changing but in God's plan in the midst of it." He is certainly using our time here to grow us, stretch us, challenge us as well as bless us. One of our blessings was to get up into the beautiful Colorado Rockies to see some of the fall colors. We went for a hike to celebrate Calli's 10^th birthday. How soon we all forget and take for granted the beauty right in our own backyard. We took a long walk around Long Lake, saw snow, collected leaves and generally just had a good time as a family. All 6 of us are in a way grieving not having reached our destination yet, but trying to find good from God in the midst of it…and you know what? Its there!

Traffic

2009-08-25T08:31:00.001-07:00

This journey we are on is exciting and there is no where we would rather be but It can come with some frustrating times as well. Focusing on these times is counterproductive. I was reminded of this last week. I was driving north on I25 in heavy traffic (a lot more than usual) when I found myself getting unreasonably frustrated, especially because there was nothing I could do about it. In the midst of my fuming I glanced to the West and saw one of the most spectacular sunsets I had ever seen in my 30 years in Colorado. The sun had just gone behind the mountains and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It just gradually went from a dark orange to a brilliant blue with all of the reds, purples and pinks in between. It was truly an awesome sight. My enjoyment of it was interrupted by God reminding me of something. It was like He was telling me "during this time of waiting to go to Cambodia, don't focus on your frustration. Look for the good in where you are at. Don't focus on all of the "negative" things that are happening around you to cause you to go slow, but look for the good."

So much for my fuming. That was over. While the temptation is still there to become restless and discontent with Gods timing, we are finding ourselves more content with where we are. While we are being diligent and faithful in our pursuit of moving, we are resting completely in God's timing and faithfulness...trying not to focus on the 'traffic' around us.

Holding Pattern

2009-07-30T09:38:00.001-07:00

Well, here it is the end of July and we are still hanging out in the States. We are just waiting to reach 100% of our financial needs for our ministry in Cambodia. It is amazing how our timing is not always consistent with how God sees things. Ultimately we are content with His plan. Not because we are super spiritual, but because our past experience has shown that God's timing always works out for the best. That is not to say that there are times that we may feel unsettled or discontent but as a whole we are confident that God's timing will be best for us when all is said an done.

During our extended time here we continue to be amazed at the people that God causes our paths to cross with. One such family is a Cambodian family that now lives about 3 miles from us. Who would have thought? They have been so fun to get to know and have had us over for their son's graduation party, lunch and most recently invited us to spend the day with them at the Dragon Boat Festival in Denver. Through them we have also been introduced to a whole community of Cambodian people, most of who live in our area. That is something we could not have manufactured on our own.

The Dragon Boat Festival was amazing. There were over 100,000 spectators and about 2 dozen boats that competed. The Spirit of Cambodia, the boat representing Cambodia in the competition, ended up taking 3rd place overall. The Festival highlights the people, customs and cultures of Asian Pacific countries. Food vendors, performers and many activities highlighted the weekend. We all enjoyed soaking some of what we will be experiencing in our new culture.

As we continue to wait, we continue to trust the One who has called us. We will be sending out our newsletter soon to update more specifically where we are at. If you wish to receive the update you can email me at dohlin@asianhope.org or post a comment at the end of this posting.

Excitement is Mounting

2009-06-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a fun journey God has us on. Excitement is mounting as we move closer and closer to our departure date. We don't want to miss out on any of what God is doing in Cambodia. He is really at work and we can't wait to join Him. Along that line we are asking each of you reading this if you would join us in praying specifically for God's provision. I copied text from an email I sent which will explain a little better:

Hello again from the Ohlin's. A very humble and appreciative thank you to each of you for your prayer and financial support of where God is leading our family. We are so thankful for each and every one of you who is joining us on this journey. I wanted to update you on where we are at currently and let you know what we as a family are up to this week. First, we are right about 50% of our monthly pledged gifts (which we are so thankful for). However, we really feel like God is calling us to be over in Cambodia by July 31 and in order for that to happen we need to be at 100%. A big task for us but pocket change for our God. With that in mind, we would like to ask each of you to join our family in praying specifically for God to provide for our needs so that we can make it to Cambodia in 33 days (by July 31). The 6 of us are bringing this request specifically to God and trusting in His provision. He has been beyond faithful so far and we are confident He will contiue to be. A few of the verses we are reading as we bring this request to God are:

Mt. 18:19-20 : “Again I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them. “

Eph. 2:8-10 : “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Jer 29:11-13 : ”’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’”

Thank you so much for joining us in this. We look forward to reporting back about God's faithfulness and provision. Again we appreciate all of you. God Bless!

Thanks for reading. We will report back.

Obedience

2009-06-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

The pictures, from top to bottom are: a unique picture of Abby (in green shirt), Abby's friend Tara, Cameron and our missionary friend Nicole; Alex and Nicole; a goofy picture of Carolyn, Cameron and Me; our Family.

I guess it is time to update our blog again. To me it seems a little pointless or boring since not much has changed but we might as well let you all know what’s going on in our lives. As many of you know we were thinking we would be in our new home by now but that isn’t the case. It is hard to explain all of the emotions that we are feeling on a daily, if not hourly, basis. As it becomes clearer that each of our hearts are 10,000 miles away, life here only becomes more of a paradox. We are trying to “connect” here while at the same time we are trying to say good-bye and unplug. If that sounds hard to do at the same time, you are absolutely right. This is where well meaning people will chime in and tell us ‘well you chose to do this”. To which I say an overwhelming “you’re right”.
You see, we are by no means complaining when we describe to others how where we are right now can be a hard place at times. But the fact that it is a hard place doesn’t by any stretch mean it is a bad place or that we would go back and change where we are for anything. We love the place that we are at but at the same time refuse to pretend that it is always easy. I look at the position that we are in similar to a story of Peter in Bible (Matt.14:22-33). He was in a boat on a lake when a violent storm came up. He saw a “ghost” walking toward him on the water and when he realized it was Christ he wanted to go out and see Him. So Christ called him out and Peter stepped out of the boat, where it was relatively safe, into the stormy water. That’s where Peter needed to go if he wanted to join Christ. Similarly, our family has felt a compelling call to join Christ where he is working in Cambodia. Our “boat” is America and its predictability and safety…what is yours and where might Christ be calling you to step out and join Him? Moving a family of 6 to a third world country is counterintuitive to man and may seem a little ridiculous but in order for us to join Christ, Cambodia is where WE needed to go. Into the “storm”, where it isn’t necessarily comfortable or “safe”. We had to get out of our boat of comfort and predictability and step out in faith. Easy? No. Good? We think so.
When it gets down to obedience, especially as a follower of Christ, for me to really grasp it I have to boil it down to a very easy to understand level. So to do that I look at my relationship with my kids and liken that to my relationship with God. I was thinking the other day about our 4 year-old Cameron when he was helping me carry a piano bench across the room. He really thought his contribution was making a difference. But what I realized was that no matter how much he tries he really doesn’t have much to offer me. Now before you start calling me nasty name and thinking I am totally insensitive, let me explain. He doesn’t have anything tangible to offer me. As his dad, he can come to me and offer his strength in lifting something. Or offer the penny in his pocket (or maybe even a quarter if he’s real rich) when I am buying a treat. Or maybe he offers a great idea for solving a perplexing problem. Whereas I listen or even receive what he has offered, it hasn’t really made a huge difference. But what can he offer? His priceless gift of his heart in relationship and obedience. Again as it says in God’s word, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” So too for us, we may sacrifice our money which to God may even amount to a whole quarter but what He really wants from each of us is our hearts in relationship and our obedience. After all, that is really all we have to offer our Father that He doesn’t already have. Just like a 4-year-old and his father.
So that is where we are these days. In the midst of obeying without seeing the end result. Struggling sometimes but always confident that we are obeying and trusting that God, who is all powerful and all good, is in control and has our best interest at heart…just like a father is to his 4-year-old.

Conflicted

2009-05-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are midway through May and we are back to life as usual, which for us means constantly living in transition with the knowledge that withing a couple months we will call Cambodia home. We are all very excited and wishing we had an exact departure date but also trying to enjoy our last weeks in the states for a while. In our hearts we are kind of there already but have to wait for all of the other details to fall into place. A couple of recent events, however, have moved us closer to being fully prepared to leave.

The first of these is our training. We finised that on May 1 and it was an amazing time. It is so hard to describe the impact it had on all 6 of us but suffice to say that it was well worth it. We connected with 50+ other people who are all in a similar position as ours. None are going to Cambodia but we had 5 continents and probably 15 - 20 counties represented there. It was so good to gain encouragement and insight from others on the same type of journey. What amplifed the blessing was that there were many kids there and each of our kids found friends their same age. It was bittersweet when we had to leave but each of the kids left there encouraged as they also have made lifelong friends who are walking down a similar road as theirs. We all left with hearts and minds prepared to move.

The second thing we did to prepare us more fully to move was to have a large garage sale. We were basically selling almost everything else we own (ie. all of our winter clothes, kitchen stuff, decorative items, bikes, camping gear, lawn tools...etc). God blessed us with good weather and great traffic. We sold a lot and donated the rest of the stuff to my parent's church for their Youth Group garage fund raiser. So basically, we are left with the clothes in our closets, a few decorative items to make our new home feel homey (not homely), a mixer, a blender and my cordless drill. Something about that feels so good. An amazing non-coincidence happened during our garage sale. A woman and her father were shopping at our garage sale and noticed our sign regarding us moving to Cambodia. It turns out she moved here from Cambodia about 7 years ago. We visited with her for 20 minutes or so and it was just delightful. I even practiced some of my Khmai (Cambodian language, not a form of martial arts) on her and her Dad. We plan on getting together with her again before we leave. It was such an encouraging "appointment" arranged by God.

So that brings us to where we are right now, conflicted. Ready to go but not able to yet. We are trusting God's timing as we try to reach 100% of our monthly support needs. We know this is just part of the process and are trying to embrace it while trying to say all of our good-byes. Although it is hard and sometimes uncomfortable at times, we know this time is just part of the journey and really are enjoying the new experience. You can be sure that as we draw closer we will keep you all updated. God Bless.

By the way, anyone reading this wanting to help with support can do so at http://www.asianhope.org/. Click on the "Donate" tab. Thanks in advance.

Training in Palmer Lake, Colorado

2009-04-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since the last post. I would like to say it was intentional but that would not be accurate. We thought after we moved out of our house and settled with my parents things would slow down but it seems as if the opposite happened.

Not a ton of new and exciting things have happened. We are fully engaged in our fundraising efforts, still paring down the things we still own and still united in the direction God is calling us. It is difficult to stay focused on our common vision at times but just when we hit a low point it seems God causes something to happen that encourages us.

Currently we are at Missionary Training International (MTI) in Palmer Lake, CO for their SPLICE training. It is good so far but onlt the second day. We did hear that it is an emotionally intense time and we are looking forward to meeting God here as individuals and as a family. The kids almost instantly assimilated with the other kids, none of whom they had ever met before. That in and of itself encourages us for the move. The few pictures are from our time here. We appreciate any and all prayers. Thanks for taking the time to read. God bless!

On the Move

2009-03-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, a lot has transpired since our last update. We're at our 3rd address in the past 2 weeks and it has felt like it. We moved out of our first house on Feb. 28th. That was a whirlwind to say the least. Even after 374 (give or take a few) trips to goodwill there was so much "stuff" to pack up. At the beginning of the day on the 28th it didn't look like we would make it out by midnight but with the help of my parents and a helpful friend (with a pickup) we were out of the house by about 7:15, steam cleaned carpets and all. It was a bittersweet moment. Although there wasn't much time to spare I had Carolyn come back in to the house so she and I could survey our first home one last time before we left. It was one of those times when you don't have to say anything to the person you are with but you both know what the other one is thinking...and its the same thing. Neither of us said a word, we just embraced and wept. Not for some amazingly awesome custom house that we built with our own hands (because it wasn't) but for all of the memories we had made there. It was an emotional but appropriate close to that chapter of our lives.

Now the next chapter starts: our "in between Fort Collins and Phnom Penh" period. We stayed at my parent's house for one night(about a half hour south of Ft Collins in Firestone, CO). From there it was on to a house in Longmont some friends of ours let us use while they were away. It is a very nice house and one we could use as our own for 10 nights. It was a good transitional period. Now we are back at my parents house for a few months. Time sure is seeming to fly as we are almost officially in spring. Our next move will be when we go down to Colorado Springs for training in April. Its funny how transition itself can become somewhat of a "norm" or develop a sort of comfortable feeling. These times have caused us to notice and appreciate some of the little things even more. A family walk, movie night, a long run for Carolyn and me, time with friends, a lady bug. Any of these would have, a few months ago, been possible taken for granted but as we are getting rid of so many of our material posessions some of these "intangibles" are taking a place of higher and higher importance, which maybe they should have months/years before.

So with all of this moving, we have heard the question more than once "why Cambodia?" Don't people need help in Denver (insert name of any city)? So here is the answer as we see it. First, thats where we feel like our Father is calling us. Like kids with their earthly parents, when asked to do something by your parents, even though it may not be what everyone else is doing and no one else may understand why you are doing it, there is a element of trust that causes you to proceed. You believe that your parents want nothing more than the best for you. That is definitely where we are now, trusting that even though some well meaning family and friends may second guess our decision, we are confidently moving forward.

However, thats not to say that we have no personal desire to pursue this as well. It is a very beautiful country that we enjoyed very much when we visited. More importantly, both Carolyn and I have a heart for Cambodia and the Khmai people. They are wonderful people and we look forward to getting back there. There is such a need over there. For example:

The average Cambodian makes less than $260 per year.
On the UN Human poverty index, Cambodia ranks 73rd out of 78 developing countries.
One in 11.5 children will die before the age of 1
One in 8 children will die before their 5th birthday
One in 212 women will die in childbirth
Has the highest rate of child abandonment in southeast Asia
45% of the population is under the age of 15
The Christian population has grown from an estimated 15,000 people in 1995 to 100,000 in 2002, but that still represents less than 1% of the population.

All of these are compelling reasons that confirm our choice to move to Cambodia and do what we can to make a difference. Thanks again for sharing in our journey. God bless. Here is a link to a video for Asian Hope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiYEhNA0pWg.

A time of Paradox

2009-02-25T10:31:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure exactly how to explain to you the place we're in right now...very likely because I'm not exactly sure how to explain it to myself. We are in the midst of a time of paradoxes. We are feeling joy and pain, peace and frustration, patience and anxiety, all of which we are experiencing at the same time. At the moment probably the thing that is provoking these feelings most is experiencing so many "lasts". But the paradox comes in that in experiencing these lasts, they by nature mean we are experiencing firsts.

One of the "lasts" we are experiencing now is this is our last week in our home. There is pain in that as we sell or otherwise get rid of the majority of our stuff. Someone just walked out the door with mine and Carolyn's bed, a couple weeks ago we got rid of our beloved trampoline, Alex's loft bed was taken last weekend...just to name a few. But as we walk out the door of removing so many of our possessions from our lives at the same time we are walking into the door of readjusting our priorities. "OK, I guess I don't really need a trampoline or bed to be happy". (By the way, I did tell the kids they could still go and jump up and down on the rocks where the trampoline used to be). The box we need for what we consider a true need or truly important is becoming smaller and smaller.

Another last we experienced just yesterday was the last trip to the Denver Zoo, at least for a few years. God really blessed our day as a family and it was something we really needed, as the busyness of the move has stripped us of any family down time. Not that we are that attached to the zoo but it just won't be an option anymore. But it was fun to discuss with the kids their feelings and how this is all impacting them. We are all in agreement that some of these modern "luxuries" and conveniences will be missed but we are also collectively excited about the unknown adventure that awaits us. All of these earthly things that excite and woo us are so easily replaced by the next best thing. I think what we are most looking forward to are the experiences and relationships and moments that impact our hearts that no one could predict or dream of until they happen...and experience them together.

Evaluating what's really important

2009-02-21T11:12:00.000-08:00

It's about time we started our blog and let anyone who wants to be in on our exciting journey as it unfolds. Any of you that may be reading this and may not know anything about what we are doing I will give you a quick version. We are a family of 6 and we are moving to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a position I took with Asian Hope (http://www.asianhope.org/). The 6 of us are comprised of Dan, Carolyn, Alex (14), Abby(12), Calli(9), and Cameron (4). I will coment more on this as our journey progresses. Right now we are all getting ready to move out of our house on Feb 28th and move in with my (Dan) parents. They live about 30 min south of us so we will try to keep life as normal as possible for us and the kids in the transition period. It is such a trip going through 15 years of stuff we've kept. Who would hold on to a suitcase that has a broken handle and a zipper that doesn't work? Me for one. It is so cool to be able to go through all of our stuff and separate it into stuff we need and stuff we don't need. We actually have 4 "categories" that we filter all of our stuff into. They are trash, Goodwill, things we want to keep but not bring with to Cambodia and things we want to bring. Since we can't bring much with I am thrilled to say the first 2 categories receive the most contributions (the aforementioned suitcase made it into the trash category). The "keep but not bring" category is mostly sentimental things that have no real practical value. Like artwork from the kids' early years, matching sweaters Carolyn and I got on our honeymoon (I know, we were REAL cool back then). We won't need those in a tropical climate, and maybe when we move back they will actually be somewhat in style again.

Then our final category (stuff we're bringing) gets the most scrutiny. Each of us are going to get 2 18 gallon Rubbermaid containers to fill with whatever can be put in there and that is pretty much it. Clothes, books a few special decorative items, some toys for the little guy and personal electronics for the other kids. Its this category that seems to reveal most about each of us. What do we value most when a cap is put on what we can hold on to. So far I think Cameron has demonstrated the greatest amount of faith in the whole process. When I asked what he wanted to bring, all he wanted was his "New Niney" (his special blanket). Thats it. As long as he knows he is with his fam, he really doesn't need much else. What a cool attitude and an example.

And as our house seems less and less like "ours" we are all realizing what is really most important. All 6 of us are realizing that home is not characterized by the house you live in or where all of your stuff is but "home" is who you are with. So as many of our "posessions" are let go of we are seeming to hold on to each other tighter. There is something cool and somewhat unexplainable that happens as all 6 of us are united around one common vision. Each of us experience sadness and question what in the world we are thinking at times but then there are usually atleast 4 or 5 that are there to encourage. During this time we also thank all of you for taking time to share in this journey and being an encouragement to us in so many different ways. It means more to us than you may ever know. God Bless!

A quick comment on the pictures. They are of the truck ready for the 27th trip in 2 weeks to Goodwill (may be a slight exaggeration), the Rubbermaids that will make the trip with us to Cambodia, Abby, Calli and Cameron in and empty art niche as we "declutter". Sorry about the duplicate picture...still trying to work on the formatting.

By the way, you can watch an informative video of Asian Hope at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiYEhNA0pWg. Enjoy!!