Another Sunday in Cambodia

Sunday means worship time. What a joy that is, to worship the God who drew us here and to call upon him in prayer! Today we had two vans to get us to the church. Cramming 21 people in a 15 person van is entertaining, especially when many of them are wearing dresses. In the end, though, I think we must have had around 45 people to transport to the church, so some ended up taking tuk-tuks. They were the only ones who weren’t “firmly pressed” on the way to church.

The youth choir, with many of our campers from this past week

For worship time, we had a choice of staying at Tum Nup Tek Church or going to New Jerusalem or the Cell Church. Ron chose to go to New Jerusalem, while the rest of us stayed back and went to Tum Nup Tek. The draw was pretty strong to see our campers one last time. Marti and I (Liz) sat together with two of our girls, one of them doing some interpreting for us. We were able to follow along with the scripture readings that way. And once again, the music here was beautiful. We heard five rounds of special music: little children, men, women, a special group, and the youth all took turns raising their voices to God. Each group had a large number of participants, filling up the stage with their bodies and the sanctuary with their lovely voices. I could get used to this way of worshipping!

One of our girls withe her mom, who she sees on Sundays at church.

After the service, Marti and I visited with some other Americans sitting behind us in church. We found out they were with a group that was sponsoring two of our girls, the ones sitting with us, because they were considered at risk for trafficking. Coming from an impoverished family puts many girls at risk here in Cambodia. This is such a real, palpable problem here, especially when you see the level of poverty many families live in. They quite simply have nothing. As we were saying our final goodbyes to our girls and letting them know we would be praying for them, Rick’s cowboy hat that he had picked up in Bangkok started making the rounds. The youth had fun passing it around and trying it on.

Rick's cowboy hat, on Net

We had one final lunch on our rooftop diner. I will miss that magnificent view! After lunch, we did what Bill Lovbbezoo called a “debrief.” We got together to talk about our experiences and try to process how we will describe this trip when we get home. We also need to think about what God will call us to do with our changed hearts. It was great to gather with our teams one last time.

The rest of afternoon was free. I went back to the guest house to have some down time. Rick and Karen went to the Killing Fields. Ron and Marti went on a tuk-tuk ride, so Ron could get some footage of Phnom Penh for a video presentation he is working on. What a story the two of them had when the finally rejoined the group! They had planned to be with us again at supper time. I looked around: no Ron and Marti. We got to the buffet restaurant where we were eating: still no Ron or Marti. They arrived a full hour after the rest of us, exhausted and  telling a tale of the tuk-tuk driver who just kept driving. They kept telling him they wanted to return to the guest house, he kept driving. They pointed to the card with the address on it. He kept driving. They began to think they might never return. Finally, they had him stop so they could find someone who spoke more English and pass along their message that they wanted to go back to the guest house. Adventure concluded, they still had to get to the restaurant, by tuk-tuk. They chose a different driver.

After the restaurant, we made a stop at the grocery store to see about picking up some items for breakfast, as we are on our own for meals today. It was highly entertaining watching the group mill about paying outrageous prices for a box of American cereal. “Oooo – Froot Loops!!” Almost everyone left with some form of chocolate as well.

Today (Monday) will be a full day for us. Rick and Karen have departed from the group and will head up to Siem Reap on their own.  Marti, Ron and I will be moving to a different guest house for tonight, before departing for Siem Reap tomorrow morning. Marti and I will be heading to Place of Rescue 1 this afternoon to distribute crayons and coloring books from my preschoolers. It seems as though it will be another precious day, here in Cambodia. I  may or may not be able to post a blog tonight, as our new guest house does not have wi-fi.

Praises:

1.       We had a great last meal together with the teams that helped teach English Camp. Most are leaving Phnom Penh today, some to head home and some to go on to Siem Reap. We are thankful for the friendships developed among the team.

2.       Praise God for another wonderful day of worship.

Prayers:

1.       Please pray for safety for the teams that are traveling today.

2.       Please pray for our own team, as many get ready to take off on their journey to join us in just over twelve hours.

3.       Please pray for the at-risk youth in Cambodia and elsewhere.

4.       Pray for the journey to Place of Rescue 1 this afternoon for Marti and me.