Day 3, Phnom Penh English Camp

Rick & Karen with our truck driver friend

The day began this morning with another truck ride to the church. Our friend the truck driver was there to greet us with information about his sister who lives in Rochester. We told him we will contact her when we get back. Rick and Karen rode up front this morning. Driving down the road, Rick saw a Lexus. He asked our driver if he had a Lexus, and he patted his truck and said, “This is my Lexus.” He is such a nice man, and we feel privileged to get to know him.

Today was humid and sunny (much like every day here), but we noticed the humidity a bit more because the electricity at the church was down, which meant no fans. And a couple hundred sweaty bodies. It didn’t dampen worship, though (well, except in the purely literal sense). Those campers are full of the love of Jesus! We had a good morning with our girls. We were learning about geography, and Marti brought out the Chinese jump ropes. She had a simple jumping routine that went with spelling the word Mississippi. After we showed them the Mississippi River on a map, Marti showed them the jumping routine, and they spelled while they hopped. It was great fun.

One hot and sweaty Liz

After lunch, we had a short rest time and then headed to the Russian Market. I can’t swear to this, but it felt like our hottest day here to this point. The Russian Market is stuffy on a good day, so it was pretty oppressive today (especially as we went through the meat/fish sections). Ahhh, I wish I could send you just a sniff or two of that smell! The purpose of our visit to the Russian Market was a bit of a scavenger hunt. Each of our teams was given $20 and a list of items to purchase. After we purchased all the items on our list, we were to find Bill Lobbezoo and David Ens. The team that got there first with the most money left over would be declared the winner. We wandered through the maze of shops, some aisles so close together that my backpack knocked into things on both sides. It was enlightening watching our kids bargain and cajole to try to get the best price possible.  I know I looked close to expiring, because one of our little girls spent the whole time walking right behind me with her sweet, little hand on my elbow, guiding me along. All items purchased today will be donated to the orphanage we visit on tomorrow’s field trip. All items except one, that is, and I will get to that later. Today was a day to be glad for those little electrolyte replacement packets I brought along, and for full water bottles that became empty water bottles. And for Marti and Karen, it was a good day to be thankful for “ice milk coffee” at the end of the trek!

As we were getting off the buses, back at the church, the wind started whipping the trees around and the skies just opened up. It poured, but only for a very short time. We had not seen rain yet to this point of the trip, and given the heat of the day, there was much rejoicing and running around in it. Beautiful! Once Bill and David finally got everyone into the sanctuary, we had some rocking worship time. The power was back on, so we had our instruments back, suitably amplified. We followed our afternoon devotion with a competition. A fruit called “durian” was on our purchase list for the Russian Market. When I asked the kids about it, they all said it was “good” or “very good.” However, we had been warned by Bill that it was an acquired taste. Or just plain not good, depending on how you look at it. So of course, we had a contest to see who could eat a plate of it the fastest! Each team sent two teachers and a student up to front of the sanctuary to take on the challenge.  Hilarity ensued! Then we sang one more worship song together. What a wonderful way to end our day together.

A not-so-small plate of durian

Marti enjoyed taking pictures of the kids outside the church

Those wonderful women who serve us meals every day were greeted with applause for the second straight day as they brought out a previously unseen delicacy – spaghetti! They are spoiling us. It was nice to get a taste of western food, and it was good spaghetti. Back to rice tomorrow, I am sure. 

May you look up from whatever you are doing and see God there at work in your world.

Praises:

1.       The rain that fell today felt amazingly refreshing.

2.       We thank God for continually-developing relationships with the campers.

3.       We praise God for good health for everyone on the team so far.

Prayer Requests:

1.       Please pray that we will be able to tune out the every day distractions of life to focus on God’s voice and his work here in Cambodia.

2.       Please pray for Ron as he journeys to Cambodia. He should arrive tomorrow morning (which would be this evening, in MN time), if all is on schedule.

3.       Please pray for our campers and for all the team of volunteers here, that they would be obedient to the voice of God in their lives, both here at camp and back at home.