Day Two of Siem Reap English Camp

Last night before he left us, David Manfred had offered that if we were at the restaurant across the street from the hotel at 6:30 this morning, he would feed us a traditional Cambodian breakfast. Several of the group took advantage of this offer. They had noodle soup and other delicacies I am sure they would love to tell you about. David left Cambodia today with many gifts from our church, to take to missionaries here. He also left with Ron Ray, who was headed back to Phnom Penh for a couple days to do some filming and interviewing for a project he is doing.

Mud trekkers

Abby's muddy toes

At about 7:45, we started our walk to the church. Today we had to walk around and sometimes through mud puddles, so it was an adventure! As we walked, David Ens and Bill Lobbezoo went past us in a tuk-tuk. The road was very rutted and muddy, and we could hear them going, “Ouch, ouch!” as they rode by. Maybe walking wasn’t such a bad option, especially in the morning when it’s light out and NOT raining. No one ended up falling into any puddles, so we called the walk a success. And we even managed to retrieve Abby H’s flip flops each time they got stuck in the mud. We were delighted that Andrea was feeling good enough to head back to camp this morning.

Bill and David's tuk-tuk in a rut-rut

Our great dancers

Our opening time together as a large group was delightful once again. The praise music warmed our hearts and souls, the games and freshie shows made us laugh, and devotions and testimonies gave us something to think about. We had a special treat this morning when some of the students came in dressed in traditional Khmer garb and did a wonderful traditional dance for us. We had a singer as well, who added to the wonderful authenticity of this time we shared together. Before we got too far into the morning, Bill stopped us and asked us to pray together. The group from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada had one-third of its members back at the hotel, sick. One was even hospitalized a couple days ago.  As Bill told us, we are doing bold things for Christ here, and Satan is going to attack. We prayed in the powerful name of Jesus that Satan would be bound and our friends healed. The prayer itself was beautiful. We gathered around the remainder of the Edmonton group as well as any others who had been feeling sick. We all put hands on them and prayed, in English and Khmer, all at once and together. Many voices raised to God in prayer make a beautiful sound.

Groups this morning felt more comfortable for everyone. We thought we were better prepared and the students more willing to share with us. It was a blessing to begin to know some of their stories. The morning went by quickly. At lunch, we had curry soup with bread. It was delicious! We also had a special treat for dessert. They gave us more bread and put a little bow of dipping sauce in the middle. We asked the kids and found out it was sweetened, condensed milk. Wow, that tasted good! You should try it sometime!

Maxine and Abby, our oldest and youngest team members

Ray, Becky, Steve and Maxine

Logan didn’t feel the best by this time, so he headed back to the hotel instead of staying for the field trip. Hopefully he will be back to full strength by tomorrow. The afternoon field trip today was to a “swimming hole” (Baray). It is a man-made lake, but David Ens said it’s one of the oldest. (Read about it). Many of the kids were excited to go swimming, but some preferred just to watch. Several of us adults adopted that same mentality, but not Maxine (our most senior member of the group). She was out there, having a great time!  It was fun to visit and play with the campers. The younger kids in our group were very popular among the campers. The time flew by, and soon it was time to head back to the church.

Marlin impressed the kids by spinning the beach ball on his finger.

Just a reminder that this is not a public beach in the USA.

As we were getting dropped off by the dirt road to the church, we took a look at the sky and thought rain was probably on its way. We decided as a group that we would rather walk back to the hotel in the rain in the daylight than repeat our trip in the dark, as much “fun” as that was last night. Most of us headed right back to the church and had supper on our own. We all (except Marti) met at 7:30 at the little restaurant by the hotel for fruit smoothies. Thanks, Steve! Still no group picture. It’s harder to get everybody together than I thought it would be. However, I think Sunday morning should work well for that. We will have a later start, with our day beginning with an 11:00 am church service. Sooner or later, I will get people cornered for that picture.

Praises:

1.       Andrea is feeling better and made it the whole day.

2.       Bonding with the campers is beginning!

3.       We are thankful for our great prayers back home.

Prayer Requests:

1.       Please pray for those on our team (especially Marti, Andrea, and Logan) who haven’t been feeling their best, and for the Edmonton team as well.

2.       Pray for our relationships to continue to develop with the campers.

3.        Pray for Ron as he is in Phnom Penh again for a couple days to do some interviews for a video project he is working on, that he might keep his focus on what the Lord desires and that he has safe travel when he rejoins our group.