No, no "adios," see you tomorrow...?

Just a monkey, chillin' and eatin' corn

     This is what the little girl I've been teaching Spanish told me when I left today - the last time I said "Adios." Stop it. You're breaking my heart. I knew she understood "Hola" but I wasn't sure we had gotten the "Adios" down. We had. Oh goodness.      

     Last week in Cambodia; my goodness it has flown by! This week I got to wrap presents and prepare a quarterly birthday party for the girls at the home, the staff, and the volunteers who have birthdays in July, August, and September. If you didn't know this about me, I LOVE giving gifts and wrapping them is one of my favorite parts of the process! Bethany and I planned the games at the party - face painting and balloon relays. It was such a joy watching the girls smile and laugh and celebrate each other's birthdays. They were so excited to open up their presents; I have never seen anyone so delighted to open up a $10 mp3 player - NOT an iPod - just a cheap little mp3 player where you have no idea which song is up next. And there was no jealousy at all! The girls were all genuinely happy for each other...wow. Just made me think about all the things we take for granted and expect in our life. 

Beth & I in front of Bayon Wat and its reflection

Angkor Wat

     Thursday night we got to visit the slums of Phnom Penh and help a local Christian church pass out food and water to children and families. It was definitely an eye-opening experience, to say the least. There are so many people just living in filth in a house that is constantly flooded during this rainy season. The people came out of the woodwork, it seemed, just to get a bottle of water and a snack. We drove back through the "neighborhood" on our way back to our house and watched the people hungrily eat the food we had just given them. They were all smiles as they shouted "aw-koon!" and "thank you" to us as we left. wow again.      

Elephant ride with our awesome tuk-tuk driver, Pov

     Bethany and I also had the amazing opportunity to visit Siem Reap, a calmer and more touristy city about 6 hours by bus. It's filled with countless ancient Hindu (now Buddhist) temples or "wats," with the most famous being Angkor Wat. Wikipedia says it's the largest religious monument in the world. We aren't convinced. Ever tour guide tends to have different facts...think Slumdog Millionaire and the Taj Mahal. But because our awesome tuk-tuk driver, Pov, told us about all the cool places and things to go do, in the most efficient way possible, we were able to see 4 temples. There were so many foreigners everywhere and even the Cambodian people spoke pretty amazing English - a great change of pace for us. We even impressed a lot of the locals with the few Khmer words we know. 

Teen circus performers: 2 legit 2 quit. I'm obsessed with them

     We also got to visit the Cambodian circus - yes big top tent and all - and watch an acrobatic act performed entirely by teenagers! It was so well done and absolutely hilarious and energetic. There are a few organizations here in Cambodia that work with street kids or at risk youth by providing a place for them to put their talents and hobbies to good use. This organization is called Phare and it focuses primarily on artistic talents, but there's another awesome non-profit called Friends International centered in Phnom Penh. Friends is a restaurant, cafe, and shop that trains street kids to be waiters and employees. I'm absolutely obsessed with this idea, and I would love to one day do something or start something like this to work with at-risk kids in big cities. 

      And then...we rode an elephant. I had to add this to my bucket list just so I could check it off. There's really nothing more to say about it except that I was singing Aladdin the whole time. Check out our genie pants. Prince Ali's got nothing on us. 

Beth and I with Anet - check out the Mexican flag logo :)

      We stayed in a cheap hotel that ended up being a restaurant as well - a chain of Mexican food restaurants that we've already been to. Viva! Breakfast burritos for included breakfast...delish! Our waitress was a friendly teenager named Anet, who spoke very good English. She came up to our table to ask what kind of lotion or product I used to get my freckles..haha! We got to explain to her how she was so beautiful and loved by God. She is in school and wants to go into accounting when she finishes. Please pray for her now, that Khmer believers will come into her life and share Jesus with her. It's hard for us as Americans to come into this Buddhist culture and try to share Jesus' story without making Christianity seem like just a Western religion. We've added Anet on Facebook (thank you God for social media!) so we'll be able to keep in touch and continue to share truth with her.

     Wednesday the 16th is our last day of work and it was really beginning to make me sad that I won't be able to take photos or videos of the girls, due to obvious privacy reasons. But last week they told me that I could go film the girls at the new transition home (called Home of Hope) for the girls who are lower-risk and who hope to be reintegrated with their family again, permanently. Little Changes International (the organization that helped to send Bethany and I here to Cambodia) is a huge reason and financial help to open this new home. So I was able to go in and get some footage of the girls (without faces) which will be so encouraging to always be able to hear their little laughs and voices. I will miss hearing "hola Raychelle" as I walk through the gate everyday. 

     On my last full night in the city, we went down the the river front to meet with Chamnam, our Buddhist monk friend. It just happened to be the one year anniversary celebration of the King's death so the Royal Palace was lit up and there were hundreds of Cambodian people standing around watching a fireworks show. It was by the grace of God that we were even able to find Chamnan. We stood and talked with him for over and hour and a half - just about his Buddhist beliefs and the idea that Jesus loved us enough to actually DIE for us. There is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends. Please pray for him because Bethany is planning on meeting with him more while she's here for the next 2 months. So yeah, by the way Bethany is staying until December to work with another organization that deals with preventing trafficking. Pray for her and her friend April for the next couple of months. 

     I got to lead devotions today (Wednesday) for the girls for my last day. In the schedule I made, this week we are talking about Adam and Eve. So I shared about how God sees us and sees everything we do, both good and bad. But that He also loves us and His love will never fail. So, naturally we sang "Your Love Never Fails" again with the motions. BEST way to end my time here, watching the girls smiling and laughing as they try their best to sing the words in English. They will remember those lyrics forever..."You make all things work together for my good." At the end we said our goodbyes - happy goodbyes - and left. 

     My taxi comes to take me to the airport in 15 minutes so I got to go. Thanks for reading and keeping up with my adventures! 

I'm Tired of Eating Rice.

     That's really all I have to say about this week. 

     Just kidding. I always have too much to say. This has been a very historic week. By that, I mean I've learned a lot about Cambodia's history. SHE Rescue wants all of its volunteers to write a research paper about Cambodia's culture, religion, history, and politics. So I've been learning about many aspects of this culture I'm living in and realizing how its destructive past has shaped its present. This weekend I visited one of the the Killing Fields, Choeung Ek, where an estimated million people were brutally murdered during the Khmer Rouge between 1975-1979. I also visited the Toul Sleng Genocide museum, which was a high school-turned prison during the Khmer Rouge. This country has been through so much unnecessary turmoil, it actually amazes me that it has overcome so much in just over 30 years. 

Choeung Ek, the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

     I have one more paper to write on Christianity in Cambodia, based on the book Killing Fields, Living Fields by Don Cormack. The history of Christianity in this country only dates back to the 1920s, it's incredible! As Christians in America, we take for granted basic "essentials" like education and the internet - tools that help us know and understand our Christian heritage and our vision for the future. In the 5 years leading up to the Khmer Rouge, Christianity was spreading like crazy all over the country. However, when 90% of Christians were killed during the Khmer Rouge (only 3 pastors lived), the few survivors suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves to be alive but alone, having to start afresh but still afraid to share their faith. Even today, many Khmer believers may not know their Christian ancestors or the stories of their fallen brothers and sister from the Khmer Rouge era. How discouraging and scary it must be, thinking that you're alone in your faith, especially after the religious oppression set in place by Khmer Rouge leaders. Although being a Christian is legal now, evangelizing in public is illegal (oops-see last week's post) especially in such a dark, Buddhist environment. Please continue to pray for Christians in Cambodia. It's been such an honor meeting some amazing godly men and women here, and reading about some revolutionaries from the past. 

Things I've done this week:

Wat Phnom, Buddhist Temple

Lots of Merchandise packing to send back to Australia

So much flooding! These pants were originally light blue

My favorite coffee shop plays the Backstreet Boys

     Does my favorite coffee shop here (Xotique) just happen to play the Backstreet Boys? Or is it my favorite because it plays the Backstreet Boys? I'm leaning towards the latter. 

     It's been a busy week in Cambodia. Bethany and I still have 2 research papers/reports to write for the organization we're working with, so this week's blog will have to be brief. Here's some of what we did this week: 

     Joyce Meyer's ministry has ordered 1,000 bracelets wraps from SHE Rescue Homes. The fabric part is made by reintegrated girls and their families and they get paid (very well, compared to Cambodian standards) to make each one. Because it's such a large order, this past week we worked every day to sew on the heart pendants and wrap each bracelet so they could be sent off in the mail today. Lots of work, and I realized my spiritual gift is not sewing...or patience. 

     It flooded. Lots of rain and other gross unmentionables in the streets, but we wandered out to explore. 

#wedidit

     Bethany and I were assigned to decorate the reading corner in the transition home, for girls who are going back to live with their families. They all love Disney princesses, so we chose Belle's library from Beauty and the Beast. Lots of hard work, but it was so much fun and I think it turned out pretty good! We even treated ourselves to a $15 one-hour massage after all the standing and painting. Definitely one of our favorite projects so far!

before we practiced the trust fall

just kidding

<------------I did this------------>

I helped decorate/decal the merchandise area in our office. We often have visitors from western countries who are interested in our non-profit and what we do. We sell stuff that the reintegrated girls have made. The guy on the scaffolding with me is the husband of the couple team who manage all us volunteers. As the only other person in the office not afraid of heights, it was a fun adrenalating (that's gonna be a word for now) job for me. Think sketchy Cambodian scaffolding. We actually had cushions on the floor at the bottom. #moreriskmorefun
   

Final product of the decal on the office wall - SHE's motto

     And without a doubt, best part of the week was on our day off. Bethany and I went to the National Museum just to be a little touristy :) We'd been there maybe ten minutes when 4 Buddhist monks starting talking with us as we stood looking at the Buddhist Scriptures. They wanted to take a photo with us because they don't usually get to see foreigners...and of course we thought it'd be super cool to get a picture with some monks too. We ended up talking to the monk who spoke the most English, Chamnanem, (don't ask me how to pronounce it) for over an hour while standing the the museum courtyard area in the picture below. We asked Chamnanem why he became a monk and what he thought the purpose of life on this earth was (that's right, Explore God, Austin!) We asked him if he had ever studied any other religions and got to share the story of Jesus with him and how He had completely changed our lives. He thought it was so funny to believe in a God who created us and wants a friendship with us. We explained that we are so broken and messed up and need grace that we could never earn. We talked about the teachings of Buddha and the teachings of Jesus and apologized for his experiences with Christians as they are known for coming over to Cambodia and try to fix everything by converting people to Christianity and wanting them to leave behind their Khmer culture and heritage. It was just another reminder for us that the West cannot fix everything; Jesus isn't freaking American, people. Well pretty soon it was closing time at the museum so Chamnanem and his friends invited us to go back to their Buddhist temple so we could continue to talk. 

me with the 4 monks (Chamnanem is to the right of me)

     "What a random opportunity," we thought as we walked through the streets with these Buddhist monks. But God definitely had a purpose for us being there that day! We toured the temple and sat through some slightly awkward and pretty intense incense burning, water flicking, and bowing before statues of Buddha. Lots of prayer to Jesus during that time :) Cambodian Buddhists have also just started their 15-day holiday of Pchum Ben (Ancestor's Day) where they try to appease their deceased ancestor's so they will be blessed and not cursed. It's very dark holiday full of rituals, chanting, and fear. Please pray for this country.
     Anyway, we exchanged emails and Facebooks with Chamnanem because he wants to practice his English any chance he gets. Please pray that this will be an opportunity for us to continue to talk about our faith openly with him. He said he has read some parts of the Bible in English, but he needs a Khmer Bible. We will try to get him one. Chamnanem's biggest hesitancy with believing in God is that he sees the Christian God as absent and indifferent to all the suffering in this world (also an Explore God question...doesn't matter where you are the in the world!). He has had several family members die in earthquakes so he struggles to see God as love. We got to share with Chamnanem that like a loving father, God hurts to see His children hurting. But He doesn't promise to make everything all better because we live in a fallen and broken world...a world that we messed up. It will not - cannot - be perfect on this side of eternity. But God does promise us that He will be faithful and that He will never leave us. And having that relationship with the Holiest of Holies make everything worth it. 
     
     I'm excited to see what the next 2 weeks and 1 day have in store for me before I leave. Please pray that God continues to use us in amazing random ways. Pray that we would keep and eye out and seize those opportunities! 

"Belle's Library" - feel free to hire us now, we need jobs