Sunday

Today, we started off by going to HBI (Hope Bible Institute) for church. Our campus pastor, Troy, preached the message with the help and translation of Sam. The kids did a dance, and some of the ladies sang a song for us. It was so beautiful! 

After the message, we ate lunch outside on the church's porch with the rest of the congregation. They served us an awesome stew mix with rice, native fruits, and fish. It was really fun to have a meal where it felt like it was what the Cambodians eat on a regular basis. 

After the service, we went to see Sam's recently purchased house. On our way back to the church, we stopped to sing and play with kids that live in the village. After we sang some songs and played, we headed back to the church to finish a few things and get back on the road. When we turned around, the kids were following us! So we hung around and played "down by the banks" at the church building. 

I'm not sure if these little girls were sisters or best friends, but they were so cute! They were completely interested in what we were doing and were so photogenic!

After our time at the church, we headed back to the rehabilitation center we visited yesterday. Since we weren't there very long yesterday, we made a point of going back to see the girls again and buy some of their handmade products. The cool thing about this place is that 100% of the proceeds from their sales go to the girls. For example: if I bought a bag that "Mary" made, "Mary" would get all the money I paid for the product. Our whole team was able to spend money at the center and bless the girls. 

After taking a quick break at the hotel we were off to the races again. We went to another temple, but today's was Hindu. It was called Banan. It was a temple back before the Khmer Rouge came through, and is not really in use anymore. Thankfully, there were only 358 steps at the temple today. Don't judge me for being sweaty...it's hot here!

The cacti are planted all over the place around the temple. Apparently, people believe that if they etch their needs into one of the cactus leaves and pray, they will get it. I don't know why I took this picture with it, but I think it's funny, so here you go. 

And here's a real (normal) picture of what the cactus looked like. You can see the etches. I found out that they etch the leaves using burning incense. 

The way down...ahh!

The first of many heart wrenching days

Today, we visited the first of 3 rehabilitation centers for trafficked girls. Due to a need for privacy for the girls, I am not going to post any specific details about the center or certain girls. I also did not take any pictures, so some of this might not make a whole lot of sense. But I will try!

This place is able to serve up to 75 girls at a time. The basic idea is that other organizations gather information and rescue girls once they have enough evidence to prosecute. Once the girls are rescued, they are taken to places like the one we visited today. The restoration centers are able to train the girls for certain vocations, give them an education, provide counseling, and prepare them for when they have to go back into the real world of Cambodia. 

During our visit today, I was really touched by the level of trust and love the girls had for people. I don't think I can do them justice in a blog...they forgive so easily. They find things to be thankful for amidst all the trauma they've experienced. Girls as young as 3 are rescued by these places. The youngest at this particular center is 6. How is it possible that grown men will rape and abuse such young girls? There is a blind girl and a paralyzed girl in the rehabilitation center. They started out healthy but were abused by the brother owners so they could go out on the streets and beg. Just one more way to make money...it makes me sick to my stomach to think that these things happen every day. 

After this heart wrenching experience, we went for a hike up to a Buddhist temple. There were about 1,000 steps to the top, where we were able to see an awesome view of Battambang and see how other religions worship. 

Oh yeah, and since the temple is a holy place, girls had to have their knees and shoulders covered. Trust me, hiking in a floor length skirt wasn't my idea of a good time! 

In between these two adventures, we went to a church and had lunch. And you'll never believe what I ate!! 

Frogs. Whole. Eyes, skin, ribs, everything. Ew!

Termites. We mixed these in with the rice but it didn't help. Crunchy and nasty are the two adjectives needed here. 

Crickets. Salty. 

That's all I've got for now! The adventures begin again early tomorrow and I need some sleep. 

God bless you all, and please continue praying. Our team and this country can use as much as possible! 

House churches

The past 2 days have been full of visiting house churches. The ones we have visited are about 2-3 hours away from our hotel, so we head out in the morning and get back in the late afternoon. 

Day 1: 

We played limbo and "down by the banks" with the kids. They were both completely new games for the kids, and they had a blast! We tried to pick games that they could play long after we are gone. The kids' smiles grew and grew as they played the games. 

We also did some coloring! Boys and girls both loved the craft. They were so proud to show off their finished products!

This is the house church we visited the first day. It was very small, but there was a covered concrete porch on the side where we spent most of our time with the kids. 

The kids greeted us with some songs, and big excited smiles. 

Day 2:

As we were driving today, we passed this huge piece of construction. This particular spot was trying to get some irrigation in the villages. You can see how dirty the water is, but they drink it just like that. That is actually something that these people consider clean. 

This church was a bit nicer than the one we were at yesterday. There was a separate building that was used for the church/school part, and there were windows that created a breeze. We served about 90 kids at this church. 

Here are the kids and some NCU people playing duck, duck, goose. We changed the words to the Khmer language so the kids would know what they were saying. They are so smart...they caught on so fast! And they are super fast!

Since this room was a church, we all had to take our shoes off. There were so many pairs of shoes out there!!

This is the little girl I helped color. She told me her name, but it would be near impossible to write with English symbols. The best I can do is this: Yaam Ei. 

The boys we so stoked about their work!

On our way out of the village, we decided to have an adventure. So we took our old ghetto mini van off roading! Well...we didn't know we were going to end up with no more road left, but that's what happened! We tried to make it up the embankment, and didn't realize it was impossible until it was too late. We got stuck! We ended up having to evacuate the van so the weight would be gone, and reversed out of it. The good news is: no one was hurt and we got some pretty great photos. The bad news is: the oil in the van is now leaking, and the AC doesn't work anymore. 

Some things you can pray for:

 

Funding and opportunity for the first house church to get a bathroom. More people will come to church just to use a bathroom that works! (FYI: bathrooms aren't like ours at home, they look like this...the bowl goes in the ground, and you squat over it. When you are done, you use a large cup to get water from the basin (the large thing on the right) and throw it in the bowl. This pushes the waste down. You should note: this is the nicest bathroom I have seen so far)

Evangelism around the house churches is a huge thing to pray for. Since Battambang is about 90% Buddhist, Christianity is having a hard time spreading. 

Te safety of the girls. Cambodia is the #1 place for human trafficking. Starting around the age of 6, parents will often sell their girls to the trade because they need the money. The rates for grown men to buy sex from the girls is super low, but they will often be sold 8-10 times EVERY DAY. The brothel owners make a ton of money, but only a small portion gets sent back to the families. Even a smaller portion makes its way to the girl being sold. So please pray for the girls to be safe and for their parents to make the right decision. 

Please pray for Sam our translator. He has a huge heart for people, and works with Hope Bible Institute. Please pray that he would keep doing his good work in this broken country. 

Pray for the people that have to live in places like this. They have no running water, no electricity, no money, and no other resources. This is what extreme poverty looks like. Please pray that God would take them under His wing and protect them from the evils and corruption that exist here. 

Lastly, please keep praying for our team. We have been, and will be, tempted and tried. Pray for strength and encouragement as we are here, and for us to know what to say to the natives. Pray that we touch hearts, and help these people see the joy they're missing without Christ. 

Day 2 adventures

It's so cool to finally be here!! We spent the night in a very nice spot in Phnom Penh last night, and are on the way to Battambang today. Since we have about 5-6 hours on the bus, I've had plenty of time to look out the window and see the beauty Cambodia has to offer. 

The temples and buildings are so gorgeous! The temples have very ornate architecture. The colors, structure, and even the gates take my breath away every time. While we were going through the city, it seemed like we were passing temple looking buildings almost constantly. I've attached a few pictures here because I know my words could never do them justice. 

The city is a constant bustle. There are buses, motorbikes, and cars everywhere! And they are going every which way with no clear rules of the road. Every driver is making their own way across the craziness. As a result of this madness, there is a lot of honking and cutting each other off. And I can't even tell you how many times I've thought our bus driver was going to run over a pedestrian or motorbiker. It's insane! 

There are so many people doing so many things...kids running around, beggars struggling to make their way, grown men playing bocce ball using their sandals (I wish I could have snapped a picture of that...it was so neat!), women hanging their laundry off the balconies, and a lot of people just sitting and watching the world swirl around them.

I wish I had been able to snap a picture of this, but I'm too slow. There are water buffalo here! People own cows and water buffalo and they hang out together! It is the weirdest and coolest thing I think I've seen here. They just hang out on the side of the road...that's something you definitely don't see in the US. 

God has already blessed our team tremendously. Our flights were wonderful, our first "hotel" had clean showers, real toilets, nice beds, air conditioning (which was vital...it was killer hot last night), and a yummy breakfast this morning. There are really sweet people on our bus ride today, and the weather is actually really nice! 

We're at our next hotel now, and are about to eat dinner and swim in the pool!!  Here's some pictures from our motorbike drawn buggy ride that we caught after our bus ride, and the hotel were staying at. 

PS- the key photo is kind of cool. You can only get air conditioning and light if your key is in that little slot. I guess this keeps their bills down because they're not paying utilities when no one is in the room. Pretty smart, huh?