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.