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!