Bprahm Kai Howie!

Where does time go? I feel like the days keep flying past me whether I am ready for them or not. Somehow it is the first of May already, but I often still sit and wonder where 2009 went. I have been in Cambodia for 5 months already (brpahm kai howie). In some ways I cannot possibly believe that I have been here this long, but in other ways I feel like this is my home now and has been for ages. Cambodia has a way of capturing people's hearts. I cannot even count how many people I have encountered here who were planning to come for a month, 3 months, 6 months, or a year but upon spending time here they have extended their time here because Cambodia has gotten under their skin. The Khmer people have squeezed their way into hearts. I have definitely become one of those people who can't imagine leaving. I know that my work in Cambodia is not complete. I know that I will be back. I believe it will be sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I am going to enjoy my next several weeks here before I plan my trip back to the States. I plan on learning as much as I can, speaking Khmer as much as I can, and loving people as much as I can in these next several weeks...and I might throw some fun traveling into the mix as well, just to keep things interesting!

Letters

Dear pedophile from a Western country who visited Cambodia about 18 months ago,

I saw your child the other day. He is a happy 9-month-old living in a slum village in Cambodia. His 12-year-old aunt was toting him around on her hip that day. His bloated belly peeked out from underneath his shirt, and his pants were nowhere to be found. I knew he was yours because he had your dirty blonde hair rather than the Khmer black. His nose had a large bridge, too, as opposed to the Asian flat noses of his other family members. And, though he was smudged with dirt, I could tell he inherited your lighter skin tone as well. His eyes were Asian and his round face. I just wanted to let you know about him because I was afraid you might have forgotten about your time here. I wanted to let you know that even if you forget, your son and his mother will not. You left behind far too many reminders...

Dear sweet baby in Cambodia,

Though you will never meet your biological father, you have the best Daddy ever. You may not have been planned, but your Daddy knew your beginning from your end. He loved you before you were even born, before the beginning of time. He has a plan for your life. He will never leave you. He is sending hope to you. And with that hope, you can change the nation of Cambodia and the world. Hold tight, baby, God is carrying you...

Dear God,

Help me to be the person you have called me to be. Help me to remember that vengeance is Yours, and it is not my place to judge. Help me to love the children. Help me to love the abused. Help me to love the broken. Help me to love the pedophiles. Help me to love the rapists. Help me to love the lost. Help me to love the arrogant and the ignorant. Help me to step up and go forth in the purpose that You have for my life. Help me to change the world...one thing at a time...

Highlights!

Since I have been pretty bad about updating over the last several weeks, I thought I would do just a short little post about the highlights of the last week. I may try to do this more regularly, so that you at least get a little taste of my life even when I don't take the time to make a big post! So, here goes...

1. I donated blood last week. The U.S. Embassy was having a blood drive, so I figured it would be a good opportunity to donate blood as it is much needed here and see the inside of the embassy. Painless experience. AND, they gave me a full meal afterwards consisting of a meat & veggie filled croissant, boiled egg, 2 bananas, can of coke, and bottle of water. I also received a t-shirt (that is much too large for me) that says in both English and Khmer "I can give blood 3 times a year" and a goodie bag filled with 5 packages of ramen noodles, a can of sweetened condensed milk, and some blueberry flavored wafers. I can now check "give blood in another country" off of my list of things to do before I die!

2. I ate crickets. And, I liked it. My friend Sopheak regularly buys roasted crickets from the market, and I had told her last week that the next time she bought some, I would try them. They are roasted in some kind of chili salt mixture and are really quite tasty.

3. I learned about what happens when you don't pay your electricity bill on time...even if it is never delivered to you. On Tuesday, I came home for lunch to find that our power was off. No big deal. It happens sometimes. However, I did think it was a bit strange that all the houses around us had power. At 5 o'clock when we still didn't have power, we were a bit concerned there was an electrical problem. So, we made a call to the electrician, and he arrived to take a look. Needless to say, he made a trip out to our house to pull a slip of paper out of our mailbox that said they had shut our power off because we hadn't paid our bill...that we never received. However, seeing as it was after 5 o'clock, there was nothing that could be done that day since the offices were all closed. So, we ended up sleeping that night with no power, which means we were sleeping in 90+ degree heat with no air conditioning and no fan. I knew that growing up on a farm in a house with no air conditioning was preparing me for something. Anyway, after paying the bill first thing in the morning, they turned our power back on around 4pm. And, the world was as it should be.

4. I am pretty sure that I have mastered the art of riding a moto side saddle, which is important to be able to do when you are wearing a skirt. I am also quite accustomed to fitting three people on a moto...my next step will be 4. And, I can do the foot dangle pretty well, which is necessary when there are no pegs on the back of the moto for the passenger's feet as on my friend Dany's.

5. I am learning to read and to write Khmer as well as speak it. I know all of the alphabet now, and I can even write a few of my own sentences. Hooray!

6. I got a Valentine in the mail today from my 5-year-old niece, and it was only a month and a half after Valentine's day! Regardless, it was a great surprise!

Ok, I think those are some of the main highlights of my life at the moment. Hopefully, I will post again soon to give you another peek into my world!

Siem Reap

A couple weekends ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Siem Reap, Cambodia, with my friend Kara. Siem Reap is about a 6-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh, and it is the most popular tourist destination in Cambodia. It is home of Angkor Wat and several other famous temples and ruins. It was a really great time to get away. I took lots of pictures of the weekend, but I will just take you through some highlights of our time there!

Friday night: sunset at Phnom Bakheng

Just a glimpse into the spiritual atmosphere of Cambodia...
Saturday morning: sunrise at Angkor Wat
This is me in front of Angkor Wat. (Excuse the way I look...I got up really early...)
South Gate at Angkor Thom
Bayon. This was probably my favorite temple. We got to climb all over this one!
The beautiful lady who sold us bananas...albeit very expensive ones...
Ta Nei temple, which has yet to have any restoration done and required us to hike about a kilometer on a sandy path to get to, but we were the only ones there!
Ta Prohm. This is the temple that is featured in the movie Tomb Raider, which means there were about 800 tourists in it all at the same time. Thus, we were herded through like cattle, and it was quite a feat to get a photo without tourists in it.
Saturday afternoon:

We went to a floating village. The people live in these houses on this lake. They use the water for drinking, cooking, swimming, cleaning, bathing, and as their toilet. It was interesting to see how they live and served as a good reminder why I am in Cambodia, seeking to help people here.
And, we found some little boys just floating around...with pythons around their necks...
After the floating village, we found our way back to the city and to the Blue Pumpkin for some ice cream! Delicious!
Then, for a fish massage! For $3 you can stick your feet in the water and let all the fish eat away your dead skin for 20 minutes. Quite the experience!
Saturday evening:

We went out to dinner and watched traditional Khmer dancing. This is the fishing dance (my personal favorite), but they performed 6 different dances that night.
Sunday we opted to sleep in a bit (since we had been up well before sunrise on Saturday), and we went marketing and such in the morning before we had to catch our bus back to Phnom Penh. Siem Reap was definitely worth the trip, and should the opportunity arise, I wouldn't hesitate to go back for another visit!

Sufficiency

"I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency." Philippians 4:13 (Amplified)

Typically, I think most people would classify me as a pretty independent person. I suppose if I wasn't, I wouldn't have moved to the other side of the world by myself to live and work with people I had never previously met in person. I suppose that it is true, me being independent, that is, as long as you are referring to independence from the comforts of familiarity. The road that has gotten me to this point in my life has been a bit of a bumpy one filled with tears and joy, heartache and rejoicing, but I wouldn't trade a second of it. I know that all I have faced in my life has brought me to a place of complete dependence on God. He is my sufficiency. I love the above verse and how it says that we are self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency. Without Him, we are nothing, but with Him...with Him we can change the world. There is nothing we cannot face. Now, I will be completely honest. There are few things that bother me more than namby, pamby women who trade their God-given abilities to hide in the shadows of men. I agree that God created order for families and created men to be the heads of households. But, He also created Eve from Adam's rib, so she could walk alongside him. Woman was not taken out of man's head to rule over him or his foot to be walked upon by him, but rather from his side to be in partnership next to him.

What's my point?

Well, my point is that I was really challenged and fired up a couple of weeks ago while at church. After a message about the importance of reaching out to the world around you, being the light of the world, there was an altar call. It was a time for those who want to answer the call of God to reach the communities of Phnom Penh, the provinces of Cambodia, the peoples of Southeast Asia, the nations of the world. I was humbled and challenged just to be in the same room as these people. And, as I prayed, I watched. I watched two girls, both aged 12, walk up to the front of that church. They were the only ones under the age of 20 who did so, though it was not for a lack of young people in the congregation that day. I know those girls. I know that in 12 years they have been through more than many people will endure in a lifetime--abuse, abandonment, rejection, exploitation. Yet, after encountering the Savior of the world, their lives are forever changed. And, if you asked them, I am quite confident that they would tell you that Jesus is the answer for the world today, and with that knowledge, how could they not take it to the ends of the earth...

These girls challenge me daily on what it means to live for Christ, what it means to forgive, what it means to receive His love and give it away. And, I am daily challenged not to be more independent or self-sufficient, but to be wholly dependent on Him and find my sufficiency in Christ.

"But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!" 2 Corinthians 12:9

Don't Fail Me Now, Brain!

After picking up quite a bit of Khmer from simply living here and learning from the people with whom I live and work, I decided that I wanted to take some time to more actively learn the Khmer language. So, I started taking Khmer lessons from a friend's sister in February. I think I am doing pretty well, and my teacher says that I am a very good student (though I think she might just be saying that to flatter me).

Regardless, I thought I would show you some photos of what I am up against in learning this language.

As I am sure you are aware, Asian languages are quite different from English or any of the Romantic languages (Spanish, French, etc.) that we are typically exposed to in the U.S. This is the Khmer alphabet. The vowels are on the left page, and the consonants are on the right page.
And here I am learning to combine consonants and vowels to make words and phrases.
I have lessons two days a week, and for next week's lesson, I have to compose 5 written sentences of my own using words that I know. Plus, my teacher is taking me to the market, so she can watch me practice my Khmer with people other than herself. EEK! Thus, my prayer is that my brain will not fail me! Your prayers would be appreciated...

PJs all day? Yes, please!

Upon living in Cambodia for the last few months, I have taken note of several things. One of these things is the innate sense of fashion and style that people have here. Ok, so maybe in the U.S. we wouldn't find it quite so fashionable to carry around a fuzzy Pooh purse at the age of 18 and maybe we wouldn't choose to proudly wear a baseball cap with a gold, glittery bill, but I really think that one thing could catch on...pajamas! And, not just any pajamas, but matchie matchies as they are called. Women often wear their pajamas out all day here, and often times accessorized with glittery high heels. All pajamas are sold in matching sets and come in floral, teddy bears with funny English sayings, Hello Kitty, and fuzzy bunnies. There is really quite a variety.

So, in order to see what all the hype was about, some friends and I decided to purchase our own pajamas and wear them for an evening out on the town! However, we waited a bit too long to purchase our pajamas and were quite limited in our choices as nearly all of the markets were shut for several days over the Chinese New Year. But, alas, we found a few stalls open and were able to purchase some pajamas of our very own!

Julie, Rachel, and Danielle in their pajamas preparing to go out.
We took a sunset cruise on the river, and this was our boat. A couple Canadian tourists joined us and didn't seem a bit concerned that we were wearing pajamas!
Sunset on the river.
Farming on the banks.
The river is lined with fishing boats, which often double as families' homes.
Phnom Penh skyline. If you can call it a skyline...
Danielle and I on a cyclo after our river cruise. I am sporting Hello Kitty pjs with some funny English thrown in as well while Danielle went for the pink floral print.

You would be amazed at the number of comments we received from Khmer people as we strolled about in our pajamas. They smiled and waved and said, "sa-aht," which means beautiful in Khmer. Some of them, wearing their own pajamas, would even stop us and smile and say, "Ahh, same, same!" and point from their pajamas to ours. It was quite the experience. However, the pajamas were not what one might call comfortable. The fabric was hot, and they were made in such a way that made you feel as if you were going to split the back seam when you walked (small steps were required). Thus, I have to conclude that the reason all the Khmer people wear their pajamas out is simply because they are fashionistas, and the matchie matchies are just that amazing!