Missionaries, mosquitos, and motos… January 4, 2010

We have been in Cambodia now for about five days. It’s been a whirlwind, to say the least. The trip here was a good 24 hours long; however, we befriended a large group of South Korean teenage girls. Turns out, they were also on a mission trip to Cambodia as well. They gave us our first lesson on Asian culture. We have mastered the peace sign “cute pose”, the “flower pose” and the “beautiful face” pose. All of which will be documented at a later time. We also met a woman in the airport who is a missionary in a province in Cambodia. Her name was Era and we learned what church planting in provinces in Cambodia looks like through her. Throughout the entire trip to Cambodia, we were blown away by the detail of the Lord’s protection of us. A good five minutes before we left for DFW airport, we were checking Kristen’s e-mail, while simultaneously the Lord made the decision to pop up skype. Seconds after the fact, Bethany was calling, we answered, and turns out you have to have a couple of passport photos of yourself in order to enter the country. We did not have these, nor were we planning on getting them. Therefore, because of the Lord, our entrance into the country was seamless. The Lord kept us safe and healthy on a 15 hour flight to South Korea, and sat us next to a man who straight up asked us about the Bible. It was awesome, we ended up talking about the return of Jesus with him. These last five days, the Lord has kept us digestively secure, despite some strange food. Supposedly, when Korean Air gives you a warm roll, don’t you worry, it is also filled with mystery meat. We discovered this as we devoured our first bite. There have been countless moments in the last five days, like when we almost lost our entire food supply, that the Lord has given us abundant gifts in the midst of our mishaps.

We arrived in Phnom Penh late Wednesday night, and Bethany picked us up at the airport with her two friends, Michael and Frank.  When we got to her apartment, which is no easy task to reach (the steps up to the door are prone to breaking one’s neck due to their steepness), we stayed up and talked with Bethany and her roommate, Ruthie.  Bethany and Ruthie are both full-time missionaries in Cambodia.  Bethany does social work for an organization called Children in Families, and Ruthie is the director of a Cambodian school and is also involved in church planting.  We have had so much fun living with these girls, and the Lord is sharing a lot of wisdom to us through them.  They are both passionate about change and are fully investing themselves in the lives of Cambodians.  They have taught us what it looks like to raise up Cambodians who desire change for their own people and what it looks like to equip them to do so.  We both really feel that one of the reasons that the Lord has brought us here is to encourage and support both of these girls in their ministries.  Our room in the house is wonderful- it’s every young Cambodian girl’s dream.  It is fully decked out in Hello Kitty gear- meow.  It is a cool 90 degrees, which has proven to not be suitable for two women who tend to sweat…. profusely.  Alongside of the heat, we have many friends living in our room, including, but not limited to, some ants and some ferocious mosquitos.  We thoroughly enjoy killing these blood- sucking insects with our mosquito zappers.  These things are brilliant and kill mosquitos instanlty. We are trying to figure out a way to smuggle them back into Texas. We have been blessed with our own bathroom, and the best part is the butt-sprayer that comes with the toilet!  We are still afraid of the consequences of putting it into action.  Apparently, Cambodians don’t think that toilet paper is suffcient because these things are everywhere.  We’re sure we will come to love them, too.

Because of the holidays, Bethany and all of her missionary friends were going to the beach. We tagged along with Bethany, Frank, and Michael to Sihanouk Ville. It was an entertaining to say the least.  It was our first experience with Cambodian driving. The norm in most countries, is to have traffic going both directions, but apparently not in Cambodia.  Instead, there is one open lane and you just drive in your direction until someone comes uncomfortably close, in which you then swerve to the right.  It’s the classic game of chicken, every high schooler’s dream.  Cambodians are a big fan of the car horn, and honks it everytime they want someone to know they are headed their way.  It’s more of  a warning cry as we have seen innocent motos run over for not moving in time.  We spend a lot of time praying in the car.  The overnight trip to the beach was full of really rich conversation with Michael and Frank.  They are two men who are selling out completely for Jesus.  They walk in His power and are allowing their lives to be completely led by the Spirit. Frank grew up in downtown Philly and may be the funniest person either of us have ever met.  Literally, the funniest. He lives in Bankgok, where he works with women and men involved in the sex trade.  Michael speaks five languages, has lived all around the world, and is currently running a cake decorating business to employ women who have been rescued from the sex trade. Oh and he is also only 21 years old. It has been really good for both of our hearts to be around these people.  It is refreshing to be amongst young people who are totally going for it.  Often, we make excuses that we are too young, or not educated enough, or we have to stick to a certain way of doing things.  But these guys are breaking all of that.  These are the kinds of people that the Lord loves to have fighting for Him, and it has already been a blessing to know them.  Through conversations with Bethany, Michael, and Frank we have learned a tremendous amount about how the sex trade works in both Cambodia and Thailand.  We entered into the New Year with thousands of Cambodians holding cameras in one hand and five-foot long Roman Candles in the other (it was quite the experience) on the beach. 

Everyone really encouraged us to visit Siem Reap before their work started up again after the New Year.  Siem Reap is the home to many temples of the ancient Angkor people.  It is the national pride of Cambodia.  To us, all the temples are the same, so in what usually takes people one week we did in 5 hours.  We really enjoyed it though, and it was beautiful.  Through having conversations with people even in this town we are realizing how little these people know about Jesus.  Most people respond with, “Who is that?” when we ask them about Jesus.  It is forcing us to be more comfortable with explaining the gospel to people who have never heard any truth.  All over Cambodia are Buddhist temples with little Buddhas, big Buddhas, baby Buddhas, and a whole lot of incense and flashy lights (for special effect).  We are making jokes, but in all seriousness this country is very lost.  We have realized what a blessing it is to be raised in a country where Christianity is so prevalent. 

Something that has been made clear is the link between poverty and the sex trafficking industry.  Ever since the Khmer Rouge, the country has been fighting to get back on its feet again.  Often times, when a family can not afford food for the week, a sacrifice needs to be made.  Sadly, this sacrifice can come down to the selling of one’s own child.

Tomorrow we will be heading back to Phnom Penh.  We will begin working with the women in Michael’s business, helping them bake and decorate.  All of the women are very new believers, so we are excited about learning from them and their experiences.  We will also be meeting with many people who have been a part of starting ministries in Cambodia, so again, we are excited to gain a better perspective of what that looks like.  We will also be making a trip or two out to the slums to visit women and children with Bethany.  Hopefully, we will get to ” bar hop” with Michael and meet some of the women he has become friends with.  Also, we will be able to go to bible studies and home church with Cambodians and other believers to experience what the Church looks like within Phnom Penh.  We are hopeful and confident in the Truth that the Spirit is very much alive in this country. We are excited to be experiencing the Lord’s power and heart for these people. We will try our best to keep you posted as often as we can.  Thank you for your prayers.  We love you.