Journal #4

-Aug. 19^th-

Today was not a good day for me. I woke up feeling better, and I even ate a little bread, but that was VERY short lived. During the ride to Ou Thmaa, I started feeling worse and worse. When we got there, I went to a bush and threw up a tiny bit. Within a few hours, I could hardly stand up, so I went and lay down in a ditch on some scraps of wood, which is more comfortable than it sounds. I had to lie on the boards because there could have been hookworms in the dirt. I did not eat anything at lunch, and I went straight to bed after that and missed English Lessons, Supper and Debriefing. I feel horrible, both physically and mentally. I’m not supposed to be sick; I’m supposed to be the tough healthy guy!

Other than my health problems, I guess Ou Thmaa went very well, or that is what they tell me. I was out mentally for most of it. The lesson, singing, and memory verse were the same as the first day of VBS in K13. The craft was coloring pages…and the kids absolutely loved that. It seems that they never get to color. The project was making wooden toolboxes. We found out that we did not have enough wood, so we had to downsize the pattern on the fly, but I heard it worked out. In fact, Ben told me that they finished the project the first day, and we intended it to last two days! I was in the ditch resting by this time; this is what Ben told me later.

We had a little adventure getting transportation to Ou Thmaa. Originally, we had hired motos and motos with sidecars to get the supplies and us to Ou Thmaa. We had settled on 20,000 riel apiece…but this morning they told us that they needed 50,000 riel apiece. Pastor Sophan then negotiated with the ‘roto-cow’ across the street for 50,000 riel and gas to take all of us, which is a better deal altogether. What is a roto-cow? Well, it looks like a massive roto-tiller pulling a trailer, and in Khymer, it translates literally as ‘electronic cow’.

That worked fine for the way there, but on the return trip, it broke down; I guess it overheated. We had to walk the last mile or so into Sasada. By this time, I was feeling bad, so Paula and I took the first moto that showed up. I only had to walk half a mile or so.

I am going to bed early, because I am feeling bad. I pray that I will be better tomorrow.

-Aug. 20^th-

In my opinion, today was the worst morning of my life. I woke up so sick that I could not stand up long enough to walk across a room. We decided that I should stay back and not go to Ou Thmaa. This was the final day of VBS with the parents program, so I would be alone for ten hours. That morning I had honestly the worse stomach pains of my entire life. I felt like someone kept punching me in the stomach as hard as possible…that amount of pain, just sustained. I couldn’t get into a comfortable position, so I thrashed and rolled around for 5-6 hours. It was sheer misery, no exaggeration. I prayed a lot that God would heal me.

Early that afternoon, I stared to feel better, and I even stomached a granola bar. By this time, I was really lonely and sick of my room. I did some packing, since tomorrow we head back to Bangkok. I kept feeling better and better, until suppertime when the rest of the team came back. I even ate some supper! I don’t feel so bad right now…just very tired with a bit of a stomachache. I am so disappointed that I missed the last day of Ou Thmaa, but I know that there was absolutely no way I would have made it even downstairs to the roto-cow!

They told me that the last day was amazing…and almost all of the parents of the 40 kids came! The VBS was the same as the second day of K13, and the boys put together little wooden airplane kits, since they finished the toolboxes.

I guess when Pastor Sophan gave his devotional they really listened to him. As far as we know, there are no Christians in Ou Thmaa, so this is a major witness.

One cool story: There was no school in Ou Thmaa, so a man in his forties took the initiative to start one. He goes there a few days a week and teaches the kids. He is not a Christian, but he told Gayle about his dreams. He has had a dream twice where people in need surround him, yet Jesus comes to him and helps him. The man was shocked, and asked us, “Why is Jesus coming to me? I am not even looking for him, and yet he wants me!” This teacher might be a key player in Ou Thmaa, so we are praying that he will become a Christian! It is amazing to see God work.

Well, I am going to go to bed. We have to get up at 5:30am, and get in the taxis to go to Poi Pet, the border crossing. We will take a bus from there to Bangkok. If we have planned it right, we should be in Bangkok by 1pm. I am praying that God will completely heal me; otherwise, it could be a long day tomorrow!

-Aug 21^st-

God healed me! I woke up this morning with absolutely no sickness whatsoever! I ate two breakfasts, had a large coffee, a quart of yogurt milk, and I was still flying! Someone suggested that maybe I just had a 24-hour sickness, but I have had those before and they are nothing like what I had! God definitely healed me!

We got in the taxis at 6am, we stopped at the center to pick up a few things, and we were off! Two hours of rough roads later, we got to the Poi Pet International Border Crossing. Along the way, our driver stopped to put air a tire and to get some gas. At two separate times, he stopped to hand money to some guy in the middle of nowhere! We suspect that he had some debts or something…the Mafia run all the taxi services in Poi Pet. Micah told us that a week prior to our arrival the Mafia killed a taxi driver with a machete simply because he was not part of the Mafia. About ten miles outside of Poi Pet, we were waiting at an intersection to get onto the main road when about six men came out, surrounded the car and tried to open Ben’s door! The driver kept waving no, and when it was all clear, he floored it onto the highway. The men back there looked frustrated…and we have no idea what that was about!

Gayle and Betsy preparing the Mangos and Sticky Rice.

The border crossing went well…the only mishap was that we lost our luggage temporarily. We found Noi, the taxi van driver from Bangkok, and we made the four-hour trip to Bangkok. We got into the Beckwith’s about 1pm. Since it was Kristin’s birthday, Mr. Beckwith had gone out and gotten a HUGE amount of Mangos and Sticky Rice with sweetened coconut milk. It was SO good. We had a debriefing meeting, a prayer meeting, and then we headed to supper at S&P. Our last meal in Bangkok was excellent. After supper we went to the market where I picked up some snacks to take home. That was where I got lost. (Or should I say, the rest of the team lost me.) 

Getting lost in Bangkok…not that bad, right? I was alone in a city of 10 million people who didn’t speak English…I would be fine! This is how it happened. We were all checking out at the market, but the line I was in had some problems. When the lady before me was checking out, the cash register broke. It took me 10 minutes to check out. When I finally finished, I went to the designated team-meeting place…and nobody was there! I looked around the store, looked around the mall, and concluded that the team had left without me! Instead of panicking, I laughed. I thought it was funny! Then I had to figure out what to do next. I decided that when they found out I was missing; they would probably head back to the market. I decided to stay put until they found me. Well, that lasted for about 10 minutes, at which point I was completely bored. I decided I would rather get more lost trying to find the Beckwith’s apartment than sit and rot in that mall. However, before I went, I decided I would try to call since I had their number. I found a pay phone, and when I finally figured out how to use it, I dialed the number, but the phone said the number had been disconnected. Well, turns out, I had dialed the country code as well as the actual number, so it didn’t work.

I started walking; planning to retrace the exact path from S&P to the apartment. I was halfway there, walking on a sky bridge, when I happened to glance down and see Jeff making a beeline for the mall. I yelled ‘Jeff’, but he did not hear me. I cupped my hands and yelled ‘JEFF’ as loud as I possibly could, and it really echoed in that bridge! The woman in front of me screamed and jumped! I quickly apologized, and sprinted ahead to get in front of him. I stuck my head out the railing and yelled again, and this time he heard me. He told me to stay there because Glen was coming on the bridge. Sure enough, in less that a minute Glen showed up. Now, I thought that Glen knew that Jeff had found me, but it turns out he didn’t know that. He spent the next 15 minutes looking for Jeff. I wasn’t aware of the miscommunication, so I just kept quiet. Eventually we headed back to the apartment, where we found Jeff. There was a happy reunion, and we all laughed about the experience. I explained that I was not lost; I knew where I was the whole time! They had lost me!

We had a little cake for Kristin, and then we headed back to the Bangkok Christian Guest House to finish packing. I have packed all my stuff…and I am going to go to bed now. I have to get up at three, so if I fall right asleep, I will get four hours of sleep.

----------

If you count from when we got up that last morning in Cambodia, during the next 74 hours I got approximately eight scattered hours of sleep. You do the math…that takes a lot of caffeine! I definitely had more than my share of coffees and cokes. The trip home was uneventful, but long! Kristin calculated that throughout the whole trip we spend over 40 hours in airplanes! I hope that I won’t have to fly again for a while.

Reflecting on this trip, I can see God’s hand every step of the way. He truly gave us more than we could ever have asked for or imagined.

God did a remarkable job putting our team together. We were ten very different people, from two countries, four states, and five churches! Yet God pulled our team together! We not only got along, but we helped each other out, prayed for each other, and developed friendships!

I was disappointed to be sick and miss the last day of Ou Thmaa, but God carried me through that experience. I praise him for fully healing me in so short a time!

Last time I went to Cambodia in 2007, I came back considering being a missionary to Asia as something God might want me to do. Well, after this trip, it was different. The trip still fired me up with a passion for the lost and opened my eyes to the needs of Asia, but my reaction was different. Instead of getting passionate for Asian ministry, I came back even more passionate for the ministry in America. I enjoyed my time on the trip, and I believe that there is lots of work to do in Asia; but I feel God tugging me towards America. Of course, there is nothing saying that it won’t change, but for now, I feel like God’s work for me is here.

Praise God for an amazing trip in which He repeatedly showed his mighty power!

Sola Deo Gloria!

And thanks to Ben for all the pictures!