Journal #3

-Aug. 16^th-

When we woke up in the morning, the rain was coming down in buckets. It looked like someone just turned on the water in heaven…I have never seen it rain that hard in the US. Right before we left for breakfast, Ben and I were standing outside our room, when we heard a little crash, and suddenly water started POURING from the ceiling down the wall and into the hall. This was no ordinary drip; it literally looked like someone stuck a hose through the ceiling. We went into our room, and the exact same thing was happening on the other side of the wall! Within a minute, there was 5-10 gallons of water on our floor. We picked up our clothes and put them on the bed. We notified the guy downstairs, and left our door unlocked for him. Then about half of us headed out into the pouring rain for breakfast, the rest of them were just going to sit in their rooms and eat granola bars.

Getting a moto to take us was tough, but eventually we all got one. I had on an emergency poncho, which was worthless in the situation. It kept my shirt and backpack dry, but that was about it. My jeans were soaked. When we got off the moto, Paula’s flip-flop came off and started to float down the little river that had formed. I chased it for her, and eventually got it. The restaurant had three or four inches of water on the floor, and the owner’s children were trying valiantly to bail it out, to no avail. We sat down and ordered, and then I noticed the owner trying to plug in a fan. We all held our feet out of the water after that!

After we ate, the rain let up enough for us to go to the market, where we all bought better ponchos. Of course, it’s probably not going to rain for the rest of the trip now. The moto ride back was much more enjoyable.

The theme for today’s VBS was God’s power over evil spirits, so the skit was about the demon-possessed man in the tombs, from Mark 5:20. Micah was the demon-possessed man, since he was the strongest guy. Jeff brought some chain, and then got some aluminum foil to link the chain together, so Micah had something to break. I played Jesus, and so I basically just had to cast out the demons in to the pigs and then give him a Khymer Bible to read. The lesson was definitely a meaningful one for the kids, because they are all very afraid of evil spirits.

The craft was making picture frames, and the kids seemed to like that. On the last day, we are going to take pictures of the kids and their families/friends, and we will edit and print them in the US and send them back to the kids, so that they can have a picture of themselves. The game was a race game where the kids used sticks to push a water bottle half filled with dirt across a line. These kids are SO competitive; it was hilarious to watch!

The guys blasted ahead with their projects; most of them have finished cutting and drilling, and they are starting to put them together. Sophan has to help them put it together, since he can talk to them. We just drilled the holes and helped the kids hold boards for cutting. They could finish tomorrow! They work hard for their age, but I guess that is what they need to do to survive here.

Before English, we took a Prayer Walk; my group went back into the REAL K13 village. At first, I thought the dirt road that the Guesthouse was on was K13. Then I found out that road is the nice side of town. Once you get off that road, that is where you get to the little mud roads, the smelling huts/shacks, the garbage everywhere, and the little kids running around without clothes. That is where the chickens run through the garbage piles…where there is green, slimy, algae mud everywhere…where all the kids at VBS live. I was shocked. The kids definitely do not look or act as if these horrible conditions bother them. I am almost ashamed of Americans who have so much and are so unsatisfied in comparison. 

I played guitar that night for our debriefing meeting. That went well, except for the fact that the guitar is in such a bad condition that one of the strings you can’t get in tune with the others. In fact, the guitar would not even stay tuned for the length of a song! The strings are rusty, so my fingertips are blackish orange. Oh well!

-Aug. 17^th-

We had another busy, tiring day today. Our time here in K13 is ending…today is the second to last day of VBS. The theme today covered God and Material Possessions, something that not all of the younger kids understood, but the older ones did. The skit told the story from Luke 12:13-21: the rich man who built bigger barns, and then he died that night. We decided that for our purposes, it was enough to show him feasting and focusing on money, and then he would die. I was the rich man, so I ‘feasted’ on a hunk of bread and a glass of wine (red Propel®), and wore lots of sashes and scarves. Then Ben, who was hiding behind a whiteboard, stuck out his hand and stuck me on the shoulder, which was my signal to die. The kids absolutely loved it! That propel was concentrated, so when I ‘died’ I spilled it on my arm, and it was stained for the rest of the day!

The craft was continuing the picture frames, and the game was another race game. The goal was to get your team’s pile of assorted objects to the other side of the line, using their elbows. It was hilarious for us to watch…they are SO competitive! However, they all had a good time, and each received a piece of candy afterwards.

A few guys are done with their stools, and the rest are going to be done tomorrow. We spent the whole time just helping them put them together. We could not do it as easily as Sophan since we couldn’t really communicate with the kids. I can’t believe how fast the guys are working. The girls on our team tell me that some of the Khymer girls are almost done, and others might have to push to get it done before the parent’s program. The girls that finish early are learning to crochet.

The Border. Thailand is on the left, and
 Cambodia is on the right.

We went prayer walking again after lunch, and we walked to the Thai border. I feel more and more overwhelmed…there is such poverty and spiritual darkness, and since I don’t know the language, there is nothing I can do but pray and be an example of the Christian life! I feel helpless, but I guess that is when God shows himself to be strong!

The English lesson went well. The story when “Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet”. The students are really coming along; they all understand pretty much everything. They read, write, and understand fine, but they struggle with speaking. A few sounds they can hardly pronounce at all, such as ‘TH’, ‘F’, and ‘SH’. They also have quite a bit of work to do on vowels…there are some that they just plain cannot pronounce! However, they are eager to learn, so that makes teaching easier.

I thought I would write down the Menu from the one restaurant that we went; we could order any one of these for any meal.

Fried Rice

Fried Noodles

Noodle Soup

Beef with Rice

Pork with Rice

Stir Fried Vegetables

Fish

Shrimp

Drinks:

Iced/Hot Coffee with Sweetened Condensed Milk

Coke

Iced/Hot Tea

So that is basically what we eat and drink for three meals a day! I am not sick of it yet, I like it all except for the fish. I am not opposed to eating the whole (fins, tail, head, and skin) fish…but in my opinion, the fish is completely flavorless.

Ben wanted to wash some of his clothes, so I rigged up a clothesline with some paracord.

We had a busy day today! Praise God!

-Aug. 18^th-

Last day of VBS was today…and what a day it was! The morning was a basic VBS, and in the afternoon was the parents program.

The theme was “God’s Power over Nature”. I played Jesus in the skit “Jesus Calms the Storm”. We set up some chairs for the side of the boat, and we had Megan and Paula flap a blue sheet in front of us for the waves. Micah, Ben, and Jeff were disciples, so they woke me up pretty violently! The kids loved it! The craft consisted of little paper pinwheels, so that took a little while to teach the kids how to make it. The game had two teams, one bucket with water, an empty bucket, and a big sponge. The teams had to move the water from one bucket to the other just using the sponge. They stood in a line and passed the sponge over their heads…so they got wet and loved it!

Almost all of the guys finished their stools: 28 out of 30. The folding campstool is a precision project…you need to have all the holes lined up in order for it to fold neatly. Well, with warped boards of incorrect lengths, holes not drilled in the correct spots, and bolts that were too long…well, let’s just say that the stools are a bit odd! They fold, in the roughest sense of the term…but that is all ok because the kids absolutely love them...and that is all that matters!

Putting the campstools together

A flash downpour interrupted the parent’s program slightly, but other than that, it went smoothly. There were about 30 parents there…and 60 VBS kids, so a fair turnout. We held the program in the open shed. The kids started with some songs, recited a memory verse or two, and performed a skit. Then Pastor Sophan gave a brief devotional on Jesus and evil spirits…most of the parents are not Christians. Some of them had zoned out by that point, but we pray that some heard, and that there will be fruit! The people in Cambodia are a mixture of Animists and Buddhists, so bringing them to Christ is a long, hard process. However, God is working!

After the program, they served food, mainly fruit and some snacks. I didn’t really go to that, I hung out inside the center and played with the kids for the last time. It was hard to say goodbye to them after that…I wonder the boys did not really understand that we would not be coming back for a while. The girls seemed to understand it, so there were lots of hugs and pictures on that end.

We did not have English that day, but went straight to supper. At supper I did not eat much…I just don’t feel very good. I think I am sick. I hope that I will get better by tomorrow, which is our first day in Ou Thmaa (oh t-ma).

Debriefing went fine…except for the fact that I was coughing up a lung during the prayer time. They checked my temperature, and I had a 100.9-degree fever. They prayed for me, and I think I will be feeling better tomorrow.