Prayer Requests

This week is getting hectic and to be honest, my brain is a little to fried to give proper updates although Cambodia still amazes me and takes my breath away every single day. I wish I could share it all with you. But I can’t. 

These are the serious and important bits anyways. You probably won’t get this in time because I probably won’t get on the internet to post this before but here goes. I would love prayer for (1) my school kids, (2) my church ministry and (3) Revival Meeting aka Life University campus ministry.

1. School kiddies

Last week I shared the gospel during morning devotions and this past week, I shared about the Holy Spirit. Pray that the seeds sown would take root and that the kids would not be manipulated into religion but seek truth.

2. Church ministry

Life Bible Presbyterian English Service is the only English service in Sihanoukville. The foreign teachers at Life University and Life International School (my school) run the service. I started my bible study at church this morning. I have 3 guys and 3 girls. Most of them have been exposed to Christianity and have started getting involved in ministries but do not have a personal and real relationship with God. Pray for them. Pray for me.

Also, this Wednesday, I have the honour of leading the Prayer Meeting at church. I pray that prayer (that sounds weird huh?) will not just be a time of asking and pleading with God as it has been in the past few weeks but a time of giving. Giving of our hearts, giving of our desires for His and real confession and repentance. So often we have a list of things we think we need from God. But I pray that we first come humbly seeking His will for our lives.

3. Revival Meeting

The campus Christian fellowship has a weekly meeting on Mondays they call Revival. This Monday, I have been asked to be the speaker to the 60ish Cambodian students who come out to the meetings. Some of them are Christians, some are not. Some are curious. But most see being a Christian as a set of moral rules or simply going to Church and fellowship. Pray for understanding and clarity (I will have a translator). Pray for wisdom. Pray that God would speak through me. Pray for open hearts.

Thank you.

Myth

Myth busted: You need to comb/brush your hair regularly. One thing I forgot to bring to Cambodia in my rush to pack and leave Canada is my brush. I have hardly brushed or combed my hair in 2 and a half months (don’t look at me like that) and my hair has never been better. Ok, it’s no Herbal Essences ad but it’s as good as it gets, I reckon. Living off 20kg of belongings isn’t too bad! My closet consist of a single rack and a $5 bamboo shelf.

Blessings

Like reaching an oasis in a desert, my roommate and I decided to check into a hotel for a night this long weekend. It’s the Water Festival. This hotel was NICE. Cable TV, internet, a/c, HOT showers, clean sheets, swimming pool and complimentary breakfast buffet where they provide fancy dishes to put jam in! I swam once that day and the next morning before we checked out. Heavenly.

The night before, I got to call friends and family on my cell phone too. Talked to my mammy for the first time in 2 months :) The excitement continued with skype chats with friends, my brother and my mother again at the hotel. Ah... internet! Talked to friends on msn, got new music and watched youtube! It was quite the weekend in my books.

But then as some of you might have seen from Facebook, I also rented a moto and took it for a spin in an empty soccer field with cows grazing around. Unfortunately, I took a turn too sharply. And the next thing I remember was my elbow on the ground and my butt a little sore. And then I saw a cow stomp closer and closer. And my friend shouting in the background: “Run! Run! Run!” I tried to run but my legs were stiff with confusion, fear and thinking: Is this for real?

Suffice to say the cow was more interested in sniffing out the moto and all I had to do was step back and let it scold the moto for making crashing noises and scaring her calf. But I left proud of the slight scrape on my elbow, and a ridiculous story that will live on for generations. The moto refused to start after that fall but some nice local boys playing soccer helped us get it started. Anyways, I think I’m getting better at the moto although the fall shook me a little and I’m more weary of the turns. But if I can manage the roads next time, it’ll be my ticket to freedom (now, I just need to get the language down). Especially with my friend putting ideas in my head about buying an electric-powered moto for $200 from Phnom Penh that is lighter, smaller and perfect for my size. Maybe next time… Open road, blue skies, endless beach here I come!

But all in all, a weekend full of God’s providence. I am so blessed to be living here. I am blessed with an amazing family who prays for me back home. Friends who encourage me from thousands of miles away. And every hot shower that is like dew from heaven!

Melancholy

I was going to title this post Sadness but it’s not quite sadness. I don’t know if it’s melancholy either but that’s closer I guess. It plays to the soundtrack of Everything by Lifehouse. So if you have that song, feel free to play it now.

Cambodia is a place full of people with stories. Their eyes and face tell a million stories. So much tiredness and life experiences, yet such a hope and assurance that there’s no other way but up from here. Today, I talked to Vuthi. He is a Theology graduate from Life University and helped out at the Life International School for 2 weeks. I asked him how many brothers and sisters he has. He said 8. I said wow. And still calm, his eyes smiling, he said some of them have died from an illness so he does not have 8 anymore. Just as a matter of fact.

I don’t know if this makes sense but I guess that conversation sums up what I have come to think of as the mood here in Cambodia. Hardship is a part of life. The younger generation sometimes complain about the hardship and the older generation (not that there’s many since the Khmer Rouge) bear it quietly. But for everyone, they wear it proudly as a battle scar. It’s almost as if poverty and hardship are part of the Cambodian culture.

Coming from Singapore, Canada and Australia where, comparatively, people bleed money, this everyday exchange of topics like illness, death, poverty and prostitution like the exchange of weather news is slightly unnerving. I have to constantly remind myself: this is not normal. I have to. Or else fall into a state where I become blind and accustomed to street kids coming up to me and asking for food. Blind to the old lady who asks for change. Blind to the Night Clubs and Karaoke Lounges with dim lighting and scantily clad young girls with too much make-up hanging around the lobby looking unhappily haughty. By that I mean brothels if you didn’t catch my drift.

But at the same time, I don’t want to pity the Cambodians. I am no better than them. I just had the privilege to grow up with more money. Giving them money or food is tricky too. Some people say we “spoil them” by doing that. But then, how do I just stand by and watch dirty little kids who can’t afford to go to school while I have a well stocked fridge, food on my table everyday? Although, I do understand the other side of the dilemma. Handouts aren’t sustainable.

Anyways, enough of my dilemma and back to the people. Melancholic. I wish I could videotape each of them telling their stories, their expressions, their past and the hope mingled with sadness at the future they see. They see a bright future. Sadly, not in their generation. Most of who I have talked to are around my age or just a bit older – at the start of their lives and career. Yet they cannot hope to dream too big for themselves. They have to save their biggest hopes for the next generation. Maybe I should make a movie. Perhaps after I write my book. Or after I write that play, as suggested by Pritee. 

This is Cambodia. And despite appearances, Cambodia does have a Hope and a Future.

Visual Memoir Captured in Words

So I have been sending the students home on the school bus every day until December. I get the scenic view of the town. It is spectacular, wild and beautiful. These are mental pictures I have taken from the bus ride and other adventures:

I saw a 4-foot shark tied to the back of a moto. 

I saw a dog talking to some goats as a naked baby watched in the distance.

I saw an old white man sitting on his front porch looking bewildered with his frizzy white beard hanging down to his pot belly.

I saw 2 guys sitting in a hammock they pitched under an 18-wheeler.

I saw a baby taking a bath in an old paint bucket.

I rode on the top of the hill behind my school which looks down to the town and a breath-taking view of the cove that Sihanoukville sits in. It looks like the Mediterranean. The colourful houses, the deep blue sea and the cloudless, endless sky. 

Beauty

My roommate was asleep so I snuck out to the hallway and sat at the end where it opened to a view of the town and the sea. I had my bible in hand and ear phones plugged in. It was a spectacular night. Balmy and still but every so often, a light breeze would lick the ends of your hair as if taunting and teasing you with the promises of rain. Rain would be a much needed relief from the heat and humidity. As I sat looking out to the dark sky that night, I was captivated by beauty. I clenched my jaw as I smelled the thick, fresh fragrance of moisture in the air. It smelled good. Too good. Do you know that feeling you get when you are so overwhelmed with something amazing and your spirit is so uplifted you cannot help but frown with the intensity of the experience? This probably sounds weird but that happens to me.

So I sat frowning at the sky. And this is the great part. The lightning. Creeping, sweeping across the sky. Silent. With not a sound to announce its presence but the power of its light. A flash. A flash. Another flash. Each one looked as if it could light the entire universe. Each split second turning night to day. And in the background, music like a symphony orchestrated specially for nature’s performance. “He’s alive! He’s alive!” sing Shane & Shane in Embracing Accusation.

Looking at nature’s light show, I see beauty. I see that God is alive.

Science explains how lightning occurs. How rain forms. And shows us what happens when day turns to night. But science holds no reason, no purpose. It merely explains the existence of something. I do not live for mere existence. There is purpose for life.

Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

John 17:3

Love

Over time and space, God has taught me an important yet simple lesson. People are but instruments of God’s love. They are not the source of love. I knew it in my head but I didn’t experience the fullness of God’s love extended through people until now. And even now it is a shadow of God’s love in all its glory. When I saw God’s hand extended, I saw people. And I put my trust in that. I am just now learning to see beyond the human hands and into the true heart of God.

Tonight, I was coughing much. If you didn’t already know, I’ve caught a bit of a cold and am a little bit – well, more than a little bit – impaled by my illness while still having to teach full days of classes. So I was coughing merrily and minding my own business when the lovely Korean missionary couple from next door knocked on my door and asked if I was okay. They said they had medicine.

Mr. Roh: You stay here. We get the medicine for you.

Me: Uh ok. Thank you! *cough cough*

Mr. Roh: Remember, this is for night time. Drowsy. And this for day time.

Me: *cough* Thank you *cough* so much!

Mr. Roh: Now you sit down. We pray for you. (Speaks in Korean to his wife and we all sit down and pray).

I was touched. For a moment I felt loved and taken care of. I miss my parents. But I also felt God’s provision and grace. It is His love that is extended through human hands.