Washing Feet!

Today my Irish friends Dave and Esther Allen along with their former pastor Bill who was visiting form the UK came with me to Svay Pak. I met David and Esther a couple months ago via our Ratanak UK director Steve Norman. Dave and Esther have been living in Phnom Penh for the past 8 months and also attend the ICA church. Dave is a baker and Esther works in administration. They are both volunteering with one of our partners Prison Fellowship and Dave will also be using his baking skills at Daughters once a week. As we are all newbies to living long term in Cambodia, we often swap stories and check up to see how each other is doing.

Dave and Esther with their pastor Bill (right)

Today it was once again a privilege to attend the Svay Pak church service. When we arrived Pastor Chantha asked if we would be open to washing the feet, praying and laying hands on 3 of his disciples (Dary, Siny, Ravy) and Youth Pastor Ratanak.

Dary, Siny, Ravy and Ratanak

These 4 are being setting apart as leaders for the church in Svay Pak. In the months to come Pastor Chantha and his wife Bunthan will be going to Siem Reap to help set up a second Rahab's house in a brothel district in Siem Reap. They will help train up new staff in Siem Reap before returning to their work in Svay Pak. In the mean time, it was once again such a blessing for us to pray for each of the disciples and to be a part of this foot washing service.

For me personally, pastor Chantha's disciples are like my little brothers and sisters. They have a special place in my heart. Last year it was such a privilege to baptize these three young people and today, it was such an honor to now wash their feet, lay hands over them and pray for them. It was an emotional moment for us all and it was so encouraging to see the whole church stand up and reach out to pray for these 4 young people.

One of my other special friends close by holding a towel to wipe the feet of the disciples was 'Theary." There she was the newest believer, the one who only a few weeks ago was being 'disposed of' by her employer, but here she was, taking the lowliest position of wiping the feet of her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  In this simple and humble act, she was giving back the very love of Christ that she had received since she arrived.  For those of you who have been praying for her, her blood tests so far came back with no problems. She is currently learning the keyboard as she wants to worship the Lord through this musical instrument. Whenever I see 'Theary' or think of her, I just smile. She epitomizes the definition of what 'hope' looks like in the flesh. Just before I left to go into the tuk tuk, she asked if I would give her a hug. This is a young woman starving for love, one who for years never experienced a gentle touch, a kind word nor a loving glance and so yet again, it is here in Svay Pak, Jesus is showing me how to care for His lambs by simply extending His hands to them and letting them know that by our presence, they are loved.

Well after Svay Pak, we headed to the riverfront for lunch at the Blue Pumpkin, a restaurant that should be the marquee for Apple products as on the second floor the entire restaurant is painted white. There are long couches that look like beds where people sit with their drinks or food. This photo below is a group of young people with their IPADs lying around on these couches. I gather the selling point of this restaurant is to create an atmosphere just like home!

And just in case you are wondering about the food, it was great along with the overall atmosphere.