Karen and Lorey's Blog:

Today was another amazing day in Cambodia. We were excited to spend a second day at Hagar, painting an outside wall, and a community room in the school. The children enjoyed helping us to paint bugs, fish and birds on the wall. Each child in the school also got to press a painted hand on the wall. The wall looks so colourful and cheerful now. One of our favourite things today was singing with the children. They have such a joyful spirit, and such a sense of humour. They seem to always be ready for fun, a game or a song. We enjoyed singing many children's songs with actions, and all laughed a ton. It was hard for many of us to say good bye to the children, knowing that they did not have parents to care for them, and that they have suffered so much trauma. However, we are so thankful for Hagar and other Ratanak ministries that care for these children and show them that they are special and loved by Jesus. The children glowed as they sang, "Jesus Loves Me," and several times asked team members to pray with them. This is amazing knowing what they have gone through. Thank God for all of you that support Ratanak and the amazing mission that they have here in Cambodia. Thank God for your support of our team as we give our best for the children here in Cambodia, all in Jesus' name.

It really touched us today to interact with the children at Hagar. We don't speak the same language, but they were so eager to communicate with smiles, pointing, gestures, and hand games. This is probably our first Good Friday that we have spent singing Christmas carols. The children loved the Christmas songs, and requested that we sing them. Many of the children were older teens, but they still had a youthful enthusiasm for singing young children's songs, and playing primary games. They loved interacting with all the team members, and soaked up the attention and affection. We have achieved our painting goals now, and are taking a day of rest tomorrow to head to the beach. It will be an overnight trip. At Hagar, taking pictures was prohibited, so we have no pictures to keep, but their smiles are engraved in our memories and hearts.

Karen and Lorey's Thought for the Day:

Remember to hold your children, and emotionally connect with them each day. And look around you and be aware that there are many children that could use your attention and affection. With just one positive word, touch or smile, you could make a difference in their lives.

Beyond Paint

On our way to Hagar's House today, Beth announced that she had forgotten the paint for the community room in her hotel room. The staff at Hagar liked the outside wall so much that they asked if we could paint a room inside the school. I have to admit, when I heard we had no paint, I groaned inwardly because it felt like a big project and we would lose time with her having to go back and get the paint. Beth said "I'm sure God has a reason for this." I wasn't there - and it shows how small God was for me at that moment.

We shared the Lord's supper, sitting in the outside portico - we shared bread and mango juice and thanks to Forward for sending the reflection sheet. We ended in prayer, each person praying for the team member on their left and I am thankful for each member of this team God has selected for this work in Cambodia. Each person has brought something in particular and something special to each of us and to Cambodia. Thanks to Lorey for praying for my girls at this holiday time. It's hard not to be emotional as we think about our loved ones - all of us are away from our families and missing them very much.

We prepared what paint we had left for the upstairs room, but there wasn't enough work for everyone. Sean suggested we do a prayer walk around the grounds and through the stairwells. Peter, Kaylie, Melanie and I walked together and prayed aloud: for the school and its leadership; for the children at Hagar’s who have experienced abuse and exploitation; for the ongoing financial need of the school, that God would raise up faithful donors and supporters; for those children who will be involved in upcoming court cases and above all, for God's grace and mercy to touch each one there. We prayed for those who had been abused, to be able to forgive through Jesus Christ and for the perpetrators, who would know that forgiveness and experience a life transformed. The prayer walk changed my heart and lifted the burden of "need to get done." As Sean continues to say, "this trip is not about painting"?.

We went back inside and the bell rang for break and some of the children started to gather in the room where we were painting. By now, we were a bit familiar to them after having been there the day before and they were freely engaging. Peter was teaching a hand game to the boys and Adrianna was playing the "Cup Game" with some of the other children. And then they wanted us to sing - we wracked our brain trying to think of songs and children's songs: we started with "Jesus Love's Me" and went on to "Deep and Wide," "I've Got the Joy," "Peace Like a River," "Noah's Arky Arky" and "Father Abraham." How they loved the songs and actions and they wanted more! And the one little girl requested Christmas music - we stood in 39 degree heat and sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bells!" How they loved it, but we had run out of songs, so I suggested a game of "Duck, Duck, Goose." They had never played it, so we sat everyone in a circle and Peter and I demonstrated and we were off! Once they got the hang of it (they didn't say "duck duck goose", they would just hit and hard!) then they started having fun. Peter would wrestle with the boys when they tried to run by and I have not laughed so hard in a long time, my cheeks hurt! They had such a sense of humour and some of the children (some were 15 and 17) had us in stitches.

These children are amazing - so many of them have been horrifically abused and betrayed by families and those they know and to watch them today, they were just like any other child playing a game. They were so hungry for safe touch - the boys responded to Peter's wrestling and play fighting and before they left to go home, one boy came to him and hugged him and said "I love you." One little girl sat next to me on the floor and her little hand touched my arm and then she wrapped her arm around mine - I couldn't get up when I was "goose" - she wouldn't let go!

The bell rang and it was time for the children to go home and then one of the boys stopped us and said "we need to pray." We sat back on the floor and held hands and he asked Peter to pray and Peter prayed for the children.

My heart was so touched by the interaction we had - singing, dancing, playing and lots of hugs and I pray that their day was positively impacted by this group of crazy Canadians who sang and jumped around in 38 degree heat. And Beth, you're right - God had a reason why you forgot the paint, and we were so grateful that you did.

Sheri

Views from Phnom Penh

It is hard to describe something that overloads your senses – sight, sound, smell and even touch. What our team is experiencing will forever change us and how we view this part of the world and the people here.

How do we convey that to you our family, friends, supporters or the curious?

When we were approaching the airport my first thought was it is very flat. I do not know what I was really expecting but flat, dry, brown land was not it. Possibly, green rice fields, jungle type vegetation. The homes we could see were very large and had property around them. Again I was not expecting large mansion type residences in a country trying to recover from the Khmer Rouge reign.

We were expecting heat, but it still hit us like a wall when we stepped out of the airplane into the waiting corridor. The airport was very small in comparison to most air ports I have flown in or out of. We saw official stern-looking military throughout the area where we had to complete the immigration process. Immigration was very quick – less than fifteen minutes to process all twelve of us. $20 please, Thank you. Done. Then through a very quick customs check and off to pick up all twenty-four of our suitcases. Absolutely no x-rays or security checks to go through – and we had twelve plus suitcases filled with medication we were worried may not get through. Different focus.

Our drive to Sway Pak was an experience any Canadian driver should be shown in driver training. There are few traffic lights and even less stop signs. Traffic consists of motos, tuk tuks (motorcycles with a covered cart to hold approx. four people), cars, vans, trucks and cyclists. Think the 401 in Toronto at rush hour, but with all these modes of transportation – only difference is the traffic is moving. The ebb and flow just works. People go in every direction; huge round-abouts (with what would be the equivalent to five or six lanes at home) with people going from lane 1 to lane 5 to exit. The best part is no road rage; no angry drivers, they just go about their business. They have bigger concerns than who gets from point A to point B first. A lesson many of us could learn.

First impression of Sway Pak, it is smaller than I had anticipated. Population is approximately 5,000. Most homes are shanty-type dwellings. Lots of corrugated metal, tarps, clothes racks, shoes. Cambodian’s do not wear shoes into their homes. They do their laundry daily and hang it out to dry – looks like a garage sale every day. However, their whites are whiter than anything Tide can clean.

Each day we arrived in Sway Pak many men would be having their breakfast at a local corner. They would stare at us, a van full of white people coming into their small community. We would wave to them, some might smile otherwise they would look away. After the first Sunday, some of them may have learned who we were and why we were there – as we were introduced at the church service. Others may have heard us, as they went about their business as we sang while we worked and the sound carried out in the surrounding neighbourhood.

While we worked, some would come by the Sanctuary and watch to see what we were doing. Apparently, a common question was why were we doing this? Pastor Chantha would explain that we loved Jesus and wanted to help the community of Sway Pak. It was a concern that we may be perceived to be taking work away from the locals – but they too had been hired to do some work in the Sanctuary – however, Ratanak is a non-profit organization with limited funds. Our work was important to keep the costs of the building down and save the money for ministry work.

When we would leave - the men were gone, but those we saw on the streets would smile when we waved to them. They seemed to warm up to us and our daily appearance in Sway Pak.

Of particular interest is how relational the people are. Another lesson we can learn from them. We think we are so smart to keep ourselves busy – we can literally be running from the moment we wake in the morning until we fall into bed at night. Doing all sorts of things we think important or make us feel important. In Phnom Penh children can be seen with their arms around each other, playing together. So many of our children are attached to a video game or cell phone texting – they are losing the art of conversation. Adults are together around a table or sitting on the ground. In the evening the people come out and meet with each other, they communicate face to face, they all congregate in public squares and spend time with each other. We seem to have time for meetings, appointments, sporting events, church functions – but we lose sight of our neighbours, or others placed in our path. It could only be for a short time, but we need to develop or remember our community building skills. For myself in years gone by, our family would go visit relatives after church every Sunday – those were precious times. Unfortunately, our family hardly visits with our relatives now – we are all too busy. What a shame for our children, and for their children.

Wow, this is getting long – if you are still reading I commend you. I will sign off for now and allow the others to get their thoughts out there for you all.

Till next time, God bless.

Jo Ann

"I like!" We do too!

Yesterday we painted the mural at Rahab's House. I have to admit, when we drove into the school and I saw the size of the wall, it seemed a bit daunting! All the children were in class, but we were given a tour and it is an amazing place. The school's motto is to help disadvantaged children in Cambodia and they have approximately 200 students attending. As is normal with our team, we attacked the wall with enthusiasm and gusto - 2 coats of primer and in the heat it dried very quickly. Sean then instructed us to paint "ribbons" of colour - buttercream yellow, orange, turquoise, green...what an amazing display of life and beauty. We are so fortunate to have a group of talented people - musically and artistically. As the colours and plan began to unfold, enthusiasm increased.

The stairwells in the school are open and the children, in between classes would come out and watch and practice their English. "Hello, what is your name? Are you married? Where are you from?" They laughed and waved and excited at this unusual turn of events - a group of crazy Westerners, singing in their school yard and painting. We started to sing "Amazing Grace" and the children all stopped to listen. One of the teachers brought out his class and we sang "Jesus loves me" and then they sang a song in Khmer for us, much to our delight!

When the children came out for break, we let them paint - some were very shy and some were eager to take a roller or paint brush and attack the wall. For some, I am sure they have never done anything like this and it helped to make the project theirs. We also stenciled flowers, dragon-flies, birds, and fish onto the wall, which the children will paint in today.

Jo Ann, Kaylie and I went out with the English teacher to buy lunch - certainly an adventure for us! We were appreciative that he was with us - we would have ended up buying something we didn't want otherwise! We went to a small restaurant with an outside stand and ordered stir fried vegetables and rice. Then we went in search of fruit and bread (bread for the western stomachs that needed a break from Asian food) and found bananas and baguettes. The bread is a bit different - fairly hard on the outside and they don't use salt, but certainly filled the need!

After lunch the classes came out one by one and we rolled paint onto the children's hands so that they could put their hand print on the wall. We were so organized - stations set up of crowd control, painting and washing. The children were so excited that it could have been absolute chaos. How precious to watch them come out after school and run to find their hand print on the wall. Such a small thing for us, but it was such a source of excitement for them. They kept saying how pretty the wall looked and "I like." We liked too!

Sheri