Where We've Been

So, it's been a few days. Things have been a little busier here in Sihanoukville. This is our last of 4 days of teaching. Our husbands have been the ones teaching lessons to the congregations we are visiting, but we are all learning so much from the Cambodians and life here! God is good, and He is always present. This country has seen horrible hardships and brutality during the Khmer Rouge Regime. Yet, somehow God has used that tradegy to open the people's hearts. They long for forgiveness, hope, and purpose. Jesus is the perfect answer to all they are looking for!

John is teaching on the 10 Commandments, Paul K. on Stewardship, George on Christian living, and Paul A. on the Apostles Creed. We have taught at 4 different locations. A presbyterian church in VielThom (Big Field) run by Pastor Steven. He is a small man who God has helped accomplish big tasks. This is the furthest from town, and is affectionately known by our team as "the Water Buffalo Church". Never expected to walk past buffalo on the way to church.

The second is in Ream with Pastor Cheung (sp?). It is in a beautiful area right under the mountains not far from the ocean. This is the "motorcycle church", because he has given either a moto or tuk-tuk ride to us during lunch at his church. His plight is that the government has taken over his land and will build onto the airport not far down the road from him. Since this area is so beautiful the foreigners have started developing around there and the value price for his land should be $116,000. The government will give him only $1000 and nothing to rebuild. It is disgusting!

The third church is in the city and run by Pastor David. It is called Abundant Life Church and is the only 'registered' church of the four we are visiting. This is probably the church with the least amount of current controversy. It is doing well and is reassuring to see Christian growth in Cambodia. This church is currently housing a woman and her three children who are without a home. They live on a mat in front of the church building. I know this is very difficult to understand from our culture, but it makes perfect sense here. Her children are Sarah - 9, Deborah - 4, and Solomon - 6months. It is very easy to remember these names since they are American, I have such a hard time even pronouncing the Khmer names of the children (& adults). Most of the American / English names we have heard are biblical names; however, the translator at this church was named Dollar.

The fourth church is the "Church Without Walls" and is also located within the city. This church had a previous pastor who left, but still maintains some 'ownership' of the facility. Whether real or imagined, is questionable. A wonderful woman who was a teacher and is very interested in and knowledgable about the Bible and Christianity is teaching there now, her name is Teacher Nai. This is a special church to all of us and hopefully to you when you hear the story. Our churches and friends have all collected money for this trip and we purchased many water filters with those funds. In addition, we are all a part of something wonderful - we will be paying for new walls to go up at her church. Without walls, it is okay during this time of the year. But when the rains come it is very difficult or even impossible to use. For $2000, we will be able to pay for the supplies to build 4 new walls on this structure. Fungchatou and LCMS World Mission will make sure that the people from the congregation come to help with the labor, but we are blessed to know that with our funding a part of us will remain 'concretely' here in Cambodia. Thank you for that! It is only through all of you & God's amazing love that this is possible!

This is such a small piece of our time here. It is details about where we have been, what we are doing. The wonderful stories that I long to tell are about the people we have met, their amazing stories, and the work that God is doing in all of our hearts! Hopefully, the next few days we will be able to post more of those. Do not fear, you will hear the stories upon our return! I know that we will all be ready to share everything we have seen God do. We hope that you will be ready to listen!

Just a Funny Story

This is NOT a complaint. We have been so well taken care of during our stay here and housed in very nice hotels. There have been very few incidents, so it just makes this stand out a little. Last night upon our arrival to this hotel in Sihanoukville, we had a couple problems. George & Donna were in a very smoky room, (this is not funny either). Unfortunately, there were no other rooms in our hotel for the evening so they were taken next door to another hotel - we hope to have them back with us tonight when a room opens up. Paul & I have a room right off the lobby. I'm not sure if it's for that reason or not, but there were (& still are) many mosquitoes in our room. We asked the desk last night if they could spray or something. So they did. Funny part, was that to mask the smell of insect spray, they spray Pledge around the room. Paul tried diligently to tell them we did not need Pledge, just insect spray. So, this morning and last night too, we walk very gingerly around the room because I for one keep slipping each time I walk in/out of the bathroom. It just keeps us laughing!

Time for Water Filters

Today is Tuesday, Jan 25 and we are back with LCMS World Mission in the hands of Fungchatou and Jesse. We are traveling to Sihanoukville where we will be teaching. It is a 5 hour drive, but we doubled that with the stops we made along the way. Our first stop was at R.D.I. (Resource Development International) - the water filter company. It is a Christian non-profit. Clean water is in short supply and the filters are especially needed. The filter consists of a clay pot (specially engineered)which drains into a plastic container. I'll save the rest of the process for you to hear upon our return. Many of you have helped to purchase these filters, at $10 each. Such a small price to pay for healthy water, yet the need continues to be great. Thank you for your help - we are honored to deliver them on your behalf. That was the joy of the day - we visited a small village called Taken Koh Sla and were able to give away 14 filters to the 14 families there. Orphan Grain Train also sent some clothing which we were allowed to pass out as well. Of course, we were entranced and entertained by the children almost immediately. They however continue to look at us quite waringly, until they warm up to us.

The trip down to the southwest tip was beautiful! Through the city, and again the crowded, crazy streets, but then into the countryside, and finally through the mountains to the lush sea village named for a King. Interesting food choices today thanks to Jesse, but all in all very good. We are eating way too much and too often, I wonder how the Cambodians stay so small :)

Road Trip!

It is Monday here and we are beginning our first journey outside of Phnom Penh. A two hour drive up to Broyuk. We were able to see a little more of the back roads due to a detour. The roads were lined with Cambodian flags and military, must be some dignitary/dignitaries coming through.

Paul A. & I have been looking forward with great anticipation our visit to Immanuel Lutheran School in Broyuk. (Our congregation has been sending support and prayers to this school for 3 years.) It did not disappoint. It was a pleasure to meet the teachers and children. We were able to share with them a picture of Trinity, Lansing, IL and Ralph Boardman. It will be hung in the school library. We also presented a plate with Trinity on it from Ralph Boardman. For the children, again it was candy, headbands, and a soccer ball. A nice addition this time were the letters from the children of TLCS.

From there we visited a very small school in the rural village of Kandas. The children here were much more shy. Rudy said we were probably only the second group of Americans (Caucasians) they had seen. The children are all Christian there but the teacher is Buddhist. The children and even adults are much more sickly there. Hair issues are probaly the result of lice but may also be a sign of malnutrition. Many bites and scratches on their skin and eye & teeth problems as well. Regardless, they are still beautiful and once we shared stories, candy, balloons, headbands & visors, their smiles became even brighter. They sang for us and we sang, "Jesus Loves Me" for them. What joyful sounds!

Next, was a trip to the Zaraphath Center in Skun for lunch. It was incredible! But, you'll have to hear the story a little later...now it is time for dinner. We'll talk again soon.

Let us go to the House of the Lord

Psalm 27:4 "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord forever all the days of my life..."

Today was fantastic! Exactly what we needed. Even the weather was a little more comfortable. We started the day in church. It was a small church, a rectangular building with corrugated steel roof and plastic lawn chairs set up as needed. The front "stage" area was covered with purple curtains and they wheeled in a small wooden pulpit from which to read and preach. Pastor Rudy Schaser was invited to give a message, he spoke about Jesus being the Living Water - that we should be refreshed by Him and then share Him with others. Refreshing it was - and invigorating, and worshipful. It is amazing how God's love and His Word transcends language. Music as well. The worship team was three or four young men and they were very good - they played many American contemporary Christian worship songs. The children from the Glory of Christ were involved in leading worship. One young boy read Proverbs 18 (in Khmer), and 5-6 of them danced for the Lord. The dancing was beautiful - for many songs there were girls and boys singing and dancing with great joy. Later, just the girls came out dressed in white and purple dresses and just danced with tambourines to songs like "Joy in the Lord" and "Shout to the Lord". I cried.

After service, we visited with the Glory of Christ Orphanage located right behind the church. This orphanage is run by Heng Cheng. The Orphan Grain Train supplied some clothing which was passed out and we were able to give bags of M&M's & candy, a few toys, headbands for the girls, and the biggest joy - soccer balls! George & Paul K. got right in on the soccer games. They started with a few moves passing the ball around until an all out game broke out. George played hard - he was red faced, and breathing heavy but loving every minute. While there, we visited with a mission team from Mercy International, most of them were Australian with a man from Finland and one from England. What a small world we have.

The other orphanage we visited was Center of Peace run by a lovely young woman named Bo Phal. (this is the one that embroidered bookmarks) It was in more of an urban area with 70 children. One bedroom for girls and one for boys, neither had any beds. They had a shelf in the room with mats and blankets & pillows on it which they pull off each night and put away in the morning. There were about 5 filing cabinets which were used as dressers, and these children are happy & well cared for. Ours could learn so much! Again, some more M&M's and another soccer game, and a lot of picture taking. Karen brought along a new kind of 'polaroid' camera so she can not only take pictures of children but give them away too - she is always a center of attention. The children at Center of Peace seemed to be even more loving than the first group. We were immediately swarmed with hugs and a few children took us by the hand and did not let go. Today was filled with joy!

Day 1- Experiences

This morning we met at the mission office for orientation. Rev. Lo explained the many aspects of his work here in Cambodia, introduced the staff, and shared the mission purpose - Connecting people to Jesus through theological education, church planting & building, and human care. And there are wonderful opportunities and programs in place to address all those areas. We discussed how our congregations had come together to share with the people of Cambodia. We had all collected donations to purchase water filters for the people here. I was very surprised to realize we had collected over $5000 - a huge thank you to everyone who helped and especially to our East Coast churches! We will be able to purchase the filters and help to distribute them during our trip. Rev. Lo summed up the morning's meeting by saying, "We are not doing God's ministry. God is doing it and He allows us to come along and experience it with Him." This is appropriate for us here, but I believe it is very appropriate for all of us in whatever situations God has placed us in. Are you experiencing God's ministry in your life?

Our next experience was overwhelming. Today, we also visited the Genocide Prison (S-21) and the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979). The stories we heard and the photos and places we saw were heart-wrenching to say the least. The horrendous abuse and brutal murders of men, women, and children will be forever etched in my mind. The first question, how could they do that? The second, why would God allow it? Yet, we know that God is a good and gracious God. We know that all things work for good according to His purpose. And sadly, we know that we are all sinners and that God hates sin. Is my sin as repulsive to God as the sins I witnessed today? The answer is yes. But praise to God that He sent His Son, my Saviour Jesus Christ to cleanse me from it all!

From the Killing Fields, we had a complete change of direction in the day. Our next experience was the King's Palace. It is not just one building but a complete compound with many buildings and gardens. It glistens in gold. Gold roofs, gold crowns and clothing, gold seats and thrones, and gold statues. Everywhere the opulence is evident. Opulent and filled with decorations, altars, and statuary, yet so very empty. Although it was interesting to see the many Buddhist monks around town and in the Palace courts (especially those on cell phones) it was just disheartening to watch so many people stop to reflect and pray at the altars and to the Buddhas. Our guide was happy to point out the many styles of Buddha - his hand position always portraying some other part of his providence or personality. But I wondered what it means if your God has a sleeping position and a dead position? I'm glad my God does not need a nap!

Our final experience for the day was dinner. I'm not sure what it was called, and I believe that Jesse said it was Japanese style. But, it was soup. Different than many of us had prepared or tasted before, but still soup. It was cooked at our table in front of us and we chose from the many ingredients placed before us and added them to the pot. In the spirit of experiencing Cambodia and the culture, we ate tripe, pork fat, squid, tried many forms of mushrooms, tasty vegetables, and many other meats and items that I'm just not quite sure what they were. One new taste to me was morning glory - not our flower, but very good. The soup was excellent! Oh, it was also pretty hot if you added those pretty red peppers to it- they were cut up so small who would guess they were so hot :)

We send our love to all of you & especially to our families! We love and miss you and hope that this helps you to join us in this journey and experience a little of Cambodia with us!

We've arrived!

We have made it to Cambodia and met Rev. Fungchatou Lo & Jesse. We look forward to the many things ahead of us and are turning in at our hotel for the evening, the morning will come soon. Expect a few more (& fuller) updates in the next few days, while we are in the city with internet it should be easier. But for now, Good night & God bless!

Welcome

Welcome! This is a blog to track the mission trip to Cambodia with the Andreaus 2006 group from Pastoral Leadership Institute. We're glad you're here! Please check in and journey along with us as we travel to the country of Cambodia by way of Chicago, Illinois & Seoul, South Korea.

There are 8 of us headed out tomorrow morning. John & Karen from Iowa, George & Donna from Maryland, Paul & LoriRene' from New York, and Paul & Carrie from Illinois. We will meet at Chicago's O'Hare airport and head over non-stop to Seoul, South Korea. There are others we take along with us in our hearts -and that could be you! We are thankful for your support and are glad you are along with us for this journey.

We have collected the funds needed for travel, soccer balls, vitamins, money for water filters and many small toys to deliver to the people we meet. Oh, and can't forget the M&M's! THANK YOU! We know that all of this has been given out of many generous hearts and by the grace of God - May He be praised!

We look forward to meeting with Rev. Rudy Schaser and wife Dorothy as we tour Immanuel Christian School in Broyuk and some of "With God's Little Ones" facilities and partners, including an orphanage in Phnom Penh. Then we will also meet the missionaries we have been planning and working with for what seems such a long time now, Rev. Fungchatou Lo, his wife Kalia, and others like Jesse. They will be our guides, interpreters, and partners in ministry as they lead us around Cambodia learning new things and meeting new people. We look forward to all that is in store for us!

We will leave Phnom Penh late Thursday, Feb. 3 and fly out of Seoul at 11:40am on Friday, Feb 4. The fun part is we are scheduled to land in Chicago at 9:15am the same morning - yikes - real live "time travel" Your prayers are coveted! We are not sure how often or well the internet will work along the way, but we look forward to being able to update this blog. And most of all, we keep you in our hearts, our prayers, and along the journey with us!