Family, friends & acquaintances frequently ask, "How can you do it?" Perhaps you're wondering too. Perhaps especially now, realizing this is not a one-time, thrill-seeking trip, but an all-out, whatever-it-costs lifestyle for us. The answer comes in three parts. First of all, I have very little responsibility in this. Secondly, the weight of my limited responsibility is carried by Jesus. Thirdly, I can't not do it.
It just looks like I'm doing a lot because I'm the one who gets to type blog entries. Yeah, seriously. The truth is I'm a very small part of a whole body of people in on this gig. I'm in partnership with lovely, loving people who make it possible for me to attempt my small part by doing their small parts. Some help prayerfully plan & prepare for the stays in Cambo. Some pray earnestly & diligently for me, my family, my Cambo siblings, the folks I work with in Cambo & the country as a whole. Some lend moral support, give encouragement & offer great advice via phone calls, email & periodic goodie boxes. Some stay in touch with my loved ones here (I do mean physically in touch; they actually come to the house) so they'll remember that they're loved & that their sacrifices are recognized. Some communicate with others to promote the work we're doing. Some invest money in materials & projects we have going in Cambo as well as my travel & keep thru collecting donations by a variety of means as well as contributing from their own resources. One turns my emails to her into a real blog. Some minister to me upon re-entry too. If I'm the face, they're the backbone in this body, to be sure.
My responsibility is to minister the generous grace & loving goodness of Jesus Christ to Cambodians. It's not my generosity, not my grace, not my love, not my goodness, but aaaaall His. I'm just a conduit between Jesus & people. He carries the lion's share of the ministry. All I have to do is remain devoted to & dependent upon Him; He does the rest. He's cool like that. And yeah, it is just that simple. Bearing in mind that simple is not synonomous with easy & the effects of being a conduit can really zap ya' sometimes. Hahahahahahaha!
The bottom line is I can't not do this. This is what Jesus wants me to do, I know that I know that I know. The real question for me is not how can I do this, but how can I say no to God? How can I deny Him anything? He is God. And, He's been sooooooooooo good to me. And, I am so crazy in love with Him. How can I not?
I think the most interesting thing about this question I'm so frequently asked is the question behind the question. I'm completely convinced that what those people are really asking is: Could I do it? Aaaaaand, the real question is not even could you, but only would you. Would you do your small part in partnership with a group of folks like yourself who're doing their small parts? If you're willing, God is able – guaranteed. It's written in blood.
12/30/10
HALLELUJAH!
~Dave is making a strong & speedy recovery!
~We have compassionate, enthusiastic, faithful supporters! (I am eternally grateful for the privilege of being your partner, you lil' dolly-dolls!)
~People are obeying God when He says, "Go hand Becky money." That's crazy-cool, eh?
~God's brought us to some EXCELLENT training materials to help us as He expands this branch of ministry. (All for You, God!)
~God does the sweetest little things to remind us of His affectionate attention toward us, doesn't He?
~I've experienced a very fruitful time of "review-recover-respond" in dealing with re-entry depression! That one gets a halle-tootin'-lujah!!
HELP!
~Yup, those treasured souls who snagged my bag & hi-jacked my ID. Keep on. For Jesus' sake, keep on.
~Ask the Lord of the harvest to call on more workers.
~Remember those "in the field" as post-holiday time can be an especially difficult time to be in there.
~Pray that I may be completely receptive as the Lord prepares me to return to Cambo-land.
~Please, join us in praying for the expansion I think God has planned for our hometown's involvement in foreign & domestic missions.
PERSONAL NOTES
Hey Peter, hope you're still reading & still arguing with yourself about what you read here. Most of all, I hope you're finding the Answer to your arguments. If you had a two-way line of communication here, we could "talk" about it all.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Incoming
I thought I'd escaped the re-entry depression that's typical for incoming missionaries. I thought my atypical return was a sidestep around it. Nope. There I was in a christian bookstore the week before CHRISTmas & blam-o! I was overwhelmed by the contrast between the life I know in the United States of America & the life I know in the Kingdom of Cambodia. It was bound to come, I suppose. That's why we call it "typical," eh? I'm thankful to God for the delay tho'.
Now that my husband Dave is out of the hospital & well on his way to full recovery I am better able to cope with the depression & to give time to finding useful meaning & hopeful motivation in it. So, I pray & I ponder & I pout a little.
It is not at all unusual for incoming missionaries to wrestle with feelings of guilt & frustration over the abundance we have at our disposal at home, the abundance we take for granted, the abundance we demand, the abundance we waste. We measure our leisure spending such as eating out, going bowling or renting a movie in terms of needs that could be met in poverty-stricken areas we've visited. When I bought a package of socks for myself, I didn't reckon the price as $6, but as 12 kilos of rice. It's also not unusual, especially for short-term missionaries like myself, to make vows we will not keep after returning from an impoverished area. For instance, every missionary I've had contact with here in the States (maybe a dozen) has mentioned feeling guilty for having so much food available & many have vowed to never waste food again....but we do.
With these & similar thoughts bombarding our souls, it can be a challenge to socialize in the usual manner. It is difficult to muster genuine sympathy for a friend who gripes about having to go to three stores to find the game her child wants for CHRISTmas while remembering the infant who perished because his mama was too malnourished to produce enough milk to sustain him. It is hard to hear a friend explain that he simply cannot afford to donate to charities while he's paying $6 for a cup of coffee & a doughnut. Harder still, to fully enjoy the $6 cup of coffee & doughnut purchased by & for the missionary. (Combined, that's enough to feed 25 villagers, by the way.) And, on a personal note, I've had a change of heart about immigrants & aliens learning to speak english if they intend to live here in the U.S. Yeah, they should AND we should make it as easy as possible. Having lived in a foreign country, I promise you that every foreigner here wishes s/he could speak english at least as much as you wish they could.
These thoughts & comparisons & evaluations have to be prayerfully pondered & biblically balanced. It's very important to make an immediate move on the conclusions we come to too. The longer we put off action, the easier it becomes to put off action. Whether we try to gain from it or not, the depression fades & the frustration is forgotten. Before long, we're griping about minor inconveniences endured for trivial things & wasting resources (aka gifts from God) even as we commisserate about not having enough. The whole experience beomes little more than interesting stories to tell at parties.
So, I pray & I ponder & I pout a little. And I plan what to pack for the next trip. I have a plane ticket to Phnom Penh for 2 February.
Now that my husband Dave is out of the hospital & well on his way to full recovery I am better able to cope with the depression & to give time to finding useful meaning & hopeful motivation in it. So, I pray & I ponder & I pout a little.
It is not at all unusual for incoming missionaries to wrestle with feelings of guilt & frustration over the abundance we have at our disposal at home, the abundance we take for granted, the abundance we demand, the abundance we waste. We measure our leisure spending such as eating out, going bowling or renting a movie in terms of needs that could be met in poverty-stricken areas we've visited. When I bought a package of socks for myself, I didn't reckon the price as $6, but as 12 kilos of rice. It's also not unusual, especially for short-term missionaries like myself, to make vows we will not keep after returning from an impoverished area. For instance, every missionary I've had contact with here in the States (maybe a dozen) has mentioned feeling guilty for having so much food available & many have vowed to never waste food again....but we do.
With these & similar thoughts bombarding our souls, it can be a challenge to socialize in the usual manner. It is difficult to muster genuine sympathy for a friend who gripes about having to go to three stores to find the game her child wants for CHRISTmas while remembering the infant who perished because his mama was too malnourished to produce enough milk to sustain him. It is hard to hear a friend explain that he simply cannot afford to donate to charities while he's paying $6 for a cup of coffee & a doughnut. Harder still, to fully enjoy the $6 cup of coffee & doughnut purchased by & for the missionary. (Combined, that's enough to feed 25 villagers, by the way.) And, on a personal note, I've had a change of heart about immigrants & aliens learning to speak english if they intend to live here in the U.S. Yeah, they should AND we should make it as easy as possible. Having lived in a foreign country, I promise you that every foreigner here wishes s/he could speak english at least as much as you wish they could.
These thoughts & comparisons & evaluations have to be prayerfully pondered & biblically balanced. It's very important to make an immediate move on the conclusions we come to too. The longer we put off action, the easier it becomes to put off action. Whether we try to gain from it or not, the depression fades & the frustration is forgotten. Before long, we're griping about minor inconveniences endured for trivial things & wasting resources (aka gifts from God) even as we commisserate about not having enough. The whole experience beomes little more than interesting stories to tell at parties.
So, I pray & I ponder & I pout a little. And I plan what to pack for the next trip. I have a plane ticket to Phnom Penh for 2 February.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Re-entry reflections
Well, this has been a strange re-entry. I've been spared most of the usual re-entry culture shock by going straight from airport to hospital & staying there virtually the entire two months I've been here. There have been enough "shocks" to make me think tho'. Some shocks are minor & really quite pleasing while others are overwhelming & troubling.
It was a little shocking & a lot pleasing to land in the States. Those of us blessed with the passport of power (U.S. citizen passport) are given first-class treatment even if we arrive on a coach ticket. It was also a bit of a shock & a real tickle to realize I could understand every word every person spoke to me & could read every sign I passed. And, I cannot tell you how surprised & pleased I was to find bathroom tissue in every stall & towels or blow dryers at every sink. Our son's girlfriend laughingly reminded me that every stool comes stocked with tissue when she noticed me stuffing the napkins from our fast-food bags into my purse. A habit she recognized from her visit to Cambodia, for we all saved such "emergency paper" knowing we'd be glad of it next time we stepped up to a squatty potty.
I was overwhelmed at the obnoxiously ridiculous amount of advertising ev-e-ry-where & the ridiculously obnoxious content of advertising.ev-e-ry-where. If I were a newcomer to America I'd swear the country's slogan must be, "But wait! There's more!" More indeed! I was flabbergasted at the extra-large portions served at restaurants & aghast at the amount thrown away without a second thought. Not to mention the overwhelm I've experienced while looking at menus. Good gravy, there are dozens of options for every appetizer, snack, meal & dessert a person may order.
Just as I've become accustomed to hoarding paper napkins & limited food choices, I've become accustomed to people turning away from those in need. I've been overwhelmed with gratitude & happiness at how quickly the Church rallies to take care of one of her own here. We have been surrounded by people caring for our every need & convenience. The power of active compassion influences even those who do not directly benefit from it. Simply witnessing people care for others has an impact. Whether people are inspired or just puzzled by acts of mercy & generosity, they are thinking about it. They can't help but wonder why people behave so. We can put a name, the Name, on their wondering. We can tell them the why is actually a Who & His name is Jesus. What opportunity! What a great time to introduce people to Jesus & say, "But wait! There's more!"
12/13/10
Praise God for...
~those sweet souls who pray for others diligently!
~putting the ability to heal within the human body.
~modern medical technology & those who are brave enough to use it.
~modern communications technology that keeps us connected when we can't be face to face.
~always providing everything we need.
~His inexplicable peace!
Petition God for...
~the redemption of those dear souls who nabbed my bag & hijacked my ID.
~the revelation of Himself to others thru Dave's ordeal & recovery.
~"field hands," for the harvest is ripe.
About Dave:
Dave had two heart valves replaced successfully & is recovering. We very much appreciate the loving support we've received over the last month. We are thrilled with the opportunities the Body's taken to show Jesus to those who are serving in the hospitals we've been in. We are looking forward to enjoying Cambodia together as soon as possible.
It was a little shocking & a lot pleasing to land in the States. Those of us blessed with the passport of power (U.S. citizen passport) are given first-class treatment even if we arrive on a coach ticket. It was also a bit of a shock & a real tickle to realize I could understand every word every person spoke to me & could read every sign I passed. And, I cannot tell you how surprised & pleased I was to find bathroom tissue in every stall & towels or blow dryers at every sink. Our son's girlfriend laughingly reminded me that every stool comes stocked with tissue when she noticed me stuffing the napkins from our fast-food bags into my purse. A habit she recognized from her visit to Cambodia, for we all saved such "emergency paper" knowing we'd be glad of it next time we stepped up to a squatty potty.
I was overwhelmed at the obnoxiously ridiculous amount of advertising ev-e-ry-where & the ridiculously obnoxious content of advertising.ev-e-ry-where. If I were a newcomer to America I'd swear the country's slogan must be, "But wait! There's more!" More indeed! I was flabbergasted at the extra-large portions served at restaurants & aghast at the amount thrown away without a second thought. Not to mention the overwhelm I've experienced while looking at menus. Good gravy, there are dozens of options for every appetizer, snack, meal & dessert a person may order.
Just as I've become accustomed to hoarding paper napkins & limited food choices, I've become accustomed to people turning away from those in need. I've been overwhelmed with gratitude & happiness at how quickly the Church rallies to take care of one of her own here. We have been surrounded by people caring for our every need & convenience. The power of active compassion influences even those who do not directly benefit from it. Simply witnessing people care for others has an impact. Whether people are inspired or just puzzled by acts of mercy & generosity, they are thinking about it. They can't help but wonder why people behave so. We can put a name, the Name, on their wondering. We can tell them the why is actually a Who & His name is Jesus. What opportunity! What a great time to introduce people to Jesus & say, "But wait! There's more!"
12/13/10
Praise God for...
~those sweet souls who pray for others diligently!
~putting the ability to heal within the human body.
~modern medical technology & those who are brave enough to use it.
~modern communications technology that keeps us connected when we can't be face to face.
~always providing everything we need.
~His inexplicable peace!
Petition God for...
~the redemption of those dear souls who nabbed my bag & hijacked my ID.
~the revelation of Himself to others thru Dave's ordeal & recovery.
~"field hands," for the harvest is ripe.
About Dave:
Dave had two heart valves replaced successfully & is recovering. We very much appreciate the loving support we've received over the last month. We are thrilled with the opportunities the Body's taken to show Jesus to those who are serving in the hospitals we've been in. We are looking forward to enjoying Cambodia together as soon as possible.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Back in the U.S.
10/16/10
Hallelujah!
~We have a WONDERFUL new staff member!
~All the sibs have all they need to start school!
~ My visa is FINALLY valid & up-to-date!!
~ Short-term mission teams are coming in!
~ My khmer is expanding & improving! It's muuuuch easier to talk to people about Jesus when you can say His name in their language! (In case you're wondering, His name is pronounced "yay-soo."
~ Little Adam is thriving!
Help!
~ Nasty, nasty water has been thigh high at the boys' house, including IN the house, for a couple of days. The storms are way-cool, but sometimes the results are not. On the bright side tho', they have been able to catch some small fish with their mosquito netting.
~ A friend's 20 month old son has some fairly serious heath problems & we haven't the resources available to help him. Good doctors are scarce & expensive here.
~ I'm a little nervous about running the place while Ruth's away the first two weeks of November.
Personal Notes:
~ Isaac Roe, I miss you only a LOT. I love you, Son.
~ Gena Taylor, you're on my mind.
~ Lucy Carr, thank you for checking on my husband. You're a blessing, Sister!
~ Lora Sherfey, I heard you're still planning on coming. WOOOO-HOOOOO!
A friend phoned in the middle of the night to tell me that I needed to get back to Indiana as soon as possible because my husband was having serious heart trouble. She said the doctor told her my husband was "gravely ill," & that his loved ones should be called bedside immediately. I was at his side in no time. Upon my arrival, my husband Dave's health greatly improved to the amazement of the family & friends who'd been hoping I'd make it in time to say goodbye.
Infection has apparently damaged Dave's heart. The doctors' plan is to discharge Dave from St. Vincent's Heart Center 21 October & continue antibiotic treatment out-patient at our local hospital for four weeks. Once the infection is cleared up, tests will be performed to determine the extent of the damage & arrangements made to repair it.
We are counting on Jesus to strengthen Dave's heart & the hearts of my siblings in Cambodia. They're very used to individuals & short-term mission teams visiting for a week or two, so have developed the ability to make quick & loose connections with people. They've learned to guard their hearts; this is normal for them, even the youngest of them. As I've said before, God's grace has given my sibs & me an unusual connection. There's been an imprinting between us. Our connection is strong & deep. They've let their guard down for their "real sister." Consequently, my departure was/is heartbreaking & worrisome for them.
I promised my sibs that I will "come back home" as soon as I can. I reassured them by purchasing a round trip ticket. God willing, I will be able to send them email while I'm here too. I can also send text messages to the house moms for the children to read & respond to. Nevertheless, this is a very difficult time for them. And me.
It was terribly, terribly hard for me to leave them. Partly because of what our separation is doing to them & partly because of what our separation is doing to me. I, too, have learned to guard my heart (I think we all have) & I, too, have let my guard down. Lord Jesus, please strengthen my heart too.
Hallelujah!
~We have a WONDERFUL new staff member!
~All the sibs have all they need to start school!
~ My visa is FINALLY valid & up-to-date!!
~ Short-term mission teams are coming in!
~ My khmer is expanding & improving! It's muuuuch easier to talk to people about Jesus when you can say His name in their language! (In case you're wondering, His name is pronounced "yay-soo."
~ Little Adam is thriving!
Help!
~ Nasty, nasty water has been thigh high at the boys' house, including IN the house, for a couple of days. The storms are way-cool, but sometimes the results are not. On the bright side tho', they have been able to catch some small fish with their mosquito netting.
~ A friend's 20 month old son has some fairly serious heath problems & we haven't the resources available to help him. Good doctors are scarce & expensive here.
~ I'm a little nervous about running the place while Ruth's away the first two weeks of November.
Personal Notes:
~ Isaac Roe, I miss you only a LOT. I love you, Son.
~ Gena Taylor, you're on my mind.
~ Lucy Carr, thank you for checking on my husband. You're a blessing, Sister!
~ Lora Sherfey, I heard you're still planning on coming. WOOOO-HOOOOO!
A friend phoned in the middle of the night to tell me that I needed to get back to Indiana as soon as possible because my husband was having serious heart trouble. She said the doctor told her my husband was "gravely ill," & that his loved ones should be called bedside immediately. I was at his side in no time. Upon my arrival, my husband Dave's health greatly improved to the amazement of the family & friends who'd been hoping I'd make it in time to say goodbye.
Infection has apparently damaged Dave's heart. The doctors' plan is to discharge Dave from St. Vincent's Heart Center 21 October & continue antibiotic treatment out-patient at our local hospital for four weeks. Once the infection is cleared up, tests will be performed to determine the extent of the damage & arrangements made to repair it.
We are counting on Jesus to strengthen Dave's heart & the hearts of my siblings in Cambodia. They're very used to individuals & short-term mission teams visiting for a week or two, so have developed the ability to make quick & loose connections with people. They've learned to guard their hearts; this is normal for them, even the youngest of them. As I've said before, God's grace has given my sibs & me an unusual connection. There's been an imprinting between us. Our connection is strong & deep. They've let their guard down for their "real sister." Consequently, my departure was/is heartbreaking & worrisome for them.
I promised my sibs that I will "come back home" as soon as I can. I reassured them by purchasing a round trip ticket. God willing, I will be able to send them email while I'm here too. I can also send text messages to the house moms for the children to read & respond to. Nevertheless, this is a very difficult time for them. And me.
It was terribly, terribly hard for me to leave them. Partly because of what our separation is doing to them & partly because of what our separation is doing to me. I, too, have learned to guard my heart (I think we all have) & I, too, have let my guard down. Lord Jesus, please strengthen my heart too.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Doin' the dance
Some missionaries reject the surrounding culture altogether while others try to blend in completely. I prayerfully decided to waffle. Hahahahaha! That is, altho' I'm learning to "do the dance" here, now & then I throw in a new step. 'Course there are times I miss a step too.My ministry partner Jane Truax loves the account I gave her of dealing with an old woman who was hassling my brothers about the way Ruth treated her during a dispute over rent payment (Ruth is definitely a reject-the-culture kind of missionary). That was a time I had to do the dance & had to do it very carefully. My brother Boonie, in the photo, bravely agreed to translate my words as I demonstrated all the proper body language. It was a complicated dance, but I got thru it without laughing or being spit on, thank God. Totally Cambo culture for that one....until I ended the dance with a dip. Hahahahaha! I was just so happy that peace had been restored that I reached out & rubbed her arms & even hugged her. The brother with me nearly passed out thinking I just blew the whole deal we worked so hard to achieve. Hahahahaha! Thanks be to God, the old woman received my behavior with delight & even kissed my head.
Then there was the time I stopped a trash picker to love on the filthy baby he was carrying amongst the rubbish he collected in his cart. Trash pickers are not considered people, but trash pushing trash. (I know, I know. Really honks me off too.) Not only did I make eye contact with the man & smile at him, I played with the child & even kissed her lice-infested head. Gave the guy my water bottle too. That was a totally freestyle dance there; just moving to the rhythm of my spirit. The small crowd that gathered to stare was aghast, but the man & baby smiled, & I think Jesus did too.
When one of my sisters, an older, thought it would be "sooooo nice" to have a western mom take her shopping in what Americans call a mall, I gave her a taste of it. Took her into one of the city's largest & nicest markets (like a gigantic, old-fashioned department store), headed straight for the undergarments, & embarrassed the stuffin' out of her. Hahahahahaha! That there was some dirty dancing. Hahahahahaha! Before you jump me for that dirty trick, please know I behaved very well as I bought her a nice pair of shorts in another section of the market. Srey Peck loves the shorts, but as for wishing for an American mom, she'd rather sit out that dance! Hahahahahaha!
Sometimes I have to show someone else how to do a new step too. Sopea (pronounced "soapy") is a new Cambo staff helping at the girls' house & the team house. [THANK YOU, JESUS!!!] She's a living doll who loves the children & works diligently to run their household well. In customary fashion Sopea showed her respect for my authority (When we met she assumed I am in charge because I'm white. Sheesh.) she offered me a chair & knelt in front of me, face toward the ground with her hands above her forehead, palms together. I quickly snatched her up by the elbow so we were both standing & drew up her chin so we were face to face. Before I could speak she said, "Oooh so sorry. I afraid Madame not like me." I held her face with both hands making her look me in the eyes & said, "Sopea, I love you. I am very, very happy you are here. I thank you! You must never bow to me. Never! We are sisters. We work together. I don't want to see the top of your head ever again!" We both cried a little & embraced a long time. I still have to lift her chin occassionally because the new step still feels a little awkward to her, but she's getting the hang of our little tango.
I missed a step just this week. Still feel bad about it too. Lyn is a moto driver who picks me up early in the morning Monday-Friday for breakfast & house checks. Lyn informed me (thru my bilingual brother) that he would like to go see his family out of town from Friday night to Sunday night. Very dramatically I said, "Three days gone?! Oh no! What will I do? I will miss you too much!" Lyn immediately apologized & promised to stay in the city forever. It would be hilarious if he weren't totally serious. I forgot that Cambo's don't do sarcasm, rhetorical questions, open criticism, nor a host of other communications common to westerners. That was some fancy footwork: missed a step, stepped on Lyn's toes & put my foot in my mouth all in one quick move. Ugh! It took some doing, but Lyn agreed to visit his family, believed I still like him, & trusted I still want him to drive for me. ... He did call me Friday evening to ask if he could leave at 6pm tho'. Sigh.
As far as I'm concerned for Cambodia, the dance I'm most looking forward to is the one we'll do when we "dance upon injustice." The peacemakers, the trash pickers, the orphans, the oppressed, the meek & one wild-footed barang are really gonna' cut a rug!
10/16/10
Hallelujah!
~We have a WONDERFUL new staff member!
~All the sibs have all they need to start school!
~ My visa is FINALLY valid & up-to-date!!
~ Short-term mission teams are coming in!
~ My khmer is expanding & improving! It's muuuuch easier to talk to people about Jesus when you can say His name in their language! (In case you're wondering, His name is pronounced "yay-soo."
~ Little Adam is thriving!
Help!
~ Nasty, nasty water has been thigh high at the boys' house, including IN the house, for a couple of days. The storms are way-cool, but sometimes the results are not. On the bright side tho', they have been able to catch some small fish with their mosquito netting.
~ A friend's 20 month old son has some fairly serious heath problems & we haven't the resources available to help him. Good doctors are scarce & expensive here.
~ I'm a little nervous about running the place while Ruth's away the first two weeks of November.
Personal Notes:
~ Isaac Roe, I miss you only a LOT. I love you, Son.
~ Gena Taylor, you're on my mind.
~ Lucy Carr, thank you for checking on my husband. You're a blessing, Sister!
~ Lora Sherfey, I heard you're still planning on coming. WOOOO-HOOOOO!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Adjustments
I've been here just over 90 days now. Sometimes it seems like I left the States days ago & sometimes it feels like forever ago. In reviewing the past few months, I'm taken by the adjustments I've made with & without effort & the things I can't seem to adjust to even with the greatest efforts & most fervent prayer. I'm also surprised at what I miss about living in the US. I miss complete silence & complete darkness. I'd really like to have either one for just 5 minutes. I miss the feel of carpeting under my feet sometimes. And, of all things, I miss cheese. Whoda' guessed?
Yes, yes, of course my husband & loved ones most of all, but that really should go without saying. Besides, if I say too much about it I get teary.
I've become so accustomed to tropical weather that I now refer to anything under 75*F as "jacket weather." When I'm hungry, I usually crave lumpy rice. It takes conscious effort to speak in complete english sentences & I've learned enough Khmer, the language of Cambodia, that I think it. Squatty potties don't phase me. In fact, I'm surprised to see a regular toilet outside the house & feel a little funny peeing so far off the ground. I'm so totally adjusted to cool tap water that the one time I had hot water, I had to turn it down to shower comfortably. I'm so used to being called "b'KEY" that the last time someone pronounced my name correctly, she had to call to me about 5 times before I realized I was being addressed. I don't smell the rotting trash anymore & the food smells that used to gag me stir my appetite. I feel weird when I'm with more than two people & no one's touching me ... & I instinctively touch of one of them. Hahahahaha! 45mph is frighteningly fast, but moving vehicles brushing my feet (dangling sidesaddle on a motorcyle) don't even provoke the slightest twitch. I don't have to consciously convert reil, Cambodian currency, to dollars & can count reil change from US dollars as fast as the shopkeepers (caught 'em ripping me off a few times too!). Believe it or not, I've realized Cambodians are right- barang (foreigners) do indeed smell bad. Hahahahahaha! Why, I even truly enjoy the Cambodian coffee I couldn't stomach when I got here & know the best places to get it.
On the other hand, I still don't like the drink most places try to pass off as western coffee. I still get teary eyed over beggars eventho' I see one about every 5 minutes when I'm outside the house. The storm I'm enjoying now is as fabulously thrilling as the first one I experienced (Man, I hate to see rain season end). I'm still a little put off by people picking their noses while they speak to me. And, I'm still taken aback every time the electricity, or internet, or phone service goes out. I'm still surprised when I call out "Juck sow, sohm!" (open the gate, please) at the sibs' houses & a crowd of people run at me squealing with the joy.
I seriously doubt I'll ever get over the fact that God brought a middle-aged housewife who wouldn't go more than 25 minutes away from home alone to the other side of the world to demonstrate a bit of His incomprehensible love.
10/8/10
Praise God for...
~laughter. It's a sanity saver sometimes.
~those big honkin' storms. They're still AWESOME!
~love that lives beyond emotion & intellect.
~those who will share the little they have with those who have less than little.
~the new squatty potty that convinced villagers God is a good & loving God!!
Petition God for...
~the salvation of those precious thieves. They are worth praying for till Jesus comes!
~His favor upon the newbie, a rejected 1month-old Ruth named Adam.
~mercy & the grace of salvation upon Adam's mommy.
~me to be granted the courage to keep loving wholeheartedly. It hurts sometimes...real bad like.
Special request! Please pray with us during the wicked holiday of appeasing damned souls & evil spirits. We can feel the weight of evil increasing & are seeing the influence in people. The holiday lasts two weeks with the biggest ceremonies being held this weekend, 8-10 October.
Personal Notes:
~Isaac Roe, I love you more now than ever before.
~Lisa Turner, the pain is about experiencing love from Michael's side of the story now (ref the book you gave me).
~Nancy Rodenbeck, FK. :o)
~Everyone, internet, phone & electricity is skitchy again. Sorry for the delay in communications!
Yes, yes, of course my husband & loved ones most of all, but that really should go without saying. Besides, if I say too much about it I get teary.
I've become so accustomed to tropical weather that I now refer to anything under 75*F as "jacket weather." When I'm hungry, I usually crave lumpy rice. It takes conscious effort to speak in complete english sentences & I've learned enough Khmer, the language of Cambodia, that I think it. Squatty potties don't phase me. In fact, I'm surprised to see a regular toilet outside the house & feel a little funny peeing so far off the ground. I'm so totally adjusted to cool tap water that the one time I had hot water, I had to turn it down to shower comfortably. I'm so used to being called "b'KEY" that the last time someone pronounced my name correctly, she had to call to me about 5 times before I realized I was being addressed. I don't smell the rotting trash anymore & the food smells that used to gag me stir my appetite. I feel weird when I'm with more than two people & no one's touching me ... & I instinctively touch of one of them. Hahahahaha! 45mph is frighteningly fast, but moving vehicles brushing my feet (dangling sidesaddle on a motorcyle) don't even provoke the slightest twitch. I don't have to consciously convert reil, Cambodian currency, to dollars & can count reil change from US dollars as fast as the shopkeepers (caught 'em ripping me off a few times too!). Believe it or not, I've realized Cambodians are right- barang (foreigners) do indeed smell bad. Hahahahahaha! Why, I even truly enjoy the Cambodian coffee I couldn't stomach when I got here & know the best places to get it.
On the other hand, I still don't like the drink most places try to pass off as western coffee. I still get teary eyed over beggars eventho' I see one about every 5 minutes when I'm outside the house. The storm I'm enjoying now is as fabulously thrilling as the first one I experienced (Man, I hate to see rain season end). I'm still a little put off by people picking their noses while they speak to me. And, I'm still taken aback every time the electricity, or internet, or phone service goes out. I'm still surprised when I call out "Juck sow, sohm!" (open the gate, please) at the sibs' houses & a crowd of people run at me squealing with the joy.
I seriously doubt I'll ever get over the fact that God brought a middle-aged housewife who wouldn't go more than 25 minutes away from home alone to the other side of the world to demonstrate a bit of His incomprehensible love.
10/8/10
Praise God for...
~laughter. It's a sanity saver sometimes.
~those big honkin' storms. They're still AWESOME!
~love that lives beyond emotion & intellect.
~those who will share the little they have with those who have less than little.
~the new squatty potty that convinced villagers God is a good & loving God!!
Petition God for...
~the salvation of those precious thieves. They are worth praying for till Jesus comes!
~His favor upon the newbie, a rejected 1month-old Ruth named Adam.
~mercy & the grace of salvation upon Adam's mommy.
~me to be granted the courage to keep loving wholeheartedly. It hurts sometimes...real bad like.
Special request! Please pray with us during the wicked holiday of appeasing damned souls & evil spirits. We can feel the weight of evil increasing & are seeing the influence in people. The holiday lasts two weeks with the biggest ceremonies being held this weekend, 8-10 October.
Personal Notes:
~Isaac Roe, I love you more now than ever before.
~Lisa Turner, the pain is about experiencing love from Michael's side of the story now (ref the book you gave me).
~Nancy Rodenbeck, FK. :o)
~Everyone, internet, phone & electricity is skitchy again. Sorry for the delay in communications!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Teamwork
There's another aspect to my "job" I haven't told you about yet. I play hostess to visiting mission teams. Sometimes teams stay here at the team house where Ruth & I live & sometimes they stay elsewhere. Sometimes they're here for a couple weeks, sometimes they're here for a few days, & sometimes they just pop in for a few hours. My duties depend on where they stay & how long they stay. Whatever the circumstances, my first duty is to inform my sibs & the housemoms of a team's upcoming arrival, lest they refuse to open the gate & call in security (that'd be me. Hahahahaha!)The first team I met came out of Singapore & they stayed here for one week. They held daily workshops for our older girls here at the teamhouse. They were a lot of work. I prepared & maintained the team house, arranged transportation, obtained supplies, set up their meeting room & even pulled a hairball the size of a well fed fieldmouse out of their drain for them. In addition, I kept track of everyone's emotional & physical health, meeting those needs as best as the Lord enabled me.
This week we've had two teams in. Both Roo's. The first team was a "pop-in" team, meaning they popped in to play with my siblings for about an hour. Very simple job there. I just met them at an easy-to-find location, directed their bus driver to the girls' house (in the Cambodian language! How cool am I?) & hung around until Ruth got there. The second team is also a youth team who popped in. They popped in for about half a day tho' & came well prepared with a variety of fun, interactive activities.
In addition to popping in, the second team held clinics at two villages LIA supports near the Vietnam border. Some of the team members provided pharmacy services handing us the meds we called for (Ruth & I did diagnoses with the help of a couple of my sibs providing translation), some administered eye & ear drops, some cleaned & bandaged wounds. Outside the medical treatment, some played guitars, some did face painting, some blew soap bubbles, some played games & some prayed for those we treated. This was a pretty simple job as well; I just gave directions now & again to achieve & maintain organized work. Oh yeah, I also sat outside the door of a primitive shower (basically an outhouse with a large container of water & a metal bowl for pouring) talking to a girl who was afraid to be in the shower area by herself. Hahahahaha!
Next week we have a Missions Adventure Kiwi team coming thru a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base here in Phnom Penh. They'll be staying at the YWAM base, so there's no prep for me to do here. They plan to spend several mornings playing with my sibs. My job will be to hang out at the girls' house with them & to lead them in helping with the kindy classes here at the team house.
The greatest task I have as team hostess is answering questions. Teams have lots & lots of questions. Questions about the Kingdom of Cambodia's culture, about my siblings, about LIA, even about what I'm doing here (& how to properly use a squatty potty, especially where there are no tissue or towels. Hahahahaha!). I believe every question we ask is actually an effort to understand ourselves, so altho' answering the questions directly is easy enough, I need to raise questions about the questions to be of real service. For example, when someone asks how villagers who have virtually no material goods can seem so content, I have to question why s/he equates having stuff with being content. I could simply say, "Most of them don't know there's more to be had," but what good would that do? A direct answer like that barely satisfies the curiosity, let alone reaches the soul. In order to be of any lasting value, I need to fashion their curiosity about others into a springboard to consciously questioning themselves. Direct answers give information, but direct questions give insight.
In my mind, helping to answer these questions-the real questions-is my greatest task where teams are concerned, but I reckon in their minds my greatest task is either handing out tissues & hand sanitizer at squatties or getting rid of the "eeew" that clogs their drains.
Praise God for...
~encouraging words. There is real power within them.
~treats in the mail. There is real power in them as well.
~clean water. Access to it is a gift. And, believe me, it tastes better than the polluted kind.
~people who still believe they can make a difference in the world.
~friends who are in it with you even when they can't be there with you. (You are more powerful than you know.)
Petition God for...
~the salvation of the dear souls who nabbed my bag.
~the salvation of the misguided souls who stole my ID.
~the transformation of perverts' hearts. They need healing as much as their victims do.
~insight & energy to minister to teams.
~favor with Immigration as I try to jump thru the final hoops to get my visa squared away.
A BIG HONKIN' THANK-YOU TO:
~the Tues morning group for the Bible!
~Diana Hester for the Levi's!
~Grace & Mercy Ministries for the missions donation!
~Bill Parr for apples of gold in settings of silver!
Personal Notes:
~Isaac Roe, I love you. The folks in Sihanouk Ville are asking about you!
~Kelly Stanley, yeah, it's like that both ways. I appreciate you too-honest, I do! :o)
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Fill 'er up
I finally took a much needed break! I've been running on fumes the last couple of weeks & just didn't have it in me to go much further. I spent the weekend on the coast in Sihanouk Ville with friends who live there. Boy oh boy, did I get a good refill! I was so well loved that I am filled to overflowing again!
Especially after leaving the last depressing entry hanging here for so long, I want to tell you a little bit about my wonderful holiday. The whole weekend was absolutely grand, so it's difficult to choose highlights, but I'll do my prayerful best. I didn't take any photos because I know a camera simply cannot do justice to the experience. A diminished image seems an insult to it. The images are engraved in my heart, where they carry the full impact of the moment tho'.
First of all, it was incredibly heartwarming, & actually mindblowing, to receive the unbelievably joyous greetings I was given. Lots of squealing & squeezing, kissing & carressing, hand holding & happy tears. I could not have been welcomed with any more excited glee if I were carrying a big, carboard Publisher's Clearinghouse check! Where everyone really needs & everyone wants me to fill those needs, it is a soul-refreshing blessing to be desired for no more than my presence.
I have become acquainted with my friends thru doing business with them. A few operate the guesthouse I stay in & a couple others are tuk tuk drivers who've introduced me to their family (of 18 members living together in a small, three-sided house they built themselves). God has given us such sweet soul ties that I am not considered a customer anymore & they are by no means service providers to me. Sopha (so-FWAH), the 15 year-old guesthouse hostess calls me Mamma & we cry on each other's necks when we meet & when we part. Mr. Sothea (so-TEE-uh) the guesthouse manager told me, "you are very-good-to-warm-my-heart friend." Ditto to Mr. Sothea. Ly, the most darling & precious friend I have in Cambodia, drives a tuk tuk for a living. He expressed the greatest honor & deepest love by informing me-& showing me!-that I am no longer a customer or even ordinary friend but a no-pay friend.
My first puzzling experience as a no-pay friend came at the house of Ly's friends when they were reluctant to accept money after preparing me a costly & elaborate feast. As I've said, food is the most precious commodity here. Giving someone food is like handing over your checkbook here. When I asked Ly about he said, "When you in Cambodia maybe one year or two year, you will know Cambodia way. Some must pay, some not." He explained that no-pay friends are entitled to everything you possess or have access to & they are never obligated to repay the cost or even return the favor (tho' out of mutual affection they usually do). As we talked more about "Cambodia way" my heart warmed when he said, "You good friend, no pay me & no pay my friends ." On his word, I am entitled to anything or everything his family & friends have or can lay hold of...without owing them anything in return! Thing is, part of Cambodia way is that you cannot earn that kind of friendship. You cannot give & expect to receive in return. No-pay friend status is given me (& others) because, as Ly explained it, "I know your heart. I see your behavior. You no pay." It's a matter of character. My character, yes, & I am indeed incredibly honored, but moreso Ly's character & I am indeed incredibly loved
.
At one point in the most wonderful weekend I've lived since I don't know when, Ly took me to a secret beach. That is, a place unsullied by the tourists & hawkers & the awful, ugly, noisy messes they make. Ly really does know my heart & proved that clearly when, as we stood on the shore, he softly said, "You can like the sea & the islands & the beach," then walked away to leave me in much-needed solitude. I walked in & out of the water along the shoreline for a long time praying. When I finally squatted just beyond the water's reach, all talked out, I began to truly "like the sea & the islands & the beach" & God whispered in my spirit rather nonchalantly, "I spoke all this." I was got. I was overwhelmed with who God is as if I'd just heard the truth for the first time. He spoke all that. Wow. Then He really blew me away, "Just let Me love you. Humble yourself to receive. Just let Me love you." I squatted a good while longer taking in the message. Ly approached & squatted next to me for a long time. We just liked the sea & the islands & the beach together in silence. We simultaneously rose & headed back to the motorcycle. Down the road a short piece he broke the silence, "You can be happy now? If you happy, I happy. You no happy, I cannot happy too."
I replied, "Jaaaa, I am happy now."
His thrilled response was, "Ooooooh SO good! I am very, very happy! And you speak Khmer! Make me happy!" ("Ja" is the female "yes.") We both laughed loud & long just out of sheer happiness.
Ly also took me to a secret waterfall during "the wonder weekend." We had SUCH a blast with the 20 or so Cambodians there. We laughed & splashed & hooted & slipped around & played behind, in front of & right smack in the middle of the awesomely gorgeous & powerful waterfalls. Being the obvious newbie there, everyone wanted to show me tricks & thrills to enjoy...& to take photos of me. Hahahaha! After playing long enough to get chilled, I sat on a flat, dry spot in the sunshine away from the crowd. I sat in amazement at the beauty & power of the falls, of the One who created them-the One who spoke them, the One who gave me no-pay friend status just to love me.
Especially after leaving the last depressing entry hanging here for so long, I want to tell you a little bit about my wonderful holiday. The whole weekend was absolutely grand, so it's difficult to choose highlights, but I'll do my prayerful best. I didn't take any photos because I know a camera simply cannot do justice to the experience. A diminished image seems an insult to it. The images are engraved in my heart, where they carry the full impact of the moment tho'.
First of all, it was incredibly heartwarming, & actually mindblowing, to receive the unbelievably joyous greetings I was given. Lots of squealing & squeezing, kissing & carressing, hand holding & happy tears. I could not have been welcomed with any more excited glee if I were carrying a big, carboard Publisher's Clearinghouse check! Where everyone really needs & everyone wants me to fill those needs, it is a soul-refreshing blessing to be desired for no more than my presence.
I have become acquainted with my friends thru doing business with them. A few operate the guesthouse I stay in & a couple others are tuk tuk drivers who've introduced me to their family (of 18 members living together in a small, three-sided house they built themselves). God has given us such sweet soul ties that I am not considered a customer anymore & they are by no means service providers to me. Sopha (so-FWAH), the 15 year-old guesthouse hostess calls me Mamma & we cry on each other's necks when we meet & when we part. Mr. Sothea (so-TEE-uh) the guesthouse manager told me, "you are very-good-to-warm-my-heart friend." Ditto to Mr. Sothea. Ly, the most darling & precious friend I have in Cambodia, drives a tuk tuk for a living. He expressed the greatest honor & deepest love by informing me-& showing me!-that I am no longer a customer or even ordinary friend but a no-pay friend.
My first puzzling experience as a no-pay friend came at the house of Ly's friends when they were reluctant to accept money after preparing me a costly & elaborate feast. As I've said, food is the most precious commodity here. Giving someone food is like handing over your checkbook here. When I asked Ly about he said, "When you in Cambodia maybe one year or two year, you will know Cambodia way. Some must pay, some not." He explained that no-pay friends are entitled to everything you possess or have access to & they are never obligated to repay the cost or even return the favor (tho' out of mutual affection they usually do). As we talked more about "Cambodia way" my heart warmed when he said, "You good friend, no pay me & no pay my friends ." On his word, I am entitled to anything or everything his family & friends have or can lay hold of...without owing them anything in return! Thing is, part of Cambodia way is that you cannot earn that kind of friendship. You cannot give & expect to receive in return. No-pay friend status is given me (& others) because, as Ly explained it, "I know your heart. I see your behavior. You no pay." It's a matter of character. My character, yes, & I am indeed incredibly honored, but moreso Ly's character & I am indeed incredibly loved
.
At one point in the most wonderful weekend I've lived since I don't know when, Ly took me to a secret beach. That is, a place unsullied by the tourists & hawkers & the awful, ugly, noisy messes they make. Ly really does know my heart & proved that clearly when, as we stood on the shore, he softly said, "You can like the sea & the islands & the beach," then walked away to leave me in much-needed solitude. I walked in & out of the water along the shoreline for a long time praying. When I finally squatted just beyond the water's reach, all talked out, I began to truly "like the sea & the islands & the beach" & God whispered in my spirit rather nonchalantly, "I spoke all this." I was got. I was overwhelmed with who God is as if I'd just heard the truth for the first time. He spoke all that. Wow. Then He really blew me away, "Just let Me love you. Humble yourself to receive. Just let Me love you." I squatted a good while longer taking in the message. Ly approached & squatted next to me for a long time. We just liked the sea & the islands & the beach together in silence. We simultaneously rose & headed back to the motorcycle. Down the road a short piece he broke the silence, "You can be happy now? If you happy, I happy. You no happy, I cannot happy too."
I replied, "Jaaaa, I am happy now."
His thrilled response was, "Ooooooh SO good! I am very, very happy! And you speak Khmer! Make me happy!" ("Ja" is the female "yes.") We both laughed loud & long just out of sheer happiness.
Ly also took me to a secret waterfall during "the wonder weekend." We had SUCH a blast with the 20 or so Cambodians there. We laughed & splashed & hooted & slipped around & played behind, in front of & right smack in the middle of the awesomely gorgeous & powerful waterfalls. Being the obvious newbie there, everyone wanted to show me tricks & thrills to enjoy...& to take photos of me. Hahahaha! After playing long enough to get chilled, I sat on a flat, dry spot in the sunshine away from the crowd. I sat in amazement at the beauty & power of the falls, of the One who created them-the One who spoke them, the One who gave me no-pay friend status just to love me.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
A quick tutorial from Kelly :-)
Becky asked me to let everyone know how they can "Follow" her blog and leave comments.To become a "Follower":
1) Go to Sign In (upper right-hand corner) and create an account.
2) Sign in, and then the "Follow" button appears in upper left-hand corner.
3) From then on, if you sign in to Blogger (or through Becky's blog), you will have a Dashboard that shows new posts from all the blogs you are following.
You can also register for a Google account (free) and use Google Reader to read all the blogs you want to follow. All you have to do is type in the blog addresses at the top left under "Add a subscription." It's a simple way to manage and stay up on multiple blogs that you follow.
OK, to add a comment to the blog (i.e., respond to Becky's questions or simply send a message), click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of each individual blog entry. It will say "0 comments" or 1, 2, or however many there are.
It will give you an area to write your comments, but be sure to click on the "Comment as" pop-up menu to choose an identity -- which just means to enter your name, email address (optional) -- or use your new Google identity (I think that's the simplest). Then click "Post comment" and you're done!
Gladness and Grief
Today has been the roughest day I've ever had in Cambodia. Yes, even worse than the day in February we were deathly ill. Muuuuch worse than that. I hope I'll never have another like it, but I reckon if Jesus keeps me 'round here I will. Sigh.
Altho' the "issue" has been on-going for almost a month, I haven't been at liberty to speak of it to anyone except Ruth & a couple of government officials. This morning our involvement was ended, so I can finally speak of it...in a vague sort of way anyhow.
A guy came by late one night packing lies & three small children. He said he wanted the children to stay with us temporarily because they were in danger of being kidnapped and/or hurt by some wicked fugitives who have a grudge against him for "busting" them. It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out the guy was telling tall tales, but three littles clearly needed a safe place to stay, so what could we do?
I kept them in hiding here with me at the team house until we were confident there were no predators creeping around the place (knowing the neighbors & having neighbors who love to gossip about strangers in the neighborhood was SUCH a blessing). We could not risk the safety of my siblings if someone really were following the guy & the children. Once we were convinced no one was lurking about to do harm, we moved them to the girls' house where all the other littles live.
The guy called periodically with excuses about why he couldn't retrieve the children yet & finally asked us to turn the children over to a nanny he hired. Ruth asked a trusted friend who's in the know about the guy & we found out our suspicions were right on the mark: the guy is the fugitive & the only people following him are law enforcement agents (from at least two countries & about 5 agencies). Then we were really in it!
The guy is not the natural nor adoptive father of these precious littles, so if we kept the children, we were part of a kidnapping ring & if we passed the children on to someone else, we were part of a human trafficking ring. Just having the children in our care labeled us "associates" & possibly "assessories" to the guy. Oh don't you know we were praying our hearts out!! Besides, & truly beyond, the legalities of the situation, we had three littles who needed loving care & protection....& a few medical tests to reveal if they'd been sexually assaulted, HIV-infected, or suffered any STD's. (I know, I hate to think toddlers may have such problems too, but here it's not uncommon.)
Thank God our trusted friend was able to clear us with a contact at the US embassy, who was able to clear us with a contact at the Ozzie embassy, who put us in contact with a westerner-run Non-Government Organization that rescues children trapped in human trafficking (foreign rescue NGO, aka the only good guys in this country with any real power). who in turn agreed to help us resolve the mess with the local government & place the children in a safe & wonderful foster home until the real parents can be located & checked out (the parents may have willingly given up the littles or sold them & so not be fit to receive them back). The NGO man, a real sweetheart with a lot of backbone, took the littles & me to the proper authorities today to turn the children over to the foster home people.
Funny thing, altho' the littles showed absolutely no attachment, indeed no emotion at all, toward the guy who claimed to be their adopted dad who, according to him, saved them from certain disaster & death, 5 minutes after I met them they were on me like white on rice. God does stuff like that. He let them know that I was a safe place to land, I reckon. The guy claimed they could not speak, so I was surprised when they spoke eagerly & cheerfully & frequently to me. For some reason they spoke only to me tho'. Go fig. God does stuff like that too. But, that blessing made today all the harder.
I had to put the children in a tuk-tuk with yet another complete stranger (who knows how many times they've been thru that already), smile at them, & tell them, "It's OK." They will be OK, but at the moment none of us were OK. I'm still not OK. God, I hope they are.
I'm sooooo glad they're safe & on the way to a stable & loving home, but I'm also grieving. Grieving over the fact that littles suffer confusion & fear & heartache & bodily pain & soul-scarring trauma because wicked adults are willing to put them in harm's way for pocket change.
Lord Jesus, come quickly! Can I get an "amen" somewhere?
9/2/10
Praise God for...
~people willing to risk themselves to prevent others from being put at risk.
~the privilege of eating every day. It is a privilege.
~"big rain" that settles the dust & lifts the spirit.
~the moto driver that enjoyed being caught in the storm as much as I did. We had a blast, especially thru the butt-high flood waters.
~people who ask, "What do you need?"
Petition God for...
~the salvation of those precious souls who nabbed my bag
~the salvation of those who nabbed my ID..
~the capture of & mercy toward the wicked perv you'll read about in this entry.
~more reliable LIA staff
Personal Notes:
~Deb, thanks sooo much for the Thirst! It really makes a difference!
~Judson Baptist Church of La Vista, NE., THANK YOU!!!
~Grapevine, you've just got to learn some hip-hop moves. You'd love it!
~Isaac, I miss you big.
Altho' the "issue" has been on-going for almost a month, I haven't been at liberty to speak of it to anyone except Ruth & a couple of government officials. This morning our involvement was ended, so I can finally speak of it...in a vague sort of way anyhow.
A guy came by late one night packing lies & three small children. He said he wanted the children to stay with us temporarily because they were in danger of being kidnapped and/or hurt by some wicked fugitives who have a grudge against him for "busting" them. It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out the guy was telling tall tales, but three littles clearly needed a safe place to stay, so what could we do?
I kept them in hiding here with me at the team house until we were confident there were no predators creeping around the place (knowing the neighbors & having neighbors who love to gossip about strangers in the neighborhood was SUCH a blessing). We could not risk the safety of my siblings if someone really were following the guy & the children. Once we were convinced no one was lurking about to do harm, we moved them to the girls' house where all the other littles live.
The guy called periodically with excuses about why he couldn't retrieve the children yet & finally asked us to turn the children over to a nanny he hired. Ruth asked a trusted friend who's in the know about the guy & we found out our suspicions were right on the mark: the guy is the fugitive & the only people following him are law enforcement agents (from at least two countries & about 5 agencies). Then we were really in it!
The guy is not the natural nor adoptive father of these precious littles, so if we kept the children, we were part of a kidnapping ring & if we passed the children on to someone else, we were part of a human trafficking ring. Just having the children in our care labeled us "associates" & possibly "assessories" to the guy. Oh don't you know we were praying our hearts out!! Besides, & truly beyond, the legalities of the situation, we had three littles who needed loving care & protection....& a few medical tests to reveal if they'd been sexually assaulted, HIV-infected, or suffered any STD's. (I know, I hate to think toddlers may have such problems too, but here it's not uncommon.)
Thank God our trusted friend was able to clear us with a contact at the US embassy, who was able to clear us with a contact at the Ozzie embassy, who put us in contact with a westerner-run Non-Government Organization that rescues children trapped in human trafficking (foreign rescue NGO, aka the only good guys in this country with any real power). who in turn agreed to help us resolve the mess with the local government & place the children in a safe & wonderful foster home until the real parents can be located & checked out (the parents may have willingly given up the littles or sold them & so not be fit to receive them back). The NGO man, a real sweetheart with a lot of backbone, took the littles & me to the proper authorities today to turn the children over to the foster home people.
Funny thing, altho' the littles showed absolutely no attachment, indeed no emotion at all, toward the guy who claimed to be their adopted dad who, according to him, saved them from certain disaster & death, 5 minutes after I met them they were on me like white on rice. God does stuff like that. He let them know that I was a safe place to land, I reckon. The guy claimed they could not speak, so I was surprised when they spoke eagerly & cheerfully & frequently to me. For some reason they spoke only to me tho'. Go fig. God does stuff like that too. But, that blessing made today all the harder.
I had to put the children in a tuk-tuk with yet another complete stranger (who knows how many times they've been thru that already), smile at them, & tell them, "It's OK." They will be OK, but at the moment none of us were OK. I'm still not OK. God, I hope they are.
I'm sooooo glad they're safe & on the way to a stable & loving home, but I'm also grieving. Grieving over the fact that littles suffer confusion & fear & heartache & bodily pain & soul-scarring trauma because wicked adults are willing to put them in harm's way for pocket change.
Lord Jesus, come quickly! Can I get an "amen" somewhere?
9/2/10
Praise God for...
~people willing to risk themselves to prevent others from being put at risk.
~the privilege of eating every day. It is a privilege.
~"big rain" that settles the dust & lifts the spirit.
~the moto driver that enjoyed being caught in the storm as much as I did. We had a blast, especially thru the butt-high flood waters.
~people who ask, "What do you need?"
Petition God for...
~the salvation of those precious souls who nabbed my bag
~the salvation of those who nabbed my ID..
~the capture of & mercy toward the wicked perv you'll read about in this entry.
~more reliable LIA staff
Personal Notes:
~Deb, thanks sooo much for the Thirst! It really makes a difference!
~Judson Baptist Church of La Vista, NE., THANK YOU!!!
~Grapevine, you've just got to learn some hip-hop moves. You'd love it!
~Isaac, I miss you big.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Bong
It's official. I am LIA staff. Cool beans, huh? I think so. The pay's nothing to bank on, but the benefits are priceless. The only title I hold here is Bong, which means elder sibling (Yeah, the language is that thorough. Moreso than ancient Greek even!) As Bong I have authority over & responsibility for my younger sibs, but I also get to enjoy the commaraderie of being "one of the kids." In other words, I get to boss them around & hear their secrets. Hahahaha!I love every one of my little brothers & sisters very deeply. God has given us genuine intimacy with & sincere affection for one another. I do some stuff for them, sure, but they're for me as well. Really. Just tonight, a few of the children gave Jame & me a big bag of fruit simply to love on us. Waaaay more fruit than we can eat, to be sure. We each took a little & Jame will give the rest to the poor children in his neighborhood. A bag of fruit (I don't know what it's called, but it's delicious) may not sound like much to people who give each other new clothes, video games & cars, but here giving food in any amount is a HUGE gift. Not to mention the fact that fruit is a treat, not part of the ordinary diet. So, to receive a big, honkin' bag of it.... Wow!
Another evening a few of my brothers could see that I was upset about something despite my best efforts to conceal my emotions. I've learned that when you know someone's heart, you have only to see their cheek to know how they are feeling. My brothers know my heart, for sure. They rallied round me like you would not believe. Merely recalling their concern & compassion overwhelms my soul.
Even the littles show their love for me in the sweetest, albeit strangest, ways. Here grooming one another is a great sign of affection. So, when the littles show me their toenails need clipping or their ears need cleaning, I know I am well loved. When they nit pick me (literal nit picking) & scrape the dusty crud out of the inner corners of my eyes, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they absolutely adore me.
I have no doubt that my brothers & sisters would do anything & give everything for me. And, I for them — same, same, no different.
Mostly what I do for the children is pay attention as a real bong should. Easily, 2/3 of Cambodian communication is done thru facial expression & body language. I suppose that's a fact on an international level, but here the unspoken communication is far more complex & far more important than I've ever heard of happening anywhere else. For example, it makes a big difference which direction your eyes move while you're speaking. I'm not just talking about up or down, I'm talking about diagonally up to the right, quickly to the left, a glance at the ground. Eye movement is just one way of communicating. Eyebrows is a whole 'nother thing. As are the mouth, the hands, the feet, shoulders, etc. (If you're thinking about coming over, no worries, it's understood that foreigners are poor communicators & Cambo's don't hold much against you. Hahaha!)
I am finding the children & I speak less but communicate more. Ain't that something? For example, this evening I asked Srey Pick why the older girls didn't attend a youth meeting they were very excited about this morning. She slumped just a bit with hands folded in her lap, glanced slightly downward to the right, then downward center. I asked again, "Srey Pick (saying a person's name in conversation is also a big deal & sometimes the only thing that needs to be said), why you not go to youth? Srey Pick, why?" She looked me in the eye for a few seconds, then glanced straight left, then downward to the right again as she leaned back in her seat. I had my answer; a full explanation including how she was feeling about it. I can't tell you the reason because part of the message was a request for confidentiality. Hahahaha!
I do other stuff for the children too, but none of it would mean nearly as much as it does to them without the "real-bong" factor. It's really the lifetime committment between us that makes the other stuff deeply meaningful. Like the recent boys' underwear purchases I made. Lots of people have bought my sibs unders & my sibs have been thankful, but there's something different about their bong taking them to market. Others have given unders because orphans need underwear. I bought unders because my brothers need underwear.....Calvin Kleine knock-off underwear that hangs out of the top of their low riders all cool like.
Photo: Big, hairy grapes
8/29/10
Praise God for...
~His astounding mercy
~His constant provision for every single need
~laughter. It does a body, soul & spirit good.
~the FABULOUS service work my brothers & sisters are joyfully doing
~His grace that turns intended harm into actual good
~young lives transformed by the loving Spirit of Jesus
~the realization of LIA's 2-year prayer request for a kindie (preschool) program here at the team house
Petition God for...
~the precious & treasured souls of the guys who snatched my bag
~redemption of the cleverness of the people who stole my ID. Their intelligence & ingenuity can bring God a good deal of glory once they know Jesus.
~ridiculously obvious direction in the decisions I need to make
~increase in trustworthy & sincere LIA staff
Personal Notes:
~Turner Family, God's peace & joy to you! You & yours are on my mind & in my heart. I also want you to be assured that your investments here are paying off in HUGE & ETERNAL dividends. Thank you soooooo much for your support. You are literally changing Cambodia. I can see it happening! Glory to God!
~Peg Miller, my big honkin' response to your concerns was lost in the email hijacking. Here's the short version: OK, I'll pray with you about it with an open mind. Thank you for being real. Thank you for caring for my family. I love you too.
~Isaac Roe, it's an honor to be your mom. I love you, Son.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
WARNING: Becky's email account was hacked!
Several people have gotten emails saying Becky is in Cypress, her wallet was stolen, and she needs $1500 to get home. IT IS NOT TRUE. We believe someone hacked her account or something. Her Yahoo email account has been shut down by Yahoo for at least 24 hours, but she was able to text David today to tell him about it and to let him know none of it was true. So DO NOT RESPOND to that. If she sets up a new address or if I get an update that all is well, I will post it here.
If you feel led to give money to put towards bringing her home, of course that would be wonderful, but get that to David and do not go through her email address! :-)
Thanks!
Kelly
If you feel led to give money to put towards bringing her home, of course that would be wonderful, but get that to David and do not go through her email address! :-)
Thanks!
Kelly
Friday, July 30, 2010
Bright Little Brother
Being the youngest child in my family, I always wanted a little brother or sister. I am thrilled to have dozens now! And, bonus! I don't even have to share my toys with them! Hahahahaha! The "little" brother I admire most is Bright. He's more than a foot taller than me, as you can see, & tickled to be called "Little Brother." Let me tell you about him. (read: I'm about to brag on my sib.)Bright is a 19 year-old university student who dreams of being a Cambodian ambassador. His aspiration stems from a deep desire to help his people. I am so very pleased that Bright is looking toward the big picture concerning his country & is willing to shoot high to improve the country's well-being & standing in the world.
Bright bikes to the university where he is studying english. He pedals one hour (each way) for 30 minutes of instruction rain or shine. Here "rain or shine" is more accurately descibed as incredible downpour or bone-melting heat. When I commented on the distance, Bright replied with a smile, "Maybe God is testing me & I want to pass the test." Despite the long ride six days a week, Bright is very grateful for the opportunity to attend school. He knows he is privileged to have this opportunity, especially because it is a good english course.
After class Bright returns to the girls' house with a few of the younger boys to teach english to the middle children (we call them littles, middles & olders). The children have great respect for Bright & appreciate & enjoy learning from him. He also leads evening worship at the boys' house & teaches them from God's Bible. In addition, Bright is of great help at both houses where "a man's work" needs to be done. This includes, but is not limited to, "mowing the grass," which is actually squatting to pull up grass from the relatively spacious yard to keep the mosquito population to a minimum.
Bright has agreed to tutor me in Khmer (k'my), the language of Cambodia, for the month of August in exchange for a english thesaurus. I will also continue helping him with english pronunciation, vocabularly expansion & idioms. He's quite eager to learn all he can of the english language & is tickled pink over my help. I give him my copy of The Cambodia Daily every afternoon to practice reading & pronunciation skills; he reads select articles to me & I explain & correct as we go. I also answer questions he has about english he's heard around town, on the radio, etc.
Bright is a natural leader at the boys' house being the elder brother, but he has been shy to give the boys much direction & correction when needed. Affection, comfort & encouragement, he has down pat tho'. Jame & I have encouraged him to accept the role God's given him there at the house especially because the male staff members have recently left LIA's Cambodia ministry. Bright is "the man of the house" now, so it is important for him to move confidently in his position. Please pray with us for Bright. He is a very gentle, gracious & grateful spirit with an underlying strength that will aid & protect his younger siblings as he takes hold of the responsibility God's given him.
I love the photo of my little brother & myself here, but I wish I had one of us embracing. Out of respect for elders or those in greater authority, one makes his head lower than the shoulders of the "bigger" & it's comical to see Bright stoop halfway over to put his head under my chin as we hug. He's even taller than it appears in this photo because I'm standing on a bit of rise beside him. Bright is so humble & so sweet, he never avoids a hello, or good-bye, or thank-you, or I-love-you hug with me in spite of the awkward discomfort it involves for him. (I didn't think to pack my Stilleto's this trip. Hahahahaha!)
If you'd like to send a note of encouragement to Bright regarding his pursuit of education, his desire to be an ambassador for his people, or his new role as "team captain" at the boys' house, please email it to me at beckyroehere@yahoo.com Your loving words will lift these children to heights they'd never reach on their own, so please prayerfully consider the idea & take action as the Lord leads.
7/30/10
Praise God for...
~the relationships He's developing for me & children
~warmish water for the afternoon shower
~clothes for the boys who needed them
~the Sunday morning treat of REAL coffee!! (Double Jesus cheer with a jump!)
Petition God for...
~the salvation of lost souls
~God's "cords of kindness" to draw the guys who snatched the bag
~opportunity & means to resolve the visa issues (corruption funds are very high here)
~a simple & successful surgery for Dave (10 August)
A big honkin' thank-you to:
~Mike & Shirley for faithful prayer support.
~my Zeph Sisters' upcoming flip flop contribution. You love well!
~Nancy Rodenbeck for writing to Doc. You blessed his socks off, sister!
~Kelly Stanley for being magical here on the blog
Personal Notes:
~LIA-Cambo Kindie has opened! Yippee! Look for more info in an upcoming entry.
~Sherry Warner, yes, I've lost some weight, but don't worry, it's worth it to "eat doughnuts all my life."
~Glen Taylor, I'm thinking of you, brother.
~Grace & Mercy, miss you so, so, SO much, but... "I just cain't turn back nooooow!"
~Isaac Roe, I love you more than you know.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Another Cambodian (they're all over the place here....BAW-Hahahahahaha!)
I'd like to introduce you to another Love in Action (LIA) child, Kim Loun (Kim Loon), whom we've nicknamed Doc. About 10 years ago, when Doc was about 4 or 5 years old, he was discovered sleeping on the streets alone. He was taken to Sisters of Mercy Orphanage, but refused admittance because he was too old. I know it seems cruel to refuse any child for any reason, but you must understand there are soooo many abandoned & orphaned children here that unless agencies set some sort of restrictions they'll be quickly overwhelmed. ('Course Ruth, being the exception to nearly everything Cambodian, has too much faith in God to set such restrictions.) Ruth took him in as one of the first LIA children in the Cambo ministry.The only thing Doc knows about his first family is that his mom couldn't take care of him when he was little, after he was abandoned his mom married for a second time producing a sister (who lives with an uncle) & that his mom is no longer alive. What he's told me about his current family is that "I SO much love Mommy Ruth & the kids. I'm so happy to God for bringing me to LIA. We eat & go to school & play & have many happy times together." I think Doc is the most grateful child I've met in Cambo.
Doc very much enjoys his role as a youth leader in his congregation. He teaches Sunday school for 7-10 year-olds after attending his own Sunday school class. He's also a skilled drummer for his congregation's youth band & is a popular fill-in in for other musical praise teams. In addition to church activities, he's an enthusiastic participant in a guys' Bible study group. When I asked him what his favorite Bible verse is he said, "Oooooh, I like best the verses in Matthew & John. And I like all the verses in Proverbs because they make me know which way to go in life." Hahahahaha! So many favorite verses is certainly evidence of Doc's love of God's Bible, eh? He's also a big fan of dancing before the Lord & regularly attends dance parties hosted by a youth minister's family. They close the curtains, crank up the music & go at it until they're thoroughly exhausted, which for healthy young people is hours on end.
Doc, as we say in Cambo, "has very good english," & translates for english-speaking teams & guests....& me. He went with the group I came with in May to a medical clinic in the village (the boonies) where he translated for Dr. Mark Truax & now wants to go on every village clinic as translator, "to help the poor people know how to get healthy."
God has clearly designed Doc to be a medical missionary in the province (the countryside) of Cambodia & Doc knows it. He told me, "It is not my choice, but God's choice, so I must do. And I want to do! I can be very happy to help the poor people. They soooo need help because they are so poor. I cannot not help them." His desire is to finish high school in a school where he can have english classes taught by someone whose first language is english (so he can "learn the proper accent to pronounce all the words correctly."). English is very important to Doc because he knows much of Cambodia is dependent upon the help given by foreign NGO's & mission teams, & he wants to help them help the poor. Mark Truax can certainly attest to the value of such help in helping the poor! After highschool, Doc hopes to attend university in America. He thinks American med school must be best because that's where Dr. Mark attended school & "he is very great doctor who knows how to help the poor people." Not to mention the fact that Doc's counting on the great Dr. Mark to help him study & learn well while in med school. (big cheesy grin to Mark)
Doc has great ambition, plenty of determination & incredible enthusiasm to fulfill his earthly duty to Christ as a medical missionary to the province. The only thing he lacks is school funds & encouragement from others. Please pray with Doc asking God to make the way for him to attend a highschool with a barang (westerner) english teacher (those schools are quite expensive at upwards of $50 per month) & a way to an American medical school. If you would like to write a note of encouragement to our brother Doc, please email me at beckyroehere@yahoo.com You probably have no idea what incredible impact a few encouraging words can do for this precious brother in Christ, so please really, prayerfully consider this.
7/27/10
Praise God for...
~teams of people who come in to minister Jesus.
~difficulties that cause us to come down lower in the world so we can come up higher in Christ.
~the incredible power of the human touch. It reaches beyond skin to spirit.
~those precious few who can say, "Follow me as I follow Christ."
Petition God for...
~the salvation of lost souls. It's our great duty & privilege!
~the redemption of those guys who snagged my bag. What a powerful testimony they'll be for Christ!
~a complete stop to child rape.
A big honkin' thank-you to:
~Mike & Shirley for earnest & diligent prayer help.
~Tracey Golder for being always encouraging.
~Jame Khunrich-Roe for keeping Mom fed until money comes in.
~Rich Young for living Hebrews 10:24. Bless you, brother.
~Harvest Fellowship for a generous donation to cover what was stolen.
~Grace & Mercy for a financial donation to the ministry here.
Personal Notes:
~Linda Graham, "give it you" has energized me when I needed a boost. Hallelujah!
~Mark Truax, Debi has an email for you....I hope.
~Isaac Roe, I love you more than I knew a human could.
~God willing & Jesus tarries, the nursery will be open this week! The ground-level apartment of Ruth's place will eventually be a babies' home where infants & toddlers can receive the stimulation & nurture they need. To begin with tho', I'll be bringing the 1-6 year-olds over two or three times a week for a type of pre-school. I'm looking forward to reliving the fun days of blocks & books & cuddles & a thousand new discoveries.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Srey Moot
I think I'm turning Cambo already. I only speak in complete sentences to my husband Dave & here on the blog. The rest of the time, I speak easy for you to know good (typed in the Cambo accent LOL). Ruth took me out for a western supper & it tasted funny to me. I turned the fan off because I got chilly. And, the real clincher: I saw a couple barang (white people) in our neighborhood & got suspicious. BAH-Hahahahahaha!Srey Moot (western pronunciation: Sree Moot, proper pronunciation: sree mt)
I have been given an orphan of my own! Well, sorta'. Ruth has given me charge of one of the older girls, 14 year-old Srey Moot. She's my new roommate & we're rarely apart. When I do have to leave her at the house or at school she cries a little & begs, "Quick, quick," meaning she wants me back very quickly.
Srey Moot is from the province (the countryside), so she's a bit different from her housemates who were born in the city. She's not into clothes & make-up & magazines like the other "big" girls. Srey Moot prefers books & games & working along aside me or the new housekeeper. She's a very reserved girl....at first. Once she's warmed up she's a real hoot. She loves to laugh & joke around.
When Srey Moot's mom died some years ago, her dad put her & her little brother out because she's a girl & they were too small to work in the fields. She has other family, but they, too, are unwilling to take care of them. So, they're LIA children. It's the best thing for Srey Moot really. In the province, opportunities are very limited. There girls can either escape to the city (which is never as wonderful in actuality as it is in theory), become farmers' wives if they work hard enough, or become "for rent" girls (a form of forced prostitution in which the girl gets raped & the parents get paid). Yeah, LIA is the best thing for her really.
Ruth let her come stay with me because Srey Moot is a great help & will fare better away from the other girls her age who pick on her for her simple country tastes & ways. It was God's good timing too! Just a couple days after Srey Moot moved in with me, a man came by the girls' house asking for her. The lady of the house told him she lives at Ruth's now. Later that night he phoned Ruth saying he wanted to pick Srey Moot up for a visit & that he is her big brother. Uh...Srey Moot doesn't have a big brother. Then the guy says he's her father, then said he wasz calling for the father. Please, pray for this perv.
We're not afraid of the guy, whoever he is, but we're taking some precautions. Jame & I take her to & pick her up from school every day & have instructed the administrators that only I bring her & only I pick her up. We also keep her with us as we run errands & make visits & such. She's never beyond my arm's length. Actually, she's very rarely out from under my arm because she's so affectionate toward me. LOL Whatever we're doing, she's doing, if at all possible. When we do have to leave her at the house, someone else is always here with her & the gate is locked.
Srey Moot knows very little english & I know even less Cambodian, but we're helping one another learn. I can count all the way up to nine now! We've worked out a pretty good system of communication which includes gestures, facial expressions & acting things out. It's really quite fun...& funny. I think we're both progressing in our own made up language than in each other's languages. LOL Some things just don't need words tho'. We developed a closeness during my first two visits & that's increased tremendously since living together. Many times we can just look at each other & know what's being "said." Love knows no language barriers, praise the Lord of Love!
7/18/10
Praise God for...
• my Zephaniah Sisters who came thru with the needed funds for a new passport/visa!
• being glorious in the storm, I mean literally, a monsoon rain. Awesome!
• love beyond words that breaks the bounds of language barriers.
• small town bankers who know you well enough to get around the rules.
Petition God for...
• the salvation of lost souls. Nothing makes Him happier.
those precious souls who swiped the bag. God loves them & so do I.
• postal mercies. Dave has to mail me a new ATM card.
His wisdom in loving each child well.
• *especially* for Dave's family as his dad is now receiving hospice care.
• Jame to understand that it's OK for visiting teams to treat me like a servant because that's what I am.
A big honkin' thank-you to:
• Mike & Shirley for keeping me at the top of the prayer list!!
• The Zeph Sisters for bailing me out.
• The Turner Family for faithful financial support.
• Ruth Golder for the loan of a digital camera.
Personal Notes:
• May Group, came thiiiiis close to smoochin' a monk today.
• Kate, how far are you in your Bible reading plan?
• Isaac Roe, I love you to the moon & back 62,000 times.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Our Favorite Cambodian - Part Two
First a brief bit about the bag snatching, in case you haven't heard. Jame & I were on our way back to Ruth's from a lovely Sunday "time off" around the city when two young men on a moto sped by the tuk-tuk grabbing my bag as they passed us thru a red light. Jame started to follow, but saw a knife in the passenger's hand & a gun in the driver's belt. Thank God, I mean literally right this instant thank God, that for the first time I did not heed the "expert's" travel advice to carry my bag diagonally across my body because the knife was for a "cut & run" maneuever which involves the crook grabbing the bag & simultaneously slashing the strap....& the bag owner's back. We're both fine & are on day two of muddling thru the ridiculous amount of paper work & the waiting in line to wait in another line to get an appointment to wait in another line in order to get a new passport & visa (which involves a trip to Thailand, Laos, or Vietnam. Go fig.). The costs are astronomical, but we're trusting God to replenish the cash supply I was carrying & to provide the money it will cost to replace my identification, as well as working out some way for me to get monthly monies from the U.S. now that my ATM card is gone. We've also determined to pray for the salvation of those precious souls who nabbed the bag until we know they are called by His name. I'll be thrilled to see them in glory & we'll have a good laugh about how God used bad for good.
Now we return to your regularly scheduled blog entry.
"Great account of Jame," you say, "but how in the world did you get adopted by him?" I'm very happy to tell you. I was truly at least as stunned as you probably are. I've been involved in a host of strange stuff, but being adopted by a 38 year old stranger in a foreign country certainly makes the top 5 on the list.
Ruth called Jame to be the team driver for the group I came with in May. I first met him when some of the group wanted me to accompany them on a trip to one of the markets for a little souvenir shopping. Upon arrival at the market I told Jame that I would wait with him in the tuk-tuk while the others shopped. He drove around the corner where we sat at a small cafe table drinking bottles of water in front of a fan. The conversation began in the usual Cambo way, "What is your name?" "Where are you from?" "How long you stay in Cambodia?" After I answered the greeting questions, Jame looked at me for a few moments, then boldly announced with a bigger than life smile "You are my mom. You are my real mom."
The astonished expression on my face must have clued him that I needed more explanation before I could participate in his joy. He explained, "Since I am 3 years old, I pray for a real mom who will love me. Today da Fadda said, 'Today look & you will see your real mom.' So, I see you. I see dat when we come to market you not look, 'I wan' dis, I wan' dat, I buy all tings.' I see you are looking at da people. An' you don' look at dem bad. You really see dem. An' I see you tears. I see da tears in you heart. I close my eyes behind my sunglasses so no one sees & I pray in my heart so no one hears, 'Fadda! Really!? Dis is my mom!?' & da Fadda says, 'Yeeeesssss.' So, you are my real mom."
My first reaction was plain ol' amazement. I was just got that a stranger would so suddenly & so assuredly make such a whacky announcement. My second reaction was suspicion. Yes, he was right about what I was looking at from behind my sunglasses, but soooooo many people in this country are looking for a foreigner to lay out wads of cash for the sake of pity, I could not reasonably trust his claim as godly discernment. (I have since discovered that Jame has one of the keenest gifts of discernment I have ever even heard of.) I asked him a few questions trying to get a handle on his angle, then told him I would have to pray about it. My lack of belief did not diminish his enthusiasm at all....not even a little bit. He simply said, "Gooood. Da Fadda will tell you," then went on & on about how happy he was to have me for his mom & how much he would do for me to prove he is a good son & how I'm the best mom in the world for him. If nothing else, the guy's got tenacity, to be sure.
Upon returning to Ruth's after the shopping spree, Jame touched my arm & asked what time I get up in the morning & what I would like to do the following day. I laughed telling him that I rise about 4:30am & I like to drink coffee first thing. I thought sure that would put him off. I was wrong. He told me that the earliest we could get coffee is about 7:00am & he would be waiting for me. Sure enough, 6:45am I opened the driveway's gate to find him standing beside his tuk-tuk with that same bigger than life smile, "Good morning, Mom! Coffee?"
True to my word, I prayed about Jame & his kooky claim for three days & nights. From day one I sensed God's approval, but it just seemed so crazy I could scarcely consider the idea, let alone surrender to it. On the third night God's grace (God doing for me what I cannot do) blew me away. In prayer, I was overwhelmed with a real motherly love for Jame. Now, if you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about. A parent's love is not merely a thought or an emotion, rather it is actually a state of being. It's inexpressible love that permeates one's whole heart-intellect, emotion, will & very character. It's not something you do, it's something you are.
I thought surely the heat, or the food, or the noise, or something had gotten to me & was making me loopy. I went to Ruth & laid out the story & what I was experiencing knowing she would lovingly knock some sense into me. In her usual gentle way, she looked at me with glistening eyes & spoke softly in her sweet Ozzie accent, "Aaaaw, Bec. God does stuff like that. Isn't He good?" Now, Ruth is so close to God, I wouldn't doubt that she knows His shoe size & favorite song. I trust her completely, so her response was just enough confirmation for me to totally give in to the astonishing thing God was working in me. I couldn't love Jame more if my name were on his birth certificate.
6:45am next morning I opened the gate with my own bigger than life smile & said, "Good morning, Son! How are you?" Actually, I said, "Good morning, Son! How are yiff," because I was taken into an off-the-ground bear hug as soon as "Son" passed my lips.
Because of the way Jame has been treated by other "moms" he's had (his "first mom" & the "house moms" at the orphanage), he's been terribly worried that I will stop loving him & abandon our relationship. He's confessed to me innumerable times that sometimes he's afraid to go to sleep because if it's his last day to have me as a mom, he wants the day to last as long as possible. He's never had real love thru another human being. Never. Every single person he has ever loved has suddenly died or otherwise forsaken him. Dave & I have prayed & prayed for a way to convince him of our unconditional, unending love for him. He doesn't "get" family love because he's never had it. Praise the Lord for responding to our pleas! Depending on the Spirit for words, I wrote a short love note to Jame the other night, which he proudly calls a contract, &, glory to God, it has convinced him that I understand what kind of mom he prayed for & that I truly am that kind of mom-a real mom who really loves him. And, no, I'm not telling you what the note says. Hahahahaha! I will tell you that we call it the "What is true contract" & I included Philippians 4:8 telling him that when the bad thoughts come he can re-read the contract to know what is true. Not only does he read it at night, he keeps it in his wallet where he can touch it frequently thru'out the day....with that bigger than life smile I so dearly love.
Now we return to your regularly scheduled blog entry.
"Great account of Jame," you say, "but how in the world did you get adopted by him?" I'm very happy to tell you. I was truly at least as stunned as you probably are. I've been involved in a host of strange stuff, but being adopted by a 38 year old stranger in a foreign country certainly makes the top 5 on the list.
Ruth called Jame to be the team driver for the group I came with in May. I first met him when some of the group wanted me to accompany them on a trip to one of the markets for a little souvenir shopping. Upon arrival at the market I told Jame that I would wait with him in the tuk-tuk while the others shopped. He drove around the corner where we sat at a small cafe table drinking bottles of water in front of a fan. The conversation began in the usual Cambo way, "What is your name?" "Where are you from?" "How long you stay in Cambodia?" After I answered the greeting questions, Jame looked at me for a few moments, then boldly announced with a bigger than life smile "You are my mom. You are my real mom."
The astonished expression on my face must have clued him that I needed more explanation before I could participate in his joy. He explained, "Since I am 3 years old, I pray for a real mom who will love me. Today da Fadda said, 'Today look & you will see your real mom.' So, I see you. I see dat when we come to market you not look, 'I wan' dis, I wan' dat, I buy all tings.' I see you are looking at da people. An' you don' look at dem bad. You really see dem. An' I see you tears. I see da tears in you heart. I close my eyes behind my sunglasses so no one sees & I pray in my heart so no one hears, 'Fadda! Really!? Dis is my mom!?' & da Fadda says, 'Yeeeesssss.' So, you are my real mom."
My first reaction was plain ol' amazement. I was just got that a stranger would so suddenly & so assuredly make such a whacky announcement. My second reaction was suspicion. Yes, he was right about what I was looking at from behind my sunglasses, but soooooo many people in this country are looking for a foreigner to lay out wads of cash for the sake of pity, I could not reasonably trust his claim as godly discernment. (I have since discovered that Jame has one of the keenest gifts of discernment I have ever even heard of.) I asked him a few questions trying to get a handle on his angle, then told him I would have to pray about it. My lack of belief did not diminish his enthusiasm at all....not even a little bit. He simply said, "Gooood. Da Fadda will tell you," then went on & on about how happy he was to have me for his mom & how much he would do for me to prove he is a good son & how I'm the best mom in the world for him. If nothing else, the guy's got tenacity, to be sure.
Upon returning to Ruth's after the shopping spree, Jame touched my arm & asked what time I get up in the morning & what I would like to do the following day. I laughed telling him that I rise about 4:30am & I like to drink coffee first thing. I thought sure that would put him off. I was wrong. He told me that the earliest we could get coffee is about 7:00am & he would be waiting for me. Sure enough, 6:45am I opened the driveway's gate to find him standing beside his tuk-tuk with that same bigger than life smile, "Good morning, Mom! Coffee?"
True to my word, I prayed about Jame & his kooky claim for three days & nights. From day one I sensed God's approval, but it just seemed so crazy I could scarcely consider the idea, let alone surrender to it. On the third night God's grace (God doing for me what I cannot do) blew me away. In prayer, I was overwhelmed with a real motherly love for Jame. Now, if you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about. A parent's love is not merely a thought or an emotion, rather it is actually a state of being. It's inexpressible love that permeates one's whole heart-intellect, emotion, will & very character. It's not something you do, it's something you are.
I thought surely the heat, or the food, or the noise, or something had gotten to me & was making me loopy. I went to Ruth & laid out the story & what I was experiencing knowing she would lovingly knock some sense into me. In her usual gentle way, she looked at me with glistening eyes & spoke softly in her sweet Ozzie accent, "Aaaaw, Bec. God does stuff like that. Isn't He good?" Now, Ruth is so close to God, I wouldn't doubt that she knows His shoe size & favorite song. I trust her completely, so her response was just enough confirmation for me to totally give in to the astonishing thing God was working in me. I couldn't love Jame more if my name were on his birth certificate.
6:45am next morning I opened the gate with my own bigger than life smile & said, "Good morning, Son! How are you?" Actually, I said, "Good morning, Son! How are yiff," because I was taken into an off-the-ground bear hug as soon as "Son" passed my lips.
Because of the way Jame has been treated by other "moms" he's had (his "first mom" & the "house moms" at the orphanage), he's been terribly worried that I will stop loving him & abandon our relationship. He's confessed to me innumerable times that sometimes he's afraid to go to sleep because if it's his last day to have me as a mom, he wants the day to last as long as possible. He's never had real love thru another human being. Never. Every single person he has ever loved has suddenly died or otherwise forsaken him. Dave & I have prayed & prayed for a way to convince him of our unconditional, unending love for him. He doesn't "get" family love because he's never had it. Praise the Lord for responding to our pleas! Depending on the Spirit for words, I wrote a short love note to Jame the other night, which he proudly calls a contract, &, glory to God, it has convinced him that I understand what kind of mom he prayed for & that I truly am that kind of mom-a real mom who really loves him. And, no, I'm not telling you what the note says. Hahahahaha! I will tell you that we call it the "What is true contract" & I included Philippians 4:8 telling him that when the bad thoughts come he can re-read the contract to know what is true. Not only does he read it at night, he keeps it in his wallet where he can touch it frequently thru'out the day....with that bigger than life smile I so dearly love.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
July 11 - Our Favorite Cambodian - Part One
I would like to introduce you to someone who is easily & by far our (Dave & myself) favorite Cambodian. His nickname is Jame (pronounced "Jam" with a Cambo accent). We were unofficially adopted by him while I was here with the group in May. The adoption is unofficial because it's virtually impossible to legally adopt a Cambodian & absolutely impossible to legally adopt a 38 year old man. Nevertheless, Jame is our real son. I could not love him more if I had nursed him myself.
God has given Jame a wonderful vision to open an orphanage for the poorest street children. With this vision constantly at the front of his mind, Jame prays & works hard toward realizing a loving home where abandoned children may know God, be well loved, obtain an education, eat every day, & have a safe place to sleep. The plan he has prayerfully made to raise funds for this endeavor is smartly simple. He is putting himself thru computer school so he can eventually have a (relatively speaking) well-paying job in the near future. In the meantime, he has obligated himself to a rent-to-own agreement for the purchase of the tuk-tuk he drives for a living. Once he graduates & pays off the tuk-tuk, he can work at the well-paying job & rent the tuk-tuk to another driver. Necessary staff for the orphanage can be made up of homeless adults. In return for their work they will be fed, have a safe place to sleep indoors & receive a small salary. Not only will this take a few beggars off the streets, but it will give them a valuable occupation.
Jame was an orphan most of his life, so he knows exactly what the children he dreams of helping think & feel & desire....& fear constantly even into their adult years (if they make it to adulthood). I believe his soul will be healed of the terrible orphan-wound as he helps the souls of other orphans heal by God's tender & relentless love.
During his first formative years, the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Cambodia & Vietnam was at a peak, the U.S. & Vietnam were violently warring inside Cambodian borders, & the Khmer Rouge was at the height of its viciously diabolical government takeover. Jame was 3 years old when his "first mom" abandoned the family to seek safety in Vietnam. When Jame reached 11 years old, he lost the rest of his family, his "first dad" & sister, to death because, as he puts it, "I could not protect my house." He was forcefully taken to an orphanage (read: labor camp for children) where he scraped by until his early teens. From then on, he has been on his own & by himself.
Miraculously, & I do mean miraculously, Jame has remained trustingly tenderhearted toward God & generously compassionate toward others. Jame is a member of a real church congregation here (meaning it's not a government run "church") & "tithes" 50% of his income there to help the needy. He spends most of what's left of his meager means on helping others as well. He understands that "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is a command to be taken literally, not a suggestion to be considered lightly & refuses to live at a higher standard than others....although he easily could. He's spent the last couple of months sleeping on a cot in his boss's driveway to save money rather than spend it on renting a room of his own. (Thank God I was able to convince him that he must have a real bed indoors. I'm not sure if it was my presentation of the idea of being healthy to help others, my teasing, "How can I visit you on a cot!?" or just the fact that Cambodia culture demands sons obey their moms even after they're grown men. Frankly, I don't care, I just want him indoors.)
In addition to gifts of money, Jame lovingly ministers to his fellow citizens thru practical action. For examples: When Jame sees an old person sitting on the sidewalk begging, he stops to massage them while he prays for them. He told me, ""Mom, dey have work hard & dey bodies are old now. Dey are hurt now & cannot move good, so I rub dem & dey can feel bettuh & move bettuh." Jame has set routes for trash picker children (trash pickers are people who push carts around the city rummaging thru garbage to find food, recyclables & anything they might use or sell) so that he can check on them periodically thru'out the day making sure they are safe & fed. He's also talked with parents who have kicked their young children out of the house (a common threat for anyone over 4 years old) trying to restore the family. He believes the parents must know God so they can love their children & have them home to go to school, so he speaks the Good News to them & prays for them. Praise the Lord, he has had some success in this evangelistic effort!
His method of helping people is simple. He explained it to me saying, "Mom, when I see someone who needs, I close my eyes behind my sunglasses so no one sees & pray in my heart so no one hears, 'Fadda, pleeeeease, can I help?" An idea comes to him, be it giving the cash in his pocket, getting someone indoors, finding someone a job, buying a meal, giving a ride, or some other practical charity. Then he happily does exactly that idea.
In addition to his charity work & tuk-tuk business, Jame has just been hired at a modest salary as my ministry partner (Shhhhh, he doesn't know I've rearranged my budget to pay him. He'd never allow Mom to do such a thing.). His official duties include taking me to & from the children's homes twice a day, obtaining necessary supplies & doing handyman work for the children's homes & team house where Ruth & I live, & providing transportation for visiting teams & for the children as needed (eg. tomorrow we're taking 8 of the boys for haircuts).
We (Dave & I) are now accepting financial contributions to be saved toward Jame's children's home (I've determined, according to God's will, to call it a home instead of an orphanage because it is a more accurate description of the loving ministry that will take place there.) & contributions made toward buying the tuk-tuk. If you would like to participate in either project, please email me at beckyroehere@yahoo.com.
7/11/10
Praise God for...
• being Emanuel, God with us. I am in sweet fellowship with Him constantly.
• good health, food, clothing & safe shelter. These are God's gifts, not human rights.
• my beloved Cambodian son Jame (pronounced "Jam" with a Cambo accent).
• ties of fellowship that stretch halfway round the globe without losing strength.
Petition God for...
• the salvation of lost souls. God wants them more than anything else.
• clear direction in how best to love the LIA children.
• comfort for my husband Dave.
• support for the opening of a new children's home.
A big honkin' thank-you to:
• Mike & Shirley for keeping me at the top of the prayer list!!
• Jim Hatfield for his timely encouragement. You're tops, Jim-bro'!
• Mark & Jane Truax for sending along toys for the children.
• Nancy Rodenbeck for praying me a personal breeze. You're cool & now so am I.
• Rich Young for keeping far-away missionaries near to mind. You rock.
Personal Notes:
• Robert Wooden, I'm praying for you, brother.
• Grace & Mercy, please assign someone to email me all One Call's. [Note to Becky: I'll try to remember to do it and I'll ask Peggy, too. ~Kelly]
• Mark & Jane, once the fight was over, everyone had a great time with the toys. And, I was adamant about leaving them at the house.
• Mark, if you know what the purple skin thing is, please advise. I have one now too.
• Isaac Roe, I love you more than everything.
God has given Jame a wonderful vision to open an orphanage for the poorest street children. With this vision constantly at the front of his mind, Jame prays & works hard toward realizing a loving home where abandoned children may know God, be well loved, obtain an education, eat every day, & have a safe place to sleep. The plan he has prayerfully made to raise funds for this endeavor is smartly simple. He is putting himself thru computer school so he can eventually have a (relatively speaking) well-paying job in the near future. In the meantime, he has obligated himself to a rent-to-own agreement for the purchase of the tuk-tuk he drives for a living. Once he graduates & pays off the tuk-tuk, he can work at the well-paying job & rent the tuk-tuk to another driver. Necessary staff for the orphanage can be made up of homeless adults. In return for their work they will be fed, have a safe place to sleep indoors & receive a small salary. Not only will this take a few beggars off the streets, but it will give them a valuable occupation.
Jame was an orphan most of his life, so he knows exactly what the children he dreams of helping think & feel & desire....& fear constantly even into their adult years (if they make it to adulthood). I believe his soul will be healed of the terrible orphan-wound as he helps the souls of other orphans heal by God's tender & relentless love.
During his first formative years, the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Cambodia & Vietnam was at a peak, the U.S. & Vietnam were violently warring inside Cambodian borders, & the Khmer Rouge was at the height of its viciously diabolical government takeover. Jame was 3 years old when his "first mom" abandoned the family to seek safety in Vietnam. When Jame reached 11 years old, he lost the rest of his family, his "first dad" & sister, to death because, as he puts it, "I could not protect my house." He was forcefully taken to an orphanage (read: labor camp for children) where he scraped by until his early teens. From then on, he has been on his own & by himself.
Miraculously, & I do mean miraculously, Jame has remained trustingly tenderhearted toward God & generously compassionate toward others. Jame is a member of a real church congregation here (meaning it's not a government run "church") & "tithes" 50% of his income there to help the needy. He spends most of what's left of his meager means on helping others as well. He understands that "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is a command to be taken literally, not a suggestion to be considered lightly & refuses to live at a higher standard than others....although he easily could. He's spent the last couple of months sleeping on a cot in his boss's driveway to save money rather than spend it on renting a room of his own. (Thank God I was able to convince him that he must have a real bed indoors. I'm not sure if it was my presentation of the idea of being healthy to help others, my teasing, "How can I visit you on a cot!?" or just the fact that Cambodia culture demands sons obey their moms even after they're grown men. Frankly, I don't care, I just want him indoors.)
In addition to gifts of money, Jame lovingly ministers to his fellow citizens thru practical action. For examples: When Jame sees an old person sitting on the sidewalk begging, he stops to massage them while he prays for them. He told me, ""Mom, dey have work hard & dey bodies are old now. Dey are hurt now & cannot move good, so I rub dem & dey can feel bettuh & move bettuh." Jame has set routes for trash picker children (trash pickers are people who push carts around the city rummaging thru garbage to find food, recyclables & anything they might use or sell) so that he can check on them periodically thru'out the day making sure they are safe & fed. He's also talked with parents who have kicked their young children out of the house (a common threat for anyone over 4 years old) trying to restore the family. He believes the parents must know God so they can love their children & have them home to go to school, so he speaks the Good News to them & prays for them. Praise the Lord, he has had some success in this evangelistic effort!
His method of helping people is simple. He explained it to me saying, "Mom, when I see someone who needs, I close my eyes behind my sunglasses so no one sees & pray in my heart so no one hears, 'Fadda, pleeeeease, can I help?" An idea comes to him, be it giving the cash in his pocket, getting someone indoors, finding someone a job, buying a meal, giving a ride, or some other practical charity. Then he happily does exactly that idea.
In addition to his charity work & tuk-tuk business, Jame has just been hired at a modest salary as my ministry partner (Shhhhh, he doesn't know I've rearranged my budget to pay him. He'd never allow Mom to do such a thing.). His official duties include taking me to & from the children's homes twice a day, obtaining necessary supplies & doing handyman work for the children's homes & team house where Ruth & I live, & providing transportation for visiting teams & for the children as needed (eg. tomorrow we're taking 8 of the boys for haircuts).
We (Dave & I) are now accepting financial contributions to be saved toward Jame's children's home (I've determined, according to God's will, to call it a home instead of an orphanage because it is a more accurate description of the loving ministry that will take place there.) & contributions made toward buying the tuk-tuk. If you would like to participate in either project, please email me at beckyroehere@yahoo.com.
7/11/10
Praise God for...
• being Emanuel, God with us. I am in sweet fellowship with Him constantly.
• good health, food, clothing & safe shelter. These are God's gifts, not human rights.
• my beloved Cambodian son Jame (pronounced "Jam" with a Cambo accent).
• ties of fellowship that stretch halfway round the globe without losing strength.
Petition God for...
• the salvation of lost souls. God wants them more than anything else.
• clear direction in how best to love the LIA children.
• comfort for my husband Dave.
• support for the opening of a new children's home.
A big honkin' thank-you to:
• Mike & Shirley for keeping me at the top of the prayer list!!
• Jim Hatfield for his timely encouragement. You're tops, Jim-bro'!
• Mark & Jane Truax for sending along toys for the children.
• Nancy Rodenbeck for praying me a personal breeze. You're cool & now so am I.
• Rich Young for keeping far-away missionaries near to mind. You rock.
Personal Notes:
• Robert Wooden, I'm praying for you, brother.
• Grace & Mercy, please assign someone to email me all One Call's. [Note to Becky: I'll try to remember to do it and I'll ask Peggy, too. ~Kelly]
• Mark & Jane, once the fight was over, everyone had a great time with the toys. And, I was adamant about leaving them at the house.
• Mark, if you know what the purple skin thing is, please advise. I have one now too.
• Isaac Roe, I love you more than everything.
Friday, July 9, 2010
What a Ride - July 9, 2010
I'm terribly sorry for the delay in communication. Internet & phone access are still skitchy, but God's working it out.
I departed from Indy June 30 & arrived in Phnom Penh late July 2. It was a looooong trip, but God was amazing all along the way.
From Indy to LAX I rode with a young Cambodian woman who was born in a Thai refugee camp during the war. Her family was sponsored to the US when she was a little girl & to her family's dismay she's been reluctant to visit Cambodia. By the time we landed however, she was excited to make plans with her husband to come over & learn firsthand of her country's history & to help improve its future.
God showed me extraordinary favor in LA. I should've been trapped there & missed my connection all together, but ended up being escorted past security to the front of the line for my flight. From LA to China I rode with a young Chinese man who was returning home for disappointment in the lack of opportunity in the so-called Land of Opportunity. Poor fella' is so tangled up in desire for worldly power & pleasure that altho' he made the flight, he's really missed the boat. He was not at all open to hearing any good news, let alone The Good News, so the best I could do for him was pray & squat in my seat to give him more leg room.
While in China for 14+ hours, very strange things happened-both pleasant & downright creepy. I'll stick with the pleasant here. I'm still wondering what could have provoked an old Cambodian woman who speaks no english to approach the only white person in the place for help. My family likes to tease me about having a sign on my forehead that says, "Tell me anything, I'll listen." The best I can reckon is that that sign shines in mutiple languages & says, "Tell me anything, even if you can't actually speak to me, I'll listen." Hahahaha! She sat down next to me & in silence handed me her passport, her travel itinerary & her boarding pass, then just stared at me. Long story short, with a lot of God's grace & a lot of hand-holding she ended up at the right place at the right time to make her flight to France. We ended up hugging & kissing & offering each other food (western comparison for offering food: offering each other thousands of dollars).
The best thing that happened in China was making the acquaintance of an extremely bright & compassionate young man from Terre Haute. Yes, the Terre Haute that's just down the highway from us in Indiana! If I've had to travel to the other side of the planet just to speak with a man who lives less than 100 miles from me, the trip is absolutely worth everything it costs. He is at a pivotal point in his life & is taking some time off to recover a bit from a devastating loss & to evaluate his life's direction. By the time I hugged Kenny goodbye & promised to pray for him, he was open to asking God for direction. Hallelujah! This is the Kenny on the prayer list. Please pray earnestly for Kenny because God loves him & the world can benefit tremendously from Kenny's beautiful heart.
Then things got really exciting. The flight was late, my luggage was missing, no one was at the airport to pick me up & I was thoroughly exhausted. If the Phnom Penh airport had a suggestion box, I would surely suggest public phones. It was after midinight by the time I got a moto (small motorcycle taxi) to the only place I know how to get to from the airport-Chiva's Shack Guesthouse. There I was able to call our "Cambodian Son" for help. Our son Jame was in such a hurry to get to me that he showed up in his pajamas. Unable to get ahold of Ruth, he woke up a guesthouse owner near Ruth's. He got himself a room as well "just in case Mom was scared." I sat on the edge of the bed praying until morning. Once at Ruth's, sick with exhaustion, she put me to bed for the day saying, "Aw Beck, just rest. And, don't worry about the luggage, we'll just pray it back." (Yeah, she really prayed my luggage to me. Ruth's cool like that. She has such authority because she has the humility to back it up.)
Ruth had just returned from a respite in Australia, her homeland, a couple days before I arrived & was immediately thrust into difficult challenges, so both of us have spent the last several days recouping & regrouping. I've settled in well with my roommate Muffin, a sweet & sassy yellow cat, & am now hopeful that I'll be able to send out messages (maybe photos too!) about the people & events here two or three times a week. [Note from Kelly: Becky wasn't able to upload the picture of the cat this time... maybe later :-).]
***
7/9/10
Praise God for...
• wonderful connections made with people along the way here,
• safe travel & returned luggage,
• a lovely haven to live in.
Petition God for...
• His loving wisdom for Kenny,
• salvation of lost souls,
• an increase in LIA staff.
A big honkin' thank-you to:
• Mike & Shirley for keeping me at the top of the prayer list!!
• the Turners for committing to support this adventure with prayer & cash,
• Di Hester & Toni McKinney for financial donations,
• Deb for the Veema rehydration mixes,
• Tom & June Gourley for the probiotics,
• Kelly Stanley for managing the blog.
Personal Notes:
• Lisa Turner, read it & my heart's all kinds of jacked up now. Thank you, dear sister.
• Sherry Warner, eat doughnuts!
• Isaac Roe, I love you more than everything.
I departed from Indy June 30 & arrived in Phnom Penh late July 2. It was a looooong trip, but God was amazing all along the way.
From Indy to LAX I rode with a young Cambodian woman who was born in a Thai refugee camp during the war. Her family was sponsored to the US when she was a little girl & to her family's dismay she's been reluctant to visit Cambodia. By the time we landed however, she was excited to make plans with her husband to come over & learn firsthand of her country's history & to help improve its future.
God showed me extraordinary favor in LA. I should've been trapped there & missed my connection all together, but ended up being escorted past security to the front of the line for my flight. From LA to China I rode with a young Chinese man who was returning home for disappointment in the lack of opportunity in the so-called Land of Opportunity. Poor fella' is so tangled up in desire for worldly power & pleasure that altho' he made the flight, he's really missed the boat. He was not at all open to hearing any good news, let alone The Good News, so the best I could do for him was pray & squat in my seat to give him more leg room.
While in China for 14+ hours, very strange things happened-both pleasant & downright creepy. I'll stick with the pleasant here. I'm still wondering what could have provoked an old Cambodian woman who speaks no english to approach the only white person in the place for help. My family likes to tease me about having a sign on my forehead that says, "Tell me anything, I'll listen." The best I can reckon is that that sign shines in mutiple languages & says, "Tell me anything, even if you can't actually speak to me, I'll listen." Hahahaha! She sat down next to me & in silence handed me her passport, her travel itinerary & her boarding pass, then just stared at me. Long story short, with a lot of God's grace & a lot of hand-holding she ended up at the right place at the right time to make her flight to France. We ended up hugging & kissing & offering each other food (western comparison for offering food: offering each other thousands of dollars).
The best thing that happened in China was making the acquaintance of an extremely bright & compassionate young man from Terre Haute. Yes, the Terre Haute that's just down the highway from us in Indiana! If I've had to travel to the other side of the planet just to speak with a man who lives less than 100 miles from me, the trip is absolutely worth everything it costs. He is at a pivotal point in his life & is taking some time off to recover a bit from a devastating loss & to evaluate his life's direction. By the time I hugged Kenny goodbye & promised to pray for him, he was open to asking God for direction. Hallelujah! This is the Kenny on the prayer list. Please pray earnestly for Kenny because God loves him & the world can benefit tremendously from Kenny's beautiful heart.
Then things got really exciting. The flight was late, my luggage was missing, no one was at the airport to pick me up & I was thoroughly exhausted. If the Phnom Penh airport had a suggestion box, I would surely suggest public phones. It was after midinight by the time I got a moto (small motorcycle taxi) to the only place I know how to get to from the airport-Chiva's Shack Guesthouse. There I was able to call our "Cambodian Son" for help. Our son Jame was in such a hurry to get to me that he showed up in his pajamas. Unable to get ahold of Ruth, he woke up a guesthouse owner near Ruth's. He got himself a room as well "just in case Mom was scared." I sat on the edge of the bed praying until morning. Once at Ruth's, sick with exhaustion, she put me to bed for the day saying, "Aw Beck, just rest. And, don't worry about the luggage, we'll just pray it back." (Yeah, she really prayed my luggage to me. Ruth's cool like that. She has such authority because she has the humility to back it up.)
Ruth had just returned from a respite in Australia, her homeland, a couple days before I arrived & was immediately thrust into difficult challenges, so both of us have spent the last several days recouping & regrouping. I've settled in well with my roommate Muffin, a sweet & sassy yellow cat, & am now hopeful that I'll be able to send out messages (maybe photos too!) about the people & events here two or three times a week. [Note from Kelly: Becky wasn't able to upload the picture of the cat this time... maybe later :-).]
***
7/9/10
Praise God for...
• wonderful connections made with people along the way here,
• safe travel & returned luggage,
• a lovely haven to live in.
Petition God for...
• His loving wisdom for Kenny,
• salvation of lost souls,
• an increase in LIA staff.
A big honkin' thank-you to:
• Mike & Shirley for keeping me at the top of the prayer list!!
• the Turners for committing to support this adventure with prayer & cash,
• Di Hester & Toni McKinney for financial donations,
• Deb for the Veema rehydration mixes,
• Tom & June Gourley for the probiotics,
• Kelly Stanley for managing the blog.
Personal Notes:
• Lisa Turner, read it & my heart's all kinds of jacked up now. Thank you, dear sister.
• Sherry Warner, eat doughnuts!
• Isaac Roe, I love you more than everything.
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