Cambodia_BPF

Welcome to the TRIBE!

2011-11-12T22:21:00.000-06:00

THANKS for joining our TRIBE!

This blog is the place where you can get:

Information about future trips
Updates on our partnership
Prayer requests...and...
Follow mission teams on the ground

As a part of the tribe you will get text messages, facebook updates, and emails - but all of those will direct you back to this site. This is where you will get the info that keeps you connected!

Go ahead and look through previous posts to get an idea of all the great experiences BPF teams have had in the past.

Thanks again for joining - I hope you will consider GOING, or going again!

CAMBODIA PARTY!

2011-01-18T10:57:00.002-06:00

Cambodia Party

Friday, January 21 - 7:oo to 8:oopm

BPF All Stars Room

Childcare Provided

Come celebrate with our team as we share stories and pictures from our recent mission trip to Cambodia. God did a lot of great things, it was a blast to be a part of it, and we can't wait to share.

Departure time :(

2011-01-07T08:22:00.003-06:00

The bus pulled away from the hotel about 20 minutes ago... It's soooo weird to see all of our friends/team pull away and leave us in Cambodia. Tamara and Lauren are on the bus - but they will be coming back to the hotel tonight.
In the morning, Greg will be heading to another province (about 4 hours away) to do another pastor's conference. I get to hang out with Tamara and Lauren - I am very excited about "living their life" for a couple of days. Tomorrow we will head out to the village and visit our sweet kids. Not sure what the other days will hold...there's so much to do and see here - I am sure we'll have fun.
Please pray for safe travels for the rest of the team as they head back home.
It's been a great week and a half!
-Kathy P.

Thursday, Jan 6th - Exciting night...

2011-01-07T08:19:00.001-06:00

Another note from Jen C. facebook:

Went to deliver Chantha a bible at the restaurant her mom washes dishes at.....we lived above this restaurant this summer. All the staff came out & were totally excited to see us standing at their back door ;)
I asked Chantha's mom where she was...she pointed behind the building and said she was at English class in the "white building"......so she grabbed our arms and headed us over to the "white building". For those of you that have read about Somaly Mam...you know the building I am talking about. It is a huge, old, dirty white building that houses drug addicts, prostitutes and sex slaves.....and we were heading in.
To be honest.....I had seen this building all summer from my kitchen window. It became a symbol of sadness & hopelessness for me. A scary place....and here we went....omg.
Chantha's mom was walking at a "mall walker" pace...we head into the building....some really drunk guys playing pool, little children in the dark saying "hello!!!", lots of people sleeping in corners.....
We head to the back to a tiny alley....water is dripping from the roof & I stepped in something nasty & slippery.......we head back to a little room with desk set up and students bent over paper taking a English exam. Chantha wasn't there yet so while we were waiting everyone greeted us so
sweetly....next door to the classroom they have a makeshift medical clinic on a tiny room. People who live in the white building come down for medicine and treatment. We hung out and chit chatted with the people in charge....so sweet & so much hope.....
I heard flip flops coming really quickly down the alley.....Chantha :) she couldn't believe I had come to her class.....I told her "I promised I would bring you your bible!!'"...her friends came up & said "Jennifer! We know your name well! Chantha speaks of you all the time :)"...at that moment....I felt like...this is why I am here. In this slum. With these people. Hugging them. Smiling & becoming friends. His hands & feet.....we are free to change the world.....
Gave Chantha her bible and she said "I will read it every night" :)
Looks like we have a opportunity to serve and work teaching English in the "white building"....how awesome would that be?! I pray God will open that door...
Tomorrow we come home......Chantha will hang out with me all day......can't wait to be back......what a great day.
Jen C.
.

Tuesday, Jan 4th - Today is in my top 10 of favorite days...ever

2011-01-07T08:11:00.002-06:00

The post below is from Jen C's facebook - thought I'd share it on the blog.
-Kathy P.

Oh my gosh......the past 2 days we have been doing a "career series" for the older orphans in the orphanage. Today we brought 13 - 15 year olds back to the city today.
It is their first time EVER to come to the city.....i have never seen children so excited..... When we pulled up to the hotel, they could not even believe that they were actually getting to stay in a real hotel. We then walked to the mall to eat dinner at a pizza place...seriously....you would think they had been transported to the future. Riding on the escalator was a huge but scary experience....holding their hands was crucial. They for sure had a death grip on me! Sweaty palms does not even describe it. The pride, happiness, and excitement..I can't even describe. :)
Pizza was awesome...one of the boys has a birthday in January (he does not know the day, just the month)...so we did a birthday cake and the entire restaurant was filled with the birthday song. His face was priceless...a birthday cake?! Everyone singing?! Candles?! So beautiful....in that moment he felt so special and loved....before he blew out his candles, he put his hands together in prayer & closed his eyes to say a quick prayer :) wish I could hear what that prayer was.....
Tonight has been a beautiful experience. Cannot wait for tomorrow....taking them on tours of trade schools, university, & showing them how to dream for a future.....
Thank you God for this REAL life.....their faces are more than I can describe. I love this.....don't want to leave. This is true life....what God has planned for me. Cambodia is where I need to be.
Jen

Bibles, Mugs, etc.

2011-01-05T08:29:00.008-06:00

Taking the teen-agers out for Pizza - in the mall - first time for Pizza, first time to ride an escalator, first time to be in a mall...what an experience!

David checking out his picture-Bible.

Bible presentation.

So grateful for his very own Bible.

Looking for their name!

Greg teaching the kids about the importance of clean water and drinking from their "own" cup. He told them that they wouldn't drink out of the toilet, but when they drink water out of the Mekong River...it is the same thing.

Bibles, mugs (with candy cores) lined up and ready for the kids!

Mugs labeled with Khmer and English name. Tamara and Lauren wanted the English name - so they can make sure they are using their "own" cup! Thanks Tamara and Lauren! :)

One of our incredible translators writing Khmer names...

Bible, Mugs and Moms

2011-01-04T17:41:00.002-06:00

At the moment I am very frustrated with this internet...guess I should be grateful for ANY internet in a 3rd world company! :) As you can see I posted several random pictures from our days here - as I was trying to post pictures from yesterday of Bibles, Mugs and Moms - the internet kept shutting me down and I couldn't get the rest of the pictures uploaded - will try again later. Just let me quickly say....yesterday was full of incredible experiences.
Taking the moms to the city was wonderful - they kept thanking us again and again. We ate lunch at the "Boat Noodle" and then took them to the Royal Palace. We took lots of pictures and did lots of hugging.
My favorite story from our day yesterday...as we were walking around the Royal Palace one of the house moms said, "I am happy to be here and am having fun, but I miss my little baby!" Then she pointed to the grass and said if he was here he would have so much fun playing in the grass yard. We had only been gone from the orphanage about 2 1/2 hours and she was missing one of the babies that she cares for----that is a mother's love! :)
As we traveled back to the orphanage, we asked each of them to tell us some of their stories - time doesn't permit me to share details - because it is time to leave - will post more later.
Hugs,
Kathy P

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!

2011-01-04T08:58:00.004-06:00

Playing soccer...they LOVE to play soccer!

Thyda's bed...notice how much they love pictures.

The picture in this picture should look familiar to several "oldies"!

One of the girl's rooms.

Tina serving two of the house moms fruit at the restaurant. They had a hard time being served - because they are always the ones serving others.

First day to arrive in the village - Reaksa walked down the road to meet his sponsor, Ron. Notice in Reaksa's hand is the picture and note that Ron sent to him last year. Reaksa was one happy little boy!

Helping serve sack lunches to the kids and village after Sunday service.

The Mission Trip "CHOIR! They were awesome! (They were asked on-the-spot to sing a song Sunday morning).

Noelle visiting with the kids while they were waiting for service to start. They were all dressed up in the "school" clothes for church.

THE TEAM!

Kids crowded around looking at the notebook with all of their pictures. They love to look at themselves! :)

Shari doing hair.

Hanging out on the steps of the dorm.

Sweet babies sleeping in their "cribs".

Tina loving on one of the moms.

There were always plenty of hands to hold.

...and sweet kiddos to love on.

Notes from Kathy and Jen

2011-01-03T17:50:00.003-06:00

It seems like there's not enough time to get everything in that we want to do here... every minute seems so precious (that's why we have trouble stopping an updating the blog!) If we could post all of our stories that we share each day while traveling the blog would be pages upon pages.
I will try to post just a few random thoughts this morning (it's Tuesday morning here):
*Monday was the first day for the Bible club at HFC, teacher training and Pastor's conference. Both went very well. It think there are 42 attending the Pastor's conference. The Bible club ended up being just our orphans - which was a nice break from the hundreds we've had in the past. With 66ish (I haven't finished meeting with each one to know the "exact" number.) orphans, it takes more helper's and more time to love on each of them and give them some much needed attention. In the afternoon, the Culverhouse's led the teenage orphans in their own Bible study time - teaching them about character and self-worth. Kathy K. and I spent time talking to the orphans one-on-one with a translator to see how they are doing and reminding them of how much they are loved and that their sponsor loves and prays for them. We told them that even when we leave to go back to our homes - we continue to pray for them... so sponsors, every time you see that picture on your fridge ask God to hold them close. Lynn was the official photographer, getting updated pictures for Bright Point and the sponsors. Colette and Noelle did teacher training - they were in the room next to me and it sounded like they were having a great time. I'm sure you'll be hearing more from some of the specific teams as they have time to post their thoughts. The teen-ages played and played and played with the kids - every one of them is doing and INCREDIBLE job!
*Ron and George left for Srey Reim (not sure that is spelled correct) - anyway they have gone with a translator about 4-5 hours from here to another province to lead another pastor's conference. George texted last night and said that he was preaching and that Ron was going to be preaching Tuesday - he was asking for prayer for both of them. I can't wait to hear of their adventures when they return Wednesday night.
*We will be leaving in about 20 minutes to head back to the orphanage and start our day again. The new adventure for today is we are bringing the house moms into PP to visit the Royal Palace and out to lunch. Lauren (through a translator) told them yesterday that we are taking them...they were ECSTATIC!!! They said they have NEVER been to Phnom Penh! I am looking forward to taking them and watching their faces as they see the City for the first time. Wow! What a privilege we have been given to do such simple things to love on people.
*Quick quote from yesterday that made me smile... Matthew W. while eating lunch: "Mr. Pickering, when I finish eating lunch, can I go play!" :) So sweet - he did NOT want to miss a minute loving and playing with those kiddos!

OK - I've got to close - I don't have time to reread this to make sure it all makes sense... have a good day, evening, night - where ever you are and know that God has a purpose for your life and loves you very much!
Hugs,
Kathy P.

Hey friends.........Everytime I come to Cambodia, it gets more and more difficult to express how it feels. Weird, huh? So....I am just going to spill my thoughts and hope it makes sense :)

Ok....first. Long story short....this summer my family "lived" in Cambodia for a short period of time. We had a young lady, Chantha (16 years old), who came to our house every morning and cleaned. She goes to highschool in the morning and English classes in the evening. She lives with her family in a shed the size of my bedroom with a hole dug in the ground for a toilet.
She is #8 in a class of 48.....she wants to be a newscaster when she grows up. She works every Sunday at a restaurant to earn money for her lunches at school. She gets paid 30cents per hour for 10 hours.....$3 for a days work.
I called her as soon as we got to Cambodia :) She went to the village with us for 2 days. When I took her home, her mom wanted me to sit down to visit with her. We chit chatted about boys and how Chantha needs to focus on her studies (the mommy came out in me)...then we moved on to spirtual things......Chantha said " I want you to know I believe in Christian....Do you believe me, Jennifer?" Her mom was just looking on smiling and nodding her head. I asked her " Why do you believe?" She told me, " Because God is so good to me and I believe him. He is better than Budda" ....I told her " I want you to know I love you no matter what...no matter who you believe in"....I didn't want her to feel pressure to "believe" in Jesus to be my friend....I wanted to make sure it was real for her. So anyway....she said "I know you love me.... but, I want you to know I believe and I pray to God everyday"
Super awesome. I asked her if I could get her a bible....she had no clue what that was. Have you ever had to explain to someone what a bible is? I told her it was God's thoughts and words written in a book....it gives us direction and gives us His heart.
I love this girl....I told her.....Out of these millions of people in this city, God chose to put us together. He has a plan for her....something huge.
Lastly, I asked her mom how her family was doing. They are desperately poor, live in a shack with a hole for a toilet, sleep on a dirt floor, her mom washes dishes for a living, her dad drives a moto taxi, Chantha and her brother are trying to get a education for a way out, university is not even a possibility in her mind........But, her mom answered, " We are so happy. Thank God for you and we are doing so good." She asked for nothing from me...it was a great opportunity to ask for money, charity......nothing was asked....just a thank you and a hug. A sincere relationship....God is working in their life.....and mine........This journey is EPIC and I am amazed everyday. Jesus, you are freakin incredible. This life is not my own.....it is totally Yours :)

xoxoxoxox.....Jennifer Culverhouse

Aaron's Wild Ride

2011-01-02T09:28:00.002-06:00

One of our team members, Aaron Biesman, a 20 year old has a peanut allergy. Today we ate our first meal in the village. For the first time that any of us can remember they served us a soup with peanuts in it. Aaron ate some of the soup before anyone realized that the peanuts were in there. He immediately took Benadryl and induced vomitting. Unfortunately the peanuts already started to effect him and he began to experience some swelling in his throat. A car transpoted him out of the village, on the ferry, and to the nearest town where an ambulance was waiting to carry him into Phnom Penh. He was treated at the hospital - and was realeased this evening. Praise God Aaron is okay! And, so is his mom, Collette - who is also on our team.

There are too many stories of how God took care of Aaron, and really all of us, today to share in this post. But, know this, God is soverign and he is good. Tonight we are very grateful!!

Please continue to pray for Aaron and Collette. They have had a very emotional and stessful day. Pray that Aaron has the energy to accomplish what God has sent him here to do.

Pics...more to come.

2011-01-01T06:57:00.003-06:00

Sheila loving on some of the kids!
Matt and his new friend. Matt was definitely a "natural" playing with the kids today!
Amanda and Vimean
Aaron, Matt, Jonny and Ravy - Friday evening...on the river boat ride down the Mekong. Fun times!

Friday and Saturday...full and fun filled days!

2011-01-01T05:53:00.003-06:00

Friday was spent with the "newbies" touring the Royal Palace and Toul Sleng (the school building where much of the Khmer Rouge torture took place back in the 1970's. It's a sobering experience but a needed one to understand a little of what this country and the people here have lived through). The rest of us visited other areas and shopped. My group gathered at an awesome place for lunch called Jacob's Well - the food was incredible (and cheap!)but the best part about it is that it's owned by a guy who ministers to guys and girls who have been rescued from sex slavery. They are taught spiritual and financial disciplines along with life skills. It was incredible to see how their lives have been healed. We will be going back there with the rest of the team. Friday evening (New Year's Eve) we took a river boat ride down the Mekong River and had dinner prepared for us by Khim (The Mey's wife) and Ranny(Sokhom's wife). We had a fun time hanging out as a team!
Today (Saturday) we boarded a bus for Lveasar to visit our kiddos at Hope for Cambodia Orphanage!!! Life doesn't get much better than seeing their sweet smiling faces as they run to us to give us hugs. What a privilege to get to be a part of these kids lives and to share God's love with them. Today we just played and hung out for a while. We got back to Phnom Penh in time to shop for a little at the Russian Market. It's fun helping "newbies" bargain for treasures to take back home. We also found some nice metal mugs that we will be giving to our kids, moms and teachers at the orphanage - so that everyone will have their "own" mug. At present they all drink out of a couple of mugs! UGH! Trying to work on the hygiene and health... Thanks sponsors for providing these mugs for your kids!
It's dinner time now - everyone has gone to multiple places around the city. Greg and I chose to eat at "grandmas" at the hotel...cambodian club sandwich and french fries! YUMMY!
Fonda, thanks for sharing with us the scripture. It is so encouraging to know that we are being lifted up.
All, please continue to pray for us that we will let Christ's light shine through us in everything we do as we love and serve here in Cambodia.
-Kathy Pickering

A Message for the Team from HOME...

2010-12-31T01:32:00.000-06:00

Cambodia Team: This verse jumped off the page for me. I read it last year and it stood out, then I read it again this year and it jumped off the page, so here it is. 2 Corinthians 2:14,15. "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." ... I visualize the Team walking into the village in triumphal procession. With communication being limited there is a universal language that speaks without words. The fragrance of Christ is recognizable. The aroma of God's love is in the air and it cannot be missed. You represent the fragrance of the knowledge of him. The aroma of Christ lingers in the air. Without words, God's love spreads from village to village. You speak without words, but they understand.

I am praying for the Team,
Fonda Hundl

We Are Here!

2010-12-30T12:06:00.003-06:00

All of our connections went very well. It was fun to see lots of snow in Chicago and Seoul. It is about 1:00am in Cambodia. Everyone just settled down into their hotel rooms...waiting on the AC to catch up :)

I already know we have a great team! Everyone has been so happy and easy going during the almost 30 hours of travel. I'm so glad so many folks have returned on our team, but I think I am even more excited to see Cambodia through the eyes of our first-timers. Especially the students!

It was so good to see our two missionaries - Lauren and Tamara. It is hard to believe that it was two months ago that I came with them to Cambodia to drop them off. And, as always it is good to see my friend Pastor Sokhom. Tomorrow holds lots of adventure. Make sure and check back for perspectives from different team members.

Thank God for safe travel!

-Randy

2010-2011 Trip

2010-12-27T22:22:00.002-06:00

The BPF Team leaves for Cambodia very soon!

Our flight is at 6:55am on Wednesday, December 29. We will arrive in Phnom Penh really late on the 31st. On Friday we will tour the city. Saturday through Wednesday we will go to Lveasor to visit Hope for Cambodia Orphanage and to do our projects. This year's projects will include: Children's Bible Club, Pastor's Conference (at 2 locations), Teacher Training, House Mom Appreciation, Student Career Fair, and Construction Projects. We have a lot to accomplish - but we have a big team with just the right folks. There will be 33 of us!! On Thursday we will go to Kompong Som to the beach. Friday we will arrive back in Phnom Penh and fly out very late, in order to get back home at 2:00pm on Saturday, January 8.

Check back often for updates from our team.

Thanks for your prayers!

Note from Tami (sent midnight Monday, Texas time)

2010-05-18T08:17:00.002-05:00

Sitting in airport in Seoul Korea (Icehon). We left Phnom Penh 12 hours ago and have slept about 3 hours in the last 30. We are looking forward to boarding the plane and sleeping a bit before getting home to our beds. This has been an awesome trip. We have seen amazing sites, miracles from God and made wonderful new friends of beautiful and gracious people. Thank you God for arranging this trip!

Monday morning, our last day!

2010-05-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

Today we are planning to go to the Russian Market and Teoul Sleng. Then we are meeting Tida and Danubia for lunch. We will probably spend our afternoon cleaning up and packing.

For dinner we are meeting with our translators, plus Ravy, Callan and Nyda for pizza at the mall...a time to say good bye to everyone. That will be very hard!!

Sokhom is picking us up at 8:00pm to take us to the airport.

This has been such an awesome trip!! We have not been on a strenuous schedule. It has been relaxing and lots and lots of time just to spend visiting with old and new friends!!

We will see you all back in the states on Tuesday night!!!
Jan

It's Saturday night...We have a big day tomorrow!

2010-05-15T09:37:00.000-05:00

We are back in Phnom Penh. We got back around 4:00.

Saém and Sokhom both asked Kevin if he would preach tomorrow. Sokhom said it only has to be around 40 minutes!! So Kevin is busy preparing for that!
Sokhom also asked Joe if he will say a few words. I told Joe and Tami to be prepared just in case he calls them up to sing tomorrow!! You never know how you might be involved!

Tonight we went to Ronni and Sokhom's for dinner. It was so good!
The Mey called while we were there and wanted to talk to each one of us!!

Better go, we have a big day tomorrow!! Can't wait to see the orphans one more time!!
Jan

First Experience at the Orphanage - Tami

2010-05-14T20:43:00.001-05:00

It has taken me a couple of days to process Wednesday's trip to the Orphanage. I may never be able to put into words all the emotions I experienced. We left for Laveasar by van around 8 am. It was rush hour and it took the better part of an hour to get to the ferry. I am not sure what I was expecting when we got there but what can I say - WOW! When the Ferry arrived it was a mad dash for all to load. There were about 20 people and vehicles (bicycles, mopeds, and two vans) all crammed into a space the size of a city bus. The "facilities" was a small closet with a hole to the Mekong River. Luckily I did not need to make use of it. The trip across took about 10-15 minutes. Once across we loaded into the van for a short ride to the Orphanage. When we arrived the children were still in class. Sohkom took us to each individual class where we were greeted by the entire group. My estimation is that there are approximately 100 students, 68 of which live at the Orphanage and the rest are from the village. While the children ate lunch we had ours outside under a tree. We were treated to fresh coconut milk right from the nut with a straw. The local ladies provided lunch of rice, fish, and fresh fruit. Afterwards we spent about 2 hours playing with the children. The toys were a huge hit. Kevin and Jan showed the kids how to hula hoop. Hilarious! Joe had several of the boys playing with the frisbees. No instructions needed for the soccer balls or jump ropes. The children were so affectionate. Some were content to be held, while others wanted more interaction. Several were intrigued with my fake nails. When it was time to leave it was very difficult. We loaded up and took the ferry back across. We stopped at RDI to purchase nativity scenes. We were treated to a water treatment lesson between the RDI employee and Sohkom. We arrived at Sohkom's home about 6pm and he treated us to fresh jackfruit and dried mango. The dried Mango was the same taste and texture as a fruit roll up. We then returned to the hotel. Joe and I were dead on our feet so we chose to skip dinner and go straight to bed. We were dirty, sweaty, and swollen from heat but totally exhilarated. What an awesome day.

Update from Kevin

2010-05-14T20:35:00.000-05:00

The trip has been VERY fulfilling and VERY tiring. The heat has been pretty oppressive; but, the heat has been more than off-set by the many new friends that have been made in Cambodia and the many smiles we saw on the faces of the orphans at Lveasar.

We just completed our mini-Discovering Marriage class with several young couples from Sa'em's church. One comment from one of the young men at the conference almost brought Jan and I to tears. He said that he told his boss that he would need to take some vacation so that he and his wife could attend a marriage conference and the boss questioned the need for such a meeting. It ended up that the young man lost some pay in order to attend the conference. He said that it did not matter - he wanted to come even if it meant taking a pay cut. He said he felt it was a higher priority to put his marriage above his job - what a testimony!

We have had some pretty interesting meals on our trip to Sihanoukville. Since I am a "seasoned veteran" in Cambodia (my second trip), I felt a bit more adventurous than before in eating the food. And since Jan was eating the same food, I felt very safe in eating it!

I wish I could have seen Joe when he left with Tida to go help him at this computer business. They rode on Tida's small scooter with Joe carrying four laptop computers. He said his legs were sticking out quite a bit as they traveled the 20-30 minute ride to Tida's business. Joe and Tami have both shown great flexibility on this trip - they are real troopers.

It was great to see Jan working with the orphans at Lveasar. She was in her element working with the kids. They had such big smiles on their faces when they saw her and they were clamoring to hug her and be by her side!

The kids had so much fun playing with the hula hoops, soccer balls, frisbees and jump ropes. Even Pastor Sokhom got into the act hula-hooping!

Can't wait to see the orphans again on Sunday. Callan Edquist will join us on the trip on Sunday.

Kevin

Retreat in Sihanoukville

2010-05-14T08:54:00.000-05:00

Friday evening:Today went very well at the conference...we had a few things that were hard to translate but most everything translated well. There was lots of good discussion. They are all so sweet and so hungry to learn!!We have felt right at home with them! Thank you so much for your prayers!!We really had a good discussion about showing affection!! We learned a lot about their culture. They were talking about how their culture raises them to not show affection, not just in public but even in their homes. One young man said,"I want to know if the wives really want affection or if they agree with the culture?" All the wives started talking about how they want affection!! We may have started a revolution of hand holding and kissing!!!It was so tender when they wrote love letters to each other...they took every activitity very seriously!! Many said they had never done that before!!Tonight we had dinner on the beach and they cooked American food for us...hot dogs and grilled chicken (head and all!!)My boys will appreciate this...Kevin has a new joke that we are hearing over and over! He counts to nine in Khmer and then for ten he says "prohm prohm"(five, five) all the Cambodians laugh which just encourages him and he goes to the next group and says it again!! Tami and Joe and I wish people would not encourage him!!We are not going to have the financial management class. Saém feels like it would not relate to them and we agree. After being here and listening to their stories we need to rethink how to help them on this one!I know the best thing about this trip has been the new friends we have made!! We feel so close to all these young couples!! We have just extended our extended family!!The worst thing about this trip...using the squatty potty!!! This is my fourth trip over and somehow I have managed to avoid theseon every other trip!! Good night from Sihanoukville!Jan

Note from Joe...

2010-05-14T07:58:00.001-05:00

Laptops have been delivered. I spent the day with Tida on Tuesday at hisbusiness and worked with he and a technician to install Khmer languagepack and typing programs on each of the laptops. The hope is that thekids at the orphanage will be able to learn to type, pick up basiccomputer skills and even help build their English language skills by usingthese programs and others as time goes on. (The internet may be only 2 years or so away...) Tida picked me up at our hotel. Transportation to his business was veryinteresting to say the least! I traveled on the back of his motor scooter,four (4) laptops and all through the streets of Phnom Penh. Quiet a siteto see. At times we were only inches from other mopeds, scooters, TukTuks, cars, buses and trucks (not while we were stopped I might add)! Ittook us about 25 minutes to get there. Ask me to share more with you whenwe return next week. The trip to the orphanage has to top anything I have done to date. Withoutquestion it is an experience words and pictures cannot adequately explain.I have a new friend, Chang, who is 6 years old. Not long after we arrivedhe ventured out of the group of kids to check out the visitors. I smiledand extended my hand out to him. He came over and hugged me and wanted meto pick him up and hold him. That is where he stayed the better part of ourtime at the orphanage. All he wanted was to be held and loved on. I know the others have blogged about the long journey, lost luggage, typesof food, etc. and I cannot add anything of note. I look forward to sharingmore details after we return. Joe

Friday Morning in beautiful Sihanoukville!

2010-05-14T07:57:00.000-05:00

It's Friday morning in beautiful Sihanoukville!!Thursday was a day of travel and beach time! It took us 4 and 1/2 hours to make it from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville. It is beautiful here! We unloaded at our hotel and then went to the beach for a couple of hours.We are really enjoying getting to know our new friends from House of Love church (Sa'em's church). Sa'em does not like us to call it his church!!!Last night we had a time of fellowship and getting to know everyone. Sa'em and Kevin handed out new Bibles to everyone who has never owned their own Bible!It is a very young church, lots of young couples and little babies!!Today we will be teaching the marriage conference. There will be 26 in our class. There are also about 28 singles who will be studying the book of Acts. We will be having teaching sessions all morning and afternoon. Then for dinner we will eat on the beach and have a time of fellowship this evening.Please pray that our lessons will meet the needs of their culture and will be what they need in their everyday lives. Just pray for God to take over!! Joe and Tami wil be teaching Financial Peace to the whole group, marrieds and singles, Saturday morning.It was funny, I was showing Ravi a picture of our whole family and he pointed to Alden and said, "that looks like Ashley!" He did not know that they are sisters! He said no wonder she looks like Ashley!!We are having fun! Thanks for your prayers!Jan

Comments

2010-05-12T08:31:00.002-05:00

For some reason blogger is having trouble publishing the comments from readers, but keep sending them and I will continue to work on it. I know the Flacks and Johnsons love to hear back from you as they update us with the things that God is doing!

Here are two comments that I could not get published:

Tami, I am so happy to be able to hear what is going on with you guys.
You sound wonderful- at peace.
Know each morning on our way to school, the boys and I are praying for
all of you as well as my many prayers throughout the day.
Cant wait to hear more!
Love you, jen

I am jealous. I want to return to Cambodia soon. When you get to the
orphanage, please tell my little Mean Khoun that Teresa, Chris, Leah,
Cory and I send our prayers and our love.
I'm praying that your conference is a great success. I want to come
over there and do a Small Group Conference. :-) ronnie

Wednesday Update

2010-05-12T08:28:00.000-05:00

Wednesday evening:

Today started out great!! I got to talk to Greg and wish him a happy birthday!! It was a surprise for both of us!! Thank you Kathy for arranging that!!

Today we left the hotel at 8:00 headed for Lveasar!! Sokhom had told the kids at the orphanage that they would have a visitor today but did not tell them that it was us. When we showed up they were so surprised and excited to see friends from America!!

It was worth all the time, energy and money to get here just for this one day!! It was so much fun!! All the hugs, smiles and laughter!!!

They had so much fun playing with all the jump ropes, hula hoops, frisbees and soccer balls!! We had a great big very long recess!!

Randy and Ashley, Toma is awesome with a hula hoop!! He was laughing so much!! But the best was Sokhom!! All the kids got a kick out of watching Sokhom hula hoop!! It was great fun!!

We had three translators with us and a technician from Tida's work. Yesterday when Joe was at Tida's, they installed a Khmer to English program on four lap tops. The technician went with us to set up a lap top on their generator and to teach Sokhom how to use it. This will be great for our kids to help them learn English!!

Tonight we are exhausted and ready for bed!! It is a good tired!!

In the morning we leave for Sihanoukville!! We are excited to go with Saém's church to the conference!!

Good night from Phnom Penh!
Jan

Awesome Update from Jan!

2010-05-11T08:40:00.001-05:00

Monday in Phnom Penh:
I love it here!!! Who would of thought that I would be coming to Cambodia every chance I get! This country and the people here have all become a special part of my life!

It has been fun experiencing Cambodia with Joe and Tami and seeing everything for the first time again through their eyes!
Yesterday we took in the markets, bargaining for our purchases and riding in tuks! We ate American for lunch though...pizza!

Last night Saém, Sokhom, Ronni and Rachna came to the hotel to eat dinner with us! We had so much fun visiting with them and planning our week! I love being around them...they are all such gracious, humble servants! Such an example for me!!

We changed our schedule around a little. Because we did not have our luggage we decided to wait until Wednesday to go to the orphanage. We have frisbees, jump ropes, color sheets and colors to take to them (all in our luggage!)

After dinner, we took a tuk to the city mart to get some toiletries.

It is funny, when I was reading my Bible yesterday I was in John 6, and verse 27 says "don't be concerned about perishable things...spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you." I had to laugh, don't be concerned about perishable things...I'm in Cambodia without my luggage! No blow dryer, no curling iron, no hairspray, no make-up, and only one change of clothes! And everyone that knows me, knows that those things are very important to me!! Thanks God for the gentle nudge!

"Spend your energy seeking the eternal life" That is why I love these people over here so much...this is what they are all about!
Kingdom Work! Kingdom Glory!
I love being a part of the big picture!!

Now, it's Tuesday:
This morning our luggage was delivered to the hotel!!

Today we are splitting up. Tami went with Rachna to help her with her college application. Joe is with Tida at his work, helping him with computers. Kevin and I were on a mission to buy Bibles!

My parents church sent money with us to purchase Khmer Bibles. Saém met us at the Cambodian Bible Society. We bought 73 Bibles and 8 preschool Bible story books. Saém told us that most of the people in his church that are coming to the conference do not have their own Bible. It will be fun to give them brand new Bibles!!

Tonight Ravi is meeting us for dinner!! It is so much fun spending one on one time with our friends here!!

Tomorrow we head to Lveasar to play with our kids at the orphanage!!! Besides the things in our suitcases for them, we have also bought some soccer balls and hula hoops!!! We can't wait to hula hoop with them!! Tomorrow will be fun...playing all day!!
We have three translators going with us!

We got an e-mail from Callan Edquist, he is coming to Phnom Penh on Saturday. He is going to join us on Sunday when we go back to Lveassar!!

We are having a great time!!! I love, love, love it here!!!
Jan

Awesome Update from Tami!

2010-05-11T08:32:00.002-05:00

I do not have the words to express my first impressions!! After traveling
some 30 hours to get here, we were weary but so excited. Visna was waiting
for us at the airport and everything had gone so smoothly all the way to
Phnom Penh. Unfortunately our luggage was not so lucky and we were not sure
when it would arrive. The trip to the hotel was quick and uneventful since
it was after midnight. We slept through the night but were very warm due to
the air conditioner in the room not being turned on until we arrived.

On Monday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel, first time I have eaten
fried rice for breakfast. It was good as was the rest of my meal. The
staff have been most gracious and helpful. After breakfast we walked to the
Central Market. There were so many people on the street. Everywhere you
look there are bicycles,mopeds, motorcycles pulling carriages call "tuk
tuks", and cars. They are all heading in different directions all at the
same time. All along the sidewalks there are the same type vehicles parked.
Oddly enough I was not nervous walking within inches of these moving
vehicles. Once we arrived at the Central market I was so overwhelmed by the
variety of products. I am not very good at bartering but Kevin gave me a
few lessons and I was very satisfied with my first purchase. As my
salesclerk said, "It was a lucky good morning for you and for me". All the
sales clerk were drawn to Joe. All seemed to be measuring him for clothing
items. Being the Southern gentleman he is he stopped and spoke with each
before assuring them that he did not need anything. From the Central Market
we walked to the Mall. After an hour of shopping we ate lunch at the Pizza
Restaurant. It was very good and so much like Pizza Hut.... Jan and Kevin
had bought Soccer Balls to take to the orphanage earlier and before leaving
the Mall we bought hula hoops to take also. After an afternoon nap, Kevin,
Joe and I went to visit the Royal Palace. This is a must see sight when
visiting Phnom Penh. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. After
spending an hour and half in the sweltering 90ish degree heat we were ready
to cool off and rest again before dinner.

Dinner was the highlight of my day. I knew we were meeting Sa em for dinner
at 6 but I did not know that Sohkum and his family were also meeting us.
One of my assignments for this trip is to assist Rachna (Sohkum's daughter)
in her Brazosport College application to nursing school. I was anxious to
meet her but a little nervous about whether we would connect. She and her
family made me feel immediately at ease and we were never at a loss for
words. Rachna and I spent the entire dinner talking. Ii felt as if she
were one of own children. Ronny, Sohkom's wife brought Jan and I bags of
Dragonfruit and Mangostine fruit along with a knife to cut the fruit.

After Jan and I assured Ronny that we would be two of many mothers to Rachna
while she is in Lake Jackson we said goodnight.
Since out luggage was still MIA we made one more quick trip to the Mall to
buy a few toiletry items.

Tuesday -

We each have different agendas today. Rachna met me at the hotel lobby at 8
am this morning. Joe met Tida in the lobby at 9 am and Jan & Kevin were off
at 9 to purchase Khmer Bibles with money provided by Jan's mother's church
in Texas. While I was gone with Rachna our luggage was delivered - not sure
if I am glad or disappointed that we will not need to buy clothing for the
next few days.

My time with Rachna was most productive. I was amazed to think how
completely comfortable I was with leaving the hotel alone with Rachna and
going to a local internet cafe. I thank each of you who have prayed over
this request for me. Why am I surprised that God has answered them? In two
short hours we were able to complete her college application, complete most
of her TOEFL application and answer many questions she had. Before she left
me at the hotel she thanked me for offering to be a mom to her, I was
touched. I cannot imagine traveling half way around the world alone. I told
her I thought she was very brave and she told me "No, not brave." She hugged
me goodbye and we agreed to meet again tomorrow to finish her TOEFL
application.

As I write, Joe is still with Tida. Jan, Kevin and I had lunch and will
meet up with Joe this afternoon for a bit more shopping. Tomorrow we will
head to Laveasar to spend time with the children and try to get the four
laptops up and running for the children.

I can see now how God has been planning this trip and preparing me for so
long. I am thankful that he has allowed me to be part of his plan.

SO SO Glad to be here!

Tami Flack

See You Thursday - 1/21/10

2010-01-18T13:10:00.010-06:00

CAMBODIA PARTY!

Thursday, January 21st

7:00 - 8:30pm

BPF All Star Room

Childcare Provided

"You come into my heart and the world is so
much brighter than before."

(a shirt worn by several children at the Hope for Cambodia Orphanage)

This certainly goes both ways!

Seoul, Korea

2010-01-11T17:40:00.002-06:00

We finished the first leg of our trip home, a five hour flight from Phnom Penh to Seoul.

It's sunny and cold in Korea. What a contrast from the unusually hot days in Cambodia to seeing snow on the ground here.

We'll soon depart for Tokyo. After a 2 hour flight and 5 hour layover at Narita Airport we'll board a Continental jet for Houston! It was so nice to walk up to the transfer counter here and get a boarding pass with no hassle, strange looks, or calls home to our travel agent.

I'm already missing Cambodia but ready to get home too.

Greg

Stand-By Six Are Coming Home

2010-01-11T03:02:00.002-06:00

We've accomplished everything we hoped to do during the extra four days we planned. Some of them were things we intended to do. Others were simply providential, like meeting a man from Spring, Texas who comes here four times a year with his mission. He gave us a lot of good ideas and contacts, but the best was the name of a good travel agent he has used for years!

We also made contacts regarding future hotel reservations, travel in country, new projects (like a marriage conference for young couples we work with each year), and the cost of living for the young adults who may consider coming here to volunteer in the future.

While the Culverhouses were checking out a beauty school as a "next step" for some of their students from the Lveasar Orphanage Kathy & I went to the US Embassy to learn about the adoption process here. We've been hearing from friends back home in the Khmer community that Cambodia was opening back up the adoption process. That's technically true. I'll explain it to any who are interested when I return. There is hope, but it'll be a few years before anything actually can happen.

And last but certainly not least, we discovered not a small number of new restaurants to eat at, including a really good one right around the corner. It's been a lot of fun but not as relaxing as I imagined it. We've had pretty full and long days. I'm looking forward to sleeping a lot on the flight home.

Greg Pickering

Light of the World

2010-01-10T08:29:00.004-06:00

Hey guys! The trip is almost over... we leave late tomorrow night. I can't believe how fast it has come and gone. This was my first time EVER to leave the country... and to be gone this long. Who would've ever thought that i'd spend my first time stuck in airports and becoming a member of "The Standby Six". haha! While i've been here a lot has gone on. On Jan. 1st I lost a good friend back home. And at first it was really hard being here and not in the states. But once I got to see the kids again, God relieved me from all the stress and depression I was feeling. I was able to take my mind off everything and just have fun. The kids at the orphanage are as cute as they can be! They are all so full of joy and love. God has really worked his magic on me during this trip. He has changed my heart in so many ways, and he used the best kids in the world to do it. It was so hard to say goodbye on Saturday... all of the kids just had that "please don't go look". =( But I know that God will continue to work on me and the kids even after I leave Cambodia.

Not only did I learn a lot from these kids, I learned a lot from the culture.
1.) Redlights really mean if you can squeeze... GO FOR IT!
2.) Tuk-Tuk drivers can drive against the flow of trafic without any problems!
3.) Stop signs are pointless... nobody uses them!
4.) When somebody drops bread on the ground... no worries. Brush it off and stick back on the for sale stack! =)
5.) Tour Bus Gus is the BEST bus driver in the world. No street is too small for him!
6.) Fried spiders and crickets smell... BAD.
7.) Lines (like to wait for something... food, check out, etc.) are nonexsistent.
8.) Trucks aren't just meant for a few people... they are meant for as many as possible plus cargo!
9.) Always look both directions before stepping on a bus... ( I was the one who got hit by a moped!)

and last but not least...

10.) The kids here are the Light of the World.

I'm sad to be leaving tomorrow, but at the same time I can't wait to get home and share my stories with everyone.

-Katherine Chaney

Our last day in Lveasar...

2010-01-09T08:38:00.005-06:00

We headed out to Lveasar again this morning. The kids were all sitting in chairs at the front of the orphanage waiting for us. We had fun just hanging out and washing all of their heads! Jennifer was so excited to see dead bugs floating in the water. I must admit my head started itching a little bit when we were talking about the lice!

Khim Mey cooked an absolutely delicious lunch for everyone - fried chicken, fried rice, meatballs, crab meat sticks and a couple of other things (not sure what they were). They also gave each child an apple and soft drink. It was like a Thanksgiving feast. Most of the children ate all of the food, except the chicken - they wrapped it up and "saved" it for later.

Sokhom had the orphans say Bible verses that they have memorized. There are 4 kids that have memorized between 75 and 100 verses. I was very much inspired how much of God's word these kids have in their hearts and minds.

After lunch and the memorized scripture reciting, we loaded up and headed back to PP. It was hard to leave, as Greg said "It doesn't get easier to leave year after year... it gets harder!"

I absolutely LOVE coming to visit these kids!

This evening we went to eat dinner at Tida's home, his wife is from Brazil so they prepared a Brazillian BBQ for us.

Tomorrow morning we are going to church with Ravy and then in the afternoon we are going to visit Saem's church. Hopefully, I'll get a little shopping done in between!

"Sweet 16" glad to hear you guys are home safely.

God is up to stuff in Cambodia,

Kathy

The "Sweet 16" Are HOME

2010-01-08T20:14:00.002-06:00

We made it to Houston without any problems. The layover and tour in Seoul was a blast! I know everyone was excited to see their loved ones at the airport. Ashley and I (Randy) were sure glad to see Kendall. In fact, I need to go play with her now!

Keep checking back to hear about the "Stanby 6" and to read as team members process all the things that God has done!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!

Standby Six have confirmation!

2010-01-08T01:07:00.002-06:00

Greg and I just finished confirming all of our flights for our trip home.
We leave Monday night from PP - fly to Seoul Korea then Tokyo Japan and then to Houston!
We are scheduled to arrive in Houston Tuesday afternoon.
Thanks so much for your prayers and support for all of our travel ordeals. God is good!
We are busy with other meetings and projects for the next 3 days.
Tomorrow (Saturday) we go back to the orphanage to eat lunch and wash the orphans hair with lye/lice soap - in the same water that Greg baptized in last week! Fun times!
Kathy

Back with the "Standby Six"

2010-01-07T09:24:00.004-06:00

Well, the rest of the team has headed to Phnom Penh airport. It was sad to see them leave, but our work as a team is finished.
The "Standby Six" are still together. We have full days planned for the next 4 days and will "hopefully" fly back home Monday night - to arrive in Houston Tuesday afternoon.
We are still waiting on all of our confirmations for our flights. We just talked to our travel agent and she said we should have them within an hour or so... I think I'll stay up and keep checking email to make sure we get them!
We have had a totally incredible time. Our team of 30 worked and played together so well. God is good!
Cambodia team, I am grateful for the time we have spent together this past week and a half. Remember before the trip - I told you, after the trip, we'd know more about each other than we ever cared to know! (pretty true, huh?)
We will try to continue to update the blog with our adventures over the next few days.
Please continue to pray for us - for the team on their way home, for our flight confirmations and for the meetings and projects we still have here.
Bringing hope to Cambodia,
Kathy

Siem Reap

2010-01-07T04:40:00.001-06:00

We arrived back in Phnom Phen this afternoon after a 2 day visit to Siem Reap! It was a great experience and we had a lot of fun. Siem Reap is about a 5 hour drive north...and that in itself was quite an adventure! We rode in 2 vans - really like church vans - and had drivers that stayed with us in Siem Reap to take us around. Our drivers were great, but driving in Cambodia is a whole new experience. They pass like crazy, there are motorcycles on all sides, and today we came so close to running into a cow that was crossing the street! What an adventure.
Siem Reap is very "western" and has lots of tourists that go there. There was a lot of shopping, lots of nice restaurants, and fancy 5 star hotels and guest houses. Our team stayed in a garden villa guest house that was very nice! It was also very cheap - one room was only $15 a night! Both nights we would order our breakfast before going to bed and then when we came down in the morning, we would sit out on the patio in the garden and they would bring us our food. It was great! Tuesday when we got there we did some shopping in the night market and had some good American food. Wednesday we got up and visited a bunch of very old temples. Our first stop was Angkor Wat, the biggest of all the temples. It is over 1000 years old. We crawled all through it, jumping and climbing around. It was a lot of fun. After that we went to a different temple, Bayon. Then we had lunch. Next we headed to Dat Pram, the temple that is still covered with trees. It was very very cool. This is the temple where Angelina Joile filmed Tombraider. It was fun to climb around on all the tree roots that have grown up through the walls of the temple.
From there, our group split in half. Half the group went to tour a floating city on Tonle Sap lake and the other group went to 2 more temples. The last temple we went to was on top of a very tall hill and we went to watch the sun set from there. I will have to let someone else tell you about the floating city - it sounded very cool, but Randy and I went to the temple on the hill for the sunset. We thought we were going to be able to ride elephants up the hill, but when we got there we found out we had to be there much earlier to reserve an elephant ride. So, we started our hike up the mountain. It was a long steep walk, but so worth it when we arrived at the top. The temple up there was a square, and there were very steep, thin steps going up each side. To climb it you had to put your foot sideways. It was so much fun and the sunset was pretty. We walked down with all the tourists in the dark and some of us went back into town to get foot massages that were much needed! We also got to eat another great dinner - Randy and I ate at the Red Piano, which is a great restaurant that is famous for having Angelina Joile frequent it. It was my most favorite meal of the whole trip!
This morning we packed up and made the 5 hour trip back to our hotel in Phnom Phen. The Pickerings and the Culverhouses will be staying a few more days, so we checked into their rooms. We are all showering and resting and then we will be heading to the airport around 9:30 pm our time. We are looking forward to getting home, and hoping that weather doesn't hold us up! There is a lot of snow in Seoul right now!! Thanks for all your prayers - we are tired, but full of great memories and experiences!!!

Siem Reap

2010-01-07T04:40:00.000-06:00

Last Day with the Orphans

2010-01-04T09:44:00.007-06:00

Wow!
What an incredible experience being in Cambodia has been. It's late Monday night here and somehow, our time with the orphans is already over. The love that we have been shown is something that I have never experienced before.

But first, Sunday...
The Church Service at Levesar was their form of a Christmas pageant, Cambodian style. I felt honored being able to sit at the front of the service when there were hundreds of other people there! I couldn't upload pictures, but you will all see how many people were at this service. The amount of people that Suk-Hom influences is just incredible. We are so blessed to have him as our contact in Cambodia. The Christmas pageants/musicals/super spectacular productions that I have seen seemed kind of similar to theirs, but theirs was so genuine. Everyone was so happy to be there, praising the Lord. The children were obviously the stars of the production. First there were dancers in Khmer dress performing the Blessing; next there was a wonderful group of senior adults who sang a few worship songs. Then of course there were some great scenes of acting in which the kids acted out the "Lost Sheep Parable" (I Think...). The kids were all very into it and just loved portraying such a wonderful story from the Bible. That parable can definitely describe some of these kids in specific ways, but watching it being performed and translated for us, it reminded me of how often we forget how directionless we are without Christ.

Also, there was a lady who is a House Mom at the orphange who wrote a song and sang it describing the life of an orphan. It was so beautiful and even though I had absolutely no idea what was specfically in the song, it had a distinct hopeful tone to it which to me was the heartbeat of the trip. More on that later. After a hilarious fashion show where the kids got to show off some clothes and perform, we were asked to go up on stage and sing a song. We sang "God of This City" and "Amazing Grace." I was really happy we got to sing "God of This City" because it reminded me of the Daraja Choir from this summer and kind of stated what God was doing in Levesar.

After a great lunch we traveled to one of many of "The Killing Fields." Greg Pick will give anyone who wants it a very detailed and wonderful history lesson about them, but to summarize, these are where the Pol Pot regime of the late 1970's basically committed genocide on those who opposed them. I was lucky enough to be able to walk through these mass graves with Kim who along with The May survived this time in Cambodian history. We were shocked to see how the graves were basically left as was with clothes of those murdered just laying on the ground, some half buried. We also got to go to Toulsone Prison in Phenom Penh where the Khmer Rough regime tortured those prisoners for future sendings off to the Killing Fields. Both of these were reminders of the injustice that continues to occur around the world. It was so shocking to hear about all of the murders and really the inability of other countries to stop it. I could talk about that all day, but let's talk about Monday!

Today was our last day with the kids and it was definitely bittersweet. For the crew who was working on the Water portion of our mission, they very nearly completed everything. If we would've have stayed all day, that crew would've helped pour all of the concrete they made in the morning on top of the structure, pretty much completing the job. That crew was definitely worn out at the end of the day because they had given it their all. The tank looked awesome and it will serve a great purpose for the orphanage.

With the kids today, we did our daily song routine consisting of a Wiggles song I think? about shaking the wiggles out. I do not frequently watch the Wiggles, so I cannot comment on that song, but we also sang O, Happy Day with them, and they loved it. We taught them some motions and made sure they understood what the song said. One of my greatest joys of the week was hearing all of the kids just randomly singing the song without us prompting them throughout the day. It's a song that easily gets stuck in your head, but it has such a great message, so i'm glad that's the song they learned.

We made some bracelets and played with them for the next few hours dreading the goodbyes that were to come. A really cool tradition-ish kind of thing is that the kids walk us to the ferry dock and wave goodbye from there. It's a great last few minutes with the kids as we walked, hand in hand for the last time for a long, long time. Some of those kids, regardless of whether or not we come back, we might never see again. When I think back on this trip, I'm going to remember those faces, always smiling; those hands, so small, dirty, and always reaching towards you; I'll remember those kids smiling, yelling, and waving at us from the shore as the ferry chugged away for the last time for us this trip, and I'll smile because I know that God is working with those kids. If you spend any time with those kids and don't believe in a God who has unconditional love, then you are not too smart. Every day when we rolled up, there were kids who just wanted to be loved, but regardless, they were going to love you. Even when I messed up every Khmer words, they wanted to teach me. Even on the way to the ferry, they were teaching me new words. It probably took like one hour for me to learn 1-5, but about 10 kids were willing to sit there and laugh their way through me trying to speak in another language.

I'll let someone else pick up from there. I'm not really sure if I covered everything, and there is so much else to say about what I've talked about, but this blogpost is long enough. So thanks for reading!
Thanks for your prayers and petitions to the Lord. Please pray for a few sick people who feel a little under the weather and for our van ride tomorrow to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat!

Thanks again for reading, and oh yea:
You should definitely think about coming to Cambodia!!
--Sam Jones

P.S. I misspelled probably 95% of Khmer words on this page, so apologies for that, but don't worry, I mispronounce them too.

"God is a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows in his holy dwelling." Psalm 68:5

New Orphans That Need Sponsors!

2010-01-02T08:17:00.009-06:00

My Cambodia Top 10!

2010-01-02T04:23:00.003-06:00

#10......diapers are not a option :)

#9........things are cheap

#8.....all the people on this trip are waaaaayyyyyy cool.

#7......my hand is constantly held and these people love to hug :)

#6......This place makes me feel totally and utterly complete.....I hope this is 1% of what heaven will feel like.

#5.....These students are brilliant at cutting hair....we may be on to something ;)

#4......being on the same "page" with my husband. Watching God flow through everything he says and does makes me smile. He is sooooo on purpose.

#3......watching my daughter become who God planned her to be, even before she was born. I love standing back and watching her love on these girls...no matter the fear of lice or whatever...she doesn't care about that...she just knows she is in love. Watching her with the boys and wrestling with them as if she were with her own brothers.

#2......money does not create happiness here.

#1......watching my daughter tear up as she was getting baptized in dirty river water in a homeade fish pond.

How else would I ever feel and see the love of God? How else could I ever feel more complete?

Oh yeah......if there were a number off the charts.......it would be Sokum and The Mai. Standing back and watching their passion and smiles for these people is truely humbling. It's not about the car they drive......the clothes they wear.....everything is to bring glory to God. Their smiles of gratitude and joy as they watch us with their people....it is sincere and pure in it's purest form. I swear, they are like modern day bible people.

I love this place......you should come. :)

Better than Christmas in Cambodia

2010-01-01T05:35:00.013-06:00

It's been a really awesome trip so far! Today was a very sucessful day. We started out in our teams with the hair school, pastor's conference, water tank construction, teacher training, and bible club. I must say, I love my job on this trip as photographer. I get to walk around and take pictures of all of the different activites going on. I get to see the progress of each team working.

The students in the hair school are amazing with how much they are learning. Today they got to practice hair cuts on some of the kids and even a few of us! Luckily Urban Asia is such a good hair cutting school that everyone looked wonderful. I thought it was quite funny when nearly all of the boys getting their hair cut wanted the haircut that Jason Culverhouse has. I guess he's a pretty cool guy.

In the pastor's conference all of the pastor's seem to be very attentive; taking notes and following along very closely.

The water tank construction is going along as planned. They have covered the tank in concrete, inside and out. Nice work boys!

From what I hear, the teacher training is going well. All of the teachers look eager to learn everytime I go in the room.

The bible club had some fun today like always! We colored coloring pages, told a story, sang songs, and painted faces! The kids loved getting their faces painted.

This afternoon was one of my personal favorites for sure! We handed out the presents that each of the orphans', moms', and teachers' sponsor families created for the orphans. We took all them into the cafeteria and past out their envelopes with their goodies inside. Then we told them to all open their presents at once. It was basically like Christmas morning... but better! Yes, better than Christmas morning! These kids were so excited to see what they had gotten. The little boy in the picture below, Makra, took out the first thing he saw (this toy car) and held it up with the biggest smile on his face squealing with excitement (Thanks Mike and Chantel!). Thankfully I had my camera ready! Obviously these gifts were a big deal to each one of these kids, and it was awesome to watch them open each one of them. I know that they all appreciate what the sponsor's are doing and would love to tell each one of them thank you. Also thanks for the many prayers that are being sent their way. Being here this week, I have gotten to see an obvious difference in the kids' spirits and attitudes because of our church. They are such happy-go-lucky kids, and I can't wait to see them again tomorrow!

Thanks for all your prayers!

-Micaela Erskine

2009-12-31T08:40:00.005-06:00

Cambodia is so cool. Phnom Penh is actually different than I expected, it kind of reminds me of Mexico City. With more mopeds. So far, the food has been pretty awesome (as Sam would say.) At the buffet a few days ago, we even found a whole little duck head cooked just in the pile with the rest of the food. It was a little smaller than the ones at Shy Pond though. We also learned at that buffet (and at breakfast every morning) that Cambodians don't really like to wait in line. They kind of just go. Which is bad for me, because we eat breakfast at like 6:10 am and I'm not really awake.

But my favorite is the village. Riding the ferry and the mopeds there is really fun, and it's so cool to see how everything works at the orphanage/school/church. Seeing and playing with all the kids, knowing that this is probably their favorite time of the year, is really amazing. Just like in Kenya, it's especially cool to see the orphans meet their sponsors. The kids love it, but also seeing the way the members of our team who are getting to meet or see again the kids they sponsor is really beautiful.

We've been doing teacher training in the afternoons. Yesterday we kind of just asked them questions, trying to figure out what their school is like. Today we focused on multiple intelligences and classroom management. It was harder than I thought it would be, even though we tried to think around everything and change things to explain them better through the language barrier. Luckily, our translator is really great. He sometimes goes off talking for a long time, but I'm pretty sure the teachers are getting it so that's good. It's definitely putting my complaining about school in perspective.

Tonight and last night we ate dinner at the Cambodian Galleria. The pizza was really good, and the gelato was even better. We're going to try to stay up until midnight for New Year's, but I'm doubting anything will make it (except Tamara who never sleeps. I'm pretty sure she's a vampire.) Good night!!

Amy

PS I'm putting up some pictures from the ferry from my iphone. It's pretty awesome to have wireless in the hotel lobby, but it makes me feel pretty spoiled. The picture at the top is me and Haleigh, and the next one is Sam doing a news report from the ferry.

Meeting the Orphans!

2009-12-30T07:43:00.005-06:00

Today was the day that we have been looking forward to for months now, our first day out at the Hope for Cambodia Orphanage! It started bright and early, in order to beat the craziness of rush hour traffic (which includes about 1,000,000 mopeds, a few police officers directing traffic, and TWO stop lights)...absolutely crazy, the only peace being that we were by far the largest vehicle on the road.

Before lunch we got to meet the orphans and play with some of the kids from the village that are participating in the Bible Club, it was so fun! Its amazing to see how much these kiddos really appreciated even the small things that we gave them, like coloring sheets, streamers, and bubbles. We took a break for lunch, the village kids went home, and the afternoon was dedicated to continuing the Pastors Conference, the water retention, hair design school, teacher training, and just hanging out with the orphans.

Ashley, led the teacher training, and did a fabulous job! We (Ashley, Amy, Lauren, and I) mostly found out just how primitive their school is, how it was run, and were stunned to hear the number of students. There are sixty, yes 6-0 students in the 3-5 year old class, how many teachers you might ask...one. It sure made me appreciate the resources we have back at home. But God is good, and though they are lacking in materials, the teachers have a great heart to learn and a whole lot of love for their students. God is also challenging us to be creative with the supplies and set up they have, and really showing me that no matter where you are kids are very much similar.

Difficult things:
1. the language - new sounds, new names, difficult to remember phrases
2. the food - I am not as adventurous as I thought I might be, just because I don't want to get sick and miss a day with the kids

Great things:
1. David - I got to meet David, the orphan that Michael and I sponsor. Michael got to play with him last year and warned me that he was super shy. David is about 2 years old and as cute as can be. He really started to warm up to us and by the end of the afternoon was coming to us and asking to be held!
2. Our translators - Such fun kids (college kids) They all have a really neat story to tell and are also very gifted with children, they have been a joy to work with!
3. Prices = cheap
4. Hugs from cute kids

Overall, we had a great first day! It was awesome to have the whole group together and to get to meet all the people I have heard about for a year now. Thank you for all your prayers! God is good and does good things and there is hope for Cambodia.

-Noelle

Rest Day - from Ashley

2009-12-29T03:13:00.003-06:00

Today was a down day for us to shop, tour, and rest. We slept late this morning, and then left at 10:00 to go to the Royal Palace where the king of Cambodia lives (sorry the pictures are so small - I'm not sure what to do about that). Tamara took some pictures with her phone, so we are able to load some of them here. Amy, Micaela, Sarah, and I wore shorts to the palace, which was not allowed, so we were able to rent some baggy pants and wraps to wear over our shorts. They were very awesome-looking. Amy has one of the wraps on here.

After touring the Royal Palace, we went to lunch at a nice buffet. I thought it was interesting that you had to pay for water but Coke was free! The food was great and we enjoyed a nice lunch.

From lunch we walked to the Russian Market where we all supported the local economy (some more than others). It was very hot in there, and I never did figure out how to find my way around, but we had a good time. We got to ride Tooks for the first time to get back to our hotel - these are like buggies pulled behind motorcycles. Traffic here is crazy - I rode facing backward and just didn't watch!!

I am so excited to be here. Today has been great to rest and hang out, but I am really looking forward to going to the orphanage tomorrow to meet our children and the teachers. All day today I saw sweet little Cambodia children in the market and around town and they are just precious. I am ready to go tomorrow to meet OUR children. :)

We are going to rest a little before heading to dinner at Sokum's house. We will update as we can!! Check the post below for info about the "Standby Six!"

Ashley

The Standby Six

2009-12-29T03:10:00.002-06:00

The Pickerings and Culverhouses, or the Standby Six as they have named themselves, have arrived in Seoul and have confirmed tickets for Phnom Phen tonight!!! They will be arriving here in Cambodia at 10:50 our time and we will get them from the airport and bring them back to the hotel so they can finally rest!!
We leave at 6:30 in the morning for the village, so we are praying for the rest that they do get to be sufficient!!! We are thankful that they are on their way to us and are looking forward to all being together again.
Thank you God for doing what the people at the airlines said couldn't be done! We praise you and thank you for your provision.

On the ground in Cambodia, well most of us...

2009-12-28T12:48:00.002-06:00

We are all settled in at our hotel in Phnom Penh. It is almost 2am here in Cambodia.

22 of us have completed the long journey here. Greg and Kathy Pickering and the Culverhouses will be arriving late on Tuesday. Please pray for their connection from Seoul to Phnom Penh. Alonzo and Ben Casas will be joining us about lunch time on Tuesday. Pray for their travel as well.

It has been a wild 30+ hours...but praise God everything is going well. The mission trip beattitude is "blessed are the flexible for they will never be bent out of shape." We have been bent but not broken.

We are looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow. We will be slow to get going, but once we do we will tour the Cambodian Royal Palace and do some shopping at the markets.

It is so good to be here! Those that have been before are remebering the people, places, sounds and sights that they love...and those that are here for the first time are about to fall in love!

Thanks for your prayers...we will keep you updated.

Cambodian Lunch in Rosharon

2009-12-14T11:28:00.004-06:00

The folks at Rosharon Bible Baptist Church hosted our 2010 team for a Cambodian lunch on Saturday. It was (mostly) delicious, and brought back memories that made you ready to ride the ferry across the Mei Kong TODAY and head for our village! The egg rolls were dynamite!
Pastor The Mey

No really, these are great egg rolls!

Hmmm...coconut soup for dessert!?

BPF MISSION TRIP 2010

2009-12-14T11:14:00.002-06:00

We are just 13 days away from heading to CAMBODIA! The trip dates are December 27 - January 8. This year's mission will include:
- Pastor's Conference for 100 church planters
- Hair Training and Advanced Hair Training for 20 people
- Teacher Training for the teachers at Hope for Cambodia for 5 teachers
- Water Tank Construction for the orphanage
AND
- Bible Club for over 200 children!!! (Including our 60 orphans)

The team this year is made up of 30 people...we are going to need every single one!
God has big things in store for us...we are ready to hit the ground running!

Back On American Soil

2009-01-10T16:51:00.002-06:00

Well I'm sitting here at LAX Airport waiting for the last leg of our flight in a little over 2 hours. Our team is exhausted.

This probably won't be a good time to be reflective or anything. Let's just suffice to say ... It's good to be back in the States. Thank you for your prayers. We will see you soon.

Ronnie

Rat Pack Update

2009-01-09T04:09:00.004-06:00

For all of you "mom types" I thought I'd bring you up to speed on the physical and mental condition of the Rat Pack.

1) Both Jennifer and Haleigh are official members.
2) All Rat Pack members are well and feeling great!
3) The hotel restaurant is treating us all to FREE pineapple juice tonight!!

We can't wait!!!!

Ronnie

Scott's Thoughts

2009-01-09T01:53:00.002-06:00

In Gary Haugen's book "Just Courage", Haugen recounts an essay written in the 1800s where the author observed that "Christians have the amazing ability to say the most wonderful things without actually believing them." WOW? That is hypocrisy in a nutshell!

While in Cambodia, that statement, among many others, has been constantly on my mind and heavy on my heart!! The western Christianity is just that...but the Christianity I found here in Cambodia is truly that of the New Testament, I felt as though I was walking in the book of Acts! They are not merely Christians, rather they are genuine Christ Followers!

There were several people who were there at the conference who said they were members of one church but were spreading the Gospel in a completely different area...helping out other churches! Not growing a church, rather building a kingdom!!! We have so much to learn from them, but we are the one's doing the teaching...

During the day, the Bible school that we led with the local kids from the orphanage and the village was so much fun! These kids are just like any other kids...hungry for adventure, looking for laughter (Farting (Pouem) is a universal joke!!!), thirsting for genuine love and affection! But these kids were a beautiful example of patience!! When it was time to color, there was not a peep out of their mouth waiting ever so patiently for their colors to come! When it came to language, there was an obvious language barrier that was always relieved with a smile and our secret handshake! Everyday, the local village kids would run home with a color sheet of a story about Jesus Christ with a smile on their face!! The orphans proudly displayed their artwork all over their house!!

This same patience was evident among all the Khmer people there! There desire to learn was more important than the distractions that the kids made during the day (and we were plenty distracting! Aggie yells, noodle fights, and our beautiful singing and dancing!!) Pens were feverishly writing down everything they could so that they can remember and use everything they learned! The hair school provided more smiles of accomplishment than I have seen in a long time!! The water purification conference (with their fearless leader) listened as if their life depended on it...and in actuality, it does depend on it! The pastors and church leaders followed every single verse and every illustration...wanting this to help them reach more people for God's Kingdom...for OUR FAMILY!!

Prayer time with the kids was my favorite time of the day! Not as a group, but with the kids! The first time, I prayed for the kids...but never again! As I prayed, I was overcome with emotion hearing the prayers and petitions of these precious kids as they spoke to our God!! From that time on, we had kids from the orphanage voicing the prayer, calling on God! I cannot help but think that God gets chills up and down his arms as He hears the prayers and petitions of His little kids!

I have learned here in Cambodia, that Christians, genuine Christ-followers here in Cambodia really do believe everything that they preach!! And are praying that the whole country does the exact same thing!! If only we could have them come and teach us a thing or two!!

(I love to use the exclamation point! thanks for your understanding!!!)

It has been a wonderful week!

2009-01-08T21:31:00.000-06:00

Today Scott and I are skipping the wedding and going to bum around Phnom Phen. Most of our group has chosen to do the same. We are all tired and needed a day off to sleep late and have some down time.
We have been on a pretty tight schedule ever since we got here.
The week at the orphanage has been awesome!!!
We had more kids than we anticipated, including the village kids, every morning. We probably had around 110 to 115.
We did songs, stories, color sheets and games everyday with all the children. It was great seeing the village kids go home with their color sheets, hopefully their families will read the Bible stories on the back that are written in Khmer.
We would tell the kids from the village that our Bible school was over in the early afternoon so we could spend time with our orphans and do some bigger craft with them.
The girls at the orphanage love Haleigh! Haleigh taught all of our orphans to make friendship bracelets. They loved making those and they caught on very fast!
We also made picture frames to put their American family picture in. Like always they are so proud of those pictures!
They have them hanging on their walls right now!
Yesterday, our last day, we did our story and color sheet and told the village kids that they could take the cut piece of cardboard(what they used to color on everyday) home with them along with the little package of colors and we said good-bye to them. They were so excited that they got to keep the cardboard and colors!!
Then our orphans performed at the pastor's conference. They acted out the story of the birth of Jesus and they sang "This is the Day" in both English and Khmer. They were so cute!! The pastors really enjoyed it...especially when Michael flew the angels in!! Everyone was laughing!
The hardest thing was leaving. This year the kids walked with us to the ferry landing and waved to us as we pulled out. Their were lots of tears shed.
It has been a wonderful week. The ties we have here are so strong.
But I'm ready now to come home.
Jan

Email from Steve on Wednesday morning (I think!)

2009-01-08T20:20:00.003-06:00

This email just came today - guess it got lost in cyber space for a day or two... Anyway, enjoy Steve's thoughts:

It has been frustrating that the days are so packed that I haven’t had a chance to write in the journal very much. All the time after we get back to the hotel is spent getting supper and catching up on sending pictures, emails, and trying to get something for the blog. By then we are totally wiped out and we head to bed. I’m writing much of this on the bumpy bus on the way to Lveasar. The week has had it’s ups & downs. I’ll never forget the feeling of shock when I learned that I was leading the “water purification class”. Since then my time has been spent figuring out what I’m going to do/say next. The good thing is that the people are very forgiving and appreciative. Now, I am excited that the people in the class are starting to teach each other.

It’s fun to watch the kids, especially with Scott. They are so happy with so little. The orphanage has almost nothing, but the kids love it there and are growing & learning. There is a baby @ the orphanage that is sick & needs medical care. Rothany’s dad is trying to get a doctor to come out today to check on the baby. The Culverhouses bought some good food for the baby yesterday. I’m finding that it doesn’t take very much to add something positive to their lives.

The water class became a health class today. We talked about e-coli and how it will make you sick. It is found in all water sources in Cambodia. So we spent time talking about washing food with chlorinated water to kill e-coli. We also talked about cross contamination, where dirty food or material is placed in clean water & the clean water becomes dirty. They were very interested & asked lots of questions. I think they got it.

If you get to spend much time talking to Sokhom you quickly learn how close he is with the kids. He so much wants the best for them and to make sure that they have the best chance at a successful life as possible. He gets very emotional about them when he talks about their struggles and problems. He told us about several of the orphan’s stories today. Each one pulled at your heart.

Random thoughts:

Things that are wild.
Traffic
personal hygiene (toilets)
living conditions
scooters
weddings
dogs
the gas is spiked with kerosene
the smells

Things that are good.
Food (I wish I felt safe to eat more things)
fresh fruit
people
prices

Maikong Louie (& Willy) - the ferry boat captain. He has a twitch, he has a hat, he collects money. We are going to write a movie & song (balad) about Louie. His boat is rigged to the max.

Hello from Rothany.
Rothany (aka Toody) said to tell everyone that she loves what she is doing, working with the kids, translating, and hanging out with the team. She also enjoys how close the team has become after just a few days. But she also misses Jim and wants to say hi to him and to her in-laws.

Steve

The last day came too soon

2009-01-08T18:56:00.002-06:00

Wow....this is so hard to summarize. Here it goes.
We arrived a little later than usual the last day of the hair acadamy and all of our students were already working independently on their mannequins and waiting for us by the door. The older orphans in the class particularly were the ones waiting by the door (16-18ish). When I walked up I noticed they had a little bit of a look of worry and relief on their face.....almost like they were scared we were not going to show up. This class was HUGE to them. Jason and I could demonstrate a haircut to them....they could go straight to the mannequin and do it. The difference between them and us (American)......they "listen" sometimes we only "hear". This class was a lifeline for them. In the U.S. we take things for granted and move so fast trying to get to what is next that we really don't take the time to "listen".
At the end of our time together with the students Jason and I tried to describe how proud and amazed at how far they had taken themselves and our hopes for their future. Well....that didn't happen without tears. I described in America we make a good income to buy lots of "stuff", but....this time with them, their gratitude, love for us, and dedication....I would trade all that "stuff" in a second. They have an abundance of things unseen....which is way more valuable.
They asked if they could pray for us as a group and that was one of the most humbling time in my life. We bowed are heads and a chorus of voices were praying for us all at the same time. It was beautiful, pure, authentic......I have never experienced that before. It was so loud and no one was worrying about what anyone else was praying or how they sounded....it was purely to God, not for anyone else.
You can imagine....I was at the blubbering point at this time :) Jason and I explained to them we were crying because we were so happy and proud to be a part of them. We gave them the opportunity to share their feelings (that's the girl in me:).....and it was awesome the hope and insparation leading how to cut hair gave them. Now they want to work toward teaching how to cut hair, open a business to support their family, do haircuts to save money for the orphanage.....they have dreams now.
Jason and I will come back to teach design 102. Expand on what they learned and take them further. I know they will be waiting for us.
One thing important to know.....haircuts in Cambodia are 50cents all the way up to 8$ in the nicest part of the city. I know that sounds crazy but.....now our students have the opportunity to earn a living with pride.
I love this place and cannot wait to come back. I never dreamed my life could feel so free and authentic. I know this sounds cliché....but, god has set me free. I am for sure a work in progress but I love where He has me and I can't wait to see where He takes me.

Thursday Was Bitter-Sweet

2009-01-08T18:25:00.004-06:00

Our final day at Leveasar was both an exciting day and a sad day.

Seeing the faces of those in both the Pastors Conference and the Hair Design School as they were recognized for their successful completion was very thrilling. We also had the great privilege of sharing the Lord's Supper with them. It was a very meaningful experience as cultural differences no longer existed and we all focused on what we had in common: the sacrificial death of Jesus for our sins. The Lord's Supper was follow by a ceremonial footwashing as Greg, The, Steve, Randy, and Michael washed the feet of those in the pastors conference. What a great morning.

Then the sad part came where we had to say goodbye to the children and take our last ferry ride. The children didn't want to let go. Neither did we. No motos this time. We all walked together down the dusty road holding hands and laughing and sometimes singing. At other times there was just silence with little sniffles being the only thing heard.

After the mile long hike together and the brief wait for the ferry, it was time to let go. It's amazing how quickly God can bind hearts. As the ferry pulled away there were shouts of (and I won't try it in Khmer) "I will see you again".

The children probably went back to the orphanage, took another long look at the pictures left behind, and began looking toward the next visit of their American family.

Email from Steve

2009-01-08T10:19:00.002-06:00

This is Tida and her brother Rith. Her full name is Em Tida. She has two older sisters that are living in the city. She doesn't get to see them very much and misses them. She and her brother have been at the orphanage for only a couple of months. Her father died in a vehicle crash and her mother has Aids and can't take care of them. She is a bit shy and reserved, but has a cute personality.

When I tried to show them pictures of my family, the other kids came and crowded around and pushed Tida to the back. She looked frustrated. Her brother is a bit more aggressive than she is and stayed at the front. He is cute too and has a bit more of an
outgoing personality. He hung on to me after I talked to him and picked him up once.

Everyone had an emotional farewell. The Pickerings little girl cried and cried. Greg said that she was pretty much aloof until this year. She opened up more to him this year than ever before.

When we were leaving, we all walked to the ferry and all the kids came with us. This is when Tida held a death grip on one hand and her brother held my other hand for a while. None of the guys were emotional. Some asked the girls why they were crying...
Steve

Tears on the last day...

2009-01-08T09:25:00.002-06:00

It's Thursday PM and we're all zapped. It was a really good day though, just everything ran late. We stopped at a market on the way to Lveasar to get some supplies for the Lord's Supper and foot washing. That took a while. Once in Lveasar Randy did a session on Justice and IJM. Then we had the Lord’s Supper together and a time of foot washing. We ended with a ceremony where we handed out certificates. We ate lunch at 1:00. Then the crying began, or no; it had already started with the kids and at the hair design school!

After lunch the tears started to fall. I looked across the grounds and there was Malin sitting in a chair facing away from us just sobbing - hard. I picked her up and put her in my lap and held her for 10 minutes or so - she never stopped crying. Then I said goodbye, hugged her one more time and walked out to the moped spot and got ready to leave. She was still sobbing as I left. Then we all decided to walk to the ferry instead of ride mopeds, so the kids could walk with us. So Rathany brought Malin up with us and I held her hand as we walked. She snubbed all the way. The boat was on the other side so we had a while to wait. She stopped crying once we got to the landing. When the boat finally came to shore the tears started rolling again. Not just hers. Ronnie's girl started crying, then Steve's, then Jan's. It was pretty pitiful. The little boys were running around giving high fives, looking at the girls and asking, "Why are you crying?" At one point Steve said something to his little girl to cheer her up and she started bawling. He looked up and said, "I always said the wrong things at times like this to my girls too!" As the boat pulled out the boys smiled and waved and the girls cried. We should have sponsored a boy...just kidding.

On the way back to Phnom Penh, we stopped at a place called RDI. It was as helpful a place to visit as DDD and IJM. We’ll write more about it later. We got back to the hotel around 6:30 p.m. and had supper in the hotel. Everyone's tired. Randy, Michael and I are going with The to the wedding tomorrow. The rest of the team will stay in Phnom Penh to get some rest and go around the town. We'll have supper around 7:00 PM tomorrow with the translators and then get ready for the trip home. As always, now that the projects are finished, I'm ready to be home.

Greg

Wednesday Update

2009-01-07T17:45:00.002-06:00

The pictures I just posted are from Steve.
1. Ronnie and Mean (the little girl he talks about in his blog).
2. Jason and Michael on a moped - headed to the village.
3. The team at the end of the day on Wednesday.

Several people have been asking how many people are involved in the conferences. Greg said there are 50 at the pastors/leaders conference (15 of these pull out every morning to go to Steve's Water Purification class and then come back to the church conference after lunch) and he thinks there are 12 in the Hair Design School - which he said was a perfect number for them, because of space.
Everything is still going great. No one has been sick!
He said he has been very impressed with some of the things he's been learning about Sokhom and the orphanage. They are now raising chickens - so he said chickens are running around everywhere. He'll have a lot more to share with you when they return.
Ratany's mom and dad came with the team to Lveasar on Wednesday - which she was very excited about.
I'll end with a story he told me about when they arrived back at the village on Tuesday (their second day). Jason and Jennifer had just given verbal instructions on Monday - and their students had been very attentive and excited about what they were learning in the hair design school. Well, after the team let on Monday afternoon - some of the students got one of the boy orphans and decided to practice what they had verbally learned (they hadn't practiced on the manequins yet)on him. They gave him a haircut! When Jason and Jennifer arrived on Tuesday - it was very obvious what had happened...Greg said it was very bad, like butchered. I think Jason's words were his hair was "really jacked up"! Who knows, the little guy might start a new trend! :)
Keep praying for them - as I write this blog they are traveling back to Lveasar for their last day in the village.
It will be sad getting on the mopeds and watching everyone, especially the children, wave bye. After seeing the picture,I'm sure Ronnie will be leaving a piece of his heart there.
Kathy

Pictures from Wednesday

2009-01-07T17:35:00.003-06:00

2009-01-07T08:03:00.002-06:00

Well it's Wednesday night and it has been an incredible week. The kids are great. I met a new little girl from near the Thailand border who has only been at the orphanage one month. Of course Teresa, Cory and I will be sponsoring her. I'll post her picture later.

And if that weren't enough I got to watch fireworks because today is Independence Day here.

I have more to say, but I'll probably do that through a video presentation. I can't wait for you to see and hear our week. Thank you to all who have been praying for us. He is faithful

Ronnie

update from Justin

2009-01-07T07:14:00.002-06:00

Well...today was my last day here in Cambodia. I fly out at 8:00 a.m. in the morning to stay overnight in Beijing...and finally get back home on Friday night sometime to New Orleans. I have had an incredible Christmas/New Year experience in 2008/2009. I led a team of 12 people to China for 17 days. That was an incredible experience. Our team was outstanding and the time of ministry was equally great.

I originally decided, after some prayer, to not come to Cambodia. My girlfriend's birthday is on January 4th...so I really wanted to be back for her birthday. It turns out that there weren't ANY flights coming back to the U.S. from Shanghai until January 9th. So basically I was stuck there by myself for 6 days. I definately took it in stride and knew that God wanted me here in Cambodia. So...it did not take me long to contact Greg and see if I could come down and spend that time with the BPF team. I can't express how great it has been to connect with the BPF team for these 5 days and love of the people of Lvesar.

I have loved hanging out with the orphans and village kids this week. They absolutely captured my heart. They so desire to just be loved on. I cannot get over how disciplined they are!! They always listen and obey. I remember one of the orphans, Van, came up to me during the church service and sat down next to me...and just put his arm on me as to say "I'm so glad you are here." I knew at the moment that I was exactly where God wanted me during this time. I have to say that Lauren has been so incredibly supportive of me while I've been gone (for 3+ weeks) and has already forgiven me for missing her birthday...I think...(shameless plug coming)...although she did have a string of pearls waiting for her at her house on her birthday!

It was so hard leaving those kids this afternoon. I definately think I'll be coming back at some point. Who knows in what capacity. I know that I'll be serving in Asia in some capacity...whether that is mobilizing or being there myself. It has been such a blessing to be a part of this great BPF team. I've learned a lot. God reaffirmed to me that this is exactly what His church should be doing...loving on the widows and orphans of the world...and bringing justice to those who need rescuing.

You guys have such amazing leaders in your community of believers in Greg, Randy, and Ronnie. God and BPF have an amazing thing going here in Cambodia. The hair school, water treament school, pastor training, and orphanage are amazing ministries that are changing lives. I would encourage anyone at BPF who is looking to get a "mission experience" to come out here next year...just step out in faith...and GO!! Thanks for letting me be a part of BPF in this way.

Off to Beijing,

Justin

Jason, Jenn, Haleigh say HEY!!!

2009-01-06T17:41:00.002-06:00

What an amazing trip. I thought it would be difficult to love a place as much as Kenya. It is so hard to describe the feeling of teaching a class how to cut hair and they are totally engrossed in everything you say and do. What a huge eye opening experience of how God can use ANY talent if you are willing to use it. The "stylists" here are catching on soooooo fast and are amazed and proud of themselves. I can't wait to bring back pictures. I could live here. Who knows??? KRS/Gavin........any Summit school in the future in Phenom Penh? :)
I miss my boys and my peeps at Urban Eve....They are making me come to the bus. Will continue later. God is awesome and life is beautiful

Greg's Best Day Ever in Cambodia...

2009-01-06T08:39:00.002-06:00

I got to talk with Greg this morning (Tuesday night) for him. Technology is amazing. I'm talking on the phone to Greg in Cambodia and I have facebook up on the computer and my friend Linah in Kenya (Daraja Choir) pops up to chat on Facebook!
Greg said today was probably one of his best days ever in Cambodia.
He taught a couple of sessions to the church leaders, then The Mey taught in the afternoon - which allowed Greg to walk around and see what all was going on.
He ended up sitting down and within minutes Malin (the girl we sponsor) came up and snuggled up next to him. He put his arm around her. Ratany came and started chatting with Malin and Greg and translating for them. Ratany just randomly asked Malin what she would want Greg to do for her. Expecting an answer maybe about something she'd like for Greg to buy for her. Malin said "I want him to be my daddy. I want to go live with him. I also wish I could see my mom and my other brother." (referring to Jeff and I). He said Ratany became quite tearful and he tried his best to hold himself together in front of Malin. WOW! It's hard for me to even type this this morning. You know it's hard to see the computer screen with tears in your eyes. Greg said they had a great conversation and talked about her studies in school and what she wants to do in the future. Good stuff...
Sponsors, you ARE making a difference in the life of "your child".
Hair Design School... is UNBELIEVABLE. Greg said Jason and Jen said the students are picking up the instructions very quick. Four of their students are orphans (3 girls and 1 guy). Jen said they are probably picking up stuff the quickest and are very talented. Today during their second day of class, the students didn't want to break for lunch - they just wanted to keep on working!
Bible Club... going well - playing with the kids, acting out stories... having a great time together.
Water School... Steve has done such an incredible job teaching. Some new men walked up to see what they were doing - and instead of Steve answering their questions through the translator. The translator said your students are answering their questions correctly. Greg said he and the team drank water out of the Mekong River today - after it went through Steve's purification system. (I didn't ask... but I want to know if Jan and Jen drank the water???) This whole project is very exciting - clean water can come to multiple villages! Thanks, Steve for being so flexible and willing to be used by God.
The team went to Sokhom's house (pastor of Lveasar church and director of orphanage) Tuesday night to eat dinner. Greg said it was a wonderful meal. Sokhom told The Mey that he has felt the power of God in an amazing way in the village with all that the team is doing.
Keep praying,
Kathy

An Update from the Water Purification Prof

2009-01-06T08:38:00.000-06:00

Today was a good day. I realized how interested these people are about clean water as I watched them work on the system, purify & test the water and then ask questions about what they were doing. After a while, they began answering each other's questions. I was able to just stand back and listen (even though I didn't understand) while they discussed the topic amongst themselves. In the end, it made me glad that I was surprised with a class.

Steve

Scott's Monday

2009-01-05T19:55:00.002-06:00

Good Morning!!

Day 3 is now in the books and day 4 is just starting to see the sun!

This morning we got up to the same GREAT breakfast buffet! And off to
the bus for another day of great fun in Lveasor! While on the bus, we
find out that the route we are going to take (the only route there)
could take as long as 3 HOURS in traffic!! He was wrong, however, it
was still the worse traffic that Greg had seen here in 6 years. Which
is causing our bus ride to begin at 6.30 this morning instead of 7a

When we got to the orphanage…the day had begun! It was crazy! The
kids were all at the entrance ready for us to be there!! After the
handshakes and the name game…we all went into the pastors conference
to introduce ourselves and tell them what we are going to be doing
this week! When the introductions were over, the surprise of the day
happened! They broke up to go to their respective areas of interest!
And the first area that they called was for those going to the water
purification school! Steve has gone beyond having to simply put in a
system…he is now teaching the natives to replicate it! He was a
little shocked…he had nothing prepared, no notes for them to have, not
diagrams or anything…however, Steve took it with class and now can say
that he leads "international water purification confereneces:" What a
man!

The Bible School is going great! The kids are great, they listen and
are well behaved and it is just crazy! Randy told the story of Jesus'
birth and did a great job of adding energy and excitement and the
translator did a great job of translating the excitement as well!!
Then we dressed up the kids and they acted out the story! We forgot
to get someone to be the donkey that Mary and Joseph take to Bethlehem
so I was voted the Donkey!

Lunch soon came and that was ok! Rice and bananas once again!!

After lunch we got the kids to color their sheet! They did an amazing
job of sitting patiently while we distributed the colors and the
coloring sheets!! We had 150 kids, a few more than anticipated so a
few did not even get supplies, but we never heard it from them, those
patient rascals!!

Then the games began…we beat each other up with noodles…we played a
number game! They still had the parachute from last year and we
played with it!! It just caused a big dust storm…bad idea!! And we
played Volleyball!!

I got a chance to speak at the pastor's conference yesterday, and it
was very fun, yet quite interesting! Very different dynamic teaching
through a translator!! But I thought it went well…a few times I got
ahead of myself and was like wait…you need to translate!!

The night ended soon…we were all tired! So we ate at our hotel and
then crashed early…like in the 8s!!

Well it is that time of the day…time for another great breakfast buffet!

Love ya
Scott

Team at Royal Palace on Saturday, Randy and the Kids, Greg teaching the Pastors

2009-01-05T08:47:00.001-06:00

Good News...Bad News!

2009-01-05T08:30:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had that dream where you show up for college class after missing a few days to find out you have an important test? Try showing up in Cambodia for the first time and find out in front of all of the attendants of a pastor’s conference that you are teaching the “water purification class”. That was the bad news. The good news is that it was well attended. Michael & I had 17 people attend a session that was not planned. Welcome to my nightmare.
I guess that shows how great a need that clean water is to the people in rural Cambodia. We made it through the day okay....but I have a busy night ahead of me to prepare for tomorrow.
Other than that things are going great. The people are wonderful, warm and hospitable. Oh, and the food is great! On a related note, I am proud to be one of the founding members of the pineapple “rat pack”. We found that the hotel restaurant is excellent (and cheap!). This after being pampered at the village for lunch.
God is good..... Steve

We've Had A Great Day!

2009-01-05T08:25:00.000-06:00

We've had a great day. Everyone is still fine healthwise, including The Mey.

The day started out in the worst traffic jam I've ever seen across the bridge past Sokhom's neighborhood. No way to describe it other than every square inch of road was occupied with a car, truck, tuk or moped. Upon arrival at Lveasar we all gathered in the ground floor of the church for introductions - everyone introduced themselves, and I mean everyone. It took a long time.

The first surprise of the day was when they announced Steve was leading a water purification class. 14 people from my conference left and went to his. He made things up on the fly as he and Michael assembled the equipment. I look forward to seeing how Steve describes it in the blog.

My part went well. I led two sessions and Scott led one. The pastors were so appreciative for us being there even before we started teaching. I love teaching Pastors. The dynamic is very different from the K3 conferences we've led in the past. After the conference was over and we were waiting for the motos, Malin came up and gave me a great big hug. That sure made my day.

Here are a few other highlights from the day.
We had coconut milk at break time.
One of our translators was Nida - Nymo's sister. She is just like him, humor and everything.
Ravy came again today and I got to talk with him for quite a while. He is doing real good. He says to tell everyone hi.
The restaurant here has great food and is cheap. I never saw a good cheap restaurant I didn’t like!

Tell everyone thanks for their prayers - we feel them.

Greg

OK ... OK ... OK

2009-01-05T07:30:00.000-06:00

I forgot Randy in the Rat Pac and probably everyone else too.

One Correction

2009-01-05T07:05:00.000-06:00

I must make one correction to the Rat Pac membership. Scott is also a founding member. Sorry Scott.

Ronnie

A Wonderful Day

2009-01-05T06:25:00.003-06:00

Today was a good day. We were as excited to see the kids as they were to see us. After a long battle with traffic, we arrived at a campus full of pastors and kids who were ready for the day.

I was able to go back and forth between the Pastors Conference, the Vacation Bible School, the "Water Treatment Conference" (ask Steve about his impromptu conference), and the Hair Design School. Everywhere I went I saw the faces of people eager to learn. We will be sending more pictures each day so you can see some of what we are experiencing.

On a side note, we have formed a gang here called "The Rat Pac". So far it consists of Steve, Jason and myself. We are the adventurous eaters. So far we're all healthy too. I've eaten things I've never even seen in books. It's so much fun.

More than anything else, God is at work: both in our lives and in the lives of the people of Cambodia. I look forward to see all that He will do.

Ronnie

P.S. - If you find lots of misspelled words, it's because I typed it on my iPod.

Monday Morning - Jan

2009-01-04T23:58:00.002-06:00

Monday Morning email from Jan:

Yesterday (Sunday) was incredible! I was so excited to get to Lveasar!! We took our bus to the Mekong and then a ferry over the river. And then the mopeds to the village! (I have come a long way since three years ago when I was scared to death about the trip to Johnson's Bayou after Katrina! Who knew that was my first step toward Cambodia!) Seeing all the familiar faces was like being home! The kids are so amazing!

We had a wonderful church service. The kids performed a lot... traditional dances (including the coconut dance) and singing. We also performed! Ronnie led us in two songs (very impromptu!) toward the beginning of the service and then at the end they called us back up and Michael played the guitar and led us in a song!

Rathany did a great job sharing her story from being born in a refugee camp to becoming a Christian and going to college now in USA. But only her dad ended up coming with us. She so has a heart for her family (now Buddhist) to know Christ.

And of course Greg and The Mey did a great job speaking as well.

The kids remembered our whole family and asked about you (Kevin), Jeff and Greg. Scott had an automatic in with them, already knowing the "handshake"!! He showed them pictures of Jeff and Greg and explained that he is the brother and he was immediately welcomed in! Jeff and Greg, Scott has taken up right where you left off... quickly learning their names, rolling in the dirt with them, letting them climb all over him and even making them laugh about Kum Pom! (I guess "I farted!" is a boy thing no matter where you are!)

Our kids at the orphanage are so happy, and so full of smiles and hugs!

We had a great afternoon with them!

We ate pizza for dinner on the top floor (6th) of the mall. Was good to eat familiar food, I am still very picky at the village but the rice and bananas can always sustain me til supper.

It is early morning on Monday. I am fixing to get ready to head back to Lveasar.

New School

2009-01-04T23:53:00.003-06:00

Ribbon cutting ceremony for a school building that was built this last year at the orphanage. They had already been using the school - but wanted to have an "official ceremony" with the special service on Sunday.

A Good Day - Sunday in Lveasar

2009-01-04T23:18:00.002-06:00

Note from Greg via Kathy:

We had a great Sunday with the people in the village of Lveasar. Worshiping together is always a special time.

One of the highlights of the service today was a skit put on by some of the orphans - it was about how the kids became orphans - parents dying of aids - leaving 5 kids without the ability to care for themselves - they are then brought to the orphanage. It was very touching - the children were actually crying at the end of the skit. Then Malin (13 yr. old girl - has been at the orphanage for 7 years) got up and read a "Thank You Letter to our church". She said that before our church(BPF) started helping them they had no hope... But, now that they have sponsors and support from our church "they have HOPE"! This was a little overwhelming and was a powerful affirmation that we as a church are doing what we are called to do and we ARE making a difference in the lives of many children in Lveasar. BPF Sponsors, you are a vital part of hope for these kids! Thank You!

Randy and I noticed a sign with the orphanage name on it: Hope for Cambodia.

We are looking forward to starting the church leader's conference, hair styling/cutting school, water purification project and bible club for the orphans and village kids Monday morning.

We traveled back to Phnom Penh and had a meeting with the director of the IJM office. It was very informative regarding their work in Cambodia.

Rathany is helping us so much with translating and getting us around the city. While at the orphanage today, she came up to me and said "Greg, did you know the kids here have a nickname for you?" I told her, "No - what is it?"... "Uncle Giant"! It made me laugh and I thought, I kind of like that!

We are all doing good - everyone is healthy and ready to work.

Keep praying for us.

Note from Kathy: As my heart has been thinking so much about what is going on in Cambodia, it was so good to talk to many of you at church today. Thank you for caring and praying. God is good!

First Day in Lvesar

2009-01-04T08:59:00.002-06:00

We left early for Lvesar...it was a nice ride, we saw new parts of Phenom Pehn on our way out. To get to Levesar you have to cross the Mei Kong on a ferry. The Mei Kong is Mississippi River big...the ferry is San Bernard River big. I am a big fan of the ferry! I really want to drive it. On the other side of the river we take mopeds down the road to the village...that is a fun adventure.

The church serivce was full of different experiences. I was surprised that pastor Sokhom did not play much of a role in the service...what a humble guy! The children did several traditional Khmer dances. I love that their style of worship is still very connected to the native customs...sounds and dance. It wouldn't be as good for us or them if it was westernized. There were so many people there...our best guess of children alone is over 500. Greg preached and Rotany shared her story, both did so well. I think I have heard Greg's message before, though.

After the service we passed out lunch to the villagers, children first. That was an overwhelming experience. They were so grateful. I know it only fed them for a day, but sometimes Jesus only fed people food for a day too. I hope that they connect that one meal with the fact that God loves them forever. It is so comforting to know that we have connections and friendships like Sokhom who gives his life to tell them of that fact.

We had lunch across the street from the church. It was mostly good...very few were brave enough to try the fish. I sure wasn't. After lunch we played with the children, learned their names, toured their homes, and made jokes about "tooting". Turns out that is funny in any culture! I hope I'm never too old for toot jokes. Scott Johnson is a kid magnet...no surprise. He must have the same Johnson gene that makes him an instant jungle gym. They are so much fun. We really make an impact on them, becuase they remember people and things, like secret handshakes, (and things we teach them about Jesus too... :) from year to year.

From the village we went to IJM field office in Cambodia...so much to say about that that I will have to wait until another day. Dinner followed at a pizza place in the mall...very good and very slow.

It is a joy and a privilege to be here...this is a very fun way to represent BPF and the kingdom of God.

If you have not tried it, you should really make plans to!! Sounds like something a missions pastor would say, huh? -Randy

Email from Jan... I really love it here.

2009-01-03T11:06:00.002-06:00

Hey Kevin
I wish you were here…I really love it here. I am so glad I came back! Last night we had a good meal at Rotany’s. We rode tuk tuks over there. Her parents are so gracious! They are coming with us to church tomorrow along with two of Rotany’s friends. None of them are Christians. Rotany is speaking tomorrow and her prayer is that they come to know Christ. Last night we were all so tired. I went to sleep at 7.00 and slept until 6am.
Today I feel like I am on Cambodia time. We had a busy day today. We started out at the digital data divide. I was very impressed with the help that they provide the disadvantaged over here. And they seemed interested in helping some of our kids. Sokum went with us and got to see what is available.After that we went to Toul Sleng…very sobering.Rotany took us to a wonderful place for lunch….nice buffet, we got to try a lot of different foods. Then we shopped at the Russian market.
We also went to the royal palace. Randy, Jennifer, and Michael played musical instruments with a Buddhist band in one of the temples! It was really funny!We ate at Lucky Burger tonight. We are all anxious to go to Lveasor tomorrow. We can’t wait to see the kids.
I wish you were here. But Scott is taking good care of me!
Thank you all for praying for us!Jan

The Days Feel Like Weeks...In a Good Way

2009-01-03T07:51:00.002-06:00

I talked to Randy early this morning, and he asked me if I would post this for him. Enjoy! - Ashley

We have had a great day today. We started our day with a great breakfast at the hotel. The hotel is really very nice...Greg says it is better than the accomodations in years past. Good showers, cold air conditioners and very very very firm beds! Phenom Penh may be more humid than Lake Jackson! But, really the weather has been beautiful.

We went to Digital Data Divide, a company in Cambodia that was started by a Harvard alum with the vision of improving life for underpriveleged people in the developing world. They hire the very poor and the handicapped, give them IT training, affordable housing, and an education in a field of their choosing. The hope is that their could be a connection in the future with the orphanage in Levesar. The foundation was certainly laid...pray that God uses new relationships to connect our orphans with an even more positive future. DDD could help them become the leaders of tomorrow! Imagine God changing Cambodia through the children he has allowed us to love and support...that is a vision that I can get pretty excited about!!

We went to Toul Sleng, a torture prison that was used during the late 1970's in a period where Cambodia faced civil and external war because of Communism. Greg is an expert on Cambodian history...and great to have as a guide. Toul Sleng was a high school that they turned into the torture prison, now it is a museum. It has less words than any museum I have every been in, but says more than one person can take in. It is very sobering. It makes you think about genocide and torture in a whole new way. We know it is evil, but seeing it is very different. It gives me an even stronger passion for justice and a desire to take action when we hear of these atrocities around the world. That is why you have to go to places like this when you come to places like Cambodia!

After that we ate a very good lunch at a Cambodian buffet...better than any Ronnie and I have had in LJ!
Then we went to the market. We really helped out the Cambodian economy...if you know what I mean. We got some great things to help us remember this trip and tell our loved ones that didn't get to come how much we love them and wish that they were here.
After the market we went to the Royal Palace. Cambodia is a kingdom with a King and Queen. The palace is where they actually reside. It was very neat. I have been to Buckingham...you only see it from a far, honestly not that impressive. Here we got to tour the grounds, go into buildings, and had a great time. Michael, Jennifer, and I played drums and xylophone with some guys at a Buddhist temple on the palace grounds at their invitation...it was a blast! I prayed to Jesus the whole time, and rocked out with some new Buddhist friends. Can you tell that learning a new culture is a huge thrill for me?

We came back to the hotel, cleaned up a little, and then walked down the road to Lucky Burger for dinner. Lucky Burger was good, but not as good as the lunch buffet.
Tomorrow we go to Levesar for church. I have seen the program for the service...it is exciting. About three hours. Their will be dancing, preaching from Greg, Rotany will share her story, and the children will preform a drama. I am looking forward to this more than anything. There is nothing like worshipping with fellow Christ followers in another culture with a different language and style all the way around the world...it makes three hours seem like 30 minutes.
After church we will head to International Justice Mission's Cambodia offices. This another very exciting thing! I can't wait to report this to you soon.

You can see why the days seem like weeks, but they are priceless days that are a dream come true. I can't wait to go love on and play with the children!

More to come...Randy

Saturday in Phnom Penh

2009-01-03T07:15:00.002-06:00

Email from Greg:

Here's a recap of this year's adventure so far...

Plane ride was fine, not as nice as Singapore Air, but I'd use them again.

Hotel is way, way better. Clean, nice - the bathrooms are like ones in the states. Free breakfast is a large buffet - all you can eat.

Dinner at Rathany's house was wonderful, similar to eating at Sokhom's. We all hit it off well. Her family and some friends are all going to Lveasar tomorrow with us. Please pray for them - none of them are Christians.

Today we went to Digital Divide Data. It was a very good thing - lots of possibilities for partnership. I think the director was as happy to have Sokhom there as Sokhom was glad to be there. After that we went to Toul Sleng which was very near. Then to eat at a very nice restaurant with an incredibly large buffet. Rathany knows her way around Phnom Penh! From there we went to the Russian Market and got everything we (Michael and I) needed. But it wasn't enough time for Jennifer. That's probably good because all three of them were loaded down with stuff! From there we went to the Royal Palace - they all loved that too - and then called it a day and came back to the hotel. We went to Lucky Burger for supper and now Michael and I are here at the internet cafe.

We have to leave now to go pick up Justin at the airport.

Explanation of some of Greg's email:

Check out DDD on the web www.digitaldividedata.org - just reading about it on the web sounds very interesting. Sokhom is the director of the orphanage in Lveasar and he went with the team to tour DDD in anticipation of sending some of the orphans to work there after they finish high school - to be able to further their education - with a goal of becoming self-supporting one day. Sounds like the visit/tour went well.

Tonight (Texas time) - will be Sunday morning for them - they will be headed to the village of Lveasar (about an hour's drive) to go to church and visit with our precious orphans! Yes... I'd love to be there right now!

Kathy

Update from Randy...via Ashley and Skype!

2009-01-02T17:55:00.002-06:00

Technology is awesome! Randy just texted me to get on Skype and we talked for about half an hour! He was on the computer in the hotel lobby which is pretty slow, so he asked me to blog for him. Something that was funny to me is that in the middle of our conversation, he realized it was 6:30 am there, not 7:30 am like he thought! He is not a morning person, so that was pretty funny. He said that he had had plenty of sleep though because he went to bed at 8:00. Sounds like maybe they are getting more adjusted to being 13 hours ahead of us here!

Last night (for them) they went to Rotany's parents' house for dinner. He said it was such a neat experience: they ate on mats on the floor, and her mom had cooked so much food. They ate beef on a stick, fried rice, curry soup, french bread, and some "really potent sauce made of salt, pepper, and lime." His favorite was the beef on a stick. He also said they didn't wear any shoes. He said they were so hospitable and kind to the team.

Randy also said that last night he, Steve, and Ronnie drank some pineapple juice, and then The Mey said that might not have been a good idea. Pray against them getting sick!!

Today they go to digital data divide, the killing fields, the palace and maybe some shopping...tomorrow to church at levesar. We'll update more as we hear!

Wow! What a day...

2009-01-02T06:23:00.003-06:00

Wow!! What a day. Or maybe better "what a few days". The calendar says it has been two days, the clock says it has been just over 24 hours, but my body says something more like a week. We left Houston at just after 5:00 p.m. on Dec. 31 and will get to Phnom Penh at around 10:00 in the morning on Jan 2nd. What makes it worse is that we didn't see the sunshine from the time we left Los Angeles until after we arrived in Taipei (about 18 hours). That's just not natural.

So far everything has gone smoothly. All of the flights have left and arrived on time. All of the flights have been nearly full, but we were able to shift some people around so that the Culverhouses could sit together and Randy moved to a bulkhead seat to get some more leg room. I'm not sure but I think Greg has connections. He has sat in a bulkhead seat for each leg of the trip. He and Michael have had plenty of leg room.

I'll write more later today after I am completely exhausted and un-comprehendable.

Steve

Arrived in Phnom Penh

2009-01-01T23:48:00.002-06:00

Quick note received: "we're here, hotel is nice. internet is slow. will write more later. love, greg"

It is so good to know that they have arrived in Phnom Penh - it's 1 p.m. Friday there.

Looking forward to hearing of their adventures. Stay tuned...

Kathy

Taipei Chat

2009-01-01T16:54:00.002-06:00

We heard from the the team as they were waiting to board in the Taipei airport.

I got on facebook right before my mom and I were about to head out for the evening when Michael, my brother, said "hey man" through facebook chat. Excited, I told my mom and she logged onto her account. Randy Dane was also online. They were "pleasantly surprised" with the quality of China Air and had had a good trip, personal tvs help. We chatted for a few minutes and ensured them that we are all praying for great things.

They are boarding the plane for Phnom Penn now.

Sometimes a facebook addiction is a good thing,

Jeff

Leaving LA

2009-01-01T01:07:00.003-06:00

I just talked to Greg. They had a good flight to LA and have now boarded China Air - will fly from LA to Taipei (arriving in Taipei around 4:40 p.m. Jan 1st our time - 5:40 a.m. Jan 2nd Taipei time). They'll be skipping over Jan 1st in the air! They will have about an hour and a half layover in Taipei - should arrive in Phnom Penh at 9:00 p.m. Jan 1st Texas time/10:00 a.m. Jan 2nd PP time.
The team is already having a good time visiting with each other and are anticipating what God has in store for them over the next week.
Pray for them as they minister to the people of Cambodia.
Kathy

Goodbyes & Hellos at the Airport

2008-12-31T14:42:00.004-06:00

We just said goodbye so they could say hello.

For those of us that traveled to Cambodia last year, this goodbye felt strange. But God is in Cambodia just like He is in America, and that gives every strange feeling a dose of peace.

We will miss them and our Cambodian friends!

Looking forward to hearing from them,
Jeff and Kathy Pickering

Almost Time!

2008-12-30T08:43:00.004-06:00

Last night most of the team met to pack the trip supplies in second suitcases. It was exciting to see all of the supplies for the hair design school, including some crazy looking manikins. We also packed the supplies for the conference, some clothes for the orphanage, and some swimming noodles for games and recreation...we won't be swimming in the Mei Kong River.

Thanks for praying for our team! We know so many are already praying, and we have had a request for the names of the team members so you can pray specifically.

Hair Design School:

Jason and Jennifer Culverhouse

Bible Club / Pastor's Conference:

Rotany Cuba

Haliegh Culverhouse

Randy Dane

Jan Johnson

Scott Johnson-(Sagamore Church, Ft. Worth)

Justin McCain

The Mey-(Rosharon Bible Baptist)

Greg Pickering

Michael Pickering

Water Filtration and Video:

Steve Erskine

Ronnie Whitehead

We leave Houston tomorrow at about 5pm. After stops in Los Angeles and Taipei we will arrive in Phnom Penh, Cambodia about 10am on January 2nd. Dear friends will be waiting to greet us!

The Beginning...

2008-12-10T10:35:00.003-06:00

This is the beginning of a blog created to provide updates on the upcoming Brazos Pointe Fellowship mission trip to Cambodia. A team of 13 will be leaving on December 31st and returning on January 10th. As final preparations are made and as the trip gets underway, updates will be posted by the team. The purpose of this trip is very exciting! The team will conduct a Bible Club for the children of the orphanage, a Pastor's Conference for many pastors from around the country, a hair cutting and design school for residents of the village, and installing a water filtration system to be used at the orphanage.Pray for those going, those they will meet and those staying behind - that all will have hope and share hope!