Well its happened. After months of preparation and no little excitement on the part of many people, p2p Cambodia has basically been and gone. With our Bible school starting in a day or 2 the excitement (and therefore the madness) is not yet over, however I thought that more than enough has happened to be able to fill you in on just a snippet.Last Tuesday 4 teams of Aussies, Khmer and 1 staunch New Zealander (haha) launched themselves into 5 days of preaching and physical labour. 2 teams headed out into a few different provinces, while 2 teams remained in Phnom Penh teaching and toiling under the hot Cambodia sun. I was blessed to head off to Kampong Thom and Kampong Cham to notch up a few extra village life experiences. 12 of us (5 Khmer, 6 Aussies, and 1 (naturally staunch) NZer) crammed into a mini bus and headed northeastish. We stayed a night each in 2 different villages which was a fantastic (and probably quite challenging for some) experience. There is nothing quite like sleeping on a mat on the floor, dining off the carcase of a freshly killed chook, drinking coconut milk and palm juice freshly 'retrieved' from a tree or sitting under the stars of a cool, clear Cambodian night. It was a lot of fun playing, watching and singing with the myriads of village children who would flock to our side on arrival, most of them content just to pull up a chair and watch us do everything from eat to sleep when we weren't entertaining them (or having them entertain us).
We taught simple Bible messages in a few of the villages and schools throughout the 2 provinces. There was a range of Bible understanding - but it was exciting to see their interest and try to answer their questions. Singing was invariably a hit - and I'm sure 'be bold, be strong' and 'this is the day' are going to be remembered by many of the people we taught - their enthusiasm in singing these songs will certainly be remembered by all of us.
The trip seemed to come to a finish all too soon and we traipsed back to Phnom Penh tired but excited. I'm sure that we have all been changed for the better by the experiences we had during this time. Now we are all amped for the Bible school where we are so excited to be able to fellowship with 17 of our Vietnamese brethren. This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Sarah
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