Hello everyone, I hope you are all well. I was privileged to travel to Cambodia to help with our church, based in Phnom Penh. Steve and Lynne, who I have known since I was at university, we go back a while, we have met in a number of different places throughout Australia particularly when Steve and Lynne and their family and myself lived in isolation. So when God gave me this opportunity to meet up with them again, I thought, fantastic! This was the second time that Steve and Lynne have been based in Phnom Penh. They are a great team.My flight plans were crazy as it involved me flying to Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur then onto Phnom Penh but it saved me over $500 so it was worth it – figure that, you fly extra kilometres and it costs you far less. It was a good opportunity to meet up with David and Ruth Wallace. We had a good catch up at Lazy Moe's, Dave was served the biggest meal I had ever seen in my life, it was called a mixed grill, it should have been called a heart attack waiting to happen, it was obscene. We asked if anyone ever finished it and they said not many do. Sad state of affairs, when many people go without food. After our fun evening together, I got on the flight after midnight and flew to KL. No sleep on the plane as I expected. Landed at KL, had an 8 hour layover, after being delayed on the tarmac in Melbourne for an hour, it was hot and humid in the plane (conditions I was to very much experience in Cambodia, it was a precursor of things to come) until the cabin crew opened the back doors of the plane, woe it changed to cold pretty fast, I thought I saw an eskimo sitting next to me, it was that cold. Finally under way, our 8 stopover was now 7, so that was fine by me. Once I landed and got my bags I checked in my luggage to the lockers and then caught a bus into town. The airport is a good hour from KL central, so there was another three and a half hours gone ( including the bus trip back ), by the time i worked out how to get to Twin towers, I had enough time to spend one hour walking around. Finally off to Phnom Penh. Steve, Tim and Asher met me at the airport. For two weeks I knew humidity would get the better of me. It was great to see Steve again. It was the first time I had met Tim and Asher.
Let's meet the team of fieldworkers. Steve and Lynne, I have already introduced. I have much time for them both. They have always made me feel welcome wherever we have met, this time was certainly no exception. They are doing a great job with the fieldworkers and the dormers (Bethezer) and the BEC (Bible Education Centre) and the LCDI ( a school where they do volunteer teaching and are teaching the Bible ) They have put together a very thorough toolkit, which I found very easy to work with – being a schoolteacher, we are used to these. It doesn't take long to learn how to use it. Then there was Tim and his daughter Rachelle (I hope I spelt it right). They are an incredible dad and daughter team, they have experienced much grief and trauma over the last number of years, this has been exasperated in the last number of weeks with the sudden passing away of Tim's loving wife Judith (and Rachelle's Mum ) yet one would never have known in the way they carried themselves, they are amazing, a true example for us all. Rachelle is 15, yet she is like one in her early twenties in terms of her maturity. She is a baptised sister. Just from these two alone, I learnt so much about courage and the love they have for God. I wish I could have Tim's knowledge of the scriptures, his gentle manner is very much another example for all of us. Then there is Gracie, she too is from Lismore and is a good friend of Rachelle's. Her encouragement of Rachelle and the way she interacted with the dormers was great. I am sure both Rachelle and Gracie have had the time of their lives. Then there is Asher, he was fitting in like he was a seasoned campaigner, he gave two talks and did a great job. He has a very easy style of explaining things. Asher was able to pick up some of the language very quickly which is good. He is also easy going and it was good to listen to him playing the guitar. I hope Asher continues to be a fieldworker, he does a good job. Then there is Marvin, a fit young and energetic brother, with a very easy going nature. He is over there for three months. He hasn't been there long but he already knows most of the dormers names, a credit to him. He goes about his business in a very quiet manner but gets the job done, very much like the silent achiever, doesn't make much fuss but gets the job done well. I hope this three months inspires Marvin to continue preaching either here or other parts of the world. To finish off the team, there is Loy Loy, a baptised Cambodian sister who works as the administration officer. She always has a smile on her face and is happy to drop everything to work with you. The team worked so well together, everyone pitched in.
The next two weeks were to be very fulfilling and rewarding for myself ( I can only speak for myself but I am sure all the fieldworkers find the time rewarding ). There are about 50 dormers ( I could be wrong here, my Maths is not one of my strong points ). The young people are an incredible bunch. They are an inspiration to all of us, I tell you now, I have learnt so much more from these young people, much more than I will ever teach them. These y
oung people have a hunger and thirst to learn about God and His purpose, which in this day and age just blows your socks off. About 12 of them have made a commitment to their Heavenly Father which is very encouraging. Some of these have taken on a leadership role to guide the new ecclesia into the future. Some have taken on the role of mentoring which is very pleasing. They have a morning meditation at 6am and some take an extra Bible lesson at 7am. They then go off to work or university. They are so welcoming, which really makes you feel good. Throughout the day, back at the BEC where Steve and Lynne run many lessons, you might see some of the dormers coming in for extra lessons, or other contacts or even those from the LCDI school. It is possible throughout the day that there are at least 10 lessons going on at the BEC. They all want to learn about God. Praise be to God for giving us this opportunity to preach His word. The dormers come to the BEC at 6pm to do another lesson, they are always so bubbly and enthusiastic. As a teacher one cannot ask for more. To cap the day off, the dormers were happy to do a 9pm session on the practical ways of living one's life. So the days were very full on, and yet at 6am the next day they are happy to do it all over again to learn more about God and His kingdom. As I said, very inspiring. They are always smiling regardless of the troubles that life seems to bring their way.On a Saturday evening the dormers hear a session about God's plan for the world, followed by a movie for the not baptised. The baptised members have another session, we did a session on the Armour of God, very well acted out by Steve. To see him with a strainer on his head to represent the helmet of salvation was worth the cost of the flight alone, unfortunately my camera was playing up and I think I lost these photos.
On Sunday morning there are lessons back at the BEC and then there is a memorial meeting at 2.30pm followed a Bible class, some afternoon tea and possibly a game of volleyball.
So the weeks are busy, even though you sometimes feel physically tired you are spurred on by everyone's willingness to learn and enthusiasm (this is why enthusiasm is so good, when you give it to others, it does not cost you anything). When I got there, with the timing of my flights, I had had no sleep, I was revitalised by their smiles and happiness to grab onto God's word. Phnom Penh is a wonderful place to hear God's word. We all pray for God to guide these young people to want to learn more and one day make a commitment to their Heavenly Father in the form of baptism.
We were fortunate enough to have nine great cooks ( I should say Chefs ), Loy Loy, Gay and Lynne and the unknown cooks at the Dorms (everyone has a meal on the Saturday night at the dorms ). The other five were the five different restaurants we all went to at various times.
We had the privilege of teaching at the LCDI school. I really enjoyed my two times there. We looked at number patterns and Pythagoras Theorem. Can you believe they wanted to stay in their recess time to do more Pythagoras – priceless, although Steve was not happy with me, because in his next lesson after recess, all they wanted to do was Pythagoras - ooooops!!!!!!
We saw an elephant with shoes on, the trend might set in, maybe I should tell Taronga Zoo.
Other things of note, once again asian traffic is organised chaos, Phnom Penh is no exception. But it seemed fairly safe, drivers are quite happy to drive on the wrong side of the road, straight at oncoming traffic. I went on the back of a moto ( motorbike ) at first you hold on and then you start to relax, before you know it, no hands, some of the women sit side saddle without a care in the world. Having said that two brothers Vanny and K are in charge of the driving. A good initiative to set up a Tuk Tuk business. But sadly bro. Vanny was involved in an small accident the other day. It looks like he has fractured his ankle, so accidents do happen at times. We pray that Bro. Vanny will be ok. He has an amazing spirit, a few hours after the accident he was laughing and telling stories in typical Vanny style. it was great to see so many of the dormers coming to visit Vanny. They were very much concerned for Bro. Vanny's welfare, which was great to see. Let's hope Vanny gets back on his horse so to speak (sorry I meant the Tuk Tuk ).
God blessed me with safe travels and good health. Most trips seem to have some hiccups in them, I thought this was to be different, but there were two incidents that stand out.
I noticed that a Christadelphian sister was in Cambodia, we emailed and worked out that she was in Phnom Penh at a certain hotel. We googled the hotel and found a phone number and address. Phone number did not work so Lynne and myself went in a Tuk Tuk to find her. The best plans of mice and men go astray as they say. This was no exception. The addresses in Phnom Penh are not based on street names but street numbers. Now being a Maths teacher that seems easy enough but unfortunately the numbers are not arranged in any mathematical order whatsoever. Which is frustrating for a Maths teacher. Until you get used to the addresses it can be hard to read an address. We went looking for street 227 property 19. So Lynne and myself went on the Tuk Tuk and almost found street 227, but it just was not there, we got to the next street and the map told it was next but alas not there. As it turned out Lynne was not flustered in any way, we were able to have a chit chat which was good. The only problem being that the traffic was incredibly bad on this Saturday night. It was 6pm and we were still in heavy traffic. No problem if you were not expected home until midnight, but I was giving one of the three talks that night, we were taking it in turns. Time was ticking on, we were still not making progress. Little by little, we nudged ahead. Little by little time kept creeping up. We ended up getting to the talks about 6.15- 6.20pm, so I was fine, I was able to give my talk. By the way we think the address was street 19 property 227. But we will never know, maybe when I go back next time.
The other incident involved my flight home. For those who have heard a similar story before, I am not making these things up. I almost did not make it home on time. I misread my itinerary and thought I was on a later flight. I think God sent an angel to tell me, because I met this complete stranger at the train station who was standing on the escalator with me and as we got off, he shook my hand and starting asking where I was from. I said Australia, he said I am going there this afternoon, to Australia. I asked him what time his flight was? He said 1.40pm. I said my flight was at 3.15pm. We said goodbye, I said enjoy your trip. After that I started thinking about my flight, it occurred to me, that if my flight was at 3.15pm ( ie 1515 in 24 hour time I would have thought about the pattern 15 then 15 ). So I started thinking about my flight time. I rushed home on the monorail, bearing in mind that it was 11.10am. Knowing that you are supposed to be at the airport 2 hours before, I got home and looked at my itinerary, sure enough the flight was at 1.40pm. Not much time to think, except I knew I had to be quick. I packed all my stuff and left the hostel. In my haste I left my bottle of water. I got to the monorail (had to go back to exactly the same place where I met one of God's messengers), I missed the first monorail, had to wait another 5 minutes, I knew every minute counted. I knew what time the bus left for the airport. The bad news in my favour was that the airport was an hour away on the bus. It was going to be close. The ticket gate closes one hour before the plane leaves. You know what they say, one second to an Olympic athlete is the difference between being 1st in the race and being 8th. Wow, I reckon 3 minutes makes all the difference in this case. I got to the airport at 12.35pm. I had to get my bag at the locker and then get to the counter. I could not find the ticket counter, I went to 2 different ones. I was running whilst pushing the trolley, making sure I was not going to hit anyone. I got to the counter, there was hope, one man serving, one lady with her trolley knocked over (not by me ) who was being served by this man. It was now 12.44pm, was I too late? A lady behind me asked if it was the flight to Melbourne (I had to fly to Melbourne in order to get back to Sydney as originally booked ). He said the flight is closed, I gulped and thought " Oh No, I missed out " He then changed his wording and said " closing " I thought yes there is still a chance. As I said this, I knew God had once again provided. God is Great! I got on the plane by 2 minutes at the very most. Phew!
When I think back, God looked out for me that whole morning, in three separate incidents. The first one was going to a free - flight walk in aviary. I saw the word free ( I did not have much money on me at the time ) when I got there, they tried to charge me, I did not have the correct money, so I could not go in. Had I gone in, I had planned to leave there at 10.30am, 45 minutes later. If that would have happened I would missed my flight. The 2nd incident was I saw a bus outside and asked them the fare, ( it was a Kuala Lumpur bus hop on hop off, their fare was too expensive for the money I had ). So I asked them how far the mosque was (that was the landmark I knew how to get to the train from there, otherwise I was not sure where i was, because I came a different way to the way I was heading. He said it was 20 minute walk, I said thanks and started walking down the hill, about 30 seconds later the bus pulled past me and stopped, they offered me a lift but just down to the mosque. Had I not gone on that bus, I would have wasted another 15 to 20 minutes getting down the hill, I would have missed my plane for sure. You know about the third incident from above, so Praise be to our Heavenly Father for His extraordinary help.
As I said it was a great two weeks. There was lots of work done by the team in the two weeks and obviously more work to be done. We all pray for God's word to flourish in all parts of the world, especially in Phnom Penh. Catch you next time.
Love in the Lord
Kim
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