Adventurous Life

The following is my journal entry for 18 June. Today is the Queen Mother's birthday, and in celebration the schools have a holiday so no Logos this morning. Instead, Lois p'own sray, Lisa and I went to Miss Kim's house. When there isn't school she invites her youth group over for the morning and lunch. They are all Vietnamese kids whose parents came to Phnom Penh some time ago. They tens to be some of the poorest here since the can't get papers for real work or citizenship since they are Vietnamese ethnicity. Because of the poverty the parents sometimes sell their daughters to brothels for money. After meeting and getting to know a few of these beautiful, young ladies it breaks my heart to think about what could be the reality of their future. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we teach English at New Hope School which is just for the Vietnamese. The first 3 classes I was with the youth but now I am with kids who are about 5 years younger and are just learning English. So fa...

We have been in the country a little over a week, returned to normal sleep patterns after jet lag, and already experienced some different ministries. It was a very hard first week. I experienced some culture stress as Cambodia is nothing like I imagined or expected. I will record more of my cultural observations and struggles on this blog in the next few days as I journal about them. I also had a hard week physically. Not with stomach problems as many might suppose, although my stomach is adjusting as well, but with a really bad heat rash that was all over my back, arms, and thighs. It has taken a few days but is now starting to clear up. Two main things I learned from this week are 1.) God is the only Sustainer and 2.) this trip is not going to be anything like my trip to Japan. Week 2 has begun and everything looks brighter. Monday we started teaching summer school at Logos International School. I thought I was going to be teaching art for two weeks, but after a visit to the school l...

Background: In 1975 Pol Pot and the communist party Khmer Rouge came to power. The face they put on for the world was one of an ideal communist society, but the truth behind the mask was one of terror, mistrust, and murder. For four years, Cambodia endured and struggled for survival. Help came in the form of an invasion by the Vietnamese army, and the world was made aware of the millions of deaths that had been ignored, denied, or unheard. It is estimated that approximately 2 million people died directly from the genocide and another million died from the forced famine. The world had seen genocide before but not one committed against a group's own people group. This is thirty years later.... On Tuesday, my second day here, we visited Tuol Sleng or S-21. This was a high school that the Khmer Rouge used as a torture center where people accused of committing crimes against the party would be taken before they were executed. Only 7 out of 17,000-20,000 people survived. The compound is ...

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,  Because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted;  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,  To proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners;  To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God;  To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. ~ Isaiah 61:1-3 This passage of Scripture described the ministry of the Messiah, and the people would know of the arrival of the Messiah by witnessing these works. Jesus read this passage at the beginningof His ministry to declare His Messiahship and what He was going to do among them (cf. Luke 4:17-21). For some reason I have always been struck by this passage. It speaks of liberation and restoration, that...

In less than a week Lisa and I will be leaving for Cambodia! The vaccinations are complete, the packing has begun, and the excitement is starting to build. My life has been such a whirlwind lately that I am (somewhat) looking forward to being enclosed in a plane for 20ish hours. It is hard to imagine that a week from now I will be in a different country (yay!) adjusting to a 12-hour time difference (hmmm). For those of you who would like specific times, we leave Dallas at 10:30 p.m. Saturday and arrive in Phnom Penh at 11:35 am on June 8th. Gotta love crossing the international date line! My brother once told me it is sort of like flying to the future.    I will have email access at an internet cafe while I am there, but I do not know how often I will be able to go. I will try to send out updates as often as possible. Please feel free to email me if you wish, but I might not respond quickly.    Now on to the Cambodia portion of the email!   MINISTRIES Lisa & I will be...