Eating in Cambodia

This is a picture of the Svey Rieng Restuarant. It sits 75 feet from the banks of the Mekong River and it has taken a couple of days to get used to the smell of the river and the land that is so damp. I am sitting in an internet shop looking at the geicos eating the mosquitos. You want to have a geico in your room eating mosquitos.

The food is a bland version of the Chinese food that we eat there. For the Vacation Bible School we have had the District Superintendent's wife cooking for us. There were 3 chickens under a basket the first day we had lunch at the church, and they were gone by lunchtime on Wednesday. What does that tell you? The young pig that I photographed sleeping in the mud on the side of the church is missing also, and we had the best pork riblets for lunch.

We wrapped up the vacation bible school with an afternoon service for the adults. We exchanged songs, prayers, and blessings. It has been a wonderful experience. Tomorrow we move to another church, we conduct the morning service and do a youth program in the afternoon for 2 youth representatives from each province. They asked us to do the youth program because they are trying to encourage their youth to reach out to other youth. The youth don't get much education and that makes this society almost an oral one. So missionaries must come and share the stories because so few people read. The children are like little parrots and they called: "Goodby, I love you," when we left.

The Cambodian people in this village are so happy to see people from the outside world who have come from so far away to tell them that God is real and works in all the lives of those who accept him. There is nothing like face to face contact to tell someone that they are worth God's love.

We have left games, balls, and treats for the children. The village is very unhealthy and it is a shame to see children so young with such bad teeth because you know that teeth have an implication for adult health. The Cambodian women's and children project has had its funding cut and concerns everyone to think about the implication for all of these children. We prayed for many today with headaches, easy to understand since they live in huts, are barefoot, and the entire area is wet. Everything here takes on the smell of the river, which I hardly notice now.

It is overwhelming to think I might be the one bright spot in the life of these children since they have so little hope.