More Monday in Cambodia...

Are you tired of Monday yet... what a great long day... here are more pics...

This first one is of a man walking to the village.... this village has taken 5 years to construct... it was just a grassy piece of land when 1,000 families (which includes the mom, dad, kids, grandparents... so over 5,000 people) were dropped off and relocated... no running water, no shelter, no waste management, no toilets, no food, etc.  This is where Pastor Abraham stepped in to help out... bc he thought it was wrong the way these people were expected to live... he started helping this group of "slum" on how to fish for food, how to dip trenches for latrines and how to build homes for shelter... he provided all the supplies, the labor help and knowledge... I will write more on this when we go visit the village but now the slum has a name... Andong Village....


I love this picture of this sweet girls hand... it was rare to see jewelry on these kids but by how tight this bracelet was (no way to get on or off) you could tell she has had it since she was small.  Also check out her finger nails... painted half way but full of dirt...

During our bible lessons we used puppets (which the kids had never seen puppets) and although they could not understand us they laughed at the actions of the puppets and then we had the kids act out what they saw...

After VBS, two of the teachers stayed behind to teach the school teachers ESL.. here is one of the groups...

All the women teachers of the school... for several years they were volunteers and now they are paid about $35 USD a year.  Bless them for all that they do and the love they show these kids... they are very sweet ladies... may their jewels in heaven be massive.

Some sighting around town (once inside the city life)...





Ok sorry that the pics are a little out of order... but we are back at the school... one of the thing that our church here in Singapore IBC donated was a ceiling for the school... the walls only go halfway and it is very loud in the building between all the rooms... so we are hoping that if we put a top on the rooms it will help with noise control.  Here is the before picture...

Once again the toilet... the toilets do not flush so check out the second picture were you had to take a scoop behind the toilet scoop some mosquito infested water and then place it inside the toilet to kind of wash it down...



This picture I obviously did not take but it reminds me of all the times in between sessions I would sit by myself and thank God for places like this for these people... and thank God for all the blessings in my life.  A lot of the world lives totally different than I and I am just now at 34 realizing just how different we all are but that we have the same God... no matter what... He is a good God and this trip we spent a lot of time talking about just how Big He is and how thankful I am.

I love this picture... I of course took a ton of pics (you are seeing about 10%) and the kids would line up to take pics and then they would want to see their picture... they had never seen their picture before (most of them)... and it was a pleasure to make them so happy (in such an easy way)...

Ok I think that is all of Monday... more tomorrow showcasing Tuesday.

Monday in Cambodia Continued...

More Monday fun in Cambodia (sorry for the delay in post)... our days were filled with so many blessings, so many smiling faces, and so many stories that it is so hard to show you one whole day in just one post... so here is more Monday.  We made it to the school and we were ready to start the day of VBS with the kids... here is a picture of the school (blue building and the small pink building on the right is the toilet) and the logs in front were there to help build houses in the village (which you will see later).

The kids were so happy to be there having fun... the next couple of pics were taken during game time.  They had to take a small pebble and skip it onto a newspaper and each time they landed on the newspaper the paper would be folded in half.



Then red light green light... who does not like to run and have fun.


After games... the rain came... and man did it come... we were stuck but you better believe we still had fun.

I just love how handy these people were... true people of the land... the office has been known to flood during these rains and this is where our stuff was stored and two of the teachers live in here on the floor at night so they wanted to keep it dry... so they grabbed dirt and made a barrier... love it...




Here is the man of the hour (of the year)... Pastor Abraham... he is the person that god used to start it all... he has a fantastic story of his journey following Christ and really loves his home country. To honor him and protect his name I will not be able to write the details here but this is definitely a man we need to be thankful for and praying for... this is his daughter on his lap.

After a wonderful day of VBS... we ladies had to go eat and shop of course... here is a great place to buy silk which many of us did... so fun...


This family was right out side the store sleeping... I was really touched by this picture that I started asking locals around what this was all about... they said that this mom and son always sleep here on the street (they are homeless) but the mom gets drunk during they day and passes out as soon as it gets dark... however no matter how "gone" she is she always locks her sons feet in her thighs so she would wake up if he was to get up.  Her pillow was a trash bag and seemed to have a blankie... the noise on this street was so loud and we literally were in a shop just 3 feet away.  I stopped to pray for this family and spent a lot of time praying for others just like this... I usually would not have taken a picture but wanted to so I could remember this moment and just how thankful I am for my families current situation and to never stop praying for others in situations like this.  I prayed for this boy especially that he would grow up and choose a different path for his life and that he would be a hard smart worker and one that came to know his creator and that he may one day use his experience as a boy to help and love on others.

I can't wait to show you more.

Monday in Cambodia...

Welcome to our first full day in Cambodia... Monday... the elevator rug in our hotel never failed to greet us every morning with a reminder of what day it was...

Here is our team... oh what wonderful women... here we are ready at the school for the first day... the children will soon arrive but before we do that lets take a group picture (before we are exhausted)... here we are in the shape of a "J" for Jesus... a song that we taught them...

We were ready for the days ahead for 150+ children, 4 days of VBS, 2 sessions/2 groups of children each day, the young ones in the morning and the older in the afternoon. VBS consisted of songs of praise first thing, then a lesson through puppets, games, activities and more songs... then at night two ladies did the ESL for the teachers and then around 7pm we called it a night... so here we go...

When we first got to the school (the outdoor pavilion) we set up some of our props and this week we were focusing the children "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS"... it was reported to us that before we came that we needed to instill in the children right and wrong and that even God gives us "rules" to live by... so what better than to start with the Ten Commandments...  Before school we saw this little kid sitting down really analyzing the picture... so precious... this is going to be a good week.

Then the kids started coming and I am not sure who was more excited... us or them... I had to grab my camera to remember these little faces... some so curious and others just happy..

One of my favorite pics... here is one of the school teachers bringing his family members to school...


The next three photos are my favorites... it really captured there sweet eyes (like you can see just how gentle their hearts are)... and sweet sweet faces...



It was not long until the kids started warming up to us... we could not talk to each other but everyone understands a little horse play... this boy was so much fun and wanted to play constantly...

Rock Paper Scissors anyone... this truly is an international game...

There were times where I was just amazed at how much fun these kids would have while I know some were in so much pain (those teeth have to hurt right?)...

Any everyday occurrence... walking to school...



Here is the pavilion that we lived in... the school building was off in the distance with desk and teachers... and we stayed here under this thatch roof waiting for our turn to love on the kids... this is where dancing, singing, lessons, plays, and games took place...and lots of laughter and even some tears...

A beautiful view from the porch...


Adele in white was our IBC lead... and the lady in Black was one of the teachers... she was learning English and loved to talk to us.

Here is one of the activities... coloring pages... the teachers would sit the children in circles and talk with them (translate what we were saying).

A great first day... I can already tell I am growing to love Cambodia and the children of Andong...

Cambodia... Day One!

Have you ever done anything in life where you intended to be a blessing and you were the one blessed... well if not sign up for the next mission trip that comes your way...Living in Singapore has opened up so many doors to serve internationally and this was only the second time where God was telling me GO... GO... so I went... Join me for the next couple of blog post where I show you just a few pics of our Phnom Phen, Cambodia Mission team and our 4 day trip that changed our lives.

I love God, love to serve, love kids and love the mission leader who asked me to go... so it was an easy yes... but I really had no idea what I was getting into.  I knew we were going to work with a village school that funded by Vision Trust (very similar to Compassion) and do a mini VBS during the day for the children (that knew little to no English) and then ESL for the teachers at night.  This was not the first time a team from IBC went to this school and everyone that I spoke with said how wonderful the trip was and that I would come back a changed person but I had no idea... I should know better to never limit our God... He is mighty, powerful and He brought each of us (on the team) to our knees in different ways in Awe of Him... I will forever remember just how God met each and everyone of us individually and just made our FAITH that much stronger.  My prayer is that the children and teachers of Andong Village came face to face with God and encountered the love that He has for each and everyone of them... I just love how He knows each of us individually and meets us exactly where we are.

So welcome to Sunday night... the night we arrived... we went straight to the hotel and we were met at the elevator with a carpet that reminded us the day of the week.. another reminder each day to dedicate this entire day to HIM and HIS works in the country so I of course had to take a picture of the carpet (yes every day)...

Just some of our team at the airport... we were meeting two others there... some incredible women...

Our Team... a Group of ladies that will forever be dear to my heart and be a part of memories for a lifetime.

I had no idea that our first night at dinner (our kick off rally) would be a great French restaurant... in Cambodia... who would have thought... it was yummy and got us well feed for the week.

Then there just happen to be a shop next door... we of course had to do a little shopping before the work began... I just love this picture of the bag that I got with my purchase... made out of pages in a book... with a cord at the top... amazing...

Come back to see Monday... the day it all began... see you then...