Cambodian villages are heavenly. Though Phnom Penh is an adventure in and of itself; full of culture, smells and mind blowing traffic, there is nothing in the world like the Khmer village life. In my opinion, Phnom Penh is the image that China and Western countries want Cambodia to have like "Big business" "up and coming" and "tourist hot spot". Those images are true in some ways, but what I see in the chaotic crowds of buildings and people is a people recovering from mass genocide only 35 years ago and slowly trying to put the pieces back together of their country and traditions. In my American raised brain, like every other foreign person here, we want things to happen fast, smart and efficient, which is the best way to build success, but in that process some times I catch myself losing site of the actual Khmer people and the sensitivity that must be present when making relationships with them. The whole world is standing here on their land telling them that they need money, materials and to move quicker to be happy again, but we came here with a different message. We are small voices compared to the booming voice of the world, but they are listening to us. The happiness we have is real and the Khmer can see the difference. Being out in the different provinces is my favorite part of Cambodia. For almost 9 months now Curtis has been given the opportunity to do a pastors conference in the Svay Rieng province, which is about 4 hours outside of Phnom Penh. We only go out for 2 days at a time, but those 2 days are always my high/challenging points of the month. There is no electricity, no cement, no plumbing. People live in houses on stilts usually made out of wood and palm leaves with their couple of cows, a few pigs, and a bunch of chickens next to their rice fields. SO different than the city! Most of Phnom Penh's Khmer population are from the different provinces around Cambodia so it is refreshing to see and experience what their culture is really like.
The drive out to Svay Rieng is long, but totally and completely worth it. After taking a ferry across the river, we pass through the small city of Svay Rieng and keep driving until all you see is cows grazing in rice paddies with the occasional pig splashing around. Plus they have actual FRESH air there. This month's trip got a little stickier since rainy season has started. The side roads we drive on in the rice fields are always a rough ride, but now they are rough and very muddy. These tiny roads are just barely wide enough for a car and fishtailing is not an option. I'm pretty sure we all held our breath the entire drive after that point, but we made it! the second we hop out of the truck and stretch, about 25 Khmer villagers herd us over to eat lunch which is never an exciting point of the experience. It's more of an adventure. The Khmer people eat every single part of the animal….every…part. We had pig ears, minced pork with bones included, chicken head, chicken heart, chicken wing and A LOT of rice. Our pallets have expanded to say the least. I mean once you get over what it is then you can actually enjoy the meal a little. I'm not going to lie though, my favorite part of meal time is when they whip out the fruit. Once lunch has been conquered we start our classes. This is the essence of the trip. These men and women are learning together under this tiny church's roof and it makes my heart flutter. That's a big deal in the village! We have been going through the book of Mark and they are really getting into it. The pastors are finally starting to ask great questions and they are taking thorough notes. It is not part of the educational system to learn critical thinking or even how to take a test or notes. It is just a broken system of memorizing the answers and hoping for the best. To my understanding, the school systems in Phnom Penh are working hard to change that and incorporate more effective learning strategies, but our students' ages vary from 25 to 60 so there is a very large learning curve. But there is no longer a fear of not knowing or being confused in front of the opposite gender. We are a team now which makes Q&A time so fruitful and encouraging.
This last trip was amazing. Two women came to the Lord after the weekend of sitting in on classes and fellowship. They had completely transformed by the end of the conference. They had hope and a spark from within and they could't be more excited to dig deeper. Another huge highlight was Pastor Sarin (the head pastor of the village) washed every student's feet starting with his wife. Humbling himself and serving them like Jesus did... I can't think of a better example to show his people.
Honestly, there have a been a couple of times when Curtis or I (most of the time me. It's hard to be sweaty all the time! haha) wanted to throw in the towel and go home to comfort, family and friends, but those men and women in Svay Rieng keep us here and remind us why we came here in the first place. We are incredibly thankful for that constant reminder. There are a lot of NGOs in Cambodia that are here to assist children and women in every form like trafficking and abuse, but very few focus mainly on the men. Men are the leaders in this country and in their families which means most of the time they are the ones abandoning their families leaving women to desperate measures or are extremely abusive to their children and wives. They demand power but don't understand how to use it. The 20 men in the village and the 12 at the bible college are eager to learn a different way. Not the "American way" or the "Chinese way", but the Biblical way. They want to learn how to serve their families and be dependable providers. I know it doesn't sound like a lot of people, but that is all it takes to get people motivated. Curtis and I can not personally teach every man in Cambodia and honestly we don't want to. Christian Khmer leaders make a better teachers to the Khmer than we can ever be.
We are extremely pumped on Cambodia. Every month we are here our love for this country grows drastically. Please continue to pray for us and the people of Cambodia. The Lord is working in very mighty ways and the enemy is finding more ways to up his fight. Sometimes it feels like we are little guppies swimming in a dark sea, but the Lord is in complete control at all times. Never doubt that fact.
We love you guys!
Until next time!