Cambodia Mission Trip 2008I'm going to attempt to blog about my whole missions trip to Cambodia (the 2nd time ... went last year, check out my blog from then!), but be prepared, it's gonna be a long one. I've been back for 13 days, but still so many thoughts. I will also have to follow this up with many other blogs of things I've done since I got back. This includes 4th of July, Oakland Zoo, Vegas, Angel Island, and surfing (well, I made sure I went once before leaving and so far once after coming back). Anyway, Cambodia ... here goes! NOTE: This is my second time to Cambodia, so I tried to take pics that did not repeat the same pics as last year. To view more pics of the same place, please feel free to check out my blog about my first trip last year! Before leaving, I was really wondering why God wanted me to come on this trip this time. It was nice that I was able to walk on Cambodian ground with both feet this time around! I'm not sure what kind of conclusion I've come up with. Like last year, the trip changed my life. It changed how we do small group, how we view those supposedly less fortunate than us, it changed how I viewed myself ... completely broken and in need of God. Like, here I was, this priveliged foreigner coming to help out orphans, but they had blessed me ten-fold. Their faith blew me away. I was still shocked this time around ... by the simplicity and even with the caretakers and pastors who had given up so much of their lives for God's glory. I hope these stories and pictures you see will somewhat tell a small portion of what I got to experience. June 20, 2008 - Day 1 Well .. I should actually say the night of June 19 cuz we got to the airport that night.  
L: Here's a group of us with everyone that came out to see us off. How nice! R: This is our group at SFO. 14 hours later .....  
Layover in Hong Kong and finally ... June 21, 2008 - Day 2 We arrive in Phnom Penh, Cambodia ... the country's capital.  
Check out how large these ants are. Oh, another note ... the reason why all of us look so shiny is cuz of the all the sunblock, DEET, and sweat. It felt like we were in a steam room. We go straight to the Killing Fields, where Pol Pot murdered almost 3 million Cambodians up until 1978.  
L: The Killing Fields Museum of skulls R: The bones found in the fields. Then, we went to the trash dumps. This is a community where scavengers live.  
L: Michelle is walking over. R: Here we are standing on about 8 feet of trash looking at the miles of miles of trash. After that, we went to the Toul Sleng museum, where the Khmer Rouge held their prisoners before murdering them.  
I took several pics last year, but this year, I couldn't even go inside. Last year, going in ... I was disgusted and couldn't get the images out of my head. I still can't. I still can't look at the pictures that other people took either. Day 3 - June 22, 2008 We went to the New Hope for Orphans Orphanage/Church at the Capital. Pastor Sinai, the pastor that our church decided to partner with, was once held at gunpoint by the Khmer Rouge during the genocide. By the grace of God he was released, and he started 7 orphanages all around Cambodia. This is one of them.  
L: The kids performed a dance that brought me to tears. R: Here are the kids looking at a photo album that Christina had made from our visit last year. The kids remembered me once they saw me in the pic with the sprained ankle. Yup, that's me! And many of these kids came to the U.S. in September to perform their dances. You can also refer back to those pics of my blog to see their visit!  
 
L: A few pics of the orphans. These kids are brother and sister. R: More pics! Then we drove 7 hours near the Thai border to Bantey Menchay. This is out in the villages ... it runs on generators, and like all the orphanages, there are no showers or toilets, just a trough of water with a squatter. Pastor Sinai came with us this time and we were asked who wanted to sit in his car. Knowing the van that we were in last year ... hehee, I quickly raised my hand when just Steve did. "The miracle van" didn't have to get stuck in the mud this time around since the dirt was pretty packed. Lucky guys! I did enjoy the AC, but I wanted to make sure my other teammates experienced the joy of the miracle van, y'know? Hehe.  
L: And we got to stay in their new guest house! R: This is the pic of the orphanage that houses about 65 orphans. That night, we performed our drama/dance (which I will not refer to as a "strama") on the Good Samaritan.  
L: Rich played Jesus. Alvin played the priest. R: Afterward, we danced with the kids!!! It was a lot of fun ... but we were sweating like crazy.  
L: We slept in mosquito nets. R: Here's a pic of the inside ... this is one morning. We start each day with putting on layers of DEET. Oh yes ... I also wanted to start things that I've learned along the trip. "Dear Diary ... Today, I learned how to shower with trough water in the dark with one flashlight and not be scared of the insects around me. Quite a feat considering that I am insect/arachnophobic." Last year, I didn't shower that night we stayed there. But this time, I had to shower since we stayed at this orphanage longer. 
Here's a pic of the moon that Alvin took. Day 4 - June 23, 2008 We visited a high school. Last year, it was still being built! This year, we got to play games with the students!  
L: The students. R: The new building with Lina and Meesh in the front.  
Playing soccer and Simon Says. 
Rich being chased by the girls.  
L: Jen teaching Piseth (one of the orphans from Phnom Penh that came along with us) and Min to breakdance. R: Here I am shaking my boot-ay.  
We also taught the students about the Gospel and made bracelets. They were so patient as we prepared and stuff! In the afternoon, we hung out with the orphans a bit. Then we went back to the high school and Min gave a talk about a reason for faith to the teachers of the school. The teachers then asked him questions about Christianity, faith, etc. In the evening, we hung out with the kids again.  
L: Steve riding a bike with the kid. R: Muppet!  
L: Sreydouch and one of the caretakers, Soreath-Ran. R: Sreydouch's younger sister. These girls I remember from when they visited us in California. Oh yes, today, I also learned something new. "Dear Diary ... Today, I learned how to poo while squatting. Very important life skill." Day 5 - June 24, 2008  
L: We ate breakfast at this restaurant in Bantey Menchey while were there. These are the noodles we had. R: Then we said by to the orphans. This kid on the left in the blue striped shirt is SUCH a good dancer!!!  
L: This is how they fill up gas. R: Here's Jen modeling Cambodia's national beer. She's not drinking it though. So we left and made our way to Pursat. Last year, we visited 6 orphanages and found that Pursat was in the worst condition. Our church decided that we were going to purchase land and build a new orphanage for the orphans in Pursat. The land was cleared and construction workers started building. We came to help.  
L: That's not Fanta! It's gas!! R: We had to cross thie wooden bridge each day to get to the site.  
Here's the construction site. We moved and stacked a lot of bricks the first day! It was just a half day of work and we were beat!  
L: "Look, Ma! I caught a chicken!" Heheh ... ok, I didn't catch it. Our translator/church staff caught it. R: Me jumping!  
L: Sunset from our hotel. R: Rombotons!! And we ate mangosteins too. Day 6, June 25, 2008 In the morning, some of the arts-fartsy team members went out picture hunting. This was great:  
In the words of Lim, "Wow."  
L: I dunno what that is. R: Elections are also taking place this month. That's why we were told to go before July cuz then it gets to be very violent. This is a truck with one of the political parties. They go around early in the morning making a big ruckus. Good thing we were already up by 6am. Full day of working on the orphanage!  
L: Check out the crazy insect I found! What is it??? R: Rocks we carried!  
This is mid-day. L: I used a wipe to wipe ONE arm ... and this was the result. R: We were dirty and tired, but didn't wanna lay on our bed, so we laid on the floor.  
L: Re-applying everything right before going back. R: MORE ROCKS???  
Random pics:  
L: I looked everywhere for this cup to buy!!! Couldn't find it. R: Kissing the chicken, hehe. Yum!!! Rice and banana cakes! We were fortunate enough to have it rain in the afternoon all the full days that we worked outside! I also found the biggest millipeded I've ever seen in my entire life while I was moving bricks. It was crazy ... it was as big as a snake. Day 7 - June 26, 2008 More work!  
L: The construction worker's house. R: Resitng.  
L; Is Alvin praying? R: We bought coconuts and Lim cut them up with a knife for us. Doesn't he look like Indiana Jones?  
Lots of work!  
L: Carrying cement. R: So early on, Jen decides to start a rotten coconut war with me. Jen ended up licking the inside of this rotten coconut. (Hey, this is my blog, so I get to tell my side of the story, hehehe).  
Here I am climbing a tree.  
L: So how dirty exactly did we get?? R: Here we are at night ... Jen did some hair makeovers to Piseth and Steve.  
L: These were our clothes after a day's work soaking in the bathtub. R: Those are the guys' clothes ... grooooss. Day 8 - June 27, 2008 Last day of working on the orphanage in Pursat.  
While the guys digged 6 ft deep holes, the girls went off to look for the skinny cows.  
We did weird stunts to pass the time while we waited for things to get done before we could start. L: Min tries to do a flip. R: I'm doing a one-handed cart-wheel.  
L: We carved our names on the coconut tree to leave our mark. R: The rotten coconut finds its way to Jen ... it is now her pet coconut.  
L: In the beginning, Min delegated, haha. We are listening. R: Team photo on the site ... woohoo!! We prayed over the land before we left. It was kinda cool that we were laying the foundation.  
L: The river that we crossed each day. R: Jen is crying cuz she doesn't wanna leave. Or is it cuz of the pain?  
These are the orphans who we're building the new orphanage for! This is their current building that they live in. They were so filled with joy and kinda shy at first. They liked our strama.   They prayed for us before we left. This little girl on the right in the yellow was so cute. When we danced, she wouldn't let go of my hands. I remember her from last year. I wanna adopt her. Day 9 - June 28, 2008 We made another stop at an orphanage in Kampong Chnange.  
L: We played a game called Big wind Blows. R: Group pic. I met a caretaker here named Bing. I remember her from Bantey Menchey last year. She was a pastor in the Philippines and heard God calling her to come to Cambodia, so she came. She kept repeating, "I just listened" and "... just go." I felt so much like she was speaking to me. Min had asked us to think about what God is trying to teach us from this trip. I had no idea. Why did God bring me back? I think a part of it is to learn to listen to God and to follow. Most importantly, to have faith. But what good is faith, if you don't follow? Hmmm ...  
The kids even performed a dance for us on their radio that was powered by generators. We headed back to the capital, Phnom Penh and went souvenir shopping at the Russian market. It's only called that cuz Russians used to always go there. That place, when you enter, it is SOOOO hot ... you're just dripping sweat. It's outdoor but covered and it's just a maze of little shops.  
L: Here's me and Steve with our Unstoppable t-shirts. R: I tried to get the heck outta the Russian market as fast as possible. We chilled at Cafe Yejj, an NGO started by a Christian English couple that helped women out of sex-trafficking learn skills they can use to hold jobs. I got my ice coffee with ice cream. (We can't have anything iced cuz they use tap water, but at these expat places, you can cuz the ice is bought, therefore, safe). At night, we ate at Lucky Burger, kinda like a McDonalds, and then ....  
... went to the Rock! Finally! This is right across our hotel. We took some down time and went karoakeing. Loads of fun, but who knows what's going on in the other rooms ... actually, I don't wanna know. What's kinda said is how third world the country looks, but placese like these look better than our karoake places. Day 10 - June 29, 2008 We went back to the New Hope for Orphans Church for Sunday service.   L: Jen Sr, Meesh, and Jen Jr sang 2 songs that were soooo good. R: Then it was back to playing with the kids again!  
 
It was hard to say bye to them. =( Afterward, we went by the Four Faces River.  
It started pouring rain so we went under this covering. There were a lot of homeless people there, including these kids.  
L: We couldn't get over how this guard was sleeping while on duty. Hilarious. R: Here's Jen stealing something from Min. Like taking candy from a baby! That night, we packed up and got ready to leave. Day 11 - June 30, 2008 We packed up to leave Cambodia and said our good byes.  
L: me, Jen Jr, and Piseth R: The group. Man ... I'm privileged to take part in this thing that God has planned for Cambodia. For a nation whose civil war just ended 10 years ago ... I see a lot of hope. And for the caretakes, the church staff, everyone who took us around and who I encountered ... they never complained! Even though they've gone through so much turmoil, so much loss ... I am in awe. My team was awesome too! And as for which experience/team has been better, this year or last? I'll respond with: Same same but different, hehee. Anyway, if you've gotten this far, thanks for reading my blog. ALL my pics are on facebook. All of this doesn't really doesn't do this trip much justice, but I hope it's a start. Thank you to all of you who have partnered with me and my team. | 
