CAMBODIA VISIT -
Part I
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| Children from farming village |
Just got home from a great trip over to Cambodia. We connected with a Pastor who was desiring to start a Bible School for Pastors who are farmers in the outlying areas of Cambodia. We traveled by bus and crossed the border on Tuesday the 24th. It was a long trip. From our home to the area we traveled to was about 6 hours. We met with the Pastor there found a room in an inexpensive hotel (very inexpensive...you'd have to be here to understand!) then traveled for another hour to a small village where we met a farming Pastor on his farm. The neighbors had recently put up a small wood and metal structure with a tin roof, for their church building.
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| New Church Building |
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| Tree growing through the church |
It was pretty hot inside the building, yet everyone was eager to go inside and have a service because we were there. We sang with the children (or to them) then they sang for us. Don spoke to the villagers and our Pastor friend interpreted. Afterward we prayed for everyone there and gave a goodie bag to all the children before leaving.
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| Farming Pastor at his village church |
The next morning we got up early and left the hotel at 6:30 am. We traveled for 1 1/2 hours through muddy roads and paths that a car should never be on (in my opinion) but this was all normal to our Pastor driver.
We arrived at the site of the new Bible School. They were setting up class in the "Bottom House" of a home. A better description would be...underneath a bamboo house on stilts. A few minutes after we got there a motorcycle pulling a cart full of old chairs and tables arrived. We started setting up tables and chairs and from somewhere came table cloths for the tables, as well.
The students starting rolling in from various locations. Some traveled several hours to get to the school. They came by motorbike...sometimes two or three on a bike. A total of 15 students showed up to register for school. The exact number Pastor friend told us would be there. Everyone was excited and talking. They sat around the tables with notebooks and Bibles waiting for class to start. One lady had her bike stolen just before coming yet she managed to find a way to get there. Another person had a flat tire on their bike and was late but continued to press on.
The students prayed and worshipped in this bottom house amidst the chickens and piglets running around under the tables and around their feet. We were told that these students had never heard the Bible stories that most of us grew up with, like Noah, Abraham Esther, etc. Yet they were hungry to learn more about this Jesus they had accepted into their hearts. This was truly teaching from scratch. We were also told they had never seen an American missionary or otherwise in any of their villages. Each one made a commitment to finish the two year Bible school leaving their farms and coming to class for the four days each month.
While Don was teaching I found it very hard to stay focused. I'm a city girl from San Francisco who was sitting in a Bible class outdoors with dogs barking, children playing, roosters crowing and little piglets running around our feet and under the tables and chairs. While this was all amazing to me, these students were in there element and able to focus on what they came for...The Word of God.
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| Pastor B interpreting for Don |
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| Don Teaching |
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| Pastor leading in prayer |
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| typical Cambodian clothing |
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| Don, Pastor B and students |
We arrived at the site of the new Bible School. They were setting up class in the "Bottom House" of a home. A better description would be...underneath a bamboo house on stilts. A few minutes after we got there a motorcycle pulling a cart full of old chairs and tables arrived. We started setting up tables and chairs and from somewhere came table cloths for the tables, as well.
The students starting rolling in from various locations. Some traveled several hours to get to the school. They came by motorbike...sometimes two or three on a bike. A total of 15 students showed up to register for school. The exact number Pastor friend told us would be there. Everyone was excited and talking. They sat around the tables with notebooks and Bibles waiting for class to start. One lady had her bike stolen just before coming yet she managed to find a way to get there. Another person had a flat tire on their bike and was late but continued to press on.
The students prayed and worshipped in this bottom house amidst the chickens and piglets running around under the tables and around their feet. We were told that these students had never heard the Bible stories that most of us grew up with, like Noah, Abraham Esther, etc. Yet they were hungry to learn more about this Jesus they had accepted into their hearts. This was truly teaching from scratch. We were also told they had never seen an American missionary or otherwise in any of their villages. Each one made a commitment to finish the two year Bible school leaving their farms and coming to class for the four days each month.
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