Working in Cambodia

We are still in Phnom Penh, but leaving tomorrow to go to Sihanoukville, to a beach area (Near Kampot on the Cambodia map below). We have spent most of our time here visiting different ministries. On Sunday we went to an orphanage which houses 44 kids. Their living conditions are pretty basic--2 meals of soup and rice a day, 2 large wood platforms that all the boys sleep on, a few bunk beds for the girls to share, but the kids sure seemed healthy and happy. From there we went to a slum area--incredible poverty. Very basic shacks, open fires so it was all smoky and smelly, extremely crowded, with little naked children everywhere. We met a church member who lives there and teaches 30 kids--15 in the morning and 15 in the afternoon in a room that's about 8 feet by 10 feet.

Tuesday we spent 11 hours on the road visiting 3 different villages where the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee is doing community development. Much of the driving was on very rough dirt roads, and we had to take turns with 4 of us riding in the back of a pickup, so we got very hot, dusty and tired. We ended our day at a village they had been working in for about 2 years and participated in a village meeting talking about the work. Not often one gets a chance to see rural Cambodian life so close up. The small kids stared at us as if we were very exotic, which I suppose we were. The villagers were so appreciative of our visit and felt so encouraged and supported that we really felt we ended the day on a high note.

Today (Thursday) we spent our morning at The Bible League of Cambodia. They are working on a Cambodian Study Bible, and had lots of questions about how Bible translation and proofing and editing are done in the US. They seemed to have a great process already, and we were quite impressed with their work.

We've spent the last week traveling with 3 other people from Partners Worldwide, a ministry that connects North American business people with startup businesses in developing areas. We've had a great time together and were sorry to see them leave this morning.