Sunday in Cambodia

The end of my first day in Cambodia...and where to begin?  I've seen a whole new world, and somehow things are far simpler when you live with almost nothing except the clothes on your back.

The people I met radiated joy. Even just smiling at someone out the window makes their day.  You crack a grin at them and they immediately light up and return it. They are honestly the happiest people I have ever met.

We started the day with breakfast in a small "restaurant" just off the street.  It was open on the street, with all the sounds and smells coming off it.  On the way we had passed many roadside stands selling dubitable breakfasts...not sure I would go for street dust in my eggs! :-)  But actually they don't have eggs for breakfast, they generally have either noodles or rice with some kind of meat and a little soup, (to wash down "in case the rice gets stuck", I was told). 

So we ordered, and while we waited we watched the cooks in action--a Mom and her two daughters.  They all cooked and served and ran the place. There was big pot about four feet deep that had handfuls of noodles and sprouts and various other things thrown in at intervals to cook. Then a wire strainer attached to a pole was used to get the stuff out.  I still am not sure how they managed to keep everything separate that went into that pot...and I'm fairly sure that the soup (more like a broth) was just some of the cooking liquid, ladled out. We also had coffee all around.  The coffee was hot, and they brought it in glasses with a hot tin of canned condensed milk apiece.  It was quite fresh-tasting coffee and very good.  You would have loved it, Dad!  Pastor Vibol said that they grow quite a bit locally.

After that we drove to a church service, going through Phnom Penh and out into a more rural area. Motorcycles were all over the place.  Apparently one can accomplish a wide variety of things on a motorcycle other than getting somewhere, and one is not limited by apparel. I saw a number of ladies in high heels and quite fancy dresses zooming through the streets. There are far more motorcycles than cars, and far fewer rules to limit them.  It's pretty near a free-for-all. Helmets, though not entirely nonexistent, are not terribly common either.  Some ladies in skirts and such ride side-saddle style, and they almost never hang on...to anything.

Things I’ve learned you can do while on a motorcycle: read a book, earn a living, drink a baby bottle, text, eat, nurse a baby, drag a trailer loaded with pretty much anything as long as it's twice as high as the motorcycle and preferably sticks out on either side. The exception is, if you're dragging a cow in the trailer, then it doesn't have to fit the other requirements.

I asked Pastor Vibol if one had to have a license to drive a car in Cambodia.  He laughed and assured me yes.  What about a motorcycle? Oh yes!  But as he said, "it's not quite as strict"...i.e., you pay a fee then learn how to drive on your own...ah, it all makes perfect sense now.

While I'm very thankful for our skilled driver and his marvelous capabilities, I still think it would be jolly good fun to get a ride on a motorcycle. :-)

When we arrived at the church building, people were singing and there were about forty pairs of shoes on the ground in front of the building.  Everyone was singing, and we slipped in (after taking our shoes off).  I love that symbolism...you come into the Lord's house and you take your shoes off.  It's not just a continuation of the outdoors.  Even the little kids, when they went in and out, never wore their shoes in the building.  Half the church was kids, and the other half, which was more like a third, was adults.  There were so many kids...they were all over the place.  They were dressed in their best, most of the girls in white blouses and dark blue skirts.  Some were dressed a bit more casually in pajamas. Not sure what it is here, but in muggy, hot weather flannel pajamas seem to be the rage.

They had nine girls up front dressed in silk dresses, waving silk streamers on round wooden hoops.  The music was quite beautiful, and the girls had choreographed their movements to the music, so it all was very graceful and lovely. 

And the most striking thing was all the children.  They were engrossed in the music completely--most of them had their hands in the air, and were very much in earnest as they worshipped.  Children here are not self-conscious; they do what is natural, and their natural worship was compelling.

The rest of the service had a format similar to ours.  Someone prayed, they sang again, took an offering, and Pastor Vibol preached. They had us stand up and speak a little, telling about why we were there, and sharing some encouragement for our brothers and sisters as they learn more of God's rich grace right along with us. I loved how they took the offering: after passing the bag around, someone stood at the front holding it, while another person prayed over it. It was a vivid picture of offering up resources to God, specifically those given to His church.

Of course the whole service was in Cambodian, and unfortunately God did not see fit to grant me the gift of interpretation of tongues, so I didn't know exactly what was being said, but the same Spirit was given to all at Pentecost, and He continues to be at work to reveal Himself to all tongues, so I worshipped with those dear people every bit as much as I do at home, and shared a sweet bond of fellowship that transcended language.

After the service the children all got a package of noodles for lunch and went riding off on their fleet of bicycles.  We were given lunch by our kind hosts, and the tables were set up for the meal.  It was delicious!  Two kinds of fish, rice (of course!) and an incredible shredded mango, lemongrass, and garlic dish.  The fish had been caught nearby, one in the river, one in the lake.  One was a monkfish, cooked in salt and crusty all over on the outside, and the other they call a "smart fish". On the way I had seen a heap of fish strewed over the ground, being sorted out by a mother and her two small boys into plastic sacks presumably for selling. I can't say I worried about the possibilities all that much.

We drove to two other small groups, both consisting of a few ladies and a lot of kids...though I suppose it is possible that the kids showed up to get their picture taken. :-) We prayed with them, and talked, through Pastor Vibol, and had fun playing with the kids.

Then we visited the Killing Fields memorial, which was quite sobering.  One of the most striking things to me was that it didn't happen that long ago.  Most of the men from the Khmer Rouge regime have died within the last twelve years or so, and one died just a couple weeks ago.  At least one is still alive.  The brutality was unbelievable, and one can only imagine the effect that those years had on the psyche of an entire nation. 

Pastor Vibol himself lived through the killing fields, escaping into the woods when he was about ten, and hiding while his whole family was killed.  When he came out of hiding he found a Buddhist monastery where the monks told him, "If you clear out the dead bodies you can have that room".  The city was almost completely abandoned, with only 75 remaining people in it, and all the buildings demolished.  He lived there for ten years, from 1984-1994.

After visiting the monastery we drove around for a while, seeing different landmarks, as well as other more general aspects of culture.

We finished up the evening at a restaurant which was in the more touristy area of Phnom Penh.  It overlooked the street and the river, and the view was quite lovely.

When we headed back to the training facility the streets were just as busy and crowded as ever--life goes on at a lively pace even at night, it seems.

I am stickier all over than I've ever been, have taken a ridiculous number of pictures, have seen remarkable sights, and have witnessed His power at work in bamboo huts covered in dust.

All in all it's been an incredible day and I'm so grateful that He has brought me here right now, and also for all of your prayers for me.

And there's more of this adventure coming tomorrow!