Whew!!!! What a crazy first 24 hours of our trip.
We started with the longest night in history. We left LAX at roughly midnight, and the next 14 hours we flew in the darkness. Sitting and waiting for the trip / night to end seemed interminable, but it finally came to end in China. Sometimes life seems like that, doesn't it. Sometimes, life seems like the darkness will never end, but, just like our flight, morning will eventually come. Trust God that He is working.
Aanyways, on the flight a missionary heard us talking about our trip and he struck up a conversation. He and his wife were on the way back to Indonesia where the serve with CMF. We both had a long lay over, so we got to talk to them and pray over them. I think and hope we were able to encourage them.
We got to Cambodia. The AIM staff was here to meet us and we met up with Shawna and Katie. Our driver messed up and was not there to drive us, so we took the traditional transportation method called a tuk tuk (see Katie's description below). And, as we are pulling out, there was a big fight between one of our drivers and the police. Then the drive through the city was crazy; Mr. Toad has nothing on the drivers here.
As we get close to our hotel, we notice several "night" clubs. We realize that they are just the type of establishment that we are here to fight, namely, places that sell girls. We note that there are cafes close to the night clubs where Western men are sitting around waiting for the establishments to open. Marissa starts feeling sick to her stomach once we realize what these establishments are all about.
Speaking of feeling sick to one's stomach, once we finally make it to the hotel, it comes to light that I messed up and booked the hotel for one day later. One thing about the Cambodians is that they are very helpful and accomodating. So the hotel scrambles and half our team is able to stay in our hotel and they find rooms for the rest of us in a sister hotel. I am thankful for the graciousness of the team who, despite being exhausted and travelling all night and all day, they do not panic and they do not chew me out. Instead, everyone graciously forgives me.
We force ourselves to stay up until almost eight PM, and then we are all exhausted and collapse and sleep hard. I woke up this morning with a splitting headache. I hoped that a walk would help. So I walked along the river. Along the river in the morning, there are hundreds of Buddhists (Buddhism is the main religion of Cambodia; most estimates are there are less than 5% Christians here) praying, making offerings of lotus flowers, and lighting incense.
I am interested and stop becasue I see a man holding a net with dozens of little birds. I watch as a woman approaches him and buys a bird. She carefully cups the bird and walks over to the river. She obviosuly says a prayer, and then suddenly releases the bird. I note that she is crying slightly as she watches the bird fly away. Later, I ask a cap driver about the whole thing. He tells me that the bird is just like Jesus; the woman had a sin that she could not get rid of via ordinary means, so she bought a bird and released it, taking her sin with it. I cannot help be sad when I hear the explanation.
Today has mostly been about getting our feet under us so we are ready for tomorrow. We moved over to our hotel and now are all under the same roof. I picked up Justin, our final team member, from the airport. We have been organizing everything for VBS and everything that begins tomorrow.
Some closing conclusions about our first 24 hours here:
1. Our flight never seemed like it would end. It was worse becasue we experienced night for approximately 20 hours. Sometimes life can seem like that. The hard stuff never seems like it will end. But our flight did end, and hard things in life do end. Morning does come and with morning, His blessings are always new. If you are in the nighttime in life that never seems to end, have hope.
2. God is good...all the time...everywhere...even Cambodia: Yesterday was an insane day. There was a lot that did not go as planned and a lot that was actually not good. But everything turned out fine. Life rarely goes as we plan, but we have a God who goes before us. Plans being derailed do not mean that God is not with you. In fact, you will see as your plans get messed up, God's faithfulness and goodness. Yesterday could have been horrible; instead, because God is with us, it turned into a crazy adventure that we will always remember.
3. Cambodians are kind, sweet people: The Cambodian people are very, very precious people. They are extrremely friendly and helpful. They will go out of there way to be accomodating. They try hard to serve well. They also have been through hell. The country has been devastated time and time again by Pol Pot, invasion by communist Vietnam, Khmer rebels, and, most recently, corruption at the highest levels of government. The people here have been abused and the country has been in ruins. There are signs of life, but overall, it is sad. And it is especially sad because of the nature of the Cambodians who seem so kind and gentle.
So that is a brief summary of our first 24 hours here. Two things have been extremely evident to me. First, God is with us and has gone before us. Second, the team that is with me are great men and women. They are gracious and kind, men and women who are willing to put the needs of others before their own, and who extend grace to the leader who completely goofed up.
Please keep us in your prayers as we start "ministering" tomorrow.
With much love from Cambodia,
Tim
