Wednesday, October 29th, Poipet

This morning we rose excited to see the projects that the Cambodia Hope Organization (CHO) is doing. The objective was to expose our team to the work to help us understand their focus, as well as the needs that we could help with.

We began with a short ride to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) to visit some sick HIV/AIDS patients. The "hospital" was very small and the wing we were at had about 15 patients, many who were very sickly looking and some who were grimacing in pain. CHO provides 3 meals a day for the patients and also prays for them each day. This morning, we had some time to spend with the patients, and we all spread out and met them.

For me, I decided that I would start at one end and introduce myself. I talked for a minute (through a translator), and then prayed for the lady. As I slowly worked my way around the room, I was very intentional to touch and hold their hands, because I felt like that was one of the only ways that I could help. I hoped the warmth of my hands and the presence of being a foreigner who cared would at least encourage them.

But then I broke down. I was hearing an older lady share that she has no family, and so I decided to pray like I had done with the previous four patients. As I held her hand and prayed, I started to choke up and then cry as I prayed for comfort, the Spirit's presence, and peace. As you may know, I am a very non-emotional person and it did not help having people I know around. How can we as Christians proclaim to walk in Jesus name and not pay attention to the "lepers" of our day? What a joke!

I believe that God's Spirit flowed through us to them, and I know that He continually reaches out to these people through CHO. We then drove across town to the Motorcycle Repair Training School, which teaches young teenage boys for one year how to repair motorcycles (the primary mode of transportation in these parts). CHO's plan is to continually train up these at-risk boys so they will have a skill to work and eventually provide for their family.

Likewise, they do the same for the girls (and one boy), teaching them how to sew. We left the bike school to go to the sewing school, where girls were learning and sewing shorts that get sold in Bangkok. These shorts bring them $0.40 USD each. We also saw a second sewing school where they were learning to sew curtains, which I bought a pink set for my daughters…they will love them! With both the bike and the sewing schools, the plan is to teach them the skill and then provide them with micro-loans when they are older so they can make a career out of a business. They are truly teaching a person to fish, not just giving them a fish!

After these visits, we travelled to a School on a Mat, one of many that targets the more rural kids of Poipet who are not in the government schools. These schools all take place on a mat for a few hours a day, with a CHO teacher guiding them through lessons that will both prepare them for more schooling and teach them some of the basics like health, reading, and more.

Following lunch at the CHO restaurant, we returned to the rural parts for an outreach to the children of the School on the Mats. All the kids were brought to one location (some by mode of motorcycle with 5 on a bike!) and we ran a program for them with the help of the CHO staff. This included singing songs, telling a Bible story, some coloring projects, and then snacks. There were over 200 kids present and an ant hill. We all left there with red ant bites all over our feet. It took me 20 minutes before I realized that it was not pokey grass getting me, but many ants crawling on my feet. So much for the comforts of the Casino we sleep at!

Some other highlights about our team include me "taking care of business" after breakfast, and then Tamara banged on the door saying to hurry up. I laughed through the wall and said just a minute…but then she said to just get out. As I opened the door, Lisa ran past me about to puke. I turned, flipped the toilet seat up, and ran out as she exploded! We all felt sad for her, but also laughed about it through the day. Beth, her good friend helped her out and as the day went on, she looked a lot better. Darin (and some others) struggled at every meal with excessive amounts of onions on his meals. Ray continued to provide an occasional laugh as he explained these necklaces with big rocks that are really cool…but his "Flintstone-Style" description was funny. Keirstin and I battled about how me drinking Starbucks is bad, explaining that it is bad because it is a fad…she said I need to try her mom's coffee at the church. The other small highlight was the yummy smoothies and blended coffee drinks the CHO restaurant made us tonight before dinner. It was very refreshing after a long and hot day. We also have loved meeting the CHO staff (there are 50 of them spread out around their projects).