It’s already 1am and I should be asleep especially since I was awake at 5am anxious about how my day would transpire. Well I really do need to learn to trust God even more than I do because He provided and pathed the way beautifully. I was up and dressed, had breakfast and trumbling along in Jon’s Tuk Tuk to a meeting place with Pastor Phillip that Jon actually didn’t understand. I wasn’t too anxious about this part because things have a funny way of turning out okay here in Cambodia. Jon speaks ‘sort of’ good English, Pastor Phillip speaks Korean and then there’s me but somehow looking for ‘the Antenna’ which left Jon baffled seemed to work. If I asked a Taxi driver to drop me off at the Antenna closish to our Airport I am certain he would think I was nuts, but between us we found it and when I called Phillip to tell him I had arrived (in the middle of what seemed nowhere on steroids) he asked me to wait in the ‘Lucky’ Hamburger store as he was running late. A Hamburger store at 8am held no appeal so I found a ‘Starbucks’ and witnessed first hand how seriously they take their security with 2 armed gaurds with those beresnekoff rifles escorting some official looking dude. It didn’t make me feel secure at all and my overactive mind had me doing army rolls across the courtyard outside and dodging bullets in the event of some sort of milieu. Anyway onto my story but I think when I’m really anxious and then told to wait my mind can go into overdrive. I was glad to getaway from the intensity around that store but by then had realised the whole American type mall was for the wealthier Cambodians and that’s possibly the reason for the security, but hey guys I wanted to enjoy my coffee even if it was just Starbucks.
It was a relief to finally clamber into the Pastor’s 4 wheel drive and travel on the highway to Uodong another hour from the ‘Antenna’. The road was noticeably improved from my last visit however I did see a rather horrid accident between a long Tuk Tuk and a small truck. Moving along we eventually turned down the ‘Jesus Road’ so called because Phillip believes that eventually everyone living on this ancient rutted dirt track that leads from the busy main road to the peaceful region at the base of Uodong mountain will get to Church.
Phillip had sent me a text message late last night to tell me ‘don’t worry we have a translator for you!’ That was comforting however I didn’t know how good her English actually was and how well Zina would manage the translating task set for her. I should have known that God totally had control over this and this lovely young woman who is only 24 years old did a brilliant job all day for me.
After a few ‘hello’ catch ups with some of the Teachers and Christine the Pastor’s wife, whom I have met in the past I was shown the new facility that has been built by an American Military group who also funded the project. This was incredible and I love that it was dedicated and named the ‘Hallelujah Centre’ late 2016. Here was a large ground floor area where I could set up my program.
Offices lead off from the central area and a lounging corner with very comfortable plush sofas lends itself to a great atmosphere. Upstairs are many well appointed bedrooms and Pastor Phillip and his wife have offered this accomodation to me for ‘next time’ which is excellent because the Hotel in town which I stayed in last year was a little less than desirable and incredibly noisy. They have Mission groups come to stay and the area is perfect for ‘teams’. Soon I was ready to go and through the doors poured 40 beautiful young girls in their neat blue and white uniforms. It was time to commence and so the first words from the ‘Amor Key’ project were spoken. The girls listened and engaged and whilst they were shy for most of it both Zina and some other Pastors watching from the ‘sideline’ (so to speak) told me that their body language said it all. Leaning in with huge eyes and laughing delightedly along with the teachers was a sure sign that things were going well. The time flew by and that irony is not lost on me because speaking of flying – the Khmer love their fans and they think I love them too so they are strategically placed so that my hair is being bouffed and tousled throughout the time I am trying to sound highly professional and engaging. It doesn’t stop the perspiration from dripping down my face but gosh these girls are polite enough to not seem to notice. At the end of the program I produce 2 lush looking fairly garish cakes with the ‘Amor Key’ written neatly across the top. I explain to the girls why there is cake and what the name means. They listen intently and ooh and ahh appropriately and with great aplomb I cut one of them. They cheer and clap as if on queue and each of them tuck into a sweet and possibly sickly slice whilst I then (and why not change the order of how we should eat afterall are their ‘meal’ police?) I distribute the fresh bread rolls filled with salad and some sort of spam li meat which I secretly discard from my roll when no one is watching me. There is a load of fruit to follow and they appear starving as they suck on the flesh of a small round fruit that no one knows the name of but they enjoy it immensely. Many of them hug me and they all line up politely to say ‘Sankyou’ which has me tearing up. Cambodians cannot pronounce ‘Th’ in case you were wondering, at my spelling of the word.
The room was quiet now and empty of everyone other than 5 Khmer teachers and we agreed to grab one of the Tuk Tuk drivers and head out to see some of the sights of this area.
Cambodian girls when they get together generally do a lot of giggling whilst comfortable to display affection for each other. These girls look like they are 14 however they are all in their early to mid 20’s and only one ‘You call me January’ is unmarried. Two of them (married to Teachers) bring their toddlers with them We laugh together and our first stop is the large Pagoda which is ornate and quite the tourist attraction with the exquisite gardens that surround it. Here is the 2nd largest Pagoda in Cambodia and over 100 Monks live in the Estate which consists of a large man made lake-like area and a number of out buildings. They have even provided a ‘photography area’ with props and the girls delighted in giggling and having me join them for a snap. I have visited Uodong Mountain and climbed to the top several times so they were happy to help me find a vast lotus pad area and watch me snap away. It was however time to return to the ‘Glory School’ and run the Women’s program.
Soon 14 women arrived some carrying babies and I didn’t shoo the 8 year old boy away who insisted on joining his Mother. We began and I relaxed into the atmosphere that they introduced to the room. The women were wonderful and most were happy to share and therefore make it a wonderful afternoon’s program. Soon they too were eating Celebratory cake before we all headed to the School’s Kitchen where the menu consisted of a flavoursome soup which had a whole lot of ‘morning glory greens’ and small grissly beef. On the side was a plate of boiled rice and more meat, this time morsels of pork. I ate around mine and was happy that soon it would be time to attend the Friday night prayer meeting.
Phillip preached from Deuteronomy and asked the group of 40 to pray specifically for my Ministry and for their own community. Their Prayer language was powerful and I am certain God would have heard their passionate voices.
It was time to leave and as I said goodbye to the stragglers on a Friday night in the original capital at 8pm to travel the 2 hours back to Phnom Penh I felt so grateful for the opportunity to share the ‘Amor Key’ and for this venue with these wonderfully warm and encouraging Pastors to be the FIRST. My prayer is that this would be the 1st of many more programs being presented throughout Cambodia and that doors will continue to open and lives will be impacted.
My word its 2am – time to ‘hang up my keyboard’ and say Goodnight from the land of lotus flowers and orange robes as a dramatic thunderstorm lights the night sky and I have a deep sense of satisfaction in my heart and sleep…
amandaraeliddell 