30/01/2011There is a scene in the movie Never Ending Story 2 where the main character names the power of darkness he has been wrestling with and from that simple act of identification its power is shaken.
When we arrived we were greeted by a swarming sea of children. They clamboured over every limb like a surging wave and despite our dest effots, one dirty face blended seamlessly into another as for the first time, we encountered the urban poor.
But over the last two weeks various children began to stand out to us. Each of us chose, or was chosen by certain children who formed an inexplicable bond with us. Their smiles were etched in our mind as their grubby fingers burrowed into our hearts. What was once an ocean of humanity became to us all, individual people linked by the tragic distinction of being born into the poorest strata of society.
Which is why my heart now aches. I have known statistics on global poverty for years. But now I can point our faces of children who have laughed with me, played with me, shared food with me, and freely given love to me. And while i get to go home to my wealthy Australian life, they will stay here, facing an uncertain future that no child deserves.
Perhaps this could shake the power of poverty...
Because when the nameless, faceless urban poor are held in our hearts they are no longer abandoned but are given the dignity and humanity that love entails.
Perhaps poverty begins to be defeated once the nameless become the named... 26/01/2011Update - Tuesday 25th
After 3 days rest it was good to be "Back to work" and the whole team launched into the day with enthusiasm. Janice and Ebony took leave from the program to see if they could find the village that Ebony was born (before she was handed to the orphanage and adopted to Janice).
Team 1 (the builders) headed back to the slums to start on house #2. This house is owned by a young family with 2 children aged 2 and a 10 day old baby. They were still living in the house when we arrived but it only took 15 mins to pack up and move the family and all their worldly possessions to the house next door (this might give you some indication just how poor these people are). Then we pulled the house down. We needed to do this with some care - despite the fact that all the wood is rotting, they wanted to keep it all and reuse it for other things. It was messy but fun work. By the end of the day we had cleared the block and had the framework up for the new house.
Team 2 - daycare and learning centre. Today's theme was sharing Gods love. Once again, the singing with the kids was amazing. They know quite a few praise songs and if we happen to stumble across one of them the singing goes through the roof. For example, we sang "hosanna in the highest" and not only did they sing it with gusto, they have amazing actions to go with it. The drama was on how we share Gods love when we help each other. The craft was paper plate pockets in which the decorated with love hearts - reminding the kids that God loves them and how they need to show love to each other.
At 6pm each night we have a time of team devotions, sharing, planning and prayer. Tonights meeting was interrupted by Janice and Ebony's return. We were all stunned when Ebony walked in and said, "I just meet my family" (we will write up this whole amazing story)
Dinner tonight was at a local Khmer restaurant. We knew it was going to be an interesting night when we were seated at "Sunday School" sized tables and the owner explained the menu, "we have pork & rice and chicken & rice". We ordered both - and it was amazing. The night included a impromptu dance between Warren and the owner, massive icecubes to cool our drinks, us ordering more pork (without the rice) and a crazy communion-like moment when the owner passed around a glass of vodka for all of us to sip from (how do you explain that you're a Christian mission trip? We didn't, we just went with the experience). The night ended with communal singing - the owner singing us Khmer songs and we were singing Aussie songs. A remarkable evening to finish an extraordinary day It's been a while since I've shared anything here, not because god has suddenly stopped revealing himself here or a lack of material to reflect upon. On the contrary, there is so much running thru my mind that I have gone into sensory overload and feel that I need a month to reflect and process
my own thoughts and feelings before I can share. The smallest things are becoming emotional triggers as the reality of life for Cambodians is settling in. I no longer notice the smell or the lice. Just the kids whose lives will be lived out in this environment. The women who will only know an abusive marriage, the girls who are unlikely to survive without being sexually abused. My heart breaks when I think of it, so I'm not...but despite my best attempts it creeps up on me several times a day.
Two images from yesterday remain in my mind. Firstly, I held the most beautiful girl yesterday and realized that all I could do was pray for her safety through life. I can't stay keep her safe or protect her. If I could I would take her home just to give her a future fitting of her innocent beauty... Sigh... So I do the only thing I could, I prayed...
The second image was seeing ebony just after she had found she has biological family living in Cambodia and she met her uncles and cousins. The rejoicing and tears that can be seen throughout her photos and videos made me think of jesus' story about the rejoicing in heaven whenever one sinner repents. There is something about those once in a lifetime moments that shows us heaven invading earth. When families are reunited and laugh and cry together, when the past is forgotten by the power of the present and love permeates the atmosphere. Maybe it shows us more than heaven invading earth maybe it shows us that a spark of the divine remains within each of us... Whatever it is, it is amazing to see and even as an observer yesterday was a powerful experience. I will let ebony tell the story in her words but it was a moment that deeply affected all of us. I didn't see a dry eye in the room.
I can only imagine how much more the rejoicing of heaven will be. Same Same but different
There is a T-Shirt that is sold in all the markets over here that has the saying, "Same Same but Different". I believe it is the title of a movie based in Cambodia but it also refers to a saying that the market sellers say implying that their wares are different to all the others (even if they look the same). This phrase sums up part of my experience in Cambodia.
In one sense, much of what I have been doing here on this mission trip has been similar to what I do in Australia. I have been helping people, I have been talking to people, I have been playing with kids, singing, building (ok, so that is different), I have been helping people process stuff and work through experiences - all fairly similar to the things that I do as a pastor in North Rocks. Same Same ... But different.
It is different. The context is different. The culture is different. The resources available are different. Part of my biggest struggle has been getting my head around these differences and discerning what it means to share the gospel, to share God's love in this different context. It is very different ... Yet it is Same Same.
The culture and context are different but the people are people just like us. The parents love to talk about their kids. The kids laugh when someone does something silly. The tuktuk drivers talk about long days and a longing to be with their families. The market sellers just want to survive in life. The little children just want to be held and loved. Same Same ... But different.
On one hand I feel at home here. I feel no sense of discomfort. I am just being a servant of God to people who God loves.
On the other hand I feel like a foreigner in a strange land. Trying my best to learn, to understand, to discern where God is in the midst of this experience.
I guess this sums up my experience so far ... Same Same but different
25/01/2011hi there thought i would share from today that i had my 1st go working on the new home. the first home is now finished so we started this morning to demolish the second home. there are no building requirements it's just get in, get dirty and knock it down. the family have moved in with mum next door while we work. it is so dirty and the timbers were falling apart from rot but i found it really exciting to be a part of giving someone a new home with roof over head. as you work it is like haveing an audience. all the kids and some of the adults keep coming around to check on the progress and us of course. they have to touch and feel our skin and show their babys.
we left for lunch at 11 am with the space for the new home all cleaned and ready for the afternoon shift to come in and start to build the new home. can't wait to show some photos of the family and their new home to all of you.
i can't change the world but the little steps all add up . today i helped a family in getting a new home. how amazing. God bless marg 24/01/2011We have had the weekend off up in Siem Reap. Pat (the Destiny Rescue Director) suggested that we needed some time to pause and reflect on our journey so far. During our time off we spent most of Saturday out at one of the wonders of the world - the Ankor Wat temples. Today, some of us visited the floating markets and village while others just rested. I will get some of the others to write up their reflections.
Phil
(Ok, we know that we have gotten a few days behind in our updates. We are really sorry but we have been travelling north and our routines have been a lot different). Friday 21st January. Today started with a very special breakfast at "Destiny Cafe". This is a cafe in Kampong Chan run by Destiny Rescue. They use the cafe as an opportunity to train the girls (that they have rescued from sex slavery) in hospitality. So our breakfast was cooked and served by the rescue girls. How special is that! It was also special as they had a proper coffee machine which meant that some of us had our first cup of proper coffee since arriving in Cambodia. (Cambodians drink this really strong/dirty coffee and they don't use milk). After breakfast we adjourned to the upper room of the cafe where Barry (our guide for the day) talked to us about this aspect of Destiny Rescue. It was just heartbreaking to hear the stories of how girls get caught up in the sex slave business (often not their own choice). Destiny does not only rescue girls in the sex trade but also girls who are victims of continuing sexual abuse. At the moment they have around 30 girls in their care ranging in age from 20 down to 8. It has great to see people living out their faith in this powerful way. As Barry said, "We can provide teachers and counselors but it is also God who bring the healing" We then had the privilege to visit some of the homes where the girls lived. The first home was home number 1 - this is the largest house and is where the girls are first brought. There is a lot of security at the house including high fences, locked gates, razor wire, security man and a dog (who was rather harmless but big). At house #1, not only do they live there, but there is also a school so that they don't fall behind in their schooling, a dance room (to teach them tradition Khmer dances and give them self esteem) and counselors. We got to meet the girls and although it was hard to think about the circumstances of why they were there, it was hopeful to see them safe and seemingly happy. The girls usually stay in house number #1 for 18 months or until they are able to safely reintegrate back into society. We then visited house #2 which is also the sowing school. Here the girls are taught how to sow, so they have a source of income when they return to their families. The sowing was just amazing. The fine bead-work was extraordinary. The current "class" of girls are so good that Destiny are going to give them all a sowing machine and a overlocker when they return to their village. Lastly we visited house #3 which is one of the many "family" homes. This is where the girls live after house #1 while they get ready to return to their villages. In the family they have a Christian father and mother and it really becomes a family. It was so moving to see this house and the obvious love which was in it. The home had bible verses around the room and as we were leaving we found written in chalk underneath the staircase the words written by one of the rescue girls "Jesus love me. I love Jesus" Unfortunately we then had to rush off and catch the lunchtime bus to Siem Reap - another 4 hours travelling through the countryside. After we arrived and grabbed some dinner we wandered the night markets and experienced the truly amazing "fish eating foot treatment". See the facebook photos! Phil 23/01/2011Hello Everyone, Mr Cool here. Finally getting a chance to catch up on Facebook. I thought you might like to read my diary entry from last Wednesday. It goes a little like this:
The afternoon shift building houses in the slum village is the best one because you get to receive the kids when they arrive back from the Day Care and Learning Centres. We pretty much know them all by sight now and they certainly all know us! Yesterday though I must say was pretty distressing. When we are interacting with the kids while they are at the Centres, they are dressed in a sort of school uniform that the Centres provide. During the day they wash the kids slum clothes and put them back on for the kids to go home in. The slum clothes as you might imagine are very poor and completely inappropriate for their living conditions, like they catch the dust really badly etc. When the kids get off the tuk-tuk back at the slum village, they instantly transform back into what only can be described as grotty looking slum kids, after having looked like normal school kids during the day. Today however, something magical happened. The kids arrived back today in the clothes that had been sewn by the North Rocks community and the slum transformation did not occur! They stayed looking like any other adorable little cambodian children, possibly for the first time in their lives! It was a truly wonderful experience. Mr Cool signing off. 21/01/2011The response to the new clothes was just amazing. The kids looked like different people bright and happy and very proud of their new clothes. Compared to what they usually wear....Their undies were proudly shown off to their parents on the return to the village which was absolutely adorable. you just can't imagine.
The sad thing is that after we bath in the morning at the daycare centre, when we have visited the village after they have gone home, they are back to how they started the day - covered in dirt from head to toe. Imagine how they would be without Destiny to bath them each day 20/01/2011Hi all. We have been so full on over the past 2 days that it has been hard to update the webpage with our updates and reflections. We are currently having dinner after a four hour bustrip so we will catch you up with some dot points:
Wednesday
• some people went to the daycare and played with the kids. We did the story of the lost sheep - first the leaders all his and the kids ran around looking for us, and then we playacted the parable (replacing sheep with chickens). The craft was giving the kids some chalk and letting the kids draw all over the ground. They loved it
• some of us took a tuktuk load of kids on an excursion to a new park (with a massive playground). They were so excited
• some of us was at the slum working on building the house
• some of us were at the learning centre doing the lost chicken parable and thumbprint craft
• the kids can sing hosanna really well
• Judy, Hayley and Pat the director looked through all our donated stuff - Pat was totally overwhelmed. The teachers had so much fun handing out a new outfit to each child. (we'll get hayley or Judy to write up this story)
• we had a great time at dinner - releasing some of our stress through laughter
Today (20th)
• we had the same program of house building (all day) daycare (morning) and learning centre (late morning and afternoon)
• today's talk was on the good Samaritan - creatively acted out with puppets
• today's craft was getting the kids playing in paint. They were stamping with paint, finger painting and even walking in paint and making footprints on paper
• at 4pm we boarded a bus to Kampong Chan. Mikey, jonno & Janice at fried spider at the half-way stop. We were met by Barry who is currently talking to us over dinner about the work that Destiny does with the Rescye girls - the girls rescued from sexual slavery. We will be visiting them tomorrow
Thanks for following us. Will update soon |
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