Hi, it’s Rick again, writing once more from Cambodia. So much has happened in the last few days, that it’s hard to know where to start.
We began Sunday by going to a local church, where we were honored like foreign dignitaries. They made us sit in the front row, then when everyone stood up to sing, no one could see the song leaders, who were all 2 heads shorter than us! Since we were teaching classes that week at the same church, we gave a short, impromptu presentation with examples of what we’d be doing, such as the songs and stories. Becky had taken her ventriloquism dummy, Danny, and everyone was fascinated by him, even though he couldn’t speak khmer any better than Becky.
To really understand our day, you have to know about Moses Seth, and his wife Samantha, who the other half of our Cambodian hosts. Moses has been a Cambodian monk, general, governor, and prison camp prisoner. When the Khmer Rouge was slaughtering everyone in leadership or with an education, he escaped from a prison camp with his wife, and lived off the jungle for 3 years. He made his way to the US as a refugee, and eventually ended out with 2 PHDs from American universities. He is currently the equivalent of Billy Graham to the Cambodians, and has started over 700 churches in Cambodia.
With that background, you can understand how weird it felt to be the center of Moses’ sermon for the day. He used us as an example for each of his points, including how we were willing to give our time and money, and how we have peace in our hearts because we have a personal relationship with Jesus. He spoke about how Cambodian’s don’t have peace in their hearts after all the terrible things that have happened to them, but that God wants them to have peace through Jesus. He made an invitation, and abut 30 people out of a crowd of 100 came forward to change their lives. We heard all this through an interpreter, which was a whole new experience for us.
After the sermon, we helped distribute rice to the poorest people in the church. Moses had us distribute the first few bags, with lots of pictures, and I felt like I was some kind of rock star posing for a photo op. AIM provided the rice, but I think Moses told the people we had, because he wanted to be clear that Christians in America love them. Moses told us that the price of rice has tripled in this area, and that without this relief, these people would either starve, or sell their daughters into sexual slavery.
On a personal note, for Rick, the heat in the church was indescribable. It was the first time I’ve seen a Cambodian sweat, and the only part of me that was dry was the bottom few inches of my untucked shirt tails. The kids started getting sick, so we had to send them home early, and I got a little bit of heat exhaustion. Please pray specifically that I would be able to handle the heat somehow.
Rick
[From Becky]
On Monday, we had 63 kids ranging in age from toddler to high school. The kids go to school in shifts: 8-11, 11-2, and 2-5 pm because the school is overcrowded. We did all the parts of a Kid’s Camp, but only split into separate groups for craft and games. It was organized but chaotic with lots of the musical instruments going in pockets and not back in the bag. The children can’t differentiate between what we’re giving them, and what we’re lending them. They return their coloring pages, but keep the instruments. At the end of the day, they tore the Popsicle sticks off of their crafts, and took just the Popsicle sticks home. It is frustrating at times. It is not cultural to stand in line and there is a lot of hitting to keep the pecking order straight. Ringing a bell to get attention is working well—Thanks Jill for the idea. Everyone seems to be enjoying all the excitement.
Tuesday we had fewer kids because of transportation issues, so it was calmer with only 33 kids. Our kids played and interacted longer and more freely with all the Cambodian children. They liked today better whereas I got really miffed about one puzzle piece going missing. I sat down and prayed for all the little stealing rascals. I offered a candy reward for the “Antarctica border piece” if it was returned. Amazingly enough, it was found in minutes by a small posse. We couldn’t figure out who really brought it back, since the highest kid in the pecking order brought it to us, so we gave everyone a piece of candy.
Really, we never know exactly what is going on. As long as we can laugh, it is fine. We ordered a bran muffin and got the carrot one, or we think we are ending and eating lunch at 11am and don’t get lunches until 1:00, etc.
We can feel the difference your prayers are making in everything we do, so keep them coming,
The Kraemers
We began Sunday by going to a local church, where we were honored like foreign dignitaries. They made us sit in the front row, then when everyone stood up to sing, no one could see the song leaders, who were all 2 heads shorter than us! Since we were teaching classes that week at the same church, we gave a short, impromptu presentation with examples of what we’d be doing, such as the songs and stories. Becky had taken her ventriloquism dummy, Danny, and everyone was fascinated by him, even though he couldn’t speak khmer any better than Becky.
To really understand our day, you have to know about Moses Seth, and his wife Samantha, who the other half of our Cambodian hosts. Moses has been a Cambodian monk, general, governor, and prison camp prisoner. When the Khmer Rouge was slaughtering everyone in leadership or with an education, he escaped from a prison camp with his wife, and lived off the jungle for 3 years. He made his way to the US as a refugee, and eventually ended out with 2 PHDs from American universities. He is currently the equivalent of Billy Graham to the Cambodians, and has started over 700 churches in Cambodia.
With that background, you can understand how weird it felt to be the center of Moses’ sermon for the day. He used us as an example for each of his points, including how we were willing to give our time and money, and how we have peace in our hearts because we have a personal relationship with Jesus. He spoke about how Cambodian’s don’t have peace in their hearts after all the terrible things that have happened to them, but that God wants them to have peace through Jesus. He made an invitation, and abut 30 people out of a crowd of 100 came forward to change their lives. We heard all this through an interpreter, which was a whole new experience for us.
After the sermon, we helped distribute rice to the poorest people in the church. Moses had us distribute the first few bags, with lots of pictures, and I felt like I was some kind of rock star posing for a photo op. AIM provided the rice, but I think Moses told the people we had, because he wanted to be clear that Christians in America love them. Moses told us that the price of rice has tripled in this area, and that without this relief, these people would either starve, or sell their daughters into sexual slavery.
On a personal note, for Rick, the heat in the church was indescribable. It was the first time I’ve seen a Cambodian sweat, and the only part of me that was dry was the bottom few inches of my untucked shirt tails. The kids started getting sick, so we had to send them home early, and I got a little bit of heat exhaustion. Please pray specifically that I would be able to handle the heat somehow.Rick
[From Becky]
On Monday, we had 63 kids ranging in age from toddler to high school. The kids go to school in shifts: 8-11, 11-2, and 2-5 pm because the school is overcrowded. We did all the parts of a Kid’s Camp, but only split into separate groups for craft and games. It was organized but chaotic with lots of the musical instruments going in pockets and not back in the bag. The children can’t differentiate between what we’re giving them, and what we’re lending them. They return their coloring pages, but keep the instruments. At the end of the day, they tore the Popsicle sticks off of their crafts, and took just the Popsicle sticks home. It is frustrating at times. It is not cultural to stand in line and there is a lot of hitting to keep the pecking order straight. Ringing a bell to get attention is working well—Thanks Jill for the idea. Everyone seems to be enjoying all the excitement.
Tuesday we had fewer kids because of transportation issues, so it was calmer with only 33 kids. Our kids played and interacted longer and more freely with all the Cambodian children. They liked today better whereas I got really miffed about one puzzle piece going missing. I sat down and prayed for all the little stealing rascals. I offered a candy reward for the “Antarctica border piece” if it was returned. Amazingly enough, it was found in minutes by a small posse. We couldn’t figure out who really brought it back, since the highest kid in the pecking order brought it to us, so we gave everyone a piece of candy.
Really, we never know exactly what is going on. As long as we can laugh, it is fine. We ordered a bran muffin and got the carrot one, or we think we are ending and eating lunch at 11am and don’t get lunches until 1:00, etc.We can feel the difference your prayers are making in everything we do, so keep them coming,
The Kraemers
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