Challenging the Obstacles

As I write this there is a loud-speaker in the street behind me that is blasting at about 90 decimals the Buddhist prayers for a wedding.  This starts on the day before the wedding to announce to all the neighbourhood there is a wedding, come celebrate with us.  Outside the house where the wedding is taking place there was a large portable canopy constructed over the footpath and half of one side of the road.  You can imagine the traffic problems!  Sometimes it totally blocks off the street.  I’m told there are comedians, singers and the local monks chanting out prayers from 5am to late at night.  Fortunately it is usually only for two nights.  Thank God for earplugs but bad luck if you want a sleep in.  Fortunately I have been trying to get up just after 5am to start my day so it hasn’t been too much of an inconvenience even though my room is directly in the blast zone of the speakers.  I’m told three years ago there was a wedding every week but this year there have been fewer.  Weddings are a very expensive affair as we all know.  Even among the poor it costs thousands of US$ which puts the families in debt and can lead to children being sold to pay the debt.

Last night we also had a water problem.  NO WATER!  After four hours it was turned back on.  It seems that someone has a leak and the water tank had run dry so they turned off the supply to our apartments till the tank was full again.  Then again this morning NO WATER AGAIN! Oh, the land lady says she turned it off over night to stop the leak!  But at 9am still no water even though something has started to overflow from the roof.  I went up to see but really couldn’t tell what the problem was, so found the landlady who says ‘oh no water ah!’  It seems that everyone has done their washing so someone has had water!  Hmmm such is life in Cambodia!

In my last post I mentioned I was helping with the conversational English teaching at the children’s centre.  There are two morning classes and two afternoon sessions of one hour each session.  I have been taking the morning classes which start at 8am and finish at 11:30, just before lunch.  The children attending local school in the afternoon attend the morning English sessions and visa versa.   We try to make these classes fun and interesting with activities, action songs, colouring and games to practice and learn simple English.  The aim is to empower them with simple conversation which they will be able to practice with the visiting teams and hopefully will also be useful later in life.  It is this position that His Child International is looking to fulfil.  They are also looking for someone to assist with administration to take the load off Deborah who has a burden to work with the children.

Some of the other activities I have been involved with at the centre have been assisting the cook in preparing lunch (which was a language challenge for both of us), I have also helped wash the mountain of dishes after lunch, washed a child’s clothes who was late for school and helping to clean up the store room which had fatal results for me.  I put my back out for a week!  Still I was able to put these days into good use.  The first day I took one English class the second I thought I’d better take it easy to see if that would help, so I stayed back and I was able to start this chapter of my blog, hassle the landlady about our water problems, organise my ticket to Thailand and on top of this organise the HisChild worker to unblock my toilet.  He gave me strict instructions not to put toilet paper down it again!  WHAT! Its toilet paper for goodness sake …. it’s made to be put down toilets!  You have to see the humour in it all!  He also informed me that the squeaking door handles would have to be fixed later as he didn’t have the equipment to do it this time.  Never mind I put some cooking oil on it and the door hinges which also squeaked and all is well.  After all this I needed a break so nursing my crook back I ventured out to the local restaurant ‘The Rosewood’, which is just around the corner from the team house, for the air-conditioning and a coffee fix!

The Rosewood is very convenient and the cappuccinos very reasonable in fact they are cheaper than Perth prices at $2:50.

In the meanwhile I have been trying to extend my ticked from Phnom Phen to Chiang Mai, Thailand.  On my first attempt through, Chinov, a local and the supervisor of the children’s centre.  AirAsia were going to charge me $35 for the change and then there is the difference in fare.  Total $103US!!! WHAT!!!  Our next attempt was when I went with Chinov to pick up a team arriving from Malaysia.  As it was before office hours I walked into the departures counter where the attendant when on line to check if she could make the changes.  She told me it would be a total of $85.  Well that was better than our phone inquiry.  When the team arrived we headed for town where they needed to book a bus ticket to visit outside PP. Here, Chinov and I try at the AA office which is within walking distance.  Wow!  Just outside an hour the price had gone up to $95!!  I ask why so much?  I explained when I went on line there was a special offer for a brand new budget ticket for $95 and the top price of an economy ticket was $115 top price!!!   I told the girl behind the counter I payed $202 for the same ticket in Australia so in this case they actually owed me money!  Of course she just smiles and says the price is what is given in the system and it can change at any minute.   Hummmm sounds like there might be one price for locals and one for foreigners.

That left me with one more option.  The previously night when I was shocked at the price given over the phone I decided to send an email to my travel agent in Perth with the same request.  I hadn’t heard from them when I arrived back from my bargain hunting around PP so I emailed a friend from church asking if she had time to give the agent a call.  She did an amazing job of being the middleman.  My agent had also just read my email so was up to date with the details.  Between the three of us with me confirming the changes, the dates and times where made and paid for in Australian dollar instead of US dollars!  Hallalujah!  So now I will be staying in Cambodia till 25^th April.  Which is such a blessing as I will not only be staying on with my new friends here but also missing the pollution of the rice burning in Chiang Mai.  The Lord is so gracious!

Here is a prayer I read on facebook that evening:

A prayer for when you’re waiting on the Lord.

Father, forgive me for all my doubts, worries, and fears,

Forgive me for my impatience as I wait in this place.

Forgive me for questioning the story you’ve written for me.

I believe, help me in my unbelief!

Help me to remember that it is good to wait for you.

Grant me the joy that comes from knowing you.

Fill my heart with Gospel joy.

How appropriate what this timing of this prayer!

I recently found out my favourite retreat, ‘The Rosewood’ has two Christian boys working for them.  I found this out when the visiting Malaysian team arrived for lunch.  The music on their sound system was changed to Christian songs.  The owner has also blessed us with a 10% discount as we work for a not for profit organisation (or as it is called here NGO – non government organization) and we bring him quite a bit of business with the various teams that visit.

Pictures:  1. Sunrise over the slums   2.  Showing Yu Jin how to cook pikelets when we had no water!   3. Rinsing the dishes   4. Children’s washing line.   5.  Origami heart I learnt from Korean team   5. Local market

Prayer & Praise Points:
Give thanks with me to the Lord for answered prayer re my ticket and praise Him for intervening and enabling me to extend my ticket for another month.

Give Him praise for the work His Child International is doing amongst the underprivileged and orphaned children.

Please continue to pray for mine and the team’s safety on the roads and that we will abide in His health.

Please pray in particular for my back which hasn’t been 100% and is hindering me from helping in the ministry.

His Child has three visiting teams this month.  Please pray for them and for Deborah as she helps to coordinate them all.

Pray also for someone to teach conversational English to the primary school aged children at the centre.  This is mainly a fun class for conversational everyday English incorporating games, songs and activities. If you or anyone you know is interested please contact Deborah at office@hischild-international.com   No qualifications needed.

We are entering into the hottest months here in Cambodia please pray for all our workers as many are feeling fatigue due to the high temperatures and humidity.

Thank you also for your prayers for my Mum’s health.  Please continue to ask the Lord to keep her in good health especially in regards to her memory.  Still no word about the growth that was removed from her face as the doctor is away on holidays.