Treasures from Cambodia

(Disclaimer: Now, Cambodia is not perfect because it is full of fallen people, just like America.  There are a lot of things about Cambodia that are harsh and dark and unpleasant, but also a treasure trove of nuggets that stopped me in my tracks with appreciation!)

Friendship: What do half boiled baby duck eggs and friendship have in common?  Well, in Cambodia whenever the Moringa staff wanted to celebrate something, we would get together after work at this restaurant with thatched huts and we would sit on the floor of the hut around a small low table.  Then my friends would order the food and soon the eggs would come out looking suspiciously like normal boiled eggs and everyone would dive in.  Ok, so they did.  I waited for the chicken legs to arrive.  Even if it was a party for me, we would go to the same place because it was about being together.  My celebrate food would be a nice hamburger or salad; their celebrate food was duck eggs (with the little baby inside…shudder).  But, I miss baby duck eggs because it always meant friendship and being together. 

The Journey: The journey was much more important in Cambodia than the destination.  A three hour trip could easily turn into a six hour trip because we had to stop and take pictures, or get a snack, or buy fruit or take more pictures.  So, really the journey was the point, being together was the point, not getting from place A to place B in a timely manner (even though it’s hot and bumpy and I’m sitting here but my legs are over there because we are all crammed into the car).  It’s never an inconvenience, it’s always an adventure.    

Generosity: No matter how much you have, you always have something to give.  Poverty doesn’t equal stinginess.  Whether it was the widow from church who generously gave me some of the peanuts she had made to sell at the market, or the pastor and his family whose table I was always welcome at, or the woman who loaded me down with fresh fruit from her trees even though I told her it was just me at home, or the gifts that I would receive from my friends (horrid, ugly things from the stationery shop, but they were given with such love that those items became beautiful).  Even if you are dirt poor, you can still give joyfully.

Don’t hurry.  Work hard.  Take breaks.  Be friendly.  Be polite.  Stop to pick fruit (even if it belongs to someone else).  Take naps in a hammock.  Take any opportunity to sing in front of people even if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket (it’s not about the sound, it’s about having a good time together).  Eat together.  Color your hair.  Bargain.  Do your part.  Laugh and smile.  A lot.                

An Unhealthy Fear of Caterpillars

Yesterday, I was helping the staff to take the moringa leaves off the branches (we do this twice a week) in order to dry the leaves to make the moringa leaf powder that we sell as a vitamin supplement. I grabbed a branch and I noticed that it had an inchworm on it, so I pointed it out to my coworkers. You know, like, “Look at this cute inchworm guys!” Well, when one of the girls saw it, she jumped up and ran across the room. Now, I’ve come across this paralyzing fear of worms and caterpillars several times in Cambodia, and it always surprises me that out of all the creatures living here that these small harmless things are what make women scream or stand up on a chair. I mean, what about tarantulas or monster cockroaches or scorpions or rats (the things that I fear here)? Another friend shared with me that one time when she was a little girl she looked inside a plumeria flower and a small green caterpillar with black eyes was looking up at her and this experience was so traumatizing for her that the picture I had hanging on the wall of a plumeria flower made her uneasy.

To me, being afraid of an inchworm is laughable (I did laugh at my coworker), but I was thinking today about how in different cultures we fear different things and I wondered how people choose those things to fear (and then pass that fear down to their children and grandchildren). I am not just talking about insects or bugs, but about certain foods, taboos, spiritual things, etc. Then I thought about how some of the things that I fear don’t deserve the fear that I give them, especially seeing as how I am a child of the King. So, next time I am afraid to open up my mouth to talk to someone, I’ll have to remember that it’s just an inchworm.

The New Year - Khmer Style

My friend's niece

Last week was the Khmer New Year, March 13-15, but it is often celebrated for longer (the middle school where I taught agriculture last year had almost a month off). This holiday is special because it is often the only time of year that people don't have to work (for example, those that sell things at the market) and they get to rest and spend time with their families; otherwise many work seven days a week and on holidays.

It is a tradition during the New Year to throw water or powder on people. It started as a way that you bless someone by asking them if you can pour water on him or her, but nowadays people don't really ask! Sometimes it can be dangerous, especially if you get pelted by plastic bags filled with water (sometimes icy cold) while you are driving a motorbike. Someone told me if I don't want to get hit, I should wear my helmet because that shows I don't want to play. =)

For the New Year, I went up to northern Cambodia with my American friend and 2 Cambodian friends. On way up, we stopped at a ancient ruins, similar to Angkor Wat but all the stones were laying on ground so it's not quite as cool. But there were hundreds of Cambodians climbing over the stones, smearing powder on each other's faces, dancing, eating, etc. It was kind of surreal until someone came up to me and grabbed my face to "bless" me with scented baby powder. Kids asked to put powder on our faces and that was cute, but the drunk guys with grimy hands, not so cute. There was no water throwing at that place, just powder. It was really hot that day and some of the powder had menthol in so it was nice and cooling. =)

At Banteay Srey Chama ruins with Somath and Erica

Kids busy blessings others =)

I was blessed a lot!

Erica and I with our powder beards

We finally arrived in Yan's village after being crammed in a Camry with all our stuff and 4 other people for 2 hours plus. Believe it or not the taxi's (Camry) here have 8 "seats", sometimes more. 4 people in the back, 2 in the passenger seat and one sitting with the driver. Kids don't count so they get squeezed in too, so sometimes 8 passengers is a conservative number. My leg fell asleep at one point because we were so squished my circulation was cut off. The joys of riding in a taxi in Cambodia. =)

On motos with all our stuff going to the taxi - notice the moto driver on his cell phone. Classic.

So, in Yan's village we stayed at her mother's house. Yan has 6 siblings, 5 of which are married and live very close to her mom, and her older sister is not yet married so she lives with their mom. It was a bit confusing when we first arrived because one of her brothers was in the process of getting married but most of her family wasn't at the wedding and people kept coming and going from the house and I couldn't figure out who actually lived there and who was just sleeping there temporarily. Everyone stared at my friend and I (she had been to visit last year so they knew her face) and talked about us (the "white single ladies") while we were sitting there. They have a different accent in that part of the country and use some different words, so at times it was really difficult to understand them even though they were speaking Khmer.

In her village there is no electricty or running water, but thankfully her Aunt had a toilet, a squatty potty, that you pour water down to flush. They have to carry their water from the pond or the well in the village to their houses, so conserving water becomes more important when you have to carry it in on your shoulders (which Yan's sister did for us to take showers, so sweet). They shower outside using a small bucket that is dipped into a large water jar and then you pour the water over your head. For the women, they wear sarongs tied around the chest, so it's kind of like bathing while clothed. Yan's sister put up some grass thatch as walls for us so we could have a little privacy while bathing. I couldn't get over the fact that there were ducks and pigs and chickens running around while I was bathing!

Getting ready for a cold, morning shower

The bathing stall

A pig

Yan wanted to share about Jesus to her family and the people in her village, so one morning we had a small gathering of women and children who listened to Somath (the Cambodian guy that came with us from Battambang and is an assistant pastor) talk about Jesus and the story about Lazarus and the rich man. Then Yan shared her testimony and some of the women cried. We also planned to show the Jesus film that night at the village leader's house so we went to find some electricity to run the projector and computer and speakers.

Life is community there and we walked down the rode and stopped at people's houses (I think Yan is related to half the people in the village) to chat for a few minutes before moving on. We did meet the guy who rents out a generator/electricity and he told us he and his family are believers. As far as we know, he and his family and Yan are the only believers in the village. We worked out how to do the electrical stuff and then spent the afternoon lounging around (it's way too hot to do anything) eating mangoes.

The most essential piece of Cambodian furniture - a wooden table under the house used for sitting, eating and sleeping. You can see the houses of Yan's brothers and sisters in the background.

Yan's nephew, a cutie!

At one point, Somath decided he and I should go on a moto to the next village since our other 2 friends went on a walk and we didn't know where they were. So we hopped on a moto and went about 2km down the main road to the next village. It is pretty dry in that area, though it has more trees than most places in Cambodia. On the way back to Yan's village (which is called Poom Roneam Thom - the Big Cobra Snake Village) there was a truck stopped near a pond and there were people on the truck with a large barrel of water. Somath slowed down and told them to throw water on him and instead they threw it on me! That was my first water throwing experience for this New Year.

That night at 6pm we went out to set up the computer and projector and hang up a white sheet for the Jesus film showing. It tooks us about an hour to get it all set up but praise God that when we plugged everything, it worked! Tons of people started coming (any form of tv is serious stuff here) and I think at one point there were about 200 people, most standing, watching the life of Jesus in their language. After the crucifixtion, Somath explained more about why Jesus came to die, that it was for our sins. He led a prayer and then we finished watching the video. It is a 2 hour video, so by the end people had started to leave, but there were still about 100 that stayed the whole time.

The next day we didn't do a whole lot. It's wierd not being able to check your e-mail or "do things" so it seemed like we didn't do much, but we did go visit more people. One family fed us a meal that consisted of a dish of fish with mangoes, peanuts, chilis and lime juice, a dish of steamed jackfruit, and an omlete (and rice of course). It was really good! The day before, Somath helped Yan kill one of the ducks running around in the yard. The people there live off what is in their yards, whether it's animals or fruit trees, and then they all have a stash of rice from the last season's harvest.

Getting ready to make dinner - duck anyone?

Erica and I returned the next day to Battambang but Yan stayed a few more days with her family. She ended up preaching one night to her family for 2 hours and her sister and her mother decided to follow Christ. There is no church in that village (it is actually really close to Thailand in the area that former Khmer Rouge soliders and their families settled), so please pray for these people to have more opporunities to hear about Jesus and to grow in their faith.

Yan's mother, Yan's sister, Yan and I

I had trouble sleeping there at night because it was so hot and the mosquitoes were biting me (and no one else obviously) and there were a lot of strange noises. One night, there was this really loud sound that startled me and I asked Yan what it was and she said it was a bull. Anyway, this stupid bull had wandered into the yard and then proceeded to make this annoying noise throughout the surrounding vicinity looking for a lady cow and I was about ready to shoot it. All in all, I had a good time, I just didn't get any sleep. =)

My random life in Cambodia

At the moringa orchard that got burnt a few months ago

At times it seems like nothing is happening that is worth posting, and then I look back at the past 3 months and wonder how can I possibly write about all the things that have taken place!

My full-time ministry now is helping the Moringa for Health staff with the business, though I help with other CAMA and church related ministries when I can. Increasing our supply of products has proven complicated as the trees don't produce many leaves due to lack of rain. But God has provided leaves and seeds when our shelves were almost empty. The demand is increasing, which is a great problem to have, so we will hire additional staff to help with production, especially as we approach rainy season (June-October). We hired a young woman after the New Year for a part-time position and I am training her to do basic accounting and to help with production when we need.

It's a bit of a catch 22 wanting to hire people who need a job and will benefit from training, but also who have no experience or job training. Lying and stealing is normal in Cambodia and if you don't get caught, it's not wrong. Makes me want to pull my hair out or pack my bags and go home. But then, I wonder, what it would be like to be raised in this culture, and what it would mean to me if someone patiently taught me biblical principles for life and for business, truths that would improve my livelihood and draw me closer to the heart of God?

God has really impressed on my heart recently that His utmost desire for my life is that I follow him, whether I am in Cambodia or America. My obedience is far more important than what my job or marital status is, or what country I live in. Knowing this has freed me to see that it's not so much whether God wants me in Cambodia or not, but that He wants me to follow him. I also realized that life in America is not easier than life in Cambodia and things I struggle with here I will also struggle with there (loneliness). I am not in Cambodia because I love it so much or because I don't like America or because of guilt. God called me here and for some reason I am still here and until He clearly calls me somewhere else, I will stay. On the days when I want to pull out my hair, I sometimes pray God will burden me to go somewhere else, but so far, it's here. =)

I went with the AIDS homecare volunteers to Sek Sok Resort for an outing. It's a river where people can go swimming, and there's also random statues that you can take pictures with (like peacocks and bears). We had a devotional and sang and several people shared their testimonies. We ate lunch and then some people got in the water. I went swimming for a bit and tried not to think about how brown and gross the water was. After about 10 minutes, I felt a sharp pain in my toe as something chomped down on it. I told my teammate that something bit me and I very ungracefully swam to get out so she could look at it (she's a nurse). All the people around said I cut my toe on a rock, but there was a chunk of my toe missing and it didn't feel like a rock. Anyway, we got it cleaned up and then I decided I was done swimming. I sat with Aide Rose and she played guitar and we sang worship songs together. Later, my teammate said she had also felt something bite her but it didn't leave a mark, so I am pretty sure whatever bit me was attracted to my white skin!



People often ask me how my language is going, if I am fluent. Well, it seems the more I learn, the less I know and the more words I learn, the more words I forget. I am never quite sure how to answer Cambodians when they ask me how long I studied Khmer because I will always be learning the Khmer language, no matter how long I live here. Cambodians like percentages, so I would say I understand 60-70%, though that varies with the subject. People are always amazed when they learn that I can speak Khmer, but people that have known me several years know better and they correct me and teach me. I know other foreigners that have been here for significantly less time than I have and they are much more fluent than I am. Please pray I have the motivation to keep learning as it's easy to plateau and survive on what I know already.

A 17 year old girl and her Mom and her cousin moved into the house behind mine (above my landlord's house) and she is studying English. What a convenience that I am a native English speaker! =) Sometimes she and her cousin come to speak English with me, though often they come when I am in the shower or already in my pjs and they yell,"Sister, hello! Sister!"

Saturday afternoon it rained and stormed for several hours and the electricity went out after one of the lightning strikes. That means I don't have power or water, but thankfully, I had already showered. My ceiling started leaking in random places all over my house and it drenched all the papers on my table. I couldn't see very well with the candlelight, so I put buckets where I could and then decided all I could do was sit and watch the storm out my front door.

And that is my random life in Cambodia.

Crispy frogs and the love of God

Between Christmas and New Years, I was able to travel with the HIV/AIDS Homcare team to Odar Mean Chey province (Northwest Cambodia) to visit some of the PLHAs (People Living with HIV/AIDS) in Samrong. The trip up was dusty, but once we arrived in Samrong, there was a large pond with lotus flowers and it was a welcome change in scenery. Samrong is only 1 hour from the Thai border.

A woman that attends the KEC church in Samrong visits the AIDS patients weekly, so the team from Battambang just goes once every 3 months to encourage her and to visit the patients. On their last visit in September, they were requested to teach about how to make compost, so this time we brought up some cow manure and sugarcane bagasse to help one of the widows make a compost pile. Below are some photos of everyone joining in on the process.

The first woman we visited started a small business with her husband making fried frogs, fried crickets, dried prawns and boiled peanuts (in the shell) and selling them in the evening at the street market. The peanuts were nice, but I was wary of the frogs and crickets. The team asked her questions about her health and what medications she is taking. Antiretroviral drugs are available free through the referral hospital in Samrong. She seemed strong and in good health, and she also said she is taking moringa leaf powder every day.

She will stay at the market in the

evening until all the tasty snacks are sold

Fried crickets

Fried frogs. Surprisingly yummy.

A chicken with no feathers

The team presented a small Christmas gift of a sarong, a toothbrush and toothpaste to each patient and also a bar of moringa soap for them to try. In addition, they gave her some gospel tracks about heaven, Christ's birth and making a decision to follow Christ, and said if she cannot read then she can ask her children to read them to her.

Next we visited a woman who is widowed and struggling to make ends meet. The rice that she planted produced grain in the field but was flooded recently when a dam was opened in Thailand. All the rice rotted in the field. We brought some 80-day rice seeds for her to plant when the rains start again. It was difficult to see her situation and how skinny she was. Her children don't help her much (very rare in Cambodia) and she almost started crying several times. She is raising 2 pigs and growing banana plants to feed them (mashed banana stalks, yum!). We suggested she make some compost to put in the rice field to help provide nutrients and improve the soil, and we offered to help her start the compost. We looked for items we could use to build a frame and she found some rice straw and wood. We decided to come back to make the compost after we visited the last patient.

The last woman we visited, also a widow, is living with her adult daughter and grandchild. She was fun to talk to and seemed hopeful for the future. She also lost most of her rice harvest from the flood of water. Sharon encouraged her to pray to God and ask him to provide for the things that her family needs. The widow goes off and on to the church and she cannot read so it is difficult for her to learn the songs. We encouraged her that the more she hears them, the easier it is to memorize. The team sang her a song about God loving and never forsaking us, especially widows. =)

After praying with her, we asked if she had any banana plants we could use for making compost for the other patient. She graciously offered them, and the guys cut down the banana plants that had already produced fruit. Bananas plants have lots of good nutrients (esp. potassium and phosphorus) for making compost and they easily decompose. They also stain clothing. =)

We returned to the 2nd woman's house and Sombok and Dara started building the bin for the compost out of a few scraps of wood and some coconut branches. Then they layered the compost: rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, cow manure, banana stalk and rice husk ashes. I call it fertilizer from God.

Chopping up banana stalks for the compost

Building the bin with what's available

Layering the compost. This is the cow manure.

God's servants!

After this the team met with the woman who does the regular visits and discussed issues. When we left her house, we were all ready for dinner! We went to our regular restaurant and while we waited for the food, we snacked on prawns, frogs and peanuts. The frogs were surprising tasty, though, rule #1: don't look before you eat.

The next day we attended the Christmas program at the church and after the meal, we headed back to Battambang.

An extra picture of a house we visited. This is the kitchen and the cows (and their business) are kept underneath. Interesting...

Joy to the World! Ahm-naw dahl loak!

Me with my loot from Christmas =)

This month…

This has been a full season, both for the churches here in Battambang, and for the Moringa and HIV/AIDS ministries under CAMA Services. The celebration of Christ coming to earth is for all Christians and it is a joy to experience this celebration with Christians here in Cambodia. In Battambang, Christmas starts on the first and often goes into January, as each church in the area hosts a Christmas program.

I was able to go with some of the HIV/AIDS homecare volunteers on their regular visits into the community last week. Two of the volunteers go to visit children living with HIV/AIDS in the villages. They usually teach the kids a Bible story and talk about health and hygiene. These kids come from very poor and difficult home lives. They don’t always smell nice or have the best manners, so seeing these volunteers go love on people who are unlovely is a huge witness to God’s love for marginalized people. The volunteers were in the process of teaching the kids the song “Joy to the World” (in Khmer) and a lot of the kids remembered the words.

A short clip of the kids singing Joy to the World

at the HIV/AIDS Christmas Program

At the Christmas party for the HIV/AIDS patients, the kids answered trivia questions from the Bible stories they have learned. There was one little 5 year-old girl that I remembered seeing on our visit in the village when we were sitting under a house on a wooden table. She had on a frilly green dress for the party and she answered without hesitating, “Bethlehem”, when asked where Jesus was born. It melted my heart. Pray for these kids, who have already lived such difficult lives, to grasp God’s love for them. Pray that God would bring them into His kingdom.

Handing out gifts to the kids

This week some foreign businessmen came to our office in Battambang to find out more about Moringa for Health and why and how we do what we do. During our conversation, one of them asked why we aren’t turning this into a big corporation with foreign investors since there is potential for that. I explained briefly that our goal is to help the poor and empower people. If the business was only about money, mass production and outside resources, it would no longer be something the Cambodians would own and benefit from. Later, I was thinking that a big corporation would never think to purchase leaves from the two trees of someone living with HIV/AIDS to help her provide income for her family. A big corporation wouldn’t hire people with little to no experience for key positions in the business and then take the time to invest in those people so they can have a better future. A big corporation wouldn’t make it a priority to give their staff time to do local ministries in the community, or even to have time for their families. And a big corporation wouldn’t combine the goal of providing a high quality health product with the goal of sharing about the God who provides healing and restoration in all areas of life. I have continued to ponder this since I realize both big and small businesses are useful and needed; and yet it is the motivations and objectives that really define a company and its fruit.

Speaking of fruit...these are tiny bananas,

called "egg bananas" in Khmer

I am encouraged that when we trust in the Lord (not in what we do) and look to Him for our future, we are secure in His care. Praise God for the testimony of one of the AIDS homecare team volunteers (she and her husband are living with the disease) that since the moringa business has been buying leaves from her family, they have the income to begin buying quail and selling the quail eggs in the market. It is great that they are diversifying their source of income. Their faces speak of the hope and dignity this has brought their family.

The AIDS Homecare Team

Thank God for the good standing we have with the Ministry of Traditional Medicine in Cambodia (a division of the Ministry of Health) and I ask for your prayers as we have opportunities to interact with people in positions of power in the government health sector. We pray they see the importance of this nutritious plant for the Cambodian people and also see the creator God who cares for their physical and spiritual needs. Pray for the information about moringa to begin spreading throughout Cambodia.

Please pray as I will begin training Sombok over the next 6 months to do what I have been doing (administration, connecting with distributors, preparing and sending orders, etc.). We are looking for additional staff to join us, specifically an accountant and someone to help with marketing. We desire to hire dedicated Christians. We are also looking for someone from the States to come short term (a week or so) that is trained in accounting to help us set up an accounting system with Quick Books.

I also ask for your prayers for my own life as I consider my next steps after June 2011. I have the opportunity to continue working with CAMA and the moringa business and I am seeking God’s will for my life.

Thank you for being a part of what God is doing in Cambodia!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

By God’s grace another year is coming to a close, a year filled with His hand of blessing!

God’s Blessings:

- The 200 middle school students CAMA taught this past school year about sustainable agriculture. We continue to pray that those students will grow in the knowledge of good agriculture and health principles and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
- The people who buy the Moringa for Health products! When we seek God, He always provides someone who comes through our office doors or someone who orders from overseas. We are expanding our customer base, product line and production. God’s provision of this amazing tree is blessing people across Cambodia and the world with its health benefits and also blessing people in Cambodia with needed jobs and income.
- The 3 Moringa for Health staff who are dedicated Christians and servants in their churches and communities. And I get to work with them!
- The new ministries that the two families on my CAMA team have joined this year. Though this was a difficult transition for all of us, God has sustained us and is blessing the work of our hands.
- The continued impact of the HIV/AIDS homecare ministry, in partnership with the Khmer Evangelical Churches, as they minister to those living with HIV/AIDS. Praise God for the patients who have come to know God because of the love of Christ extended to them through the volunteers and churches. Thank God for improved health and living for these people.
- The people who are supporting and praying for these ministries and for me. Praise God for you!!! Thank you for being a blessing to the people here and a blessing to me!
- The time I had to visit my family in April, and then again in October for my sister’s wedding.
- People who prayed for me when I had dengue fever. By God’s grace, I am completely healed and was able to run a 10K race December 5th!
- Oh, the list goes on and on!!!

Praising God for the greatest blessing of His Son Jesus, who has brought us from death...

...to life! ; )

A month of Christmas...Happy Birthday Jesus!

This month is filled with weddings and with church Christmas programs. This past Sunday was the Christmas program at Nazareth church in Ta Kok and they had a drama of Jesus' birth, complete with a live baby!

The kids singing "Because He Lives". So cute!

The angel visiting Mary

The census decree

Baby Jesus eating a banana! My, he grew fast. =)

God working in the trenches

Kheut Srey is a member of the Bethlehem church. She is 47 years old and is a woman living with AIDS. She has an amazing testimony that she shared with other PLHAs (the majority whom were Buddhist and Muslim) at the hospital last week .

She was on death’s doorstep (she had ascites and near kidney failure) with no way to pay for medical help and no hope. She lives in a squatter area in a dilapidated house and she has 4 children. Two of her children are already married, but the youngest two she had to give to other families because she couldn’t care for them herself. She told us she was so skinny that she had to bend over in order to walk.

When the AIDS homecare volunteers found out about her, they were eager to share the gospel with her since she was dying. They introduced her to the love of Jesus, as well as to the benefits of moringa. She started taking the powder as they suggested (1 small sachet of powder every day) and the fluid in her abdomen was slowly released and she gained some weight and her hair started growing back. Now she is walking and talking and able to care for her 2 young sons again. The homecare team also helped to make her house stronger by providing some needed materials to reinforce it. She said that if not for God, she would be dead. God displayed his power over her life and she is not the same and neither are we!

Kheut Srey giving her testimony during the moringa presentation at the local hospital

Kheut Srey's son, Kheut Srey, another AIDS patient and me

The MMM meeting at the hospital for people living with AIDS

Kheut Srey's son

Sombok and Vandy leading the lucky draw for moringa seedlings and seeds

Vandy writiing down the names of people who got seeds. Paula smiling; he cracks me up!

Sombok writing down Om Yan's name. I love this picture.

One of the women choosing her seedling

Sombok writing down people's names so we know who got seedlings and who got seeds.

Sombok teaching about the nutrition in moringa leaf powder

Sombok teaching

Serving moringa tea to the participants