Cambodia ~The Journey Continues

There is so much to share and say. I am sure I will miss somethings to tell you but will catch you up over time. Let me start with Kids Club back in Phnom Phen. There is a Christian family that offers their home up as a safe place to play, hang-out, and get some basic needs met. They sing songs with them about God. There are so many kids that they don't have an accurate count of how many they see. It is somewhere around 400, and this is a small neighborhood. Though Cambodia is primarily Buddist they live in a muslim neighborhood. The best way to describe Kids Club is that it is like Adventure Club at home with many exceptions. Some of these kids go to school but many do not. When we arrived they MOBBED us. They wanted hugs and kisses and to play games and practice English words. They got very jealous if they weren't getting as much attention as another child. They were STARVED for love. Then, we sang songs with them. They sang songs to us. Also, we fed them a box lunch. This ministry is amazing. The Cambodian family that does this are giants of the Christian faith and are walking the walk every minute of everyday. I look forward to telling you more about them.

Yesterday we left Phnom Pehn and headed here to Battambang. It was a 6hr bus ride through many flooded roadways. We all got a kick out of our driver stopping before a flooded road. He rolled his sleeves up and hopped out. He got back in with the air conditioning unit. Then we proceeded through the deep murky mess. ANY ROAD like this in the States would have been CLOSED. Thankfully he stopped and put the AC BACK in the bus. Cambodia is HOT and HUMID all of the time. I am sweating as I type.

We FINALLY made it to RAPHA HOUSE which is the safe house in Battambang. We were RECEIVED by these girls. They gave us flowers and greeted us literally like royalty. We thought that was WAY backwards. This place is hard to describe. It feels like a safe place for sure. We didn't get the tour. That will happen today. What did we do? WE DANCED!!! It was so wonderful to see these girls (brace yourself) ages 2 - 18 experience joy as they danced. First, they danced BEAUTIFUL cultural dances for us. Then, they wanted to party. We all danced even Pastor Ron! It was a wonderful night of getting our first picture of the most amazing mission of RAPHA HOUSE. Stephanie Freed is my hero. I want to grow up and be like her. And, my roomie has fancy feet! It was really great. Stay TUNED...........