Megan's Blog

8/17/11

This is a couple of days too late, but I’d still like to share some of my thoughts.

The other day we drove from one city to the next, leaving the Rapha girls and a chunk of our hearts behind. As the bus chugged along, I stared out the window. Every house we passed, every face we passed, every Buddhist temple we passed was all just a blur. The last week or so is now sort of… just a blur. A blur of laughter and tears, of faces and stories, of voices and places and things we did. It’s all a blur. I’m glad I’ve been journaling and keeping record of the places we’ve gone and the people we’ve talked to. I’m glad I’ve kept record of the little things, like eating at Jars of Clay. I’m glad I’ve kept record of the big, amazing things, like singing How Great Is Our God in front of the entire congregation.

Driving past all those places, though? They are blurry, but I can’t forget the shacks I saw. I can’t forget the giant Buddhist temples, with glorious gates and beautiful architecture. I can’t forget the dirty faces and bare bodies running around in the garbage just outside those gates.

It’s hard for me to see such wealth and beauty next to such poverty. It’s hard for me to wrap my brain around someone not helping the people around them. It’s hard for me to look at that wealth and not be angry that the wealthy aren’t helping the poor.

The poor that live just outside the little box that they live in.

And while I’m angry at those wealthy Buddhist monks for not reaching out and helping the people around them, I’m reminded of how many times I have walked by a beggar on the street of Orlando. How many times have I pretended to have empty pockets when in reality I had money that I was actually anxious to spend? How many times have I passed up an opportunity to share the Gospel when the door was wide open to me? How many times have I shooed someone away because they smelled bad, or looked bad, or didn’t fit my idea of who Jesus would want me to reach out to?

Too many times.

So as we were driving by those temples and poor communities and dirty faces and dirty feet and dirty hands and bare bodies, I felt a tug on my heart. I want so badly to move to one of those places and live in community with those people and love them and give to them and provide for them.

Kelsey's Thoughts...

Isaiah 40:18-23

¹⁸ With whom, then, will you compare God?
   To what image will you liken him?
¹⁹ As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
   and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
   and fashions silver chains for it.
²⁰ A person too poor to present such an offering
   selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
   to set up an idol that will not topple.

 ²¹ Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
   Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
²² He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
   and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
   and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
²³ He brings princes to naught
   and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

            Isaiah 40 stood out to me today as we toured Angkor Watt, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The temples were built 1000 years ago for the various Hindu Gods and are now used by Buddhists to worship and make offerings. There were so many mixed emotions as we walked through the temples. On one hand I was impressed and in awe of the craftsmanship and splendor of the temples, but on the other hand I was so sad that so many people have bought into the lies and based their life on creating something so magnificent and grand for pagan gods. As I stood amongst the temples I couldn’t help but be so thankful that I serve a God who doesn’t require this from me. Though He deserves indescribable glory and honor, He doesn’t demand fancy temples or idols created after Him. It hit me that as Christians our bodies are viewed as temples. Before today I never saw much significance in that fact, but after viewing these temples and the sacredness of them to the people I began to understand just how sacred our bodies are to God and how we should treat them as such. It gave me a whole new understanding and view of that scripture.

            This trip so far has been such an eye opening experience for us all I think. We are learning so much about the deep seeded issues of human trafficking and practical ways to combat it as well as personal revelations and future desires dealing with these issues. I would ask for prayer for the last stretch of our trip. After leaving Rapha House we all felt as if our heart was being ripped from our chests and that we had given all that we had to these girls and in turn had nothing left to offer. Pray that we are able to continue to pour out love and compassion. Pray that we don’t get discouraged or distracted. Pray that we stay selfless and reflect Christ in all that we say and do. Pray for energy as exhaustion is beginning to set in and finally pray for health as Hiatt has become sick and needs healing. Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement!!

With love,

Kelsey

lop lop

“You lop lop”

“No, you lop lop”

“No, YOU lop lop”

“You lop lop”

“Lop” is the Khmer word for crazy. Coincidentally it is also my name to many of the girls at Rapha House. One girl called me “lop lop” and our guide, Theara, told me that it meant I was crazy.  I called her “lop lop” back.  She laughed.  Instant rapport.  She convinced all of the other girls that I actually was lop lop and it became my name.  It is how they know me, and they reminded me of it every single time they saw me, pointing and laughing.  “You lop lop.”

On a side note, I much prefer that they call me “lop lop” than Brad, which bears uncanny resemblance to the Khmer word for ghosts that reside in Hell.  Their mouths are only big enough to slurp rice noodles, and they get the chance to come up once a year with hopes of being reincarnated, giving themselves the chance to create better circumstances for themselves.  They thought it was hilarious.

Anyway, two girls in particular spoke impeccable English.   The rest spoke very little.  They only knew maybe a few words, completely unable to make sentences and certainly unable to understand ours.  However, knowing this one Khmer word, “lop,” allowed me to create an instant connection with the girls there.  They knew that we loved them, even if I called them “lop lop.”  I think they loved us, too.  As we were leaving, many of them told us that they did.  They gave us letters, gifts, hugs, parting words and thoughts, etc.  One girl (who I must protect by not disclosing her name) gave me a letter, which on the envelope was addressed, “Father.”  The fact that this girl had known me for all of 72 hours and addressed me as father got to me a little bit.  Maybe it is a cultural anomaly and I am over thinking this entirely, but could I really be that significant of a male influence in her life that she would address me as “Father?”  Has her childhood really been so depleted of fatherly male influence that I, for all intents and purposes a stranger, stand out to her as a father figure?

Probably.

These girls need Jesus.  I told her that I love her.  I have loved her for a long time without knowing her.  I will continue to love her.  After loving her for so long before I even knew her, 3 days was not enough.  I don’t know if any amount of time would be enough.  Saying goodbye last night was easily the most unpalatably difficult thing I have ever had to do in my life, with no close second.  However, something amazing happened this morning, just hours later.  We joined the Rapha House staff devotion, but we were told the night before that we would not see the girls.  Therefore, last night I had convinced myself that it was the last time I would ever see these girls, which was painful.  Especially saying goodbye to three girls that I became particularly close to.  We were surprised to find many of the girls there to greet us after the devotion.  Saying goodbye the second time was hard, but it was easier than the first time.  I realized that I had been foolish to think that I would never see these girls again.  Because of the work that Rapha House does, I will be able to spend eternity with them.  It might be a while before I see them again, but this life is such a short time in the scope of eternity.  I told the three girls that I grew to know the best that I love them and that I would never ever forget them.

I do, and I won’t.  The word “love” has never carried more weight as it left my lips than it did this morning.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

With love,

Brad

From Hiatt's Journal...

This is the day we have all been waiting for! We finally get to meet the girls at RH! Our main reason for this trip...to love these girls! But, oh, how they loved us!

As we got off the bus, they greeted us with clapping and they formed a path in between them for us to walk through. They gave Dave one of the most beautiful flower bouquets that I have ever seen. They brought us to a place at the front of the house where we all sat in chairs as they performed several beautiful Khmer dances for us. The girls would sit with us and hold our hands and touch us and speak to us in a language that none of us knew but it spoke to our hearts nonetheless.

After the amazing ceremony, they sat us at tables where they had prepared a dinner of rice and octopus and a mixture of several delicious fruits. We ate and laughed. They would watch us eat and I think some were even giggling at the way we ate certain foods because we did not know the proper way. It was quite funny.

Once dinner was over, something amazingly strange happened. It started off slow, but in a matter of minutes, the area turned into a huge outside dance party. Someone said, "Thank you Jennifer Lopez for breaking the ice for us." The excitement of the girls to dance with us and even teach us some of their own traditional Khmer dances was all it took to get every one of us Americans with no rhythm to dance with the most freedom. The motto for this trip is "get over yourself." I never knew how much getting over myself could actually be. We danced all night, dripping sweat, heart beating out of my chest, and it was the best night of my life. We got to know some of the girls as they patiently taught us these amazing dance steps.

They are beautiful, amazing, loving girls and we all fell in love.

Rebranding

The Florida Christian College Cambodia team for the year of our Lord two thousand and eleven will hereafter be known as "The Far East Movement."

Awkward is an awkward word

            Yesterday the group went to a local market and it was very neat and interesting to see what they had there. They had everything you could have needed or wanted, including clothes, purses (most of which I assume are knock-offs), pirated DVDs (which I thought were funny because most of the movies were still in theaters), food, and random tools and car parts. But of course, this isn’t what had the biggest impact on me. What had the biggest impact on me was being a foreigner in this market full of natives. When I would walk through the narrow paths, I felt awkward sometimes because I felt like the native people were looking at me and judging me thinking that I was just a stupid American tourist. This made me feel uncomfortable because I wanted the people to know that I wasn’t just a stupid American tourist, but a person who wants to help their people. I know that it’s okay to have these feelings because I am a foreigner in their country. This experience also made me realize that American people do the same to the foreigners that go there, because when foreigners come to America we judge them and stereotype them. I now know how the tourists and foreigners feel when they come to our country and experience our stares and judgmental eyes and it makes me think about how, I personally, have been looking and judging the foreigners. Although I felt awkward the experience in the market was amazing and eye-opening. 

I forgot someone...

When I was listing the members of our team, I forgot to tell you about our lovely guide, Theara.  She is Khmer and she works in conjunction with Rapha House to put on a "Kid's Club" twice a week that is based out of her family's home.  Every Thursday evening and Sunday morning, a ton of kids from a very very VERY impoverished area of Phnom Penh come to her home to play, sing songs, learn English, and more importantly learn about Jesus.  There is also a "Kid's Club" preschool that meets every weekday morning at Theara's house.  She works tirelessly to reach the children of Cambodia with the Gospel of Christ.  But for 12 days, she has been and will be responsible for taking us to all of the places we need - or want - to go.  You can pray for Theara in a few ways:

1. For patience in dealing with us (we can be a handfull...).
2. For continued strength and encouragement from God that what she is doing is Kingdom work!
3. The resources that she needs to continue to do "Kid's Club"
4. Theara's family just bought the land behind her home.  She has a vision to build a building that can be used as a school, a place for kids to play when the weather is too hot or rainy, and a place to house foster children.  Theara has figured out that she needs $25,000 to build this building on the lot her family just purchased.  If it's God's will, it's God's bill.  Please keep that in your prayers.

Our group is so thankful that Theara is guiding us. She has been a valuable part of our group educationally, but has also helped all of us spiritually (if only understanding what it means to get out there and meet the needs you see in the community around you.).

Tomorrow (or maybe later tonight, for those of you in the states) we will have some blog posts about Bloom Cupcakes, the IJM Cambodia Office, and our visit to "Kid's Club."

With love,

Brad