Now for the dazzling conclusion to the story of my
adventures to the Peaceful in Christ church! Jenna and I successfully found the
place after ½ hr on dirt roads, following some rather vague directions : turn
right at the arch, after the road does 2 jigs there will be a small road to the
left. If you pass a school on this road you’ve gone too far. We had a marvelous
time at the church. I was ever so glad to have someone with me there the first
time though. There were probably upwards of 50 people at this church, but 90%
of them were kids that attend English lessons in the building during the week,
and who have started to attend Sunday school there without their parents. Soon after the rather informal service
started, the person facilitating came up to Jenna and I and asked us if there
was anything we would like to share with the congregation. At first we managed
to get away with just introducing ourselves. However, after the pastor had
spoken (a friendly man in his 50’s that had a great way about speaking with
children), we were asked again to speak about why we had come to Cambodia to
share a word of encouragement from the scriptures. This time there was no
escaping it! I actually got up to speak first, and the English teacher
translated for me. If God can give me the courage to come to Cambodia, he can
give me the courage to talk in front of a room full of children! Jenna and I
had a great chat after the service with some of the leaders of the church. They
asked us to please tell our churches at home to pray for them as they continue
to share the gospel and are looking for additional funding to complete their
church building. On the way home from church, Jenna and I had another surprise
when we got a flat tire! Well, it was more than flat, it was completely busted!
Thankfully, I had noticed that we had passed a small road-side hut selling gas
not 40m back. We turned around and sure enough, they were able to replace my
tire. We made it home the rest of the way safe and sound!
This week was interesting at work. It started out normal
enough. I was helping to update ODOV’s website. Then on Wednesday afternoon,
the director of ODOV came to me and said “Would you help apply for this grant?”
I replied: “sure!”. Naturally, I had several questions. How much is the award? 100 000$ unrestricted
funding. That is a lot of money here. What type of organization are they
looking for? One that benefits children in the areas of education, health, or
sanitation. So far so good. What is the
catch? It is due on Monday, but since Friday is one of Cambodia’s 17 public
holidays, it should be finished Thursday. Great. So, just because English is my
first language, I am now superwoman?!?? I tried my best, but Thursday afternoon
it was still not quite done. Luckily for us, Cambodia sits +7 hrs from GMT, so
though the application is due at 1PM Monday in London, we still had until Monday
evening to work on it. There are some challenges living in a developing country
where communication, internet access, and advanced notice about grants is
concerned. To be fair, I procrastinate often enough at home, but I like to do
it on my own terms!
Seeing, as I previously mentioned, that it is a long
weekend, I thought I would do something special. So, here I am, writing to you
from Prey Veng town where I am spending the weekend with Lisa, an MCC service
worker. I am having a fabulous time so far! I enjoyed homemade cinnamon bread
and milk for breakfast (which was divine), had a movie night in an
air-conditioned room, slept in till 7, had a SHOWER, and best of all, had much
great conversation with a fabulous woman! Best best of all, I spent nearly 5 hours
bird-watching this weekend. I biked out to a little place called Monkey Island,
that is really only an island a few months of the year. The water has receded
enough that I was able to bike out along this narrow strip of land to get there.
Along the way I saw at least 6 new species of birds that I was able to
identify. Many more taunted me from the dense brush that lined the path. I’ll
have to get out there again sometime to see what else I can find! On Monkey Island,
I saw –you guessed it- monkeys!! There are also
many birds that nest in the trees on this island, but I didn’t have much of a
chance to see them as I got caught up in conversation with some of the people
visiting the island (it is a sacred piece of land locals believe a spirit resides on and come to visit for that reason). They were fascinated by my bird-guide book, and started flipping through
it and telling me the Khmer names of birds they recognized! It was also amazing
to see monkeys for the first time in Cambodia! They were really fun to watch. A
couple of the boys on the island spent ages trying to knock fruit out of the
tree to eat, only to have a monkey steal it and run away!
In Mesang, I have yet to find a place like that where I can
really be alone and bird watch in peace with no one staring at me. And since most
of the province is rice as far as the eye can see, the variety of birds I spot
in a day isn’t very great. This little clump of trees hosts more variety than I
have seen yet, and it is even better because there are so few people. One of the
only times I actually saw a person on that small trail to monkey island, I was
in the process of jumping up and down after seeing a small raptor. I didn’t
notice the fellow until he was 2 m away. There is now one more person in the world
convinced I am crazy. It was nice to get out and enjoy a bit of nature, however
small. I could not have picked a better way to spend a Sunday morning in
Cambodia. I try to get out to church services when I can, but seeing as I
cannot understand most of what is said, it is not the same as church at home. It
is hard being away from my church family, and I pray that I will be able to
find a Christian Community to call home while I am here. Sometimes, a walk alone
with God in the beauty of his creation draws me much closer.
“One thing I ask, and this is what I seek. That I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of
the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” Psalm 27:4
Rebecca
Rebecca
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| The path to Monkey Island where I did most of my birdwatching this past weekend. |
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| A monkey sitting in a spirit house on the island. |
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