Day 6 Cambodia-Myanmar 09
A Long Hot Day
When we walked out the door early on Monday morning, we were met with a blast of hot, moist air…hotter and moister than any of the previous days. We were coming to the end of the relatively cooler rainy season, and it was beginning to show pretty dramatically. The day was supposed to be a hot one, in the 90s, and it lived up to its billing.
On our way out, we stopped again at a village to pick up fruit from our usual vendor, and Karen and I took a stroll through the rest of the market while Mark dickered for the fruit he was after. We met a boy in the market who had a stall from which he sold purses. He was excited and wanted to practice his English, which was understandable…certainly better than my Khmer! I don’t think the folks at that market were used to Westerners coming through, as we were stared at everywhere. When we smiled at folks, some weren’t quite sure what to do, but most smiled back and seemed glad to see us (not to mention sensing a chance to sell something to us!).
Ready for lunch
We enjoyed our fellowship and meal with the lay leader and his family again. Fish today, grilled beef, some chicken soup, a delicious mango dipping sauce for the meat, and rice, of course. Once again, the chickens and dogs were happy to see us, as the bones and gristle were tossed to the floor as usual. We also took the opportunity to buy some of the special silk cloth that the family weaves as a gift for our family members back home. The cloth is used in special occasions like weddings and funerals, and is quite heavy (for silk), and of beautiful patterns. Each weaver has his or her own pattern, and the process is quite time consuming and tedious. The results, though, are spectacular. We picked up a 4 meter piece.
Group shot with the lay leader's family
We had the same VBS schedule that we ran on Saturday. The program went from 12-4, more or less, to accommodate the kids from Prey Pdao, who had to be picked up as before and whose school schedule was a little different that the Pbaom kids’. Mark taught the red page, on the crucifixion of Christ and his atonement, and Miriam taught the white page, on resurrection and purity from sin. The kids had no trouble remembering the meaning of the various colors, and really enjoyed the lessons. Their attitude in general is excellent and eager. They come ready with their Bible memory work everyday, and we can see and hear them working on the verses before and after VBS, as well as on break times, all on their own initiative. There are prizes for the memory work: nothing big, just some stickers, puzzles, and small games that the kids really like. They work hard for them.
Getting the bread ready was a major operation
This was a huge day in terms of numbers: 213 did the crafts, which were simple scratch hearts and crosses, and home-made tambourines. They loved those, and made a lot of noise with them. Again, the adults had fun making their own as well. We played Cat and Mouse, which was chaotic in the small space inside, and a game where everyone makes a circle and has to sit at the same time on the knees of the person behind them without falling over. Very fun to do and watch! Builds trust, too. We went through 150 loaves of bread today for the snack, and I don’t know how many cans of sweetened condensed milk. The ants had a field day, though. That stuff gets everywhere.
It was a great day…but with over 200 children, in 90+ degree heat, we were worn out, soggy, and dusty as we climbed back in the van for the ride back to Phnom Penh. We cleaned up a little and then went to our little, low-key Khmer place for a light supper before getting back to the hotel. I should say, too, that the Goldiana Hotel has a great swimming pool that Miriam took advantage
What an awesome blessing to have this many children to teach about God's love!
of every night, I think, and Karen and I enjoyed a few nights as well. Really refreshing way to end the day, as the water was surprisingly cool for an open-air pool. And you could stretch out on the deck and relax without worrying about mosquitoes. Never saw one in Phnom Penh, though 
there were a few in the country.
The Goldiana Hotel pool on the third floor open to the sky!
Day 5 Cambodia-Myanmar 09
The Lord’s Day in the Cambodian Countryside
An early start on a warm day greeted us, and we piled into the van with our water bottles and other paraphernalia that we needed to do our tasks for the day. We stopped at Prey Pdao first, where Mark holds services at the home of a Christian family. Attendance has been down here after persecution and intimidation on the part of a local man, an alcoholic with a nasty temper, aimed at keeping people away. How sad that the very faith that could free him of his bondage is what he most wants to avoid, and also that he wants to keep others from the same freedom. Well, we enjoyed a very nice meal with the family, who waited for us to finish our meal before they ate (the usual custom). Mark had also thoughtfully brought along a thermos or two of iced café mocha, which we made short work of. We then held a Sunday School for the children, of which there were about 20. Many of the kids had attended the first
Karen's SS class under the house
day of VBS over in Prey Pbaom the day before, and had told their friends, so it was a good group. Around 8 or 9 adults also sat in on the lesson (the story of Noah – Karen led the class). The rest of us helped get the craft going with the kids, again blessing the ladies of Grand Island BPC for preparing everything so that all we had to do was just hand everything out in order. More kids and adults showed up after Sunday School, and we held a simple worship service: song, prayer requests/prayer, sermon, song, prayer. All of this under the house in the shade…still quite warm, but the breeze and the shade made it comfortable enough.
During the service there, a funeral was also going on in the village. Blaring chants and the traditional droning music, the funerals are designed to “guide” the lost spirit of the deceased to the right path of eternity. Needless to say, preaching about god delivering the lost (Psa 107:4-9) contradicted that idea rather directly. At one point it felt like a war going on – the music and chants kept getting louder, especially when the Scriptures were being read. At one point, as Socheat, our translator, read the text, I prayed in my heart for silence, so that the Word could be heard without distraction. Moments later, all was quiet, and remained that way until we finished. (We heard it fire up again as we left the village.)
Worship Service at Pdao
Then, in the middle of my sermon, the alcoholic walked up! He slipped in quietly, made no trouble, and listened intently. I didn’t know who he was until afterwards…but when he showed up I was dealing with freedom from bondage (Psa 107:10-16), and using alcoholism as an example. God’s providence is perfect. We’re praying that the Lord will use his Word to change this man’s heart and give him true freedom in Christ. The powers of darkness are definitely there, but God’s power is greater.
From there we traveled on to Prey Pbaom, and repeated the service schedule. About 80 children and a dozen adults greeted us there, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship with them. Far off in the distance we could hear another funeral fire up, but this one caused no disturbance to us. The presence of God’s testimony is stronger in this village, since there are many believers here. There has been no oppression from the neighbors. Mark seemed very encouraged by our work there, and we headed back on the long ride, anticipating further fellowship as a team together that evening. Mark is a good cook, and we all enjoyed his Cambodian
The Pbaom Sunday crowd
curry (sweeter and milder than Indian curries) at his house. I confess that I fell asleep in the living room while Mark was cooking, and I think Miriam did, too. When I woke up, she was nowhere in sight, and I heard movement behind the wicker sofa…she had lain down on the tile floor to take advantage of a little coolness there and conked out. Anyway, the brief rest helped our conversation to be more coherent around the dinner table – I hope! We caught a tuk tuk back to the hotel and enjoyed a blissful night’s sleep.
Day 4 Cambodia-Myanmar 09
First Day of VBS
We got up early and met Mark downstairs after our breakfast at the hotel…a mix of Western and Burmese dishes. Best to avoid the Western stuff for the most part, since it’s just not quite right and will disappoint you. Stick with the food of the land, and you’re better off. So, rice and vegetables, fruit, and an egg or two. Karen did take advantage of the toast and jam, however.
Our Ride
Mark hires a van through a local company. The driver happens to be a Christian guy named Pbo. He’s a good driver, and a great guy besides. Anything pleasant like that is a blessing, because the roads are terrible. Not so bad right around Phnom Penh, but after that it’s all about dodging potholes (and motos, and trucks, and pedestrians, and bicyclists…you get the idea). It’s a two-hour ride one way down National Highway 2, and you get bounced around a good bit. We were thankful for the AC, for sure. Mark used to do this ride on his own moto every week, but the jarring so abused his wrists that he’s had to stop doing that. Much easier to haul all his gear out there, anyway, and one can arrive in fairly decent condition to actually do something. The second half of the trip is on unpaved roads, and the jarring gets worse, and the noise (from going over the bumps) is loud enough that you have to almost shout to be heard sometimes. Mark told us that the van has to be periodically and frequently in for service just to tighten up all the bolts underneath. I believe it.
We made three stops on the way, one to pick up our translators. Along with Mark’s usual translator, Socheat, we also hired two others, Soka and Salteya. These two young ladies were excited about serving the Lord with us. Soka had quite a bit of experience, and we could not have asked for anyone better to help us get started off properly with our VBS. Salteya was quiet and sweet-tempered, but new at the translation thing, so we put her to use in the craft and game times, for which she served very well. Anyway, the second stop was a little south of Phnom Penh at a bakery where we picked up 100 loaves of French bread (long baguettes, really) for the children’s snack that day, and the other stop was in a village about half way down to pick up some fruit for our host family in the village.
We arrived sometime between 10 and 11 in the morning at Prey Pbaom, and found that many children were already waiting for us at the church, even though we weren’t scheduled to
First day group quietly waiting for us to get started.
start until noon! We dropped off our gear and walked over to the home of our hosts, the lay pastor and his family, for an early lunch. It’s common for extended families to live together in the same house, or in adjoining houses, and that is the case here. So there were quite a few people gathered at the house. In addition to growing rice, the family also weaves silk cloth (mostly used for weddings and funerals and other formal occasions) with looms set up under the house. We were also joined at our meal by various and sundry chickens and dogs, who were eager for the scraps of chicken bones that we all tossed away. A few yards away the pig and the cows were tethered, and so our alfresco brunch was colorful, noisy, chaotic, and delightful all at once. The food was basic Khmer fare of rice, vegetables, seasoned and boiled chicken or fish, and an additional treat of grilled beef as well. In addition, we also were served prahock, or “Cambodian Cheese,” a paste which is made of fermented fish. Very salty and intense. Mark loves it. The rest of us took our “no thank you portions,” though I did take a little more after finishing the firsts off.
OK, VBS. It was an incredible first day. The kids (100+ of them crowded into a hot little sanctuary) behaved marvelously. We had no discipline issues, and it was only a bit on the noisy and chaotic side due to the sheer numbers of them. This was all very new to them, and they had no idea of what to expect or to where to go or what to do, with very little point of reference to try to understand what we were asking of them. Miriam and Mark did the lessons, on Creation and the Fall of mankind into sin and rebellion against God. I should say that we used the wordless book concept as the structure of our lessons, but from a Reformed perspective and with our own ideas of how to use the colors. So, blue was creation, black represented sin, red the Cross of Christ, white was resurrection and purity, green was growth in Christ (sanctification), and gold was heaven. In addition to the actual “books” we put together for teaching, a Christian bookstore here in Buffalo had given us several boxes of teaching
Miriam teaching in the "outdoor classroom"
materials from which we put together a great selection of teaching tools, all of which we left with Mark and the Kimas in Myanmar when we left. Thanks to the hard work of the ladies at the Grand Island BP church, the crafts we used to reinforce the lessons went astonishing well. Not only the crafts themselves, but the way they were prepared for our use…all the parts already bagged in workable quantities, or everything needed for a particular item all together in one bag made it easy to distribute everything and help the kids keep what they needed right there with them. We did over 120 craft items the first day (the adults joined in, too!),
The kids made mobiles that featured what God created...a big hit!
and did the craft session in the allotted time of 15 minutes, and that was with translation. We also did games with them, and they enjoyed learning some new ones (or games that were variations of things they do over there already, like “Duck, Duck, Goose” – their version is a little more violent). Bible memory was a big emphasis, and they really got into it, and we did lots of singing, too, teaching them new songs and working on ones they already knew, too.
All the while, the neighbors next to the church sat at the property line and listened in. They wouldn’t come over, but they didn’t leave, either. The owner is the local music teacher, and also heads up a little traditional ensemble that plays for weddings and funerals all over the district. We generally had the traditional music as a background all day long. When we finished up about 4, we trooped over next door to see all the instruments and the guys over there played us a tradition song. Great stuff.
We headed back to Phnom Penh, very tired, but elated at how well everything had gone. Went to a great restaurant around the corner from the hotel called Khmer Surin…great Khmer food and atmosphere. A satisfying end to a satisfying day.
Day 1-3 Cambodia-Myanmar 09
En Route
Karen and I had an uneventful trip, arriving on in Phnom Penh after a brief but very helpful night’s sleep at the airport hotel in Bangkok…what a good idea, I intend to stay there every time I make this trip in the future. Actually felt human when we got to Phnom Penh. It was awesome to have Karen travel with me and share the adventure!
Yeah, that's the inside of the building!
Rev. Baldwin enjoying taking up the entire back seat of a tuk tuk
Rev. Mark Baldwin met us at the airport with a big smile and nice van. He’s doing well, and was obviously very busy with last minute preparations. Just as obviously he was excited about the prospects of a great ministry together. We got settled in at the Goldiana Hotel in Phnom Penh. Very comfortable, very reasonable, and the staff is genuinely courteous and helpful. Besides, in Karen’s opinion they have the world’s most beautiful elevators. It’s a small car, but the interior is all hand-carved wood. Since we were only one floor up, we felt a little embarrassed to ride the elevator, but Karen’s love of the elevator would not be denied. After dumping our stuff off and taking a rest, we enjoyed lunch and then dinner later at a couple of different Khmer restaurants in the neighborhood within walking distance. Good stuff.
Ladies in the Goldiana
Miriam’s flight down to PP was a little more eventful. Her connection was delayed and then cancelled, and she was two hours late. Since she was supposed to land at around 9 pm, it got to be a very late night for all concerned. Nonetheless, we were delighted to finally see her smiling face…and then get her into her room down the hall from us and rush back into our own bed! We had an early start ahead of us the next day.
A Weekend in Phnom Penh (or, The Fly meets Cyclops)
Getting around Phnom Penh on a motorcycle gives one a fresh perspective on the providence of God. Now, that’s not to alarm you, because you never really get going that fast, it’s just that the confusion of the traffic and the way it moves (or doesn’t) is a wonderful picture of the wisdom of man at work, and as I wind my way through it, openings appearing at just the right time, a car or truck setting a pick for me just when I need it to get across a road, and just generally not getting lost are all vivid evidences to me of the reality of God’s providence even in the small things of life.
As you can see from the picture, I am fitted out with the latest in moto fashion and safety gear. With the visor down, I look like a character out of the tragic sci-fi classic “The Fly,” only instead of being merged with a human, the fly flew into an experiment with a Cyclops. Oh well, I’m satisfied knowing that I am providing cheap entertainment for the local populace.
After a nice lunch out, Mark and I were preparing to head out for some grocery shopping when the skies opened up again. This time, we were right next to a little indoor mall, and we waited it out in there. Much better than walking or riding through it. Took a couple of hours, though, for it to calm down enough to ride again, long enough to flood some of the streets, but nothing that was a problem. People just take it in stride. The rain, however, meant that our planned excursion to the demon’s mouth temple that has just been completed didn’t happen, so we headed back to Mark’s place to rest up a bit before dinner. The skies stayed a bit cloudy the remainder of the day, which was great, because the temps stayed down to only the upper 80s or low 90s. With a bit of a breeze, it was quite bearable for this time of year. We rode out for dinner and our grocery shopping later, and enjoyed another really nice meal (duck flambé and Mekong lobster) on the banks of the river at the Titanic restaurant again. Great place.
It’s been a blessing to treat Mark to some places that he hasn’t been able to go to, and wouldn’t usually go to because he tends to bring new meaning to the word “frugal.” It’s also been a blessing to really take all these opportunities to really get caught up on his life and work here, and live it with him to some degree. It’s not an easy life, but Mark wants me to be sure to let everyone know that he isn’t suffering, either. He’s really learned his way around, and how to get things done. It’s clear that he is at home here, and very content with the sovereign choice of God for his life.
It’s Sunday morning as I write. The services at Glory Bible Presbyterian Church aren’t held until the afternoon, so we are enjoying a quiet morning of devotions and fellowship. Glory BPC is pastored by Rev. Stephen Choi, an IBPFM missionary from Korea. Mark helps out there doing some teaching and preaching from time to time. Their services are held on the covered roof-top of a building. When it rains it can be deafening up there, Mark tells me. The way the rains have been coming in every day so far, and the way the skies look today, we may be in for it again. Hope we don’t get caught out in the rain on the bikes in our church clothes, but we’ll get what we get. I get to just sit and soak up the Word today, which will be a blessing. I’ll write more when we get back this afternoon.
We made it back well before the rains came, though we could see the clouds on the horizon. They’re right over us now, and I expect a deluge at any time. Glad to be back under cover. The service on the rooftop was pleasant, since the approaching storm generated some breeze. By pleasant I mean that the sweat felt cool when the breeze blew! Anyway, Pastor Choi preaches in Korean, which gets translated into Khmer, which was in turn translated into English for us by a young man from the congregation. We sang a couple of songs that I knew, which was nice, though of course it sounded strange when I sang them in English while everyone else was singing in Khmer. The congregation is nearly all young people, under the age of 20 or 25 I would say, many coming because they also take English classes at the church during the week. All were very friendly, and I had the opportunity to bring greetings to them, which I did.
The ride home was uneventful, and Mark is preparing dinner for us tonight – traditional Cambodian fare. He is a very good cook, and it will be nice to just chill out (relatively speaking) here for the evening. I head for China tomorrow afternoon, and will just have time in the morning to get to the hotel and try getting online again. Hope it works this time!
Angkor, and An Adventure
The tourist guide for Angkor and Siem Reap recommended a one day tour of the temples in the area if all we wanted to see were the highlights. It was enough, for sure, since many of the temples look much alike. But we were able to choose a few that had some unique features, along with Angkor Wat itself, of course, and we got a good overview of the architecture, the history, and the scope of the ruins.
We were met by our guide, Rith, about 9 am at the hotel. He was a really nice young guy, and a good guide. We kept trying to get things around to spiritual things (working on the comparative religions theme to try to open the door), but he wasn’t biting, I’m sorry to say. This area is now a national “park” of sorts, and the jungle has been allowed to reclaim much of it, so the woods are green and beautiful and dense around the temples. We were able to see the famous faces of the Bayon temple complex, and climb into its interior to explore it from the inside out. There are symmetrical towers throughout the temple, and each one has four faces on it, each facing the points of the compass. From there we stopped at another temple close by the name of which I don’t remember, which had a long causeway leading up to it, symbolizing the journey from earth to heaven. Many of these temples are “mountain” temples, meaning they represent sacred mountains of the ancient Brahman mythology. They take a lot of climbing to get up into them. There was another one nearby that we could have climbed, the so-called “Temple of Heaven,” but we’d had enough climbing by then. We passed through the ruins of the ancient palace, and wound up on the Elephant Terrace, which bordered a kind of parade ground where the king would be entertained, returning armies would be reviewed, and the general populace addressed. Quite impressive.
Our final stop of the morning was Pa Thom, the temple where the famous strangler fig trees are reclaiming the temple by slowing crushing it to bits. Even though we were extremely hot and tired by then, it was worth the effort. The trees are magnificent. Mark and I commented to one another that we found it particularly satisfying that God’s creation was overcoming man’s perverse creation. Sure, the temples were amazing and must have really been beautiful in their prime, but they are attempts to imitate divine truth according to man’s imagination, which never works.
After lunch, we returned to Angkor Wat itself for a tour. This place is immense! If you want a detailed history of the temple complex, you can check out the internet on it, but the accomplishment here, particularly in carvings, mostly bas relief, is incredible. What really is something to consider is that from the 1100s to the about the time of the beginnings of the Reformation in Europe, major kingdoms vied for supremacy in this area, many of which we had never heard. The population is estimated to have been over 1 million around the temple and palace complexes! Yet Westerners never hear much about anything else in the world outside of Europe going on at that time. Very interesting stuff, mostly about battles, and quite a bit of mythology.
Came home really wiped and rested for a bit – it was a really hot day, and it sapped us. After awhile, though, we got pretty hungry, and set off in search of dinner. This is more dangerous than it sounds, since this part of Cambodia was at one time infested with crocodiles. In ancient times, they actually used to fill the motes around the temples and palaces with them as a pretty reliable line of defense. You really have to be careful as they tend to lurk in the ditches beside roads, and we were walking down to the Old Market. Once in the vicinity we came face to face with a crocodile! Not just a crocodile, but a python, too. We, however, were not afraid. We cooked them over an open flame. They were delicious. So were the chicken, pork, and fish portions that the restaurant gave us. Mark had spotted this place on Wednesday evening, and we just had to try it. After that, a short walk around in the cooling evening air, and then back to the hotel for the night.
Friday it was back to the bus station to catch our bus, and a long 6 hours back to Phnom Penh. Once back in Mark’s place we rested up and then set out to rent me a motorcycle for the remainder of our time here, since it will be quite a bit cheaper than paying taxis or tuk-tuks to take us everywhere. More fun, too. That’s when our adventure started. The moto rental place is at the other end of town, so I climbed on the back of Mark’s 100cc and we took off. Clouds were threatening on the horizon, so we wanted to make sure we picked up my bike and did some errands before they unloaded on us. About halfway there, the back tire blew, a slow leak apparently aggravated by putting two people on it whose total weight is about 3 times the weight of the whole bike! Meanwhile, the rain had moved in more quickly that we anticipated, and the skies opened up. There was nowhere to get out of the rain, so Mark pushed his moto while I walked along the sidewalk, both of us getting drenched. Even now, hours later, my clothes are still wet. Anyway, we finally found a guy who fixes flats on the sidewalk. He uses a unique method for putting a patch on tubes. He takes some petroleum based goop and smears it on the back of a piece of rubber, puts it over the hole, lays a piece of flattened aluminum can over that, and then a puts the whole thing in a clamp with a little steel cylinder in which he pours some fuel and lights on fire! It melts the goop and softens the rubber, which fuses itself to the inner tube permanently. Seventy-five cents and an hour later (he had several to fix before ours), we were on our way again. We rented my bike finally, and then set off to find our restaurant in the dark. Took a while, but it was worth it. It was a place named after William Tell, and featured Swiss and German food. We started off with cheese fondue, and then had some traditional German dishes. Good stuff. A long ride home, and now we’re enjoying unwinding a bit. Talk to you again tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers!
Siem Reap
Mark and I decided to go cheap and we took a luxury bus up to Siem Reap for only $22 each round trip. It really was a nice bus, but after 5 hours of being sardined next to each other we were beginning to wish that we had flown up here! Especially since we get to do it again on Friday morning when we head back to Phnom Penh. Anyway, we used the time to get caught up and talked through Mark’s ministry plans for the years to come.
The countryside between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap doesn’t vary much. It’s mostly a flood plain that stretches away flat as far as you can see in all directions, dotted with palm trees and laid out with a checkerboard of small farms. Occasionally a small hill appears, usually capped with a temple. Sometimes, far off in the distance to the south a line of hills appears. It struck me that it is no wonder that during the time of the genocide here people tried very hard to get south and west into the mountains toward Thailand, where it would be much easier to hide. The country is so flat and open that moving from one point to another without detection would be next to impossible, especially if you had a group of people. It is also a main reason why so many did not escape. If you’ve never watched the movie, “The Killing Fields,” you should.
This time of year is usually very dry and hot, but it has been significantly cooler this year, and quite rainy, so everything is beautifully green instead of the usual brown. Most of the villages that we go through simply line the road on either side. Different villages seem to specialize in different trades, whether farming, or stone carving, or lumber, or concrete (making posts, water pipes, etc.). One village was famous for carving Buddhas out of stone, and they lined the road by the thousands in various stages of completion. I was reminded of the biblical statement of the sad irony that must be true of every idolater: “…every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion…” (Jeremiah 10:14, 15).
Cambodia started off as a Hindu nation due to Indian incursion into the area during the Angkor period in the 8th-13th centuries. The temples we’ll see today are actually Hindu places of worship, and we’ll see more idols there relating to Shiva and the asparas (kind of the Hindu substitute for biblical angels). We’re not going for the religious experience though, of course, but rather to appreciate the cultural significance of the place and the wonder and beauty that is there. Upon arriving, we unloaded at our hotel – an awesome place that we got at half price because we’re here in the off season – and walked down to the “Old Market” where most of the tourist craft shops are. We pretty much explored the area in entirety, had some good Khmer food, and saved our money for another day. After an evening meal on a balcony overlooking Pub Street (a street lined with restaurants and shops), we headed back to crash for the night. We hired a guide and a car for our tour of some of the temples tomorrow, and it should be a great day. More on that later! One more thing that I have to mention. Mark and I now know from experience the significance of the phrase, “The elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top.” For some weird reason, our hotel’s elevator only went to floor 4, and our rooms were on floor 5! No idea why, but we had to take stairs to finish our trip to the top floor. Still, very nice rooms, and a great breakfast every morning.
