We’ve been celebrating life in Cambodia. It’s been fantastic, without electric-city and all.
New Years
Yup, New Years 2011 was truly memorable. No need to find out who’s doing what,
what get togethers were happening and where, and no need to be dressed up for
the occasion. This New Years we
jammed with Ra’s (that’s our contact’s name, not the actual name of the
village… it’s confusing, trust me) village in Kompong Speu Province! Yea yea. We had a bbq with shishkababs (sp?) and danced around a
bonfire, sang songs, played with sparklers, Dan shared with the group about New
Life in Jesus. Plus, the stars
here are incredible, so all this under the blanket of a dazzling Cambodian
nights’ sky. Then I was peacefully
asleep in our wooden loft/ tree house at an usually early hour, sometime before
2011.
Harvest Party
Khmer version of Thanksgiving…same same but different. The whole village celebrates the
harvest, so the streets are lined with tables, people, Khmer dishes, and huge
speakers to blast the tunes and then dance the night away. Most of the population here are under
30 and well I guess everyone’s cool with blaring pop/rap/ traditional Khmer
music.
Khmer Independence
Day — Jan 7.
Again, this party included the key essentials — a blazing
bonfire in a field by the pond, bbqued Shishkabobs, more dancing, singing,
guitar playing, and sweet games like duck duck goose.
The day before this celebration, our contact told me that tomorrow
would be the Khmer Independence Day. This struck me as fairly significant, and
I suggested that our team and the YWAM team celebrate their independence and
honour them by throwing a party. I
gave a wee message recognizing their nations fight for freedom and then spoke
about the freedom I have found. Christ
has given me freedom from anxiety, from being consumed with what people think
about me, He gives freedom through His protection and provision. He gives us freedom from having to
follow a set of rules to make God pleased with us, earn something, or love us
more. Alllllriiiight. Let’s dance about that.
YWAM team goodbye
party Jan 9
Vietnamese food, Khmer duck and dance, dance, dance.
Jan 14th — pre-wedding dance party! What can I
say…us missionaries got our dance on Khmer style… They dance a lot with their
hands and bend their fingers back really far. It’s exciting.
