A few days ago Pastor Chay asked us to visit Takao Province,
“You will go and help with the church plant, teach English, and meet with the
children.” That’s all we were told about
the visit in addition to the fact that we would leave at 7:00am for a two hour
drive and return around 4 pm. Lack of
information is something we have learned to cope with on The World Race, yet I
still find my mood is affected when I don’t know what to expect. This morning felt awfully early and my shower
felt awfully cold. I was not in the best
mood as I expected a long day filled with sitting in an uncomfortable church
pew wading through a half-translated service and mass chaos at the children’s
program. But, Emilie prayed for good
attitudes and energy on the way to meet the guys at the center. Several Hope Education Center guys from our
nightly Bible study joined us for the venture into the province (Two of the
guys drive a motor bike every week to make the visit.) I continued to pray as we left Phnom Penh on
a bumpy road.
Rice fields seemed to pop up immediately after we left the
city. My eyes were refreshed by the
beautiful green plants and the bright blue sky.
I know I have said it before, but I think rice fields are one of the
most beautiful crops. We bounced past
stilted houses, cows, palm trees, families relaxing in the shade, and hammocks
swinging. The driver eventually pulled
over. We walked down a dirt path
bordered by stick fences and vegetation.
The guys introduced us to the only Christian family in the Buddhist
village. Two low tables were pulled
together and mats were placed on top, “Please sit.” A group of about 10 villagers joined us for a
time of sharing. First each member of
the circle shared their testimonies of how they became Christians and then we
were asked to encourage the villagers and finally we closed in prayer. I enjoyed the gathering much more than a
structured and scheduled church service.
We were able to share God’s word in an informal and comfortable atmosphere.
After the service the son of the family took us on a walk around
the village of Tanon. We did not get
very far before we saw one of his relatives weaving silk. Apparently Takao Province is known for silk
weaving. A silk skirt can take as long
as one week to finish, but will be sold for $60-$100. I was mesmerized by the complicated pattern
and giant loom. The weavers use their
feet to pull the stings up or down then shoot a shuttle through the
strings. The finished product is a
tightly woven intricate pattern.
Along
the walk we saw women at every home working under the shade of their stilted
homes. A number of the villagers greeted
us with hands together held at the nose followed by, “Please sit.” Each of the young adults that we talked to
had impressive English abilities stretching beyond the typical, “What is your
name? and Where are you from?”.
One of the guys from Hope Education Center walked alongside
me, “This community is very poor in water; they only have one well.” It seemed ironic to me that the village would
have a water problem. It rains almost
everyday and rice fields are filled with inches of water. Electricity and plumbing are also lacking in
the village. The father of the Christian
family asked us to pray that they could put in a toilet.
At noon we finished a final visit then walked back to the
house where a small group of women had been cooking all morning. Earlier one of the women walked up to me and
pointed to the bucket she was carrying; live crabs climbed over each
other. Later I saw her crushing up the
crabs, shell and all with a mortar and pestle.
We sat with criss-crossed legs around the spread of rice, vegetables,
shrimp with the head and legs still attached, crab shell puree, meat, and
fish. The polite way to eat in Cambodia
is to take a small portion of food, add it to your plate of rice, then take
another portion. I ate each of the
dishes and really enjoyed them. I did
not go for seconds on the fish or the shrimp, but found the other dishes tasty. The HEC guys bragged about how many plates of
rice they finished; the winner ate four.
We thanked our hosts then drove down the road to another village.
Two of the HEC guys teach an English lesson every Sunday
afternoon, so they asked us to help with the class. A group of about 50 pre-school to high-school
aged kids gathered under one of the bamboo homes. I helped with the younger group of kids. James and Emilie narrated and acted out David
and Goliath; the kids got really into as did our translator Sam. Then we sang songs and James turned Head,
Shoulders, Knees and Toes into an English lesson. The kids were very well behaved and I enjoyed
our short time together. Candice,
Morgan, and Andrew helped to teach the high-school aged group that seemed very
eager to talk with foreigners. I found
the English abilities of the students to be amazing considering they had never
interacted with native English speakers.
The heat and the visiting exhausted me, but all of us thoroughly
enjoyed our visit to Takao Province. On
the ride back I sat beside Varito who talked about everything from George Bush
to marriage. I ended the day on a much
better note; thanking the Lord for the experience of His love through the
villagers of Tanon.
