Life in Cambodia is completely different than any other place on the race. We are living in the largest city in Cambodia – Phnomh Penn which is also the capitol. The city is home to 1.2million people so it is a “small” big city. We spent the last month in Thailand where it is clean and organized and neat and fast paced. In my assumptions I thought that Cambodia would be similar… I could not have been more incorrect. The only thing that is similar is lots of rice! Things are slower but faster all at the same time. Traffic laws do not exist and lanes don’t mean anything. The people are amazingly friendly even in the city! The country is still recovering from the wars that lasted from 1970 until 1998 so it is mainly 3rd world with pockets of modern life. The population is very young there are not a lot of people over the age of 30-40 on the streets. The main streets are paved but the side streets and back streets to get into the neighborhoods are dirt roads!
Cambodians take pride in that they follow the teatchings of Buddha very literally. Most Cambodian Buddhists practive Theravada Buddhism but Animism, Hinduism, ancestor worship and Chinese religion are also blended in. There are over 50,000 Buddhist monks ministering in 3,700+ temples throughout the country. The hub of Buddhism is in Cambodia and located at Siem Reap.
This is a common sight during the days here – offerings presented to the monks in the mornings.
Most of our getting around is walking but when we go places it is either in a tuk tuk (sort of like a basket on the back of a moto) or on a moto. It cost between 25 cents to $2 to go anywhere.
Yes, I am riding side saddle! Don’t try this while wearing a shorter skirt – I have and it wasn’t fun!
Me and Christy on a tuk tuk – on our way to dinner
We are living at Love in Action Orphanage in an apartment above the boys house. So we are awakened at 6am when they wake up with shrieks of laughter and chatter in Khymer (pronounced Ka-mi) which we don’t understand.
This is our home on street 480 Phnomh Penn (7 people create a lot of laundry)
We eat lunch and dinner at this table together as a family. I am not sure how I will ever live by myself again.
Our days are spent hanging out with the children who live at the orphange. The children have many different stories. Some have lost both parents and their family refused to raise them and some have watched their parents die of AIDS. There are some here whose parents are just too poor to take care of them. At Love In Action they are loved on, given a Christian education, fed, nurtured, taken to church, taught English and Christ love is shared with them everyday. Here are some of the kids that we get to love and play with everyday. Please pray for us as we continue to minister daily to these children. Pray for our strength and energy to sustain us. Pray for spiritual renewal as we serve daily and as we serve in a Buddhist nation.
This little boys pants are always falling down! I can’t help it I love the naked babies!
