I can’t believe our time here in Cambodia is coming to a close. It seems like we just got here! I have really enjoyed the ministries we have been helping with. I have been working with the youth group at the church. It is so much like home. 
These people really know how to worship. It is so cool to see kids jumping up and down to the song One Way. If you don’t know the song it can be a little hard to keep up with because it is in Khmer. No matter where you go teens are teens. They want the same things and like the same things. My team and I have been helping with icebreakers, games, and teaching. The same things we used in Colorado and Nebraska work just fine here.
I also got to go on a slum outreach the other day. This one might take some explaining for you to get the full effect of it. We meet the outreach director at the church and then take off for the slum in a tuk-tuk. 
As we ride down the street the buildings go from tall nice looking to small and dumpy and back again in the space of a block or two. We are in a city and nation that is working to rebuild itself after so many years of war and neglect. As we pull up to the slum I didn’t realize we where there. I had pictured it similar to the squatter camps of Africa but this appeared to be nothing more than a few shacks in a lot between buildings. Looks can be deceiving. It turned out that what I was seeing was the entrance to a much larger area behind the buildings. When we walked into the slum we see people everywhere. As we work our way into the slum our guide stops to talk to everyone we see. He comes here every week to teach Bible study.
Just like the Pied-Piper, where ever we go the kids come out and follow us. I stop and play with a few while we are collecting the people for the Bible study. I find myself ducking to go down a long, dark, muddy, hallway. 
The smells assault my senses. I can’t say anything or risk insulting the people we are hear to minister to. Many of the people are proud of the little shacks they live in. When we finally come out of the long hall into the sun again we are standing in a trash filled bog. This is the kid’s church area. The adults are upstairs in a shack.
We have brought color sheets and crayons for the kids. We also have nail polish and balloons for them. This is the highlight of their day. We play with them and try to communicate with them but it can be a challenge with the language barrier. Fortunately tickles, smiles and balloons are universal. We work with the kids for about an hour and then it is time to go. We hand out cookies at the end. This almost causes a riot with the kids. Fortunately for me I am a giant to them. 
This made saving the cookie bag easier.
These precious little ones have so little. Many of them dressed up when we came. By this I mean they put clothes on. Many of them don’t even wear clothes normally until they get older. I am so glad there are people like our guide that come to share Jesus with these sweet people.
Be sure and check out the video clips at the bottom of the blog.
