Sunday we went to the temple, killing fields and a market. It was great to get some of the cultural background. There were Buddha statues and shrines at almost every house. People here leave offerings of food and money to the gods. They feel that food has a spiritual and physical aspect to them. When they offer a sacrifice of food, they leave it at the shrine and by the end of they day, the gods took the spiritual part of that food and the family is then allowed to eat the leftovers. That is something that has been instilled in the families for many, many years. It is sad to me that even after the bondage of war that this country has been in, they are still under the bondage of a false god. There are still laws that say if you worship other gods (Christians) and you are asked to be quiet (musically, vocally) then you must. I feel like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But, I have to respect what their laws are while I am here. We are still able to worship, but just not rock out.
My team went to one of the two orphanages we will be working with on Monday. There are about 60 children at Good Shepherd Orphanage. It is much smaller than the one in Haiti (we had 200 children) but we are excited about the more one on one time with the kids here. We played from 8:30 – 10:00 AM with the kids and then headed back to the YWAM base. Monday was “Woman’s day” so everyone had a day off at the orphanage. When we came back, we talked about what we planned on teaching the kids. Our schedule for Good Shepherd is M-W 8:30-10 and 2-4:30. (they enjoy their lunch breaks) We will be teaching them some English as well as fun bible stories. Our approach will be a little like VBS. We plan on teaching the kids with learning crafts like lion masks for Daniel and the lions den. If you have any ideas, you can let us know by just sending me an email. We have not visited the second orphanage yet. It is called Love In Action.
I am excited to see what God is going to do this month in Cambodia. I am excited for the ministry and to be able to reach out ho those still in the bondage of false gods.
I would like prayer for healing in this country. Cambodians are still hurting from the genocide 30 years ago.
Also, prayer that this country will be able to see the light of Christ and to know that it is a much safer and reliable place than the false gods that they are trusting in.
Please continue to pray for health on this squad and for the other squads that are in other countries.
I will update again soon.
~Bekah
