Jet Lag is no Fun

We got home to Brookhaven about 2 hours ago, and we are thrilled that our house does not appear to be robbed!   (my not so secret fear, as I actually hid things that were irreplaceable at a friends’ house)  :) 

I am still confused as to how the whole time zone switch thing works, but all I know is that I am very tired and a bit confused!  There were many legs to get us back home… 30 min. bus ride to the airport in Phnom Penh, 1 1/2 hr. flight to Bangkok, 3 hr. flight from Bangkok to Taipei, Taiwan. Then… an oh so, smelly overnight stay at a hotel in Taipei b/c China Air goofed a bit on our flight.  45 mins. to the hotel one night, 45 mins, back to the airport the next morning.  Then… we flew 9 hrs. from Taipei to Anchorage, Alaska, then 6 hrs. from Alaska to JFK.  Then 2 1/2 hr. on a bus from JFK to Biblical in Hatfield. Then 2 hrs. to Scranton, where we arrived just before sunrise on Wednesday a.m. and  2 hrs. tonight back home with our kids in tow!  

    In true American fashion… we needed to pick up a few things in the middle of the night back to Scranton, so of course we ended up at Walmart. Who else is open at 4 a.m.?   Needless to say, it was a bit weird that the last store I was in when I left Cambodia had beggars in front of it, and the first I was in at home was Walmart, which is basically a monument to our American obsession with consumption, materialism, and choice.   

    Another odd thing that illustrates our globalized world… in our travels, I had Starbucks 2xs in 24 hrs. Once in Taipei, and once in Allentown at a service plaza.  Oddly enough, I had the same blend in both places, and the decor was identical, but in Taipei I greeted the barista with a bow, and in Allentown I greeted the barista with a hello in English.   If I accidently nod hello at you in the next few days, it is not the sympathetic head nod, it’s a strange compulsion from constantly bowing and head nodding which is customary with everyone I met or passed in Asia.  

     Thanks so much for all of your support, prayers, and emails of encouragement!  We had an amazing trip!  There’s a few more things Meade & I would like to share with you, so he will be posting them in the next few days as the jet lag wears off! Please check back so you can read them. 

 

                                

Church in Cambodia

Once of the last things we did in Cambodia was worship at a Khmer church, and it was a really great experience.  It has been a great time to visit Cambodia, b/c the church is on the verge of exploding. 

The country is 95% Buddhist, but that doesn’t give an adequate picture of how the church is growing.  Before the Khmer Rouge in the 70’s there were only 2,000 Christians in the entire country.  After the killing fields, only 200 were left, and most met up in the refugee camps on the Thai border.  Approximately 1/2 moved elsewhere, but many more returned to rebuild Cambodia.  There are now 250,000 Christians!! How amazing is that!  

   The church we were at was planted by Khmer Christians who survived and were converted by the pastor in the refugee camps.  These people’s passion for their country was a privilege for us to experience.  This little church, all national run, had about 50-60 people, and has planted 25 churches in the villages.  They have also built a daycare/school that is comprised 80% of Vietnamese refugees who are not allowed to attend Cambodian schools.  

       We met many people who just give and give to their neighbor’s, and their generosity and community is what is building their church.  It makes me wonder what would happen if the same were true in the States.  Are we known for how we give, and live out the commands of the gospel, or are we known for what we are against? or for our stellar programming?  I have to constantly question myself, do I really love my neighbor? If I did, how would I live? Would I be as irritated when homeless people knock on my door at home asking for food at Wendy’s, or a ride to Chester b/c they missed the bus?   

   One of the most unique things in the service, was that at the end, they asked anyone who needed prayer to stand, and they had the rest of us (khmer & US) to lay on hands and pray for them.  I was able to pray with people seeking student visa’s, relief from depression and trauma, peace, enough to provide for their family and etc. it was very humbling.  I prayed with many women, and Meade prayed with about 6 men. It was very encouraging.  I felt very self-centered b/c so many of the older women’s husbands were killed during the killing fields, or in the wars that followed, and they still passionately serve God.  It was interesting. 

Medical Care in Cambodia

 

Thank you so much to everyone who donated medications for us to take in our luggage to Cambodia.  The supplies you gave went to this missionary run medical clinic called CSI Clinic.  They keep things moving with donations from short term groups like ours, so thank you again for your generosity, it will be well used.   As anyone who has traveled to the developing world will tell you, medical care is an absolute joke.  Until 3 years ago there was no ambulances in the entire country, and trauma care is basically unheard of. 

 

 

     Like many other things, the medical system is very corrupt, so no matter what your injury or illness, if you walk into a clinic or hospital you have to pay in cash up front before they will even see you.  This was the case in Guatemala as well when we traveled there.  It is not unusual for family members to have someone in an “ER” while they are running around looking for money to treat their relative.  Oftentimes, if they cannot afford the care… i.e.- food for the rest of my kids or medical care for this one, people are allowed to live with a serious injury, or in some cases even die.  People make choices like this on a regular basis.  Speaking of medical care, this brings to mind the land mine situation. We will soon be in Taipei, and I have to admit that I look forward to it, not just b/c I miss my kids, but b/c I am weary of seeing people whose limbs have been blown off.  Land mines are still a huge problem, and have been left in Cambodia by the US, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Khmer Rouge, you cannot walk more than a few blocks without seeing someone injured by a land mine. There have been great advances in cleaning up the mines, and there’s a lot of NGO’s doing good work with it but it takes time.

    One of the missionaries here to the Chom (Cambodian Muslim’s) was traveling in the rural areas and witnessed a severe car accident, where a van full of people flipped over.  They pulled over to assist, and immediately noticed that two women were near death.  They could only fit one woman in their vehicle to get her to a hospital, and were begging and trying to pay bystanders to take the other in their vehicle’s.  Everyone refused because in Animistic Buddhism to be with a body that has died due to trauma (it is assumed their death was due to bad karma which could then be transferred to you) means you could get a curse or a “hex.”  They raced to take the one woman to a hospital, but the second woman died in the road by the time they came back to get her b/c no one would drive her in their car, due to their fear of bad spirits.  

 

    We witnessed this lack of order and resources a few days ago while traveling from Siem Reap through the countryside back to the main city, Phnom Penh.  A man was in a moto accident and died on the side of the road.  He was just laying there under a bloody sheet, but there were no police, no EMT’s, no ambulance, or any presence of order or authority.  That was a very strange experience.  

 

 

      Here is where the CSI clinic comes in.  In a sea of chaos, they are a free clinic providing top of the line medical care.  It looks shabby, and it’s hot and uncomfortable, but it is professional and staffed with great medical folks.  Tim, the guy in the red shirt, was an ER doc living the rich life in a dream home in the US, when some friends seriously challenged he and his wife on their priorities and how they spent their money.  A year after buying a big piece of property and building a huge house, they sold it and headed to Cambodia to learn the language and help develop the fledging medical system.

 

 

 

The CSI clinic has been using a portion of a military bases’ hospital for a small clinic, including dental care, and some minor surgeries, for several years.  Recently,  the government decided to take back the property b/c they feel they can make more money from it, even though they see patients for free, which actually benefits the govt.  They have to be out of the space by June 30th, and have no place to go as of yet. On Tuesday, there is a meeting at 2 p.m. Cambodian time (11 hrs. ahead of Phila), to negotiate a new (literally brand new building) piece of property that they could build on and lease for 99 years. This is a huge prayer item, and could mean adding another layer of things like primary care in the province’s, where it’s needed the most.  Another piece of the new property is training Dr.’s properly and sending professional’s to the province’s to treat dengue fever, malaria, and dysentery.  Improving those three illnesses alone could raise the life expectancy up 20 years, from the current age of 57.  

 

  If the land goes through, and you are interested in helping financially support the clinic through World Team Missions, we will post the info. on this site in the near future.  Many people have been reached and a church has been planted through the medical care you see here at CSI.  Meeting the physical needs of people in conjunction with a holistic approach to the gospel and evangelism is key in building trust and developing disciples no matter your cultural setting.  It was exciting to see a ray of hope in a place that, at times, is very dark.