Some Battambang Pictures

Look at this handsome threesome. I did a photo op where each kid was invited to bring into a picture who they wanted. I then got prints and handed them out to each child in each picture. Remember, this is their home, and they need pictures of this family they are living in.

Dr. John never leaves an Orphan Home without lots of clinging to his legs. He serves a special role here. They call him Dr. John in honor of his medical background, but are so proud and pleased that he continues to return to honor them with his presence.
Bobbi, on the other hand, is just a sucker for attention. How can you not smile when you try to take a small picture, and all at once 20 are in the frame.
These young women, and their house mother, are among the most "senior" of the Asia Hope students. These are the future doctors and business people of Cambodia.

We returned to Phnom Penh yesterday and went out to dinner with friends, Graham and Seda Geisler. Graham and Bobbi were on their first trip to Cambodia together in 2004, while John had met Seda in 2003 on his first trip. Needless to say, we have watched with love and prayer their proceeding towards love and a trans-cultural marriage.

Yesterday, Seda asked me what changes I had seen in her country in the last five years. It was an excellent question, so here are some answers for you all to share in. First, there are signs of progress economonically.

There are still many, many, many who have nothing (tuk-tuk drivers sleep in their tuk-tuks 24-7 because they are too poor to afford rent anywhere). Garbage is still spread in a pile on the street, but there are now trucks that go around and collect the garbage nightly. I even saw a whole business given over to recycling.

In addition, my overwhelming response to Seda was that Phnom Penh is a lot more crowded than five years ago. Poor provincials are coming to the city to try to make money. Think New York City in the late 1800s and I suspect you will have a fair reality glimpse.

There are many more families that have a vehicle in what is the "middle class" section of the city. There are MANY more restaurants serving in a western style and more sanitized kitchens making meal accessibility far easier than five years ago.

One fo the most significant observations is that there are many more Westerners who now see Cambodia as being a regular tourist destination, not an "adventure" tourist destination. We saw tour buses made up totally of foreigners, unheard of a few years ago.

Last evening we had delicious fried tacos, followed by a trip to Swenson's for ice cream. Yes, some franchises are actually braving the economic graft here and beginning to set up shop.

There is also progress in some good government at the agency level. There is a Department of Social Affairs that oversees the orphan homes, and I was frankly impressed at the excellent questions they asked for the protection of the Khmer children.

Thanks for listening to the brief insights on this blog.

We are taking time this weekend to visit old friends When we first came to Cambodia there were 20-30 college students rooming in a house provided through Asia's Hope. We will be seeing many of those students this week for "old times sake".

Family Budget

Good Morning. We are leaving Battamabang this morning. Ready for the six hour bus ride?!

You will have to imagine until another blog posting the pictures that were meant for this post. The internet connection is too slow to handle the picture uploads.

We have just spent three days visiting at five Orphan Homes (Battambang 1,2,3,4 and 5). Each home has 25-40 kids ranging in age from pre-schoolers through Grade 12. The three newly built homes have a central open air room, with two boy dorm rooms opening from it. The two girls rooms are down a side corridor.

The kitchen is an attached room off of the back, with tile floor and open air lattice near the roofline. There is space to set up the tables for the meals there, which will help in the rainy season.

The other two homes are renting local properties.

Each home is filled with kids with love and laughter and dreams. I met two who wanted to be doctors, one who likes to draw (graphic design) and more than one who probably have information technology in their future.

Asia's Hope operates these homes based on child sponsorship. Each child has sponsors who send money each month which goes towards food, clothing, and school fees.

Now here is where this blog is now going to veer from centering on the child, to centering on the family that these kids live with. You see, Asia's Hope is their family. That is the protective shield placed over their young lives to raise them, teach them the love of God, and guide them "in the way that they should go, so that when they are old, they will not depart" from God's ways.

The sponsorships cover individual child costs, but do not cover "family" costs. What do you do when your family's vehicle breaks down? You repair it and repair it, and finally may decide that it is time to look for a different vehicle.

Or, how much family budget money does it take to get 187 kids to the dentist to make sure that they have teeth that will make it to their adulthood?

One of John's assignments on this trip has been to explore how to have the medical and dental needs of the children provided locally. Bringing health professionals on an Asia's Hope trip has been a regular event in the past, but with hundreds of kids in our care now, the team coming over once a year does not begin to stay on top of the medical or dental needs.

So, picture this. Our friends in Battambang, Jill and Kevin Kane from Wooster, Ohio, are missionaries with GBIM. They mentioned that they had found a dentist who practiced with skilled and adequate hygiene protection (not to be assumed in Cambodia).

Yesterday, we walked unannounced into his office and asked if he would consider looking at the teeth of 187 orphans and caring for their needs. Now, this dentist is going after the "carriage trade" of Battambang, if you know that term. He at first stared increduously at Dr. John for asking, but then he actually started to consider it. Praise God.

He may or may not be the one who ends up accepting the care of our orphans, but he was an important contact to make.

But how will we pay him? That is what The Hope Fund is for- larger, previously unbudgeted items for the care of the children in our "family". The Hope Fund will cover dental and medical emergencies requiring hospitalization. The Hope Fund will cover the land purchase to move one of the rental homes away from the mosquito breeding water. The Hope Fund will cover new vehicles, unexpected home repairs.

Will you help the family budget? For those of you who would like to gift to Asia's Hope at this Christmas time of year, there is information on the www.asiashope.org website about how to do that.

These are not individual sponsorships. This fund is for those who recognize that a family budget needs to be prepared to cover the unexpected. Will you help with The Hope Fund?

For those specifically praying for the Campbell's on this trip, you may consider designating this donation towards the medical/dental emergency fund as this was one of the specific tasks assigned to Dr. John on this trip.

Do you know what we did yesterday? We sat and watched the Battambang 3 and 4 kids sign Christmas carols! They are practicing already.

If God is placing music in your heart from His gift to us, it would be great to be sharing back with these kids the gift of a strong Hope Fund at Christmas.

www.asiashope.org

View from the Street

Since few of you have ever been to Cambodia, and most of you are new to our blog, I am going to give you a small travelogue of visual, social, and economic realities to add to your understanding of what you can be praying.

Cambodia is a Buddhist county and it is a communist country. Here is a picture of a monk seeking his morning donation, and a woman offering prayers after she has given him money. The monks go on morning rounds seeking their food and money for their needs. They do not go person to person, but rather select someone who must offer something. Meanwhile, this woman's friends continued to eat nearby, unconcerned that they were not selected or that they could offer when not asked.

All of these pictures were taken from one street corner in Phnom Penh while we were waiting for the bus to take us to Battambang. You'll notice that the streets are dense with traffic, most of which are motos, not cars. Cambodia is a very poor country and many can not yet afford vehicles.

There is a pecking order to economic progress, just as in any other developing area. You walk until you can own a bicycle. Then you ride the bike until you can save for a used moto. After that you try for a 15 year old used car. Finally, you may be able to buy a car that is only 5 years old

I am not including pictures here, but in the midst of these bikes and old cars, are brand new Lexus and Hummers. Again, like many developing countries, there are some who "have" at the expense of the "have-nots).
There are streets in Phnom Penh lined with independent dress shops, restaurants, electronic shops, etc. However, for most of the population, economic living is still practiced daily through street side vendors. This picture is looking through a "corner" convenience cart, towards a woman selling morning bread from her head basket. In the following picture, you will note what passes for a "telephone" company. Cell phones are rented through carts and provide the electronic contact even among the poor.

That was the few from the street corner, standing in the same spot, while I waited for the bus.

Now.....as Paul Harvey would say....."for the rest of the story". I thought that you would enjoy hearing about the road practice in Cambodia called "ROAD TRUMP". Traffic and driving rules have been emerging in the last several years. There is an amazing skill of anticipating and blending of needs at intersections where traffic enters from all four directions at one time and works their way through to where they need to go. It is far too complicated to capture on a still photograph.
On the longer highways, though, the rules of Road Trump became clear. I even saw two different dogs start to cross the road, glance towards our bus, and literally step BACKWARDS. The need of Road Trump is that there are only two lane roads, no passing lanes, and such a range of vehicles that an even speed is not possible.

The bus easily had precedence over the chickens and dogs, over the bicyclist, and the ox carts. Bus vs. cars were a draw, as were bus vs. trucks. However, if the truck coming towards you in your lane was a diesel tank truck, or a concrete truck, those trucks TRUMPED the bus, and the bus slowed down, as in the picture above.

But in Cambodia, one animal trumps all: you don't mess with a water buffalo wandering across the road.

In the next blog we will share pictures of the Battambang orphan homes and the reality of praying in their lives.

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Christmas in Thailand

Would you begin a family again after you own family is grown and on their own? This man and woman from the Karen tribe were asked to do this. Last year they were living in a Karen tribal village up in the mountains, and had the pleasure of seeing their children growing independent, getting married, and starting their own families.

Instead of resting in their grandparent role, they were asked to become the Dorm Dad and Mom of Doi Saket 3. This was not a choice that came easily to them, but they were impressed that God would have them make this commitment. They left their village and moved to Doi Saket and accept the responsibility for a "family" of 18 orphans.

Their son and his wife moved with them and are the helpers at the home. Boon and his wife would be delighted to know that you are praying for them as they are parenting young ones at this stage of their life.

It was Christmas in Thailand today! Not really, but the kids had fun. Today Debbie Flinchum took pictures of the kids to place on their cards that are sent to their sponsors. The children then also gave two or three interests to be translated on the cards so that their sponsors will know a little about them.
I found out from writing down their statements that their interests range from studying English to Chinese to playing marbles, playing dolls, and listening to music. One boy likes ROTC, and another girl loves aerobic dancing. Yes, these kids are growing up into their individual strengths.
While the story telling was going on, other kids were enjoying a relaxed Sunday afternoon. This young one was riding her rocking horse.
The girls were already knitting scarves from the yarn they received this week.
The boys have multiple games that they have created from rubber bands. This one looked like pick up sticks. Another one I observed involved lying down and blowing the rubber bands to see whose went the farthest.
Guess what the teenage girls do on an afternoon off? They hang out together- listening to music and posing for their "attitude" shots.
Meanwhile, the boys are doing the same thing, relaxing under a tree handling boy talk and the pleasure of some down time.

We leave tomorrow morning for Cambodia. It has been a encouraging week here in Thailand listening to the staff and moving forward in blending western culture, Thai culture, hill tribe culture into a new culture of practicing our Christianity together in a manner that honors God.

(We have posted two blog entries in the last day so make sure that you catch both of the new ones.)