Background...


BACKGROUND...

We will be working with the Cambodian Hope Organisation (CHO), in a border town called Poipet. In Poipet the largest source of employment is day labour, 8-10 thousand people cross the border each day to transport goods back from Thailand; working conditions and pay is poor. Poipet lies in the shadows of ten super-casinos, they provide little economic benefit to the local area. The influx of tourists and gamblers attracted by the casinos has encouraged the sex industry to flourish. Child trafficking has taken a stronghold in Poipet, and its the poor families who are at risk of being lured into sending their children into Thailand where the risk of trafficking is high.

There is Hope! CHO works in the local community, and they envision 'a network of strong, hope-filled communities where adequate physical, psychological and spiritual needs are met.'


The work we will be doing with CHO is varied and includes; Helping to build a safe haven centre for children who have escaped the child trafficking industry, learning Khmer, the local language, taking an active role in children’s clubs and ‘school on a mat’, assisting CHO staff in their work in the community, working with individuals from different cultures and faiths, especially the Buddhist culture, praying for and visiting those suffering with HIV/AIDS, taking an active role in the life of the Church through worship, sharing testimonies, taking bible studies and preaching.


Sunday 18 July 2010

12th - 19th July

Hello and welcome to our final blog, we return home tomorrow on the 20th of July early in the morning. At the moment we are sat in our guest house waiting to go to Bangkok airport. Let us fill you in with whats been happening here in the last weeks:

Last Monday (12th) we rose early at 5am, after Holland lost the world cup final, (yes we did stay up to watch from 1.30-4.30am)to get ready for the opening ceremony of the new TB ward at the CDC (HIV hospital). CHO partnered with TEARfund to build the new ward and on Monday the provincial govenor came to officall open it. We were there to play English christian worship songs for the people as we waited for the governor to arrive. It was such a special morning, to worship God and pray for blessings upon this hospital for the last time. Calum represented Tearfund, so he sat on the stage next to Chomno, looking like a naval officer, the girls loved it!
After the new ward was opened we went with all the CHO staff to Safe Haven for a party to say goodbye to the two Dutch carpenters; they'll be coming back in 6 months to live in Siem Reap. So we played football, ate food and had a good time, relaxing after an early start. Everyone went to the carpentry workshop to have a look at the carvings that the 5 students had made, it blew us away! These students are so skilled and after just 3 months were producing incredible carvings of Angkor Wat.

Our time at Safe Haven school last week was special. On Tuesday we set the children a task to build the tallest tower with eighty plastic bottles, one roll of celotape and two pairs of scissors, in groups of 6 in 20 minutes. We were so impressed with their efforts, the tallest tower was over 2.5 metres. On Thursday we had a talent show, so spent Wednesday preparing for it. The children could choose to sing, dance, act, play games, make music, or make art. With a little help from us, they came up with original acts and prodcued a fun and exciting show on our last day at the school. Of course we contributed to the show with a story about Chico the clown, intrigued...?
We then did our final bible class on the first and greatest commandment, to love God and one another. We had the children stand in a circle, join hands and tell the people around them that they love them and give them a hug. We then asked them to pray for the person on their left and right and finally for everyone in the school; what a great way to finish our time there, seeing all the children praying for each other. After that we gave out photos of us with the school children that we had taken previously in the week and printed off for them, sweets and a Union Flag to be put up in the library.
Then it was time to say goodbye; those last hugs meant so much to us and we'll never forget their smiley faces. Leaving that place for the last time, it felt like we would be back, we hope we will.

Throughout the week we have been preparing to go, starting to pack and sorting out the loose ends at CHO. Alex gave his guitar to CHO and we left some things we thought would be useful. On Friday we had a classic CHO leaving party. There was dancing, singing, fruit eating and many goodbyes. These guys are our family here, and we realised that when they all gathered round and prayed for us, it was a beautiful moment, tears were welling up from them and us...
Despite the difficulties in saying goodbye, we realise that we aren't truly saying goodbye as we will see them again, we have the whole of eternity to look forward to with them, what a hope we have in Jesus!
The last few days have been filled with ups and downs, and leaving CHO for the last time really brought it home that we were leaving. Although we are looking forward to coming home, we leave a piece of our hearts, and the people we have met and spent time with we take back with us in ours.

We have learnt so much and could write so much about how we have changed, our struggles and difficulties, but also our many joys and triumphs. The last 6 months, as cliche as it may sound, has been life changing and we are so grateful to God for bringing us to this place and what he has done in us and through us. Mission involves everyone, whether you are sending people or being sent, so we want to thank you all for your prayers and want you to know that our time here would not have been the same without you. Thank you.

Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ for who he is and what he has done.
ACTS 20 : 23 - 24
I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me if only i may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.


Blessings to everyone and we look forward to seeing you soon.
God Bless
Alex, Paul and Calum

Sunday 11 July 2010

1st – 11th July

Well it turns out that we will be the guest Blogger (sorry for any disappointments!) as we enter the final week in Poipet!
174 days down, 9 to go…

The month started early at 5am with Alex’s birthday where the three of us and our friend Thea, one of the CHO staff with whom we do most of our work with, went to the meat market. We particularly enjoy visiting the overcrowded and somewhat smelly market and seeing what exciting new things we can find, and so, at Alex’s request we began the month at the place where it all happens in Poipet! Much busier at six in the morning instead of later in the day when we’d normally go, but not nearly as smelly; with temperatures reaching mid 40’s the smell of meat is, ermm… potent!

Our work currently revolves around the Safe Haven – at the building site in the mornings and with the children at school in the afternoon. The walls are built, the windows and doors in place and the roof is on, with the ceiling currently going in and we have just finished concreting the floors inside and out on the patio; next week we’ll start tiling.

We of course continue to teach English at the Safe Haven school and bible stories after that. We now know the children so well and we will certainly miss them when we come home, as they are a delight to be with, talk to, play games with, teach English and learn how to love like them. We have been doing another project with them over the last two weeks; putting on a production of Noah’s ark!
They made: animal masks, angry/laughing people masks, Noah and his family’s masks, 2 wonderful backgrounds – land and sea (flood), a rainbow, raindrops, acted out the whole story and we made an ark. With a wonderful narrator, an occasionally smiley God, some quiet angry people, some comical laughing, the ark almost falling down, some stray cats entering through the back of the ark and not the door, beautiful [praiseful] singing of “Happy Day” and a final prayer by Mana, Chomno’s daughter whom we live with, to end the performance; it was a wonderful afternoon. The children did so, so well and we were so proud of them! It was such a fantastic way to start saying goodbye to these awesome children!
We will ditch the English for them this final week and play lots of games – which may involve a load of water bottles, Cello tape, scissors, team building and lots of running around!

We had our last church service this Sunday morning where we played a few songs with the worship band and was both sad to say goodbye and surreal that we were - the final week seemed so far off a few weeks ago, and yet, here we are.

Tomorrow we are playing music at the opening for the new TB clinic they have recently built at the HIV/AID’s hospital that CHO run and so we are looking forward to that. The TB clinic will provide better facilities for those who suffer from HIV/AID’s and TB and thus able to separate those who do have TB form those who don’t. So for those awake at 2 in the morning, your prayers would be welcome!

We plan to do one more blog after this, but please keep us in your prayers as we are in the final home straight now and perhaps need your prayers more than ever now!
There are many thing’s we love about this country and thing’s we’ll miss, thing’s we won’t, thing’s we’re indifferent to, thing’s we’ve learned, thing’s we’ve seen, thing’s we’re looking forward to, thing’s we’re not, thing’s that have challenged us, changed us and transformed us.
Whether it’s the Safe Haven children, the Khmer people, building, moving bricks, gravel, sand and dirt from A to B, then to C and back to A, visiting the villages, playing games and sharing bible stories with the school-on-a-mat classes and vocational training classes, morning devotions, praying for people, seeing and living with those who live in a world so different to ours in Britain, teaching English, playing worship music and spreading the gospel of Christ; or sticky rice, deep fried battered bananas, living on a main road where incessantly beeping a horn on a moto, car or lorry is perfectly acceptable at 3 in the morning, washing in a bucket, occasional clean clothes, cockroaches appearing dead and consequently being eaten by ants daily; geckos, mice and the occasional rat; Khmer music, the never ending Khmer weddings (very loud music at all hours of the day – sleep is not allowed for those within a 100m radius of the speakers) and seeing an impossible amount of pigs and/or chicken’s being carried to the market strung upside down on the back of a motorbike and a family of 6 plus luggage balanced on a single motorbike; living in Cambodia and working with CHO has challenged us, it’s undoubtedly changed us and through Christ, and what we’ve been able to be a part of here in Cambodia has transformed us…

Yesterday was spent upturning the two rooms we occupy at CHO, where items previously thought lost, have once again been found; the floor is sparkly clean through the use of a broom, bleach and a crafty invention known to most as the common mop; the washing facilities have been cleansed from years of grime, cupboards emptied upside-down, back to front and inside-out, it was like ‘How Clean is Your House’. The first noticeable signs of packing have begun; though who would’ve thought Calum would be the first to pack! After 6 months of being with each other 24/7 (nearly 4,180 hours)... certainly not Paul and Alex, that’s for sure!

Well, to everyone and especially to all those who have been praying for us, sent us letters, packages and reading these horrifically long blogs, which are so sporadic it’s untrue, we thank you so much for all your support as we appreciate it ever so much.

God Bless
Alex, Calum and Paul

...and even if England did lose to Germany, at least through the referee, England made it to the World Cup Final 2010!

(Calum: I took no part in the inclusion of this ludicrous, ‘clutching at straws’ statement.)