Send the rain Father

On Sunday, we had a chance to worship together with the Cambodian church that meets every week at the NIBC center.  Many of the missionaries, some BGU students, and even other Cambodians gather to worship God.  The praise band consisted of an acoustic guitar, drums, bass guitar, and missionary Hwa-Yun on the keyboards.  They rocked out pretty hard.  The Cambodian kids playing the instruments come by every evening to practice upstairs in the empty sanctuary even in the hot temperatures.  The Cambodian pastor preached about the fruit of the Spirit, and went over peace and patience.  We were later informed that there are no seminaries in Siem Reap area, and only one in Phnom Penh.  Though the pastor was not educated in a seminary, the message was very good nonetheless and used many different bible verses.

One type of patience that especially lingered in my mind was the patience we must have of the Lord.  Perhaps this is because we are reading through Job with the BGU students after lunch.  In our afflictions we must not lose sight of who God is, never forget that He is good and almighty, and yet cry out to Him for deliverance and for His return.

After the service, we went to lake Tonle Sap, which is the largest fresh water lake in Asia.  We went with missionaries Kyung, Sang-Won, and Bo-Ram.  The lake is famous for having these people living on the water on these floating boat houses.  There are said to be over 100,000 people living there.  We got on a boat and rode towards the center of the lake.  In one of the villages, there was a lookout point / souvenir shop, in which they raised crocodiles and cat-fishes.  When we clambered up to the thrid story of this boat shop, we could not see the far shore of the lake.  There are some people who live their entire lives on these boats and never come out.  They do not come on shore, because when they do they are subject to motion sickness.  We saw a Catholic church in the lake village that the shop was located.  While I admire such valiant efforts by the Catholic church, I am beginning to see how revolutionary "Thou shall not make graven images" really is.  It must have been a shocking commandement to the Jews who were surrounded in the pagan sea of iconoclasm.  I wonder what these lake village people believe in, whether they are subject to the same ancestoral-shamanistic-Hinduistic-Buddhism that the land-people of Cambodia believe in.  (In front of every house, there is a scarecrow that is suppose to chase away the evil spirits. )  Where is the lifeboat of true faith among this sea of sinking idols?

Upon returning to the NIBC center we went to Siem Reap and explored the city a little bit.  We had dinner at a restaraunt called Red Piano, haphazardly zig-zagged through the noon-night market, and finally refreshed ourselves in the cool air conditioned loung of Blue Pumpkin.  It was a welcome respite from the draining heat and we recharged ourselves for the coming week.

The next three days were more of the same: BGU for Danny-L and me, Rainbow School for Cone-Soo, KayKay and ShinRamen.  Lunch, bible reading, and VBS at Kontrak village.  The BGU students have been super helpful in herding the little kids around.  Danny-L and I are actually not very good at playing with kids, but they're just so darn cute when they pray, sing and play that it's hard not to pour our hearts to them.  When we talking with Missionary Ju-Hwan, he commented that these short term mission teams that do VBS actually serve a vital role in making more Cambodian villagers interested about sending their kids to Rainbow school.  They say that right after the VBS programs, the registration for the next semester balloon up to as much as 80 kids, which slowly decrease to a few kids at the beginning of the semester.  From there some of the students come out to church every week.  It was also great to see how much missionary Jin-Ho loves these kids.

On Monday and Tuesday evening, we had a chance to play some SKG (stupid korean games) with the BGU students.  Some of us have incurred bruises from spirited rounds of spoons.  It was a great bonding experience with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Today Danny's class and my class did a joint puzzle piece activity.  It was rather encouraging to see how our kids desired to see their families, friends, and the entire nation of Cambodia come to know Christ.  One kid drew a picture of heaven and earth separated by a river and how we need to fulfill our duty before we cross that river....

So far this mission trip has confirmed that God doesn't need us, the KCPC mission team.  It also confirmed that God doesn't need KCPC, or the missionaries here, or the Korean church, or the Cambodian church.  God will make himself be known through his own power, that it is Him who will do it.  All that we, the universal church, have left to do is an opportunity to be tools in his hands.  It is for His glory that He does this.  It is the Holy Spirit who lives in us who does this.  So pray for rain.  Pray that He will rain down His Spirit in this land.

HG

Some of the prayers requests are:
- All of us to keep our heads in the game, to stay engaged with the students and the kids.
- Continued health and strength. I can definitely sense the heat getting to our team...

Praise Report
- Danny-L's and my backs are doing a lot better!
- Cone-Soo says he's doing perfect and that yall don't need to pray for him.

It's Saturday!

So it's Saturday here. We made it through the week! Everyday at 530am some of us have been attending Bible reading and quiet time with the BGU students. It's quite an early morning but definitely worth it. By 630 we're having breakfast and Danny & HuGu are off to teach the BGU students by 7 until noon. The rest of us prepare for Rainbow school by 730 and stay/teach until 11. Although Rainbow school is not as long, we're still drained by the end of the day. The kids, who are mainly 3-5 years old, are incredibly cute and so bright. They're so eager to learn and it's encouraging to see that they're actually learning something from us. They'll repeat everything we say and they just love singing songs. Even when we arrived to Cambodia we still felt a little unprepared to teach but with the help of God, He has truly lead the way. The teachers there can't really speak English but so far it's been working out well. By noon we're having lunch and as soon as lunch is over we have another bible reading with the BGU students (we're currently reading through Job).

Then we prepare for VBS at Kontrak Village and we're there by 230pm. They absolutely love singing and the skits have been going well. It gets extra hot during this time but thankfully God has provided us with rain during this time both Thursday and Friday. Actually, the word rain is quite an understatement. It was POURING rain with thunder. It was impossible to hear anybody during most of VBS (with singing and the skits) so the kids were screaming at the top of their lungs to be heard worshiping Him. It was amazing. (Don't worry, Danny recorded the amazing-ness of it all.) It was encouraging to see yesterday that even some parents came out to observe the VBS.

When VBS ends around 430 at Kontrak, we head back home at the NIBC center where we have dinner and spend time interacting and getting to know the BGU students and other missionaries. So far the rest of the time after dinner we've been meeting with either the missionaries or the BGU students who live there to worship together and learn more about how they got here. It's definitely been such a rewarding experience and we've just been feeling so blessed to know the missionaries and BGU students here. We really get to see their love for Christ and it's such an encouragement...especially with our own walk with Him. Even though it may seem as if we were sent there as missionaries to teach them more about Him but I feel as if we're the ones that are learning more.

It's just so amazing to see how even though everyone at the NIBC center are from different parts of the world (US, Cambodia, Korea, China, and Thailand) that we are still able to communicate with each other and worship together as a family to our one and only Father.

Esther

Until next time, we do have some prayer requests...
- To have enough strength and energy to be able to fully give our all to the kids (both at the NIBC center with the BGU students and Rainbow school and at Kontrak Village).
- For our health (we've been good so far...no stomach problems for any of us!! Well, at least that I know of...).
- To be more open with the BGU students and the missionaries and form a closer relationship.
- To open our hearts to God and trust in Him to lead the way.

Thanks so much for reading this & for praying for us...it has truly been so amazing and it wouldn't be so without your prayers....

Missionary EunJin Kim and Baby Han Gyur

Proof that Danny landed in Seoul (we used his camera so there were no other pictures of him)

Whew.  That was a big one.

Siem Reap Market and Kevin

Where we eat and gather

There/Here

So it's Wednesday evening here, and we landed a couple nights ago.  We're staying at the NIBC site, which, when we arrived on Monday night, had no electricity so that was interesting.  They had it back on by the next evening, though, so that was good.

It's really hot here.  It's so hot I wanted to crawl into the oven just for the cool air.  Haha just kidding.  There is no oven here.

Today we started our programs in earnest - Kevin, Kwan, and Esther at Rainbow School, and HuGu and I at BGU.  After that, we started VBS at Kontrak Village which has bathrooms now!  I'm sure before long you'll get an update about Rainbow School from one of the three teaching there, but teaching at BGU is, hm, a lot.  I have found that teaching English to people who don't share a common language with me is quite difficult, and the fact that it's for 5 hrs a day amplifies the effect.  They're eager to learn, though; apparently, the students have been waiting at NIBC just for us.  No pressure, heh.  Nevertheless, we're trying to make the most of this opportunity, to serve with all we have in us while we're here.

The kids at Kontrak are so ... many.  We had about 50 today, and according to the missionaries, on a popular day, they can number up to 100.  Kevin commented on how it's "funny to watch [me] with the kids" or something to that effect.  Hey, I'm trying.  I got dizzy from singing "Making Melodies."  Our first puppet skit went ok, but we definitely have some modifications to make to our program for the coming days.

Thank you for your support in sending us here and in your continued prayers while we are here.  Please pray for continued health.  Nobody has gotten sick yet, so PTL.  Pray also for strength and energy.  Each day starts early and is full and long.  Also please pray for a quick adjustment to the climate and the routine here, without allowing ourselves to become mired in complaints.  It's been humbling to see the missionaries here who live this, in and out of season.  Lastly, we have a couple team members with some minor tp moderate back pains, so prayers for healing would also be much appreciated.

Sorry there aren't any pictures today.  We'll post some, I promise.  We just forgot to bring them this time.

-The old guy on the team (Danny)

Almost there

It is 6:34pm in korea right now. Waiting for our transfer into Siem Reap, Cambodia

Kevin

Team before departure

The Morning Of

Greetings!  From Danny Dokko's living room.  HG and I (Kwan) arrived late last night (It being 3AM right now) and we're currently finishing up our last minute preparations after hours of bag packing and repacking.  I think I speak for the entire team when I say that we're anxious, excited, tired, and hungry.  And we're still in America.  We're set to get to church early to be sent off by both the KM and the EM and then head to the airport for our 1:30 flight.  If you get a chance to read this please pray for smooth travels and no passport mishaps (HG apparently washed his with his clothes, but hopefully that doesn't cause any problems).

As the next two weeks progress we'll do our best to update this blog every 2-3 days.  The idea is to have a different team member post once or twice throughout the trip so you can get a taste of all of our personalities.  Being a smaller team, and completely inexperienced, I can only imagine what kind of shenanigans we'll get into.  But hopefully in the end, God is pleased with what we do and we're able to convey what we see and experience to you, our Body.

Please do pray for us.  We hear it so often that we're sometimes desensitized to it, but we need your prayers.  Prayers for safe travels, patience, unity, open mind and heart, efficiency, effectiveness, the ability to listen, the boldness to act, the wisdom to wait, and to appreciate the experience we're about to have.  Honestly, I don't know what to expect.  But with God, nothing is impossible, which means all things are possible. (I think I got that off a bumper sticker).  So, for now, farewell and see you later.  Hopefully you'll hear from us in about 48-72 hours.

Kwan