Day 18 – July 11

Not much new to report today.  It was a pretty usual day, although I did make a run to the computer store to buy a printer cartridge.  I’m getting to recognize the city more and more and I take these short trips out. 

Next Monday the Worship Workshop starts.  I’m really not sure what to expect, but it will definitely make for longer days.   The keyboard class started to learn to play “How Great Is Our God” with two hands, so most of that hour was spent learning to play as an accompaniment for a song.  I think most everyone did okay.

It was a long day though and I was pretty tired out.  So after John’s mini lesson, I went to bed early to try to catch up on some rest. 

One interesting thing is yesterday after the guitar class the guys were playing “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns.  Then today John wanted to play that song as well.  It was the same song that Jack sang for us on Pastor’s Appreciation Sunday, and it speaks volumes to my soul right now.

Who Am I?

Verse1
Who am I? That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt,
Who am I? That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way, of my ever wondering heart,
Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done,
Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are
CHORUS
I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling, 
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am, I am Yours. 



Verse 2












Who am I? That the eyes that see my sin,
Would look on me with love, and watch me rise again,
Who am I? That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain, and calm the storm in me,
Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done,
Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are

Day 19 – July 12

Today is a bit of a rest day for me.  I decided I would go the market for the week’s groceries.  The workshop starts on Monday so I know I won’t have the time or energy to go out as much. 

I actually went to the mall and market by myself for the first time.  I didn’t feel intimidated at all.  Yes the communication was a little limited, but I got around okay.  On the way to the market I made several observations about the ride, especially the moto drivers. 

There is a fine art to riding a moto, first of all you try to go as quick as you can to get where you want to go.  There are no rules, if it means driving on the wrong side of the road, or driving on the sidewalk, that what you do.  Secondly, you try to load down as much stuff on your moto as you possibly can.  I missed the opportunity to take the picture, but I saw one guy with about a dozen live chickens, hung upside down by their legs from all around the moto.  Presumably they were on their way to the market to get sold and slaughtered.  Maybe they’ll end up in the KFC soon.  I also saw a guy with four 50lb bags of rice on the back of the moto, with no ropes tying them down, and 1 bag seated between himself and the handlebars.   And if you don’t have stuff to pile onto your moto, then you put your whole family on, sometimes up to 5 people (that’s the most I’ve seen, there could be more).  And finally, women riding on the back of a moto ride side saddle.  How they stay on without holding onto something is beyond me, but their sense of balance must be extraordinary.

Sometimes I feel like I’m in an episode of the “Amazing Race”, traveling to some exotic foreign land. 

After shopping at the market I had lunch with John and his girlfriend Ancy.  She’s a nice girl, the daughter of a pastor of another church.  They have been seeing each other for about 5 years.  It was really nice getting to know them and spending time with them.  They make a cute couple don’t they?

I spent the evening preparing for the workshops that start on Monday, as well as the message I’ll be sharing at the Living Hope Youth Service Sunday evening.

Day 20 – July 13

Today I visited Neth’s church, New Life Community Center.  They have two services and Neth said most Cambodian go to the first service which runs from 7-9am.  I went to the 10am service which is where more foreigners go.  I guess they can’t wake up as early.  This is the church the youth concert was held, and this morning Neth was leading the worship singing time.  They sang several songs I was already familiar with and it was nice to see the Cambodian and English lyrics up at the same time. 

The pastor’s name is Jessie McCall, and he’s from Eugene Oregon originally.  He’s been in Cambodia 13 years, is married to a Cambodian lady and speaks fluent Khmer.  Today he wasn’t preaching, instead he led the congregation in an extended time of confession, prayer, and quiet time with God.  It was really nice to have that time with God, and I think he was wise to provide this opportunity.  It’s a wise shepherd who senses the leading of the Holy Spirit and the needs of the people.

After service I went out to lunch with Neth to a restaurant called the Olympic Khmer Thai restaurant.  It was a really nice place with good food.  All the food I’ve had here has been really good.  I don’t think I’ve tried anything that didn’t agree with me. 

Loc Lac, traditional Khmer dish. 

Like I said you can see some pretty unusual things here.  On the way to New Life we were traveling behind a Toyota Camry.  Nothing really unusual, something like you might see in Irvine.  I did notice that the trunk lid was open, so I wondered what why it was open.  I soon found out why, there are a bunch of live geese in the back of the trunk. It was open of course so that the geese wouldn’t suffocate.  Now that’s something you wouldn’t see in Irvine. 

In the afternoon I attended the Living Hope Youth Service.  I attended the first week I came, but now I’m familiar with many of the youth so it was very comfortable for me.  They are very much like our youth, they love to have fun, love to hang out together, love to worship God in music.  I spoke from 2 Samuel 23, the passage about David’s mighty men who broke through enemy lines to get a drink of water for David who said he was thirsty.  I also taught them a song, “All Who Are Thirsty”.

After the meeting, John, Ratanak, a young lady who is on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ here in Phnom Penh, and one of her young disciples, went to dinner at the Morning Café.  While there we met a young Korean lady named Jie-un who is working in Phnom Penh as a missionary, by herself.  I think John and Ratanak sensed that she was lonely so they tried to make friends with her.  She was very appreciative of the company since she doesn’t know too many young people in Cambodia.  She has been to Cambodia several times, and she is able to speak very good English. 

 Day 21 – July 14

The Worship Workshop began today.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I planned out the day’s schedule with some worship singing to begin, a short teaching, and then some practical tips when playing together with a group.  It was a smaller group than I hoped for (about 10) and only really two churches represented.  But that’s fine, mostly the young folks from Living Hope Church, and not really too many of their primary worship team members, but that’s good too, I can help train the next generation of leaders.

And that’s what I’m hearing from them too, that the older leaders (older as in 5 years older) had some training from Pastor Barnabas’ daughter, but since she moved to New Zealand no one else has been able to give them any training, so I think this is coming at a good time.

I made the mistake though of choosing some songs that had lots of words and that they weren’t too familiar with.  I also didn’t have the Cambodian translations of the songs, so after the workshop I got the Power Point slides they use for Sunday service, particularly the ones that have been translated.  Now I know the songs they have sung before that have been translated and also the Khmer versions of the lyrics, I can choose songs I know they have sung before.