So I have noticed that in Battambang, along with everywhere else I've been in Asia, the traffic laws are very much like suggestions which everyone goes out of their way to break.
You will find people riding for extended periods of time on the wrong side of the road. You will not see any speed limit signs. You will see small pickup trucks with, on average, about 15 people just in the bed of the truck. They, of course, are sitting on top of the roof and on top of the stuff that is already filling the truck bed. You'll also see people riding on mopeds with the strangest things.
For example, I've seen a couple of times a guy/girl driving on his/her moped with one hand holding up the IV that is in his/her arm while driving with the other hand. I've seen a family of 6 on a 2-person moped. I could list a bunch of other crazy things, but I'm sure you get the point. You don't even have to have a vehicle to experience the traffic firsthand.
Even crossing the street you take your own life in your hands. Street crossing in Battambang reminds me very much of the video game Frogger. However, I don't remember frogger having to deal with traffic going both ways in each lane. That said, I could certainly destroy Frogger, himself, in a game of Frogger.
And with that we'll move on to where I am staying. Our whole team is staying with an American missionary named Barbara. She rents a really nice house that's in a slum area of Battambang. We have really been blessed to live in such a nice house. In our neighborhood there are probably 15-20 kids that are always out playing around on our street when they aren't in school. So part of our team has started having a sunday school type program for the kids twice a week. Whenever we can(which is usually everyday) we go out and play with the kids. We give them piggyback rides, hug them, speak english with the older ones who know english, and listen to the younger ones speak Khmer to you even though you've told them you can't speak Khmer.
These kids don't recieve that much attention at home from the fact that the Asian culture doesn't really show physical affection. Even between husbands and wives it's rare that they would even kiss privately, never in public. So as you can probably imagine these kids will just run at you with a huge smile and their arms open as soon as they see someone who will show them affection. So we try to go out and love these kids as often as we can.
Along with the kids on our street, there are a couple of other ministry things we are a part of. We also will be working with a Khmer guy named Dara, who does agricultural work in the outer areas of Battambang. We will be using some of the water sanitation skills, that we learned in Bali, to improve the quality of life around Battambang. We are also helping out at the 4 square orphanage. We will be putting on a church service and hanging out with them every Sunday. I, along with some other team members, will be teaching various classes at the YWAM Youth Center. The Youth Center offers free classes in Bible, English, Guitar, Keyboard, and a number of other subjects in an effort to build relationships with the young people of the community. They have several hundred students who come to the center everyday. There are a bunch of other random things we are doing that would take a long time for me to write out, but these are the big consistent things we are a part of.
I know this was a long blog post, but I can only blog on Saturdays because we can only go to the internet place on our day off. Which is totally cool because it really encourages us to realize that we are here to serve people and not ourselves. I hope all of you are doing well.
God is good. All the time.
Dan
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Jom Rep Sua From Battambang
Well,
We have arrived safely in Battambang, Cambodia after our 2 and a half weeks in Bali. Side note: The road from the Thai border to Battambang puts the Denali Highway and McCarthy Rd to shame(Alaska trip reference). Anyway the road was extremely bad. It was a fairly wide dirt road with thousands of potholes ranging from about 2 inches deep to 1.5 feet. In case I forgot to mention, this is the main road from one of two Cambodian border crossings. It's also the main highway going to Battambang(2nd largest city) and Phnom Pehn(the Capitol). Another side note: I heard a rumor that someone in the Cambodian government is getting money from an airline to slow the road repairing process so that people will choose to fly rather than drive this terrible road.
Crossing the Cambodian border was a whole different situation. You have to walk roughly 3/4 of a mile (that's a conservative estimate) from the Thai border through all of the customs buildings to get to Cambodian soil. It's really hot and you carry your luggage and wait in long lines through 3 different non-air conditioned buildings. Also, trying to avoid paying bribes at the building where you get your visas. It was one crazy experience.
The past couple days really brought to mind Matt. 9:37 (NIV) "Then he (Jesus) said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." I specifically remember several team members and even myself praying together about letting us bring in a "harvest". Well, lets just say that God answered that figuative prayer literally with 2 of the hardest days of work in my entire life. We brought in the rice harvest from 12 hectares, I think (I lost count.) of rice fields in the hot Southeast Asian heat. "Bringing in the harvest" was carrying these 15 to 30 pound bundles of cut, rice stalks (you would carry two at a time) over a distance of, on average, about 1200 ft. Also, tossing those same bundles up onto a large flatbed truck. And then stacking the bundles in a somewhat orderly way once the truck took them back to the rice holding area. We did this for a little more than 8 hours each day. It was the most intense thing I've ever done.
From now on I will eat rice know what a task it was getting from wherever it was grown to my plate. It was really an excellent learning time and time to show the Khmer workers that we care about them. The the money from the rice we were harvesting goes to an AIDS hospital and creates a lot of employment for the people in surrounding villages. Well my time on the internet is about to run out so I must say good-bye. I hope you all are doing well and I will talk to you soon.
God is good. All the time.
Dan
We have arrived safely in Battambang, Cambodia after our 2 and a half weeks in Bali. Side note: The road from the Thai border to Battambang puts the Denali Highway and McCarthy Rd to shame(Alaska trip reference). Anyway the road was extremely bad. It was a fairly wide dirt road with thousands of potholes ranging from about 2 inches deep to 1.5 feet. In case I forgot to mention, this is the main road from one of two Cambodian border crossings. It's also the main highway going to Battambang(2nd largest city) and Phnom Pehn(the Capitol). Another side note: I heard a rumor that someone in the Cambodian government is getting money from an airline to slow the road repairing process so that people will choose to fly rather than drive this terrible road.
Crossing the Cambodian border was a whole different situation. You have to walk roughly 3/4 of a mile (that's a conservative estimate) from the Thai border through all of the customs buildings to get to Cambodian soil. It's really hot and you carry your luggage and wait in long lines through 3 different non-air conditioned buildings. Also, trying to avoid paying bribes at the building where you get your visas. It was one crazy experience.
The past couple days really brought to mind Matt. 9:37 (NIV) "Then he (Jesus) said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." I specifically remember several team members and even myself praying together about letting us bring in a "harvest". Well, lets just say that God answered that figuative prayer literally with 2 of the hardest days of work in my entire life. We brought in the rice harvest from 12 hectares, I think (I lost count.) of rice fields in the hot Southeast Asian heat. "Bringing in the harvest" was carrying these 15 to 30 pound bundles of cut, rice stalks (you would carry two at a time) over a distance of, on average, about 1200 ft. Also, tossing those same bundles up onto a large flatbed truck. And then stacking the bundles in a somewhat orderly way once the truck took them back to the rice holding area. We did this for a little more than 8 hours each day. It was the most intense thing I've ever done.
From now on I will eat rice know what a task it was getting from wherever it was grown to my plate. It was really an excellent learning time and time to show the Khmer workers that we care about them. The the money from the rice we were harvesting goes to an AIDS hospital and creates a lot of employment for the people in surrounding villages. Well my time on the internet is about to run out so I must say good-bye. I hope you all are doing well and I will talk to you soon.
God is good. All the time.
Dan
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
I wish you all a belated merry christmas and happy new year
I have finally arrived back in Bangkok after a little over 2 weeks of being in Bali. I have so much to tell you that I don't know where to begin. I'll try to keep it somewhat concise.
So according to my last blog we were missing 15 of our 21 bags. In Bali, we received 20 of 21 bags. The only bag that is still missing is, my buddy, Dan's. He is doing fine and has handled the situation really well. He is borrowing some of our clothes.
Once we received our luggage we headed 2 hours outside of Denpasar to Rus Alit's house. He is an incredible dude. He knows so much about simple water technology and he has never been trained. Anyway, his property was beautiful and it was an incredible blessing to be able to stay there. I'll put pictures up as soon as I can. The whole reason we were there was to learn the simple water purifying techniques like the rain water storage tank, the "Rus"pump, the hydraulic ram pump, and the sand water filter. While we were there we got to help make a water storage tank for 4 or 5 families in the village, build a "Rus" pump, build a sand water filter, and learn about the hydraulic ram pump. It was really quite amazing to see how such simple technologies can literally save peoples lives.
We also helped the villagers build a road, but about 30 min after we started it began pouring down rain like I've never seen. So worked stopped and we hiked the 3/4 of a mile back through the jungle to Rus's place. We did a lot of praying for the villages. There is such an oppression from Hinduism. Literally, they have to be Hindu in order to get irrigation water to their rice paddies, they pay all kinds of temple charges, and they have to offer sacrifices everyday. It is so much work and money from people who neither have the money or the energy to do all these things. However, through all of this, the people are incredibly friendly, open, and love to practice any English they know with you. I really have gained a love and respect for the Balinese people. Crazy fact: women carry bags of rice that way 100 lbs on top of their heads and carry them for several miles.
There are rice paddies in the middle of these villages and they are truly stunning to see. They are like all the sweet postcards or national geographic pictures you've seen. Incredibly green and cut out of the hillside with such precision and symmetry. It was amazing to be able to walk through them and admire their beauty. I also have pictures of these that I will put up as soon as I can.
I have so much more I could tell you, but tonight I don't have enough time left on the internet card I am using. So I'll finish by telling you that God is doing amazing things through Rus and his ministry in those villages. While we were there we really got to experience the fruit of other peoples labor. The village held a Balinese feast in honor of Rus, us, and all of the other YWAM teams that have been helping the village. I roasted a pig on bamboo for the first time in my life. The feast was incredible we had so much food and it was great hanging out/getting in the way of the villagers who were cooking and preparing food. It was a thing I will never forget. The coolest part, by far, was when an elderly woman and man from the village each sang us a Christian song before we enjoyed our meal.
After the feast, we asked Rus and Made(his wife) if they were Christians who sang the songs. He said, "No, they remember those songs from 40 years ago when my brother taught them to them." Now I realize that it may not seem that cool, but these people come from the same village where they killed several of Rus's brothers just because they were Christians. God is slowly working to change that place through the work that Rus and Made are doing and it was so exciting to be a part of that. Later, I will blog and tell you a little about Rus and his story. The little I know is really incredible.
God is good all the time.
Dan
So according to my last blog we were missing 15 of our 21 bags. In Bali, we received 20 of 21 bags. The only bag that is still missing is, my buddy, Dan's. He is doing fine and has handled the situation really well. He is borrowing some of our clothes.
Once we received our luggage we headed 2 hours outside of Denpasar to Rus Alit's house. He is an incredible dude. He knows so much about simple water technology and he has never been trained. Anyway, his property was beautiful and it was an incredible blessing to be able to stay there. I'll put pictures up as soon as I can. The whole reason we were there was to learn the simple water purifying techniques like the rain water storage tank, the "Rus"pump, the hydraulic ram pump, and the sand water filter. While we were there we got to help make a water storage tank for 4 or 5 families in the village, build a "Rus" pump, build a sand water filter, and learn about the hydraulic ram pump. It was really quite amazing to see how such simple technologies can literally save peoples lives.
We also helped the villagers build a road, but about 30 min after we started it began pouring down rain like I've never seen. So worked stopped and we hiked the 3/4 of a mile back through the jungle to Rus's place. We did a lot of praying for the villages. There is such an oppression from Hinduism. Literally, they have to be Hindu in order to get irrigation water to their rice paddies, they pay all kinds of temple charges, and they have to offer sacrifices everyday. It is so much work and money from people who neither have the money or the energy to do all these things. However, through all of this, the people are incredibly friendly, open, and love to practice any English they know with you. I really have gained a love and respect for the Balinese people. Crazy fact: women carry bags of rice that way 100 lbs on top of their heads and carry them for several miles.
There are rice paddies in the middle of these villages and they are truly stunning to see. They are like all the sweet postcards or national geographic pictures you've seen. Incredibly green and cut out of the hillside with such precision and symmetry. It was amazing to be able to walk through them and admire their beauty. I also have pictures of these that I will put up as soon as I can.
I have so much more I could tell you, but tonight I don't have enough time left on the internet card I am using. So I'll finish by telling you that God is doing amazing things through Rus and his ministry in those villages. While we were there we really got to experience the fruit of other peoples labor. The village held a Balinese feast in honor of Rus, us, and all of the other YWAM teams that have been helping the village. I roasted a pig on bamboo for the first time in my life. The feast was incredible we had so much food and it was great hanging out/getting in the way of the villagers who were cooking and preparing food. It was a thing I will never forget. The coolest part, by far, was when an elderly woman and man from the village each sang us a Christian song before we enjoyed our meal.
After the feast, we asked Rus and Made(his wife) if they were Christians who sang the songs. He said, "No, they remember those songs from 40 years ago when my brother taught them to them." Now I realize that it may not seem that cool, but these people come from the same village where they killed several of Rus's brothers just because they were Christians. God is slowly working to change that place through the work that Rus and Made are doing and it was so exciting to be a part of that. Later, I will blog and tell you a little about Rus and his story. The little I know is really incredible.
God is good all the time.
Dan
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