Chhuk

Today has been a hot, hot, hot day in Chuuk. I had the after lunch session and it was 36 degrees in the church. The power kept going off so the fans would stop. The fans don't seem to do a lot until they stop!

Every centimeter of me was running with sweat and my cloaths were saturated, here's a picture of my back after 20 minutes.

The day began at 8am with prayer and worship. Every time we have been here the worship has been fantastic and today did not disappoint. The teenagers who live at the on-site children's home have led it each time.  One of the values in this home is that every child shall have the change to learn to play a musical instrument. The drummer is very talented. There are currently 22 children in the home. Here are some pictures of the worship, notice the boy who is jumping up and down as he is singing!

Lunch was served under a tree and we enjoyed rice, fish and a type of meat soup.

 After lunch one of the local boys invited Tom Kenneth to play volley ball with him. Here is a sequence of pictures. Note the huge smile on Tom Kenneth's face!

Then it was my teaching which was ok but the temperature was a challenge. It really is important to drink water constantly.

Tbung Khmum and Chhuk

We started the day with breakfast then straight to the church for the next three teaching sessions.

The snacks between sessions here are fruit or a something, I write something because I have no idea what to call it. See the picture below. It is rice with some sort of fruit for flavour which has been steamed while wrapped in a palm leaf. The leaf is not to be eaten but the inside is.

More teaching, then making plans to present to the other groups. We finish with prayer for each church team. After that it was lunchtime. The food here tastes good if you just close your eyes to what you are eating. On the picture below you see fish soup, green beans with pork and chicken with noodles and ginger strands. All is fine but every part of the animal is eaten, even the toes of a chicken and the entrails too which means every mouthful is potentially an unexpected texture or flavour.

After we finished lunch it was home time for the participants while we had a review of the two days with the local organizers. Here is a team or two heading home in a motorbike trailer.

The village shop was just by the church gate.

Before leaving the area we stopped to buy a durian fruit to taste. For more about it follow this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian Neither I nor Anne Kate liked it but Steve and Tom Kenneth thought it was nice.

The next thing today was the journey down to Chhuk which meant 6 hours bouncing along in a minibus. We went over the famous Mekong river, for more about it see here:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong

We crossed it on this impressive new bridge.

 As a snack on the journey south we were able to try roasted crickets. Tom Kenneth wants to try everything which is new, we ladies are not so brave! He said they were nice, we believed him but weren't tempted to try.







Now you see it... now you don't!






Although the drive has been long there has been lots to see, here is a taste of Cambodia:

But now it's bed time what a lovely bed too. It's a shame I will have to destroy the towel swan when I take a shower.

Tboug Khmum day 1

We set off at 7am in search of breakfast which we found at a street cafe we have eaten in before. I had marinated chicken leg and rice, the others had a variety of things including noodle soup, meat filled dumpling. There was no bread or breakfast cereal, such things are not eaten here.










We are in a part of the country which is rich and fertile, farming communities abound here. It is however not a place visited by tourists, in fact very few westerners venture this far into the country.

The church is not on a highway but an orange sand road.

We started the day with worship, some songs are translated from English and familiar to me while others are not. 









The next hour and a half was spent revisiting the previous teaching from last November when we were here and asking hearing feedback from the eighty or so people who were gathered there about how their action plans have gone.

Steve had the first session of new teaching based on Matthew 28 verses 18-20. As the morning progressed the temperature climbed up the thermometer. By lunch time the feels like temperature was 44 degrees centigrade! We were struggling, all our clothing was completely wet through with sweat and our skin was shiny with it. At times like this it is reassuring to notice that the Cambodians were also struggling.

Lunch was outside under colourful tents. We ate rice with two different meat and vegetable sauces.

After lunch was nap time. It really was too hot and humid to do anything else!









Isn't the teaching session after lunch known as the "graveyard slot?" That was the one I got but somewhat surprisingly everyone stayed awake and engaged, some even taking notes. I had a session on "We are sent" based on Luke 10:1-12.

Then a bit of fun, a game called robots and penguins. 

Tom Kenneth rounded off the afternoon with a session on "Acts of kindness" acts of kindness done in love can change the world. In the group feedback we saw that many of the churches represented here are engaged in this and they enthusiastically shared testimony about what they are doing.






The day was good but the heat was exhausting. We came back to the guest house
to have a cold shower; had we wanted a hot one we wouldn't have been able to have one as there is only cold water. The we went out for supper, some had fruit smoothie, others had dumpling filled with meat and vegetables.









As I write I am sitting under a mosquito net on my bed, Anne Kate who I share  room with thinks I ought to share with you what I look like.

To Tboung Khmum

This morning we went to the student dormitory church and shared in a lovely time of worship. We are always made to feel so welcome there. After the service which lasted about two hours we ate with them.

Once Chaya our translator arrived we set off for the boards with Vietnam. Tboung Khmum is on the boarder between Cambodia and Vietnam. Journeys in Cambodia vary enormously in how long they take according to how much traffic is on the roads at the same time as us. Today's journey was very easy and we arrived here in just less than three hours.

We have had a teachers meeting going through the six sessions we will teach over the next two days.

Early start tomorrow, we need to be out of the guest house before 7am.

The temperature today has been 35 degrees with occasional rain showers. The air humidity is the most challenging, today it has been 86%.

Phnom Pehn day 1

We arrived safely just after 9am and although none of us had slept well on the overnight flight we didn't want to waste the only free day we have by sleeping. First we went to look around the Russian Market. It is an indoor market that has to be experienced, it sells everything you can imagine and even things you never would imagine! Shopping was done and gifts bought as well as an experience for life for Tom Kenneth and Rivo who have not been there before. Here are some pictures to help you imagine but it is such a shame that pictures don't come with smell files because the smell of the place is beyond description.

Being an electrician Tom Kenneth was 

interested to see how electrical work is

carried out here.

We ate lunch at Daughters, for more information about the fantastic work they do see their website:  http://daughtersofcambodia.org/

This will be the last bread for a week as we will be eating rice for breakfast lunch and dinner.





The traffic in the city is appears as chaotic as ever yet everyone seems to get to where they are going. I have on occasion chosen to close my eyes! Vehicle safety is not always taken too seriously either!

The genocide under the Khmer Rouge in the mid and late 1970's is part of this country's history which continues its influence today. Since two of the five of us had not been to Tuol Sleng genocide museum we went in. It is a haunting place with a gruesome history.

A room used for torture.

 

After that we headed back to the guest house for a nap before going over to have dinner with Sithuon and his wife Lysom. They are Normisjons local employees and corordinate much of the church development work Normisjon does. Normisjons social development is done through ICC. If you want to know more there is a website in English here: http://www.icc.org.kh/

Almost there

Well, we have made it safely and uneventfully to Bangkok in Thailand. The pilot strike was cancelled at the last minute so no problem and the security personnel strike at Oslo airport also came to nothing. Thank you if you prayed about this.

The flight overnight was a bit turbulent and bumpy but not really a problem. We are now waiting for our connecting flight to Phnom Penh and some of us are grabbing a quick doze.

Here we go again

Tomorrow the 10th of June Anne Kate, Tom Kenneth and I are heading to Cambodia again. If we get there of course! Let me explain, the tickets take us with SAS airlines from Stavanger airport to Oslo airport then on to Bangkok with Thai airlines. This is presenting us with two potential problems, firstly there is the strong likelihood that SAS pilots will be taken out on strike at some point in the next 24 hours leaving us stranded at home unless we drive to Oslo. The second problem is at Oslo airport where the security staff will be taken out on strike tomorrow if they can't come to an agreement with their employers. The result of that will be to paralyze the whole airport.

I did think I was very organized for this trip but elements beyond my control may yet thwart me! If you pray then please pray for us!

The weather there at this time of year will be demanding too, it is normal for there to be 30-35 degrees centigrade and 80-90% humidity. It is the humidity which is the biggest problem as I am sure yhttps://www.google.no/maps/place/Chhuk,+Cambodia/@10.8355397,104.4462489,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3109afec784f9669:0xda906e061fb57dda!8m2!3d10.8359733!4d104.4577732?hl=enou can imagine! 

So here is a summary of our itinerary:
Sat  Arrive, check into guest house and either fall asleep or go sight seeing.
Sun  Team meeting with us pluss Steve the international leader for Agenda 1, the translator and Rivo who will be joining us as an observer. In the afternoon we drive to Tboung Khmom which is on the boarder with Vietnam. Follow the link below for a map and some information:
https://www.google.no/maps/place/Tbong+Khmum,+Cambodia/@11.9597697,105.3814933,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x310c728a36aeb3ad:0x22401b5bf292b69f!8m2!3d11.8891023!4d105.876004?hl=en

Mon and Tue we will be teaching in a rural church where church leaders will be gathered from all over the provinse, here is a picture from last time. There is no air condition there, not in the guest house or the church. It is much too far off the tourist track to have such luxuries. If we are lucky there may be a fan or two.

Tuesday eveing after teaching during the day we will be back in the minibus and down to Chhuk which is south of Phnom Penh, the journey took 6 hours last time we did it.
Wed and Thur we will be teaching the mostly the same material in Chhuk before heading to the airport and our return journey to Norway. Below is a link to a map and some information about Chhuk.
https://www.google.no/maps/place/Chhuk,+Cambodia/@10.8355397,104.4462489,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3109afec784f9669:0xda906e061fb57dda!8m2!3d10.8359733!4d104.4577732?hl=en

I will blog as often as I have internet so do follow us on our adventure if you are able to.