Welcome to Phnom Penh...and out to the countryside!

Hello all! We have obviously arrived safely to Phnom Penh :) ...but if you didn't know that, now you can stop worrying. The first few days were just getting used to the time difference, enjoying our first tuktuk ride (basically the taxi), exploring the city (a.k.a. getting lost, but Dennis rescuing us just as we reached familiar territory), trying strange foods from the street vendors (grilled bananas...yes, they were actually really good), and catching up on jet lag. Day three is where things got really exciting!!

Baby pineapples from a street vendor at the Russian Market!

Hang around for a short intermission with me here. So we stayed in a guesthouse (hotel) our first two nights, but it is brand new and they didn’t exactly follow through with their promises for breakfast and, most importantly, wifi. Anywho, no biggie, we checked out and have been staying with the missionary couple that we are working with- Dennis and Sharon Welch, and their adopted Cambodian daughter Theary (minus the two nights on an island. Yes, an island, but hold that thought for the next blog post. So pretty much the Welches are amazing- super sweet, hospitable, and committed to the Lord. They didn’t grow up in the faith like Mallory and I have, but once they heard of the great hope we have they decided they wanted to jump right in...to Cambodia. They said “If the Bible says to go and share His love and share the Good News, then why wouldn’t we?” Good point. Well here they are and they have a daughter our age that lives with them and is going to university here in the city now. Theary grew up in a village and met the Welches through a crazy series of events, kept in contact, and then voilà- she has continued to bless them with her presence by now living with them. She is a sweet, humble, and fun-loving soul. She has learned a ton of English since moving in with the Welches about three years ago and is now becoming a great friend to us (and is our local Khmer (said kinda like kuh-mai- obvioulsy I’m not the speech path major so hold on for a better explanation...) language and culture expert!) You’ll hear a lot more about them, but there’s a brief introduction.

So back to day three. Friday marked our first day in the countryside. This meant we got to visit three villages with the SNACK program, which is the program that we came here intending to serve with. It is overseen by Sharon, but run by eight (soon to be nine) local Cambodians. We arrived at the Partners in Progress house, the place where SNACK headquarters, right around 8:00 am to meet the staff and see them run through the day’s schedule, as well as receive a fresh delivery of bread, soy milk, and ice. Did I mention traffic here is super crazy? Because it is. The lines on the road and even the stoplights are simply suggestions. People weave in and out and honk just to say “I’m here. I’m coming over.” It actually works better than you would think because all the motos (motorbikes) move around pretty easily, but then again, traffic jams happen a lot too. Anyways, we got to the P.I.P. house and met the crew and observed the daily preparations. From there we headed out to visit three villages, all of which have fabulous Khmer names that I have yet to memorize.

There is definitely a lot of poverty and living conditions that you can’t really imagine in the U.S., but I don’t want to dwell on that. The fact is, we are there to serve and love on these great people and learn from their joy and simple, but budding faith. When the SNACK truck pulls up all the kids approach the meeting spot with excitement and sit on a tarp to hear a little about health, hygiene, and then listen to a Bible lesson. Listening to them sing praises in Khmer is really cool. Then they all line up- one line of boys, one of girls, to receive their snack. They each say “ah-kuhn” (thank you) in turn and then run along home. But at the third village, this ended a little differently. At the village abbreviated TTP, the kids hung around and some were brave enough to play with us. It was a little difficult to reach out to the kids except for shy smiles and serving the snack at the first couple villages, but at the third we made friends with a few little guys who raced back and forth across the schoolroom with Mallory and played a game filled with high fives with me. One boy in particular ran out to meet Sharon’s car as we pulled up (we rode behind the SNACK truck) and held our hands, gave us the hugest smile, and shared a lot of peace signs with us. This guy apparently struggles with some speech problems (and maybe a few other developmental issues) and is made fun of by a few of the local kids. I’m sure you’ve heard the cliché talk of people having so much joy with so little material possessions, but it really is a reality check to see it in person. Regardless of my wealth status, or my ethnicity, or anything else, I want to be overflowing with that much joy! And I want to work on that being because of my foundational relationship with God. And I want to share this joy with others I encounter daily. But we all have a lot of learning to do right? Sharon’s great about reminding us of that and also that joy comes through trials to produce faith.

This is just the start of the learning though. As well as the start of the serving and loving here in Phnom Penh. We are loving it so far, but are also a little ready to start a more regular schedule and such. But it’s an adventure and I am trying to soak it all up and learn from whatever is in store. Please continue to keep us in your prayers; thanks so much for your encouragement!

Blessings,

Shanleigh