Contrast of Days

Often when we email or Skype with people our story of how things are going can sway from month to month, week to week, or even day to day.  That is how I have felt this past week.  On Monday afternoon my wallet was stolen just outside of our house.  I don't know how it happened, but it is part of life here, unfortunately.  I was really mad at first, and honestly outright confused on how it could of happened, then I became sad, and then to feeling really defeated.

To make it worse, on Tuesday the Cambodian who had my wallet called to tell me he found my wallet with all my ID cards and belongings, and asked what reward I would give him to return the wallet (even after all the money was taken out).  I told to come to Chris' school and we could talk about the reward.  Well, that was not enough of an incentive for him, so to this day he remains with my wallet.  This left me bitter and angry as to why someone could not just return the items that didn't belong to them after calling the person to let them know they were found.

After talking through this whole event with Chris and other friends, they prayed for protection and strength to keep going despite the feeling of being defeated.  We prayed that God continues to give us the ability to be forgiving toward others, thankful for what we have, and encouraged by the endurance and strength that Christ gives us in days like these. 

Days before my wallet was stolen I read this quote, "When the problems before you seem to loom larger than the Power behind you, the purpose in living can fall right out from underneath of you."  God obviously intended me to read this and begin to mediate on it as it would become something I would need to face very soon.  If I (or we) forget about the Power behind us, we allow God to be stripped of His goodness, and evil to overcome. 

As I write this blog post we are at a staff retreat in Sihanoukville, the beach town in Cambodia and enjoying wonderful time of fellowship, worship, and hearing words of encouragement from our guest speaker.  Last night he spoke on how God provides for us, and how fitting it was for me to hear those words.  Some of my favorite things were: "God is not stingy and cheap, but gives generously to provide for our everyday needs.  That if God sends you, He will provide for you, and not provide when you just need it, but provide for your everyday needs."  (1 Kings 17:1-20)

What a contrast of days, God will provide for my needs, our needs, your needs we have to trust in that and continue to live a life a gratitude and thankfullness.  To be generous when we want to hoard because we feel we deserve it due to things that have happened.  And to give because nothing is truly ours to keep (even wallets).

Please continue to pray for us in the daily struggles we face in living in a country where rewards drive generosity, greed overrides love for others, and Christ is not known.  Please also pray I can live out the truth I am learning:

"I simply need have a grateful heart to give Him glory."
Gratitude in all things is the only thing God asks."
Can I take each seeming problem and turn it back to praise?"

The Adventures of Lenny and Cree

Leanne and I are continuously grateful that we have the ability to work with Cambodians in communities and with projects throughout the country. It sounds odd to say this because you might imagine that we would work with Cambodians because we live in Cambodia. However, there is such a large population of expats and westerners around us that often we feel that we have to seek out Cambodians more than anyone else.

Over the past week, Leanne and I have spent a lot of time in the community of Prek Pneu as she has been updating Asian Hope's new facility (more to come on that).  We also have spent a lot of time with young women involved in a program called Precious Women. This week we met a group of former bar girls (prostitutes that were either trafficked or entered into the profession voluntarily) who now have the opportunity to learn new skills and take a step towards a new identity through education.

When we go to meetings, bike distributions or into Prek Pneu we are always introduced to Cambodians who also want to help in what we are doing, or are there to introduce themselves. Our names are very difficult to pronounce to Khmer speakers so we have just become used to introducing ourselves as Lenny and Cree.

When life is chaotic and Cambodia is happening all around us and in front of us, I will often look at my wife and say, "Just another day in the adventures of Lenny and Cree!"

Below are some photos of the last couple weeks in the life of Lenny and Cree.

From top to bottom: Cambodia Bike Project's Distribution to three girls working at the organization Precious Women, Logos students and our Khmer friends after painting the new building in Prek Pneu, Logos students balancing on a ladder in Prek Pneu, Leanne and her friend Meisa in Prek Pneu.

Birthdays in Cambodia

  

This was really our first time to have our birthdays celebrated in Cambodia. Last year we had just moved here in time for mine, but after only 3 weeks of living in the country we couldn’t tell up from down at that point so this year’s celebrations were much better.


For Chris’ birthday he wanted to go on a bike ride through the city and then out to the countryside.  Later that evening we headed to an American grill restaurant to get some home cooked food. After 14 months of not having a steak, it would be an understatment to say it was delicious!
My birthday fell on the same day as a friend of ours, Lyle, so he and his wife decided to gather a group of friends and rent a boat a do a dinner cruise on the Mekong River. They got us pizzas, drinks, and even a birthday cake. It was really fun and again something we can do here in Cambodia that doesn’t break the bank in comparison to renting a private boat in America.  We took advantage and enjoyed the night on the river with only a small rain delay...

Pictured above: Our city bike ride, the Mekong boat cruise, Lyle cutting the birthday cake, and then us going out to dinner.

Create to Restore

Over the last 8 days we have had the amazing opportunity to host Stuart Atkins and Andy Brophy from Create to Restore as they volunteered their time with Asian Hope.  They came out to Cambodia to update and overhaul the media that Asian Hope has.  We got to spend the week watching them photograph and video our ministries, life, and days here in Phnom Penh.  During the course of their time with us they saw numerous markets throughout the city, went to church in Prek Pneu, got up at 4:30am to see the village's fish market, helped with our first bike distribution, visited all of Asian Hope's schools, documented the genocide museums, and even got a game of soccer in. 

It was nothing shy of a huge blessing to have them here as we enjoyed watching them work and sharing many meals together.  If you would like to see some of their short update clips (as well as several pictures) go to http://www.createtorestore.tumblr.com/ and search through their posts to find the 5 update videos.

We can't wait to get the final work and once we do we will share it all with you.

Pictures from top to bottom: Storm clouds from our balcony, Ourssay and Central Market, Prek Pneu and its fish market, filming a video, the bike distribution, and Khmer house church.

Cambodia Bike Project: Stung Meanchey

Cambodia Bike Project provides bikes to children who needed them to get to school. This is a simple task, mundane in nature but substantial for the children who receive them and the communities in which they live.

On Tuesday, myself and Asian Hope staff as well as two incredibly talented photographers/videographers from a ministry called Create to Restore went to Stung Meanchey just outside of Phnom Penh.

With the help of our friend Pany, we were able to distribute 14 bicycles to children who had applied for and been identified as needing a bike to get to school on a more regular basis. In our brief 30-minute ceremony, I was able to speak to the kids and explain to them the purpose behind the bikes and our hope for them as they continue to study. It was simple but exciting and we were so blessed to be able to participate with and support these 14 Cambodian children.

It is incredible to be a part of this work. Providing bikes is so simple but has so much impact on kids and communities. Bikes keep kids safe by helping them get to school and they help families maintain a higher income.

If you want to learn more about this project, go to www.facebook.com/cambodiabikeproject.

Give us a "Like" and keep up with our future distributions. If you would like to purchase a bike for a Cambodian student, go to:

- Asian Hope.org
- Click "Donate"
- Select "Cambodia Bike Project" and indicate your amount.

What's Been Going On

We've been busy over the summer with our ministries and we wanted to give an update on everything that is going on.  First off Logos, school started on Monday for Chris, but this time in an entirely new role.  He is half administrator and half teacher.  He will be teaching one class this year and then filling his schedule with developing the schools curriculum to meet their ACSI standards for grades 5 -12.  He will also be responsible for the school's teacher coaching and observations.  The new role is very exciting and something Chris is excited to begin.  His afternoons and morning will be full of coaching boys basketball, girls and boys soccer, being the student government sponsor, leading the 12th grade homeroom, and a HS boys bible study.  This go around it seems a little less daunting than last year because we have a much better grip on language, culture, how to get around the city, where to eat, and Cambodia in general. 

Next up, Cambodia Bike Project (CBP), this really took flight over the summer with Chris starting to create awareness for the needs of bikes and how much they can change lives in Cambodia.  To read more on the project go here or read about on Facebook here.  Over the summer over 15 bikes were donated by friends or visitors that passed through Phnom Penh and we were able to make the first donation about a week ago.  The first bike to be given went to a woman who is a client of an organization called Precious Woman, who works with bar girls here in the city.  This woman now is able to leave her old life and begin school at her vocational training site now that she has the transportation to get there.  We are excited to give out more bikes next week in the community of Stung Meanchey with our other partner organization Kone Kmeng.

Staff of Precious Woman accepting the first donated bike.

Last up, Prek Pneu, we have been asking for your prayers as we look for a facility in this community to be the site of catch-up school for children, community workshops for adults, and a platform for any community development projects.  All of these combined will help protect the at-risk children that live in Prek Pneu.  The day after we arrived home from China we went out again looking for a facility, this time we found one.  We signed the lease contract on the 1st and gave the building a big clean out last Friday.  Now Americans have a tendency to he hyper clean and Cambodians have a tendency to never clean, so thus another culture clash that made for a very dirty Friday.  With the help of a group of 10 volunteers we were able to take out 9 very large trash bags fulls of dirt, dust, cob webs, trash and other fine gems.  Starting on Thursday we have a construction team coming in to do a bathroom and kitchen overhaul and painting will also commence.  This is very exciting and such a huge answer to prayer.  Below are the "Before" pictures and stayed tuned in a few weeks for the "After."

 

Thanks for your prayers and support through all of this and we look forward to the beginning of year two here in Cambodia!

We're Official

It took us a year but we finally got our Cambodian Driver's Licenses.  Now when we get pulled over and have to pay off the cops it will be a much easier process...the sad part is that is true.