Life in Cambodia! (June 11th-19th)

Hey Guys!

            There has been a lot in the past week, so we have decided to break this post into categories. You can pick and chose which one to read or read the whole thing, but know that we have wanted to post all week and did not have the time because of all of this…

-Organizing the Books and Rooms-

            Early on in the week, when we were still overcoming jetlag, Kels and I were in a room full of stuff—all kinds of stuff: painting stuff, crafty stuff, cleaning stuff, technology stuff, and the list goes on and on. When we started, there was not even enough room to walk around freely. Mark and Rhonda asked us to organize it for two reasons. One was because they had moved so quickly that they had not been able to organize it better, and they needed to be able to access things in the room. The second reason was a medicine cabinet. Down stairs in the kitchen, there was a medicine cabinet that was placed right in front of the guest bathroom—making it difficult to get into. Mark and Rhonda asked if it were possible to get it into the storage room. Kels and I took the challenge. In the end, the room was organized with the medicine cabinet up against the wall.

            Cleaning this room and organizing had another purpose, however. The Benz’s gave Kelsi permission to take one room in the school and transform it into what Rhonda called a “resource room” and Kelsi called her small group room. Basically this was a place to pull small groups and work with them without distraction. The problem was that the material we needed was both in the room with all of the stuff and the resource room itself. I am not sure exactly how long it took to accomplish this goal, because we worked on it for several days while doing other things, but both rooms are up and running.

     

-School News-

            Although school was out for a week (which was a good thing, because we had a lot to get done), we started as normal yesterday (Monday). It was really exciting to see how all the work the week before had paid off. One project in particular was a great success. Kelsi wanted to have the students come in the morning before school officially started and read—time they usually spend goofin. She explained that in her classroom, she had a classroom library, and she wanted to do something similar. So, we set up a shelf with colored baskets with different book genres and book levels in them—that were labeled, of course. Kelsi also found some key chains on which she placed the names of the individual students. We had hooks on each basket, so that each student could hang their key chain and take a book from that basket—so they would know where to place the book back. I thought it was cute, and I thought the younger kids would enjoy it. Today they were allowed to use the book shelf, and Kelsi explained how it worked. She did this at the beginning of their break time, and as soon as she finished explaining it, they all rushed (young and old) to the book shelf to get a book to read. It was amazing to see how much they all loved to read and how excited they were to find that the books that were packed away in boxes were now available for them to read. I think that most of you understand that this one paragraph was a ton of work—the key words like sorted, genres, and boxes of books give you an idea of what went into just this one aspect of our school day. It was totally worth it, though! And the resource room is great!

-Clinic-

            Kelsi also went with Rhonda to the clinic with the BYKOTA kids to get their shots, and I will let her tell of this adventure.

     Almost every month someone from BYKOTA house needs to go get shots or blood work or something from the doctor.  I got to go on this trip to be more familiar with the doctor and the facility.  I think I mentioned before that we have access to very good health care.  The lady that works with us is very nice, she is also very blunt.  In Rhonda's words "she cusses like a sailor and smokes like a smoke stack but she knows her stuff."  Something I found comforting is that even though she has been doing medicine for a very long time and in several countries and really knows her stuff, she is not afraid to say " I have no bloody clue" and then go find the answer or someone who knows.  Anyway, on this trip we took three siblings to get blood work to make sure all the vaccines took hold, and two special needs children to get shots.  I "got" to go in with Ty-yu ( I don't know how to spell his name)  he is maybe 2ish.  The poor baby had a hard time.  She could not get his vein to stop rolling and he just cried and cried.  When it was all over we got to cuddle a little and he was all better, especially after we stopped and got some sugar cane. :)  His brother who is probably about 4ish was really cute when he came out.  We all heard him crying when he was in there but when he came out he had one tear streaming and wouldn't look or talk to any of us but just sat there looking out the window till he gained his composure.  I was thinking the whole time, wondering how Rhonda kept track of who needed what and when, but then she told me that the doctor keeps track of it all in a spread sheet and e-mails her every month with who needs to come in.  :)  Very cool!                                                 

-Tuesday Night Small Group-

            One aspect of the BYKOTA house that I enjoy is Tuesday nights. Every Tuesday night (weather permitting), all of the children and staff come together for a worship service and a message. This past Tuesday, I gave my testimony (this Tuesday is Kelsi’s turn). But before I talk about that, I want to talk about the worship, because it was great. There is another ministry here in Cambodia, and I wish I remembered the name, but they come every Tuesday and lead the worship… in Khmer :) Although some of the songs were unfamiliar, there were a few that I knew, and it was great to hear all of God’s children praising Him—in Khmer and English. One of the boys, Bee (who is around seven years old) sat with his hands in the air singing with his eyes closed . . . I know it made God’s heart as joyful as it did mine. After worship, I was up to give my testimony. I spoke with Mekerah (an older BYKOTA kid who translates really well). I have to admit, I lost my train of thought a couple of times waiting while she translated. I found that my mask of using a lot of words when I am nervous does not work, when every five words I have to stop and be translated—I also found myself taking more time to choose my words. We also met two women that were in Cambodia for a visit with their teenage children—one lived in South Africa and is serving in Malaysia and the other spent seven years near Cambodia (I didn’t recognize where she said, but I am also terrible with Geography). The one that lived near Cambodia told us that we better be careful, because she and her husband only planned to serve for a year and a half, and ended up on the mission field for seven years! :) It makes Proverbs 16:9 really stand out in my mind: “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs His steps.”

       Tonight, Kels told her testimony--she did great! The worship, again, was fantastic. We then learned a Cambodian game from the kids that was a mixture between heads up seven up and red rover. 

-Birthday Fun-

      Since the Benz's got back from their furlough they have been very busy and had not had a chance to celebrate anyone's birthday since January.  One Thursday we had a big birthday party for all those who had been missed.  This was nine kids!  We ate gumbo and had cupcakes.  The day before a mission team had brought candy bags so we also handed those out.  Micah learned how to play "Happy Birthday" on his guitar and we sang to each child individually!  We ended up singing it 11 times!  Once for each child, once for all the kids who had had birthdays that had already been celebrated, and once for Teacher Heather.  Everyone had a lot of fun.

-Young Men’s Bible Study-

            God really laid it on my heart to get some of the young men of BYKOTA house together to get in God’s word. Rhonda explained the ways in which young men fall in Cambodia, and it made my resolve to get them grounded in scripture even more. She explained that anyone can lay with a prostitute all night for only $2.50 and that there are internet shops that are only a dollar to enter, and are places where many go to look at pornography. I thought of Proverbs 7 and my heart was frightened for the young men in this perilous land. One thing that I really wanted for this Bible Study, that I believe God laid on my heart was to have it not just once a week for a long period of time, but instead to have it almost every night and make it brief (thirty to forty-five minutes). We met for the first time last night, and the boys did not seem bored at all but were a captive audience. We plan on meeting every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We have Tuesday night small group, and most of them go to church on Sunday. What I desire for this Bible study is to simply get them in God’s word on a daily basis and give them a group of men to support them and hold them accountable to what is in God’s word. I do not have a curriculum or plan, other than to open God’s word and allow Him to speak. Just like Proverbs 16:1 says: “The preparation of the heart belongs to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” Hopefully, God has prepared me for this daily leading in His word through the fifteen years I have been following Him, but I still need prayer for the words to speak and the answers for the questions the boys may have for me. I will keep you posted on what God is doing in this amazing opportunity.

-Other News-

            Well, Kels and I have been here for only two weeks, but we have adopted a son. His name is Muggy and he is a Doxen puppy ;) (GOTCHA!)

            I am excited to film some at the markets here in Cambodia, because it would make for an interesting video. I will leave it at that, and allow you to wonder, until I get the video made . . .

            I got my hair cut yesterday, and it turned out to be interesting. The barber did a great job, but he cut the sides of my head pretty short, and in the end thinned my hair out with some scissors on top… I have never needed that done before! I guess he thought I had thick hair :/ It is nice and cool, though! :)

            I think that is all I have for now. Like I said, we would like to get more frequent and less lengthy posts up, and we will later. It has just been crazy lately!!! God is doing some cool things here in Cambodia, and I am excited to be in on it. Also, if you have been praying for us or supporting us financially, you are involved too. We appreciate you guys’ support so much :) keep up the good work! We will keep you updated.

           

            Until next time,

                                    BecauseHeLives,

                                                            Micah and Kelsi! (and Muggy)

     

Tuol Sleng and Ek Killing Fields (Pictures)

This is one of the torture and interrogation rooms from the prison.  You can see how thin the mat is, chains and shackles, and a metal box that I read somewhere might have been for their water.

There were about 4 or 5 of these buildings in Tuol Sleng.  Some had rooms like the one above and others had very tiny jail cells made of brick and/or wood.  You can also see here, the gallows Micah talked about in our post.

These are the people that lost their lives during the Khmer Rouge.  There were 4 rooms of these boards lining both sides of the rooms and having pictures on both sides.  Nobody knows for sure how many were killed during this time but it is anywhere from 2 million to 7 million.

This man and one other are the only two left living of the seven survivors from Toul Sleng.  We bought his book.

These are some cloths from the people killed and the Killing Fields.  They are just now resurfacing.  Workers go out every couple months to pick up the clothes and bones that have come up during the heavy rains.

This is the killing tree we talked about in the blog post.

If you look closely inside this building you can see skulls and bones.  This was built at the killing fields and a sort of memorial of those who lost their lives.

If you would like to see more pictures you can visit my (Kelsi's) facebook page.  Feel free to friend me if you haven't already.

Tuol Sleng and Ek Killing Fields

     Yesterday, Kels and I went to Tuol Sleng (S-21) and Ek Killing Fields. Because I am not a historian, I will not even attempt to explain what these places are in detail. I will provide you guys with a website that gives the history of these places: http://www.killingfieldsmuseum.com/s21-victims.html. A brief overview, though, is that a communist party, the Khmer Rouge, came in and took over Cambodia making people work in fields all day with only water and no food.  If they complained, cried, or were thought to be against the Khmer Rouge they were taken to Tuol Sleng.  From there they were taken to the killing fields to be tortured some more and ultimately killed.  By the end they were just shipping people straight to the killing fields by the hundreds.  There should be pictures in the photo section of our blog with descriptions. This may give you a better idea of what we witnessed, while on our day trip. 

     We started our day at S-21 prison facility. This location was a school, before 1975... yes, that is right. 1975. I found it interesting that such an atrocity could have happened not that long ago. Our guide--Visoth, a BYKOTA boy--seemed to have a hard time grasping the concept, also. He kept pointing to things and saying, "This is very old." Although S-21 was a school before it was a prison, and may be very old, we had to explain to Visoth that S-21 was not that long ago--we explained that our parents were alive while it was happening. This didn't seem to help him, because I think he thinks we are old, but when we met a survivor from the prison in the museum, he seemed to understand. 

     I am going to share the thing that shocked me the most at S-21 and then Kels will tell you what shocked her the most:  When I realized that S-21 was a school prior to being a prison, I thought that was odd. We came to some really tall, what seemed obvious to me to be, gallows. Underneath the gallows were big jars. What I found out, after reading the sign, was that these were built with the school and used in PE for the children. After the Khmer Rouge took it over, they turned these tools for play into instruments for torturer. They would tie inmates hands together behind their back and hoist them up. This tended to make the inmates black out, so the torturers would bring them down and dunk their heads in the jugs--which were filled with excrement and water--to wake them up again, so they could continue to be tortured. 

     Now Kels will tell of what shocked her the most:  The thing that shocked me the most was to find out that the Khmer Rouge had no heart for babies and children.  Children were made to work just as much as the adults.  At the killing fields there were tons of clothes still coming up out of the dirt and a lot of what we saw were children's clothing.  Also, we saw several pictures and read testimonies of women who had babies and still had to work in the fields all day with only water and no food.  This left them with no milk for the babies and most did not live more than a few months.  

     Since Kels mentioned the Killing Fields, we will continue on to this part of our day. The killing fields were haunting. It was an audio tour from station to station. I had a moment as we walked, when I realized that the cloth on the ground was not from litter, but was the clothing of the people who were killed, finally resurfacing--that was horrifying and really displayed how recent the Khmer Rouge genocide had occurred.

     I think Kels would agree that the worst station at the Killing Field was the "Killing Tree" station. At this mass grave is where mothers and their babies were murdered. This is what the Khmer Rouge would bash the babies' heads against to kill them--in the most efficient and easy way possible. One eye witness account stated that as he was searching for food, shortly after the Khmer Rouge was ousted, and came upon this tree. He was confused as to why it had blood and brain matter all over it...

    Rhonda tried to prepare us for this day trip, and explained that it would clear up why Cambodia is the way it is... It was hard to listen to the descriptions of the events and see the pictures and the actual bones and clothing, but it really did clear up things. The orphans that we are serving here in Cambodia are orphaned for a reason. The parents of some are still in touch, they simply just don't know how to take care of children. This is because during the Khmer Rouge massacre, families were broken apart. Parents were killed, and children were left to raise children. The children that were raised by children are the parents of the orphans in BYKOTA House, and many other orphanages in Cambodia.

     Cambodia still has not fully recovered from this, but God is still working and present here. Continue to pray for us and most importantly for the family structure in Cambodia. Pray that God would help those who did not have good parents to become the godly parents their children need, and that God would bring restoration to this small country. 

BecauseHeLives,

Micah and Kelsi. 

Venus Passing In Front of the Sun!!! COOL!!!

Just a video from today :) Thought you might enjoy the nice weather outside, here in Cambodia...

First Couple of Days

Our plan is to post a new update every week, but we thought we would share a little bit about life in Cambodia, as of the last two days.

            Yesterday (Monday) was kind of a blur, because Kelsi and I were both having quite a bit of jetlag. We got up early, but then crashed in the afternoon. Our day was filled with adventurous things though, like a tuktuk ride to the Lucky Mart to buy some groceries—it was basically a day to get settled in and get our heads on straight. Because yesterday was Monday, we would have been introduced to the BYKOTA kids, but Heather (the teacher of School of the Nations) has been having back difficulties, and school was canceled—make sure to pray for Heather, because she is a large part of this ministry and we are unable to begin teaching without her here to show us the ropes. Today (Tuesday), she was unable to make it also, but instead of canceling school, we had the kids come and we did ice breaker activities and get to know you games. The kids are all wonderful, and we are really excited to get to know each of them personally. In the morning, however, SJ (Stephen Judah—one of Rhonda’s soon to be adopted sons) had weird blotchy spots on his back and his eyes were swollen, so Rhonda had to run to the clinic. Kelsi went with her to see it. She found out that we have available a really great nurse practitioner that has been all around the world and is familiar with our talent trust insurance—basically, God provided for our medical needs wonderfully. The nurse was unable to tell what was wrong with SJ, other than she thought it was an allergic reaction, and SJ has progressively gotten better as the day goes on.  After the morning, Rhonda wanted to take us out to the market. Lucky Mart was very modern, kind of like a small Wal-Mart with less variety and no dill pickles or strawberry syrup. The market Rhonda wanted to take us to was much less modern. I would describe it as the largest flee market/farmers market I have ever seen—with a metal roof over the whole thing. As we walked around and bought various things we needed (like a mirror for me to shave and a straightening iron and blow dryer for Kels to tame her hair), I found that you could not look at anything for more than two seconds, or else the sales person would jump up and try to sell it to you—I kept my eyes forward for most of the time, once I discovered this aspect of the market. On the way back, we stopped into a really nice restaurant/coffee shop called Jars of Clay—owned by a group of Christian women who love Jesus and are trying to raise money to stop the sex trafficking of women in Cambodia. Kels and I drank frappicinos that tasted amazing … suffering for Jesus ;) Other exciting news, we received a phone call from the airport saying that they found our one piece of missing  luggage, and we are picking it up tonight at 10 P.M. (did we say that we had one piece missing?). This was a huge blessing, because it has my study Bible and my worship song book in it. Our video will be filmed while we are riding in the tuktuk to the airport, so if you watch it you will see Cambodia at night J That is all for now, we will keep updates coming, hopefully every week. Until next time!

BecauseHeLives,

Micah and Kelsi   

Flights and God's Plans

We have made it through the first leg of our flights—Kansas City to San Francisco… however, that is as far as we have made it. As it turns out, making it to a terminal without a gate number takes more than two and a half hours… Kels and I missed our connecting flight to Seoul, Korea… by five minutes. I find it funny how God prepares us for these types of things. I have been reading Pilgrim’s Progress, and thinking about how all instances in life are just drawing us closer to the “Celestial Kingdom.” Everything we go through is preparing us for Eternity. So, when we missed the flight, I was upset, but I also thought to myself “What is God doing here?” After missing our flight, Asiana Airlines explained that we had to go to United Airlines to change our tickets, so we walked across the whole airport to the Domestic side to speak with UA (United Airlines). Once we made it to UA, they explained that they could not do anything, because the tickets were through AA (Asiana Airlines). We walked back across the airport to the international side to speak with AA, and found that they had left for the day, but we could call them… this was unfruitful, and they basically explained that we were responsible for missing the flight and they could get us on the next flight tomorrow for an extra fee. I hung up the phone still thinking, “What the crap is God doing here?” We decided to speak with the international UA desk to see if they could help—enter Ana. We explained our situation to Ana, and she at first explained that she could not do anything, because AA had “control” of the tickets—she could sell us new tickets, but that would be pricey.  Kels and I broke down a little bit and we didn’t know what to do. Ana seemed very empathetic and said she would go speak to someone and see what she could do. At this point, I realized that Asiana Airlines did not have control of our tickets… God had control of our tickets. Kels and I prayed like crazy, and yes, worried a little bit (God forgive us). When Ana returned, she had a partner with her—they spoke back in forth in crazy airport jargon: “type in T-Eir, sigma 3.” After much work (about an hour and a half), the tickets were in the control of UA, and they changed the flights to tomorrow with no charge. Ana asked us if we were going on vacation, and we explained that we were going to serve with some missionaries in a children’s home in Cambodia, and she said, “Oh good. I am glad I helped, since it was for a good cause.” In the end, Ana did way more than she was required to do for us, and was a huge blessing with her attitude. We pray blessings for her and thank God that He sent her to us. We are now going to be leaving for Seoul in the morning and getting to Phnom Penh the same time as we would have today, but instead tomorrow. I still don’t quite know what God is doing, but I know He has a plan for each and every circumstance we are going through, and I am excited to see in the end how His hands were all over this. That’s all for now… keep on praying for us, and we miss you guys all ready!

BecauseHeLives,

Micah and Kelsi