Ministry Visits and Sightseeing

 Ministry Visits

After settling into the hotel, we hit the ground running! Our first stop was the Vosters dorm ministry, they currently have 3 boys and 9 girls staying there. This was our first experience entering a Cambodian residence, and yes Colleen actually took off her shoes! The building is 3 stories and a roof deck, the students complete their university studies while living there. Through introductions and conversation, the students got to practice their English with us, and we got to practice our Khmer with them! 

Next stop, Jane and Greg's ministry, Refuge for the Poor. Greg gave us a tour of their beautiful facilities including, dorm rooms, classrooms, a kitchen, and a computer lab. The kids then put on a program for us including a traditional 'angel blessing' dance, a holy worship song, and two testimonies (one from a staff member and one from a student). Lynda was able to hand out the bracelets that her granddaughter made, and we were able to distribute some other goodies we brought. The kids were so happy and thankful, and Colleen and Donna got introduced to the kids that they sponsor, what a sweet meeting! 

We finished a very long day with dinner at Jars of Clay alongside the Drebes and Gabriels. 

Sightseeing

Unfortunately, our first clinic day was cancelled at the last minute, the paperwork was denied by the higher-ups in the region. Since our first day was supposed to be a clinic day, we were left with some free time which we used to go sightseeing and prepare for our upcoming clinic day. 

We visited a Buddhist temple, The Wat Phnom, which means temple on a mountain. There were so many different types of offerings to various Gods things like, cash, birds, flowers, meat, and wine. We got a peek at the US embassy and saw the clock where the first amazing race was filmed. We did a drive by of the palace where the king of Cambodia lives and saw the monument honoring Cambodian independence from France in 1953. We did some more touring of the city with Anissa as our guide then went back to the hotel to sort medicine for our first clinic the next day. 

Happy Trails

 We finally made it to Cambodia and it wasn't without its God sightings.

After saying goodbye to our loved ones, Eric and Caleb Rosina drove us and all 22 pieces of luggage to JFK airport. We were able to check-in right away and hand-off our bags (which all made it under the weight limit). When we finally boarded the plane, we sat at the gate for around 2 hours. We were waiting for 10 people to get through security, which was faster than trying to find all 22 pieces of their luggage to take off the plane. This added some significant unplanned time to our 6-hour flight to Frankfurt. Finally, we were on our way!  Just as they were serving dinner, they announced "Is there a doctor on board?". Our own Dr. Carr and Anissa answered the call. It was a case of anaphylaxis, but all was well. The rest of the flight was uneventful, but this delay came back to haunt us later. 

Our next flight, from Frankfurt to Singapore was a fairly uneventful 12 hours. We spent the time, eating, watching movies, and reading, oh my! Some of us also spent time trying to get into the first-class section, which was upstairs. Yes, you read that right, there was an upstairs to our plane! Now the drama unfolds as the original delay caused us to miss our connecting flight.  But don't worry friends, Singapore Airlines employees had us rescheduled for the next flight and had our boarding passes printed before we even got off the plane in Singapore. God is in the details. 

This delay gave us more downtime before our flight to Cambodia. We were able to explore the beautiful airport (including a butterfly garden and a koi pond), stretch our legs, talk to loved ones, and rest before getting back on a plane. It was during this time we found out that Annamaria, Christian, and Jack were on their way! This last flight was our shortest, only 2 1/2 hours. 

We arrived in Phnom Penh as did all our luggage! Greg and Jane Drebes, Carolyn Gabriels, and David (a friend of the Gabriels) were there to pick us up. We also met our driver for the week, Sarin. He is a very skilled driver, as driving in Cambodia is very different, as Sarin says, "You keep moving forward and if you want to turn you go slowly and the traffic will just go around you". And it does! 

Next stop ~ hotel Larimar!