Thumb decisions ...

This week we are asking Father about where to head with that blessed thumb of Sue's. It is actually feeling a bit better - not as swollen and not as sore - but still not a keen, lean hand-writing machine either.

Our health insurers have received the info they require - and have confirmed that they will cover any surgery costs. As it is not urgent, they want Susie to take a flight back to NZ. With her pre-school commitment due to start this Monday, our girl Kara due to visit for 10 days starting Oct 8 and any return to NZ needing to cover 4 weeks to allow for op and follow-up, we are wanting proverbial wisdom (or, much preferrably, power healing) in this matter. At the moment we are praying and doing some airline investigation.

Beware of all stray can lids!!

Week 4 of 10

The studies on the Book of Proverbs are progressing well. I'm up to my third translator now. Folk are keen and game to translate which is good. To date we have covered

Proverbs - intro and Wisdom
Proverbs on sexual purity
The righteous and the wicked
Seven things God hates (pride, lying, murder, deceit, rebellion, gossip, strife)

Most weeks have an over-lapping element - we are still dealing with questions from week 2! I like to keep a mix going with small-group work, questions and homework. Next week is meant to be on relationships - but I have a feeling most of it will be a part 2 to this week. So many areas of Cambodian society are crooked as, and to see 'the crooked places made straight' in regards to personal and corporate character is no small undertaking.

A small-group from last night, coming up with straight answers to crooked character questions.

It is pleasing to see numbers holding up. We started with 10, built to 16 and then with two people away sick yesterday we were at 14. One of our guys who was sick apparently needs an x-ray, and has to go to Vietnam for something that basic. I get a little edgy when I hear of NZ and Aussie critics speak of our health systems being 'third world'. They have no idea ...

Birthday girl

Sue ticked over another one on Saturday. Her day started nicely - a visit to the hairdresser, which in this part of the world, involves a foot and hand job as well as the essential hair make-over. I was at a forum in the morning, so Sue jumped on the back of a moto for the trip around the corner ... only problem being the moto man had very little clue which corner that was, and Sue was not too sure either. So, after a pleasant sight-seeing trip around Phnom Penh ...

Our 'chariot' to a night out - Susie and Colleen

We invited Kiwi and Aussie friends to join us at a restaurant that does bbq and fancy icecream. The Hagar Kiwis were there - Graham, Sue and Sue; AO Colleen (kiwi), buddy Patrick (slowly converting to kiwi-isms ..) and Mark and Jo (one-eyed ballet-footie followers). In a city where a good cake can be hard to find, we scored a brilliant walnut and apple cake from 'Jars of Clay' cafe (good name, we reckon) and had a most enjoyable night.

Susie, Sue Hanna (of Jehu's Driving School fame) and Colleen

Thanks to all those who emailed in. We still have an adventure ahead - to see if Kara's card, addressed to Phnom Penh post office, makes it here.

Not a happy thumb

That slashed thumb of Sue's has healed OK - but it just is not what it used to be. Swollen, sore and more like a block of wood than a restored joint - so after nearly seven weeks since she tangled with that can lid we trotted off for another opinion.

Back in Toowoomba we got to meet Mary Kluck, a great doctor who spends about nine months in the year working here in Phnom Penh. We emailed her and yes, she is in Phnom Penh at this time and invited Sue to come on over and get poked and prodded. Her verdict is that a nerve has been cut and that Susie will need micro-surgery to get things back to normal - something that cannot happen in Cambodia.

Spot the sore one ...

God is good all the time and there will be an answer to this. We are in contact with our medical insurance friends who, at this stage, can neither confirm nor deny what our policy is good for - until we get more info across to them. Mary says that something needs to happen 'within weeks rather than in months' - so it is not urgent as such. Loretta in NZ is contacting a specialist friend and we are in contact with this amazing caring Creator ....

Pre-school days are here again

The church we are in here runs an English language pre-school. A couple of staff have moved on and they were desperate, very desperate ... I mean inspired, very inspired. So, Susie will fill in for the month of September while they search for staff. Angie, of dengue fever fame, actually runs the place so that is all good.

It is all a bit of a giggle for Sue, this pre-school education thing ...

Sue will have her own class of little ones every morning from 8-11.30am. I'm just going to have to teach her how to ride that Spider machine!

Dutch courage

Our home has grown again. With Sokhun moving to the hospital, our second floor has been empty. I had a sense that maybe this could be a blessing to someone else so put a little notice out on a Christian web-site. Erika and Matthew replied.

Erika and Matthew are newly-weds, Dutch and great people. Matthew is doing a degree on community development and part of the degree has him doing a 5-month practical in Cambodia. Three months have passed - and their previous abode was giving poor Erika no sleep at all.

Erika is also involved in the Christian-based non-government organisation working on community development in Cambodia. She is quite a goer - having lived and worked in Pakistan previously. They look to be with us until mid-October.

Going to our happy place

Sue returned from Bangkok last Wednesday night. Angie was about to be released from the hospital and after five nights sleeping on a hospital sofa she was ready to get into a real bed. Little baby Justice had an even better sleeping pad in Bangkok - inside mum's suitcase. Sue said he looked pretty adorable tucked into his suitcase bed!

Anyway, we decided to proceed with our planned week-end getaway to a little coastal town called Kep. Aussie friends Mark and Jo joined us too. We have been over two months in Phnom Penh now, and were seriously feeling the need of fresh air, green trees and sand between our toes. So following language class on Friday we packed and, seeing that buses were already gone, haggled a taxi fare for the 170km, three hour journey ($25).

Sand ... water ... greenery and cool sea winds. We now have a 'happy place' to go to!

Kep is a delightful, unspoilt little sea-side town, famous for crabs and seafood. In earlier days it was the Cambodian Riviera for French and wealthy Cambodians, who built beautiful villas along the beaches and on the hillsides. The Khmer Rouge thoroughly trashed these expressions of bourgeois opulance - and to date very little has been rebuilt. Jungle greenery grows over formerly-lovely houses. There are a few accommodation places that have recently been built, and signs are that Kep will not remain such a quiet, near-forgotten place for very much longer.

Queen Sihanouk's holiday residence - ready for a spot of renovating

Home sweet home for someone, it would appear

Kep is a great place to do very little - read, walk, explore and sit around a dining table talking for hours. We checked into some modest little wooden bungalows high on a hill that overlooked the coast through to Vietnam. With a nice wind coming off the sea and some rain showers, temperatures were perhaps 5 degrees less than in Phnom Penh - wonderful!!

It was a bit wet and windy to do the half-hour boat ride out to Rabbit Island, where real white sand and blue waters lie. No problem - next time. Apparently the boats are reluctant to go much further out than Rabbit Island as the Vietnamese border is somewhere further offshore and it is not a good idea to annoy the boys with machine guns.

Jo and Sue exploring Kep a la moto. We booked a couple of guys for an hour - but 40 minutes was more than enough to see around this little town.

Bush walk with Mark and Jo. Susie insisted on a good snake-killing stick but alas, not a snake in sight!

Coming back to Phnom Penh was somewhat eventful. The bus had been towed out of a scrap-heap last year, I do believe. Five hours of bouncing has persuaded us that a few extra dollars for a taxi is the way to go - both ways! Never-the-less, we are refreshed and blessed - and looking forward to returning to our happy place every couple of months or so.

Roller-coaster reversal

Permission for the stadium has been (again) overturned. Word was received this afternoon that the authorities have closed the venue to Hillsong / Joyce Meyer /Delirious.

In the end, this was not unexpected. We had Aussie friends at a hastily-arranged Chenla Theatre meeting last night, with Delirious. Part way into the meeting, the theatre manager came under such pressure from the authorities, he pulled the power. Mark says that they continued to worship the Lord in the dark!!

A long-time expat resident in Phnom Penh says that these days have a similar feeling to 1997 - when government tanks were on the streets last. Although Cambodia has much greater Christian freedom than say Vietnam or Myanmar, it is a mistake to call this an open nation. Never-the-less, the move of God here is unstoppable!

Bye, fly Sue

There is a dengue fever epidemic in Cambodia at this time. Dengue fever is a mosquito-carried sickness. It is striking westerners as well as the local people. Last week we were at a prayer meeting that really prayed into this. The missionary leading the intercessory group has just recovered from very sick two weeks - and now his wife is struck down with dengue.

Yesterday we received a call from a great young couple from the church we are in, Jason and Angie. Angie too has dengue, and her doc now wants her evacuated to Bangkok. They have two little sons; one still a breast-fed baby. Jason asked if Sue could please accompany them and look after the children while Angie is in hospital in Bangkok. So, it has happened - Susie flew out 8.30pm Friday night with them. She promises to be back in time for her birthday!

Cambodian roller-coaster

'30 Days of Hope, Cambodia' is a Joyce Meyer Ministries outreach initiative into this nation, entering its last four days in Phnom Penh. Three excellent weeks have already been spent in the provinces. Hillsong and Delirious are combining in this time with music to reach the new generation here.

24 hours out from the scheduled meetings, it was announced that permission to use the 7000-seater central city stadium had been overturned. Meetings had to be scaled back into two venues - Chenla theatre (seats 1000 at a Cambodian squeeze) and a church that can take perhaps 3000 with video overflow.

Susie and I headed to Chenla deliberately late, so that Khmer people got in ahead of us. So, we turn up well after it is going - and get usshered like VIP guests to sit right up the very front - a couple of arm-lengths away from Joyce. What a giggle - and an excellent message too. We were temporarily dampened by someone taking a liking to Susie's handbag. PTLA - like loving daughter Kara says, it is good to know that Joyce gets all sorts to her meetings!

Back to the roller-coaster - at the end of the meeting it is announced that 'the authorities' are closing the Chenla Theatre meetings. Everything now must move to the church - with meetings split into morning attendees and afternoon attendees. The key Hillsong and Delirious events looked to be reduced to almost nothing.

Delirious concert? Martin getting all the under 25's to the front this morning during what looked to be 'it' - 45 minutes with the converted.

At the conclusion of Joyce teaching at the morning session, it was announced that there has been a development - that the stadium is now a go for Saturday and Sunday nights. Obviously, stuff is being stirred. There was a large police and army presence outside the church building this morning. Cambodians are very easy going and just enjoy the journey, whichever way it is currently going - but they sure knew how to rejoice when the stadium news came through!!

Exiting the meeting - my Aussie buddy Patrick and no-turn, no-smile Susie

If this looks crowded, you should see the roads!

Please remember our city this weekend. The degree of opposition is only an indicator of the degree of importance this time is.

Visiting Sokhun

Yesterday we went to visit Sokhun and her room-mate Polpal at the hospital. We brought Ravvy with us (yes, Kim and two girls on the moto!). Ravvy is an excellent little lady we have come to know through New Life Church. She has excellent English, a great heart for God and a sincere love for people.

Sokhun is doing pretty well, tho' her arm swelling has increased to the extent that she can no longer get her arm thru' a shirt sleeve. She loves us visiting, the goodies that Sue brings and especially when Sue wraps her arms around her and prays. Sorry - no pics of Sokhun; I did not want to embarrass her.

Polpal also loves our visits. Ravvy said that she wanted to convey to us 'how much your visits mean; that I used to be so lonely and sometimes I would cry but now I have a peace'. Ravvy shared the Lord more with her and went thru' some scriptures, which was great.

Ravvy with Polpal

Ravvy came to the rescue again last night. The Proverbs study kicked off - but there was a 'whoops' - no interpreter. Happily, Ravvy had put herself into the class so she was quickly volunteered. I had specifically prayed for 10 people in the class. 12 booked in; 9 showed. I was a bit puzzled - then realised that Susie had also asked to attend. So, there was 10 after all!

Warriors church

Susie and I were in church today, as one does. Actually, I had also been to the 7am service as I had been asked to do a 2-minute promo for a 10-week Bible Study on the Book of Proverbs that I have been asked to lead ...

Anyway, we get to sit with head-sets on to get the translation through a FM frequency. Sue's headset was mis-behaving so I fiddled with the dials. Zip zilch nothing on the translation frequency .... but ... hang on, that's an Aussie voice. That sounds like a rugby league game - Roosters - wait, the Warriors - broke the tackle - Warriors have just scored!!! 18-16!

Now, to know me is to know I love the Word ... but (thank-you Lord) I had already heard the message in the earlier meeting, and the Warriors are on a roll and all men can multi-task; right?!

Klang barang

Susie has a mosquito attraction gift. She can layer up with repellant and the local buzz boys still choose her over me - or the locals. Cambodians say that 'mosquito klang barang' - they smell the foreigner.

'Barang' is officially the word for French. In a wider sense, 'barang' means any foreigner, in particular those of the white-skin variety. Cambodia used to be a part of French Indo-China (encompassing Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) so whities - Frenchies - it's all the same.

The 'klang barang' ability goes way past the humble mosquito. In a society that has yet to know the curse of political correctness, Cambodia is delightfully politically incorrect - at the barang's expense! Train tickets for foreigners are officially set at three times the local price. The medical centre proudly displays a sign for 'foreigner price ... Cambodian national price ...' Even the electricity bill is barang-loaded!

The electricity bill - before we took residency: 390 riel per unit - after we took residency, 720 riel per unit!

The best nose for barangs undoubtedly goes to the police. I got cop-stopped for the sixth time yesterday. That was precisely 24 hours after being stopped for the fifth time - for going through a green light. Re-read that - yes, that's correct!

I hope to get a pic of my favourite cop on the blog for you. He resides under the trees, corner 163 St and Mao Tse Tung, one of the main drags. I have realised that this fella is God's gift to me - my living lesson in overcoming intimidation. So, rather than avoiding this corner, I have chosen to embrace it. Four of the six pull-overs have been done by 'Henry'.

Interestingly, I see from this guy that when power is mis-used, authority is lost. It is a good life lesson.