Flow river

Some good things are quietly happening at the Healing Home. We have some very sick, needy people with us and they are getting better.

Tomorrow early morning I will take Samrek to the van pickup place so that he can head home. He came to us very weak and what my dad would have called 'yellow around the gills'. His kidneys and liver have been poorly for a long time. Now - well he's looking just so much better and he wants to go home.

Daa, our horror pressure sore guy, is doing really, really well. The sore is steadily healing from the bottom, up (so to speak ...). He says that he feels pain in his buttock and that he can wiggle his toe when he sits up. He is not meant to have any feeling or movement below his waist.

Then the is Yun. She came to us with a very sore knee and ears that were almost deaf. She got her knee healed - right as rain. Then - and this is the best part - when we were beaching down south, Phanna felt to pray for a miracle in her ears. The staff prayed - then Sopheap checked her out with softly talking from behind. There was an instant huge improvement. Yun has headed home, all smiles.

We have been training our staff every Friday morning. The last five weeks have been focussed on the work of the Holy Spirit and how He is like a flowing river of life. A few weeks back we taught them on the prophetic gift - and then said that next week they were going to prophesy. Talk about a look of possums caught in the headlights!

But they have taken the practical teaching - and stepped out. With Phanna and Sopheap especially, it has been like taking the kink out of the hose. Life is flowing out of them in a new measure. It is 1 John 3 stuff - the joy of seeing your (spiritual) kids walking out this life.

Phanna (centre) and Sopheap (right) - a river opening up in Cambodia's young

Pigs have landed

Swine flu has made it safely to Cambodia. A team of recently arrived young people are currently quarantined with one girl confirmed as Cambodia's first case.

Unhappily she has succeeded in passing it on - to a good friend of ours working with the team. Happily she has been let out of gaol (well, hospital isolation) and now is feeling pretty bright and perky stuck at home. She was brought back in an ambulance complete with flashing lights and staff decked out in gear designed for a nuclear fallout.

Of course, there are umpteen people who have been in contact with the affected folk. The chain leads directly to two of our staff members and therefore to us and the Home. Time to pick up Psalm 91, we reckon.

Sorry, I don't have any pig pics but I have lots of my pussy cat ...

Pastor Buck

Pastor Buck would be the name given to those pastors who are gifted at passing the buck. Today we met two of them. Well, we did not exactly meet them - their skill level was such that, in the passing, they stayed invisible.

We were only just back from beach-time today, to have a vehicle turn up with a 12-days overdue pregnant lady and her hubbie. She is unable to give birth naturally and has need of a caesarian op and no money to pay. Her village pastor sent her to us. Yes, we are still wondering 'why us'??' Half an hour later she reported contractions. Sue and I got to thinking that maybe things had not been planned too well in the last six months ...

In the midst of this the gate opens again and a lady with not one, but two, carers appears. She is shaking and black and blue. Her pastor wanted her to come to us. The problem? She has been drinking and blotches appeared on her skin. Drinking for how long? Two or three days.

Rule one - we will love and serve. Bonna and Sreymom praying for our new needy little lady.

Rule five living in Cambodia is 'nothing is as first stated'. It honestly is a very important principle of life here. Old lady patients have turned out to be young men. A brother has turned out to be a neighbour. In this case, two or three days appears to be five months and the skin blotches just may be something to do with the tree she fell out of two days ago. The carers - well one of them is a neighbour who actually is sick too ...

Watching Sue carve through all this is poetry in motion. Cheapest caesar hospital sourced - here is the truck; please go now. Carer two; sorry you cannot stay - you have an auntie in the city; yes? God bless you; goodbye. Sreymom and Bonna were cracking up - we were literally praying for the pregnant mum in the back of the ute as it took off, leaving our hands clutching empty air!

It is all good, I am sure. One difficulty tho' with drop-in needy people is that people who are waiting to get in (we currently have two as we are pretty well always full) are unfairly shunted sideways.

R&R

We headed south last Friday to get a bit of sea and sand for a few days. Sihanoukville lies 225km from Phnom Penh, around five hours by bus to white-ish sand, blue-ish sea and a whole lot more greenery than here in the city. Those five air-con hours landed Susie with a head-cold that she has been nursing since!

On the beach in the evening - sea breezes and sand between the toes!

There is no prolonged opportunity to lie and laze on the beach tho'. Where there are white bodies, there are sales to be had. Massage?? Buy sir?? Manicure, sunglasses, fruit, bracelets, crayfish, crafts, cards - all are in continuous circular motion. Many of the sellers are delightful young children, out to supplement family income and to keep themselves in school.

Susie with three of the craft-selling girls - such delightful youngsters

Daa

Phanna and Yohannes, a visiting pastor from Singapore, praying with Daa

Daa is the young paralysed man who came to us with unimaginable gaping pressure sores in his buttocks some months ago. He became one of our rejoicing stories - admitted to Sihanouk Hospital against all odds; operations to fill his wounds - and released from hospital (during Selena's days here) after only five weeks instead of the projected 3-5 months. Our staff were at his bedside at least four times per week and the impact of their love and faithfulness overflowed to the ward and to senior hospital personnel.

Life has been challenging for Daa. His wife's parents have been urging her to leave him. He is still paralysed and trying hard to hold on to faith and hope. Recently we heard that a sore was breaking down. He is now back with us, together with his little sister Channy who is caring for him. And yes, we are back in challenge land with him.

Wee Miss Miracle

Alisa, Navy her blind mum and Susie in the background at the Healing Home yesterday

Navy came calling yesterday with little Alisa. What an awesome change we see in this little button now. She used to be the most miserable, undernourished baby - and now she is doing what one-year-olds should be doing; sitting up, crawling, reaching for bright objects and making happy noises.

Dan's passion

We have a top young guy, Dan, with us this week. Dan is over in this part of the world following his passion - filming God stories in the nations. He's just spent a couple of weeks in Laos getting footage for a ministry that publicises the hardships of the persecuted church. Dan was amazed at the stories of some of the Laotian leaders that he got to interview.

Dan is a Christchurch man, out of NorthCity Church. His pastor, Donald Scott, gently twisted his arm to come across to us and aim his camera around the Healing Home. Today was a good day to come, with staff training in the morning, a full house with patients and kids club in the afternoon. It was pleasing to see him snoozing on the sofa between shoots. It is always good to know I'm not the only one needing the odd nana nap in this hot country!

Dan lining Phanna up for an interview this afternoon.

Another realm

I called into Centre of Peace (COP) orphanage today to catch up with Bhopal. She tells me that their planned move to bigger, better premises for their 70 children is not proceeding. They could only secure a one-year lease and there were just too many uncertainties.

Nevertheless, Bhopal was full of joy and smiles. Someone had just hooked them up with a phone landline and an internet connection. A website has also been put together for COP (www.californialanguagecenter.com/COP)

Whilst speaking with Bhopal in her office, I was amazed and moved at the sound of singing. Six children were outside the door, sitting around a simple little cd player and singing so beautifully to the tape that was playing. It was utterly glorious - holy ground to the max. Out of the mouths of babes ...

Indescribable - the beauty of the voices of these little ones at Centre of Peace orphanage

Buyers remorse

One of the keys to doing life without regrets is to make the very best decision you can at the time - and live happy with the future outcomes.

However, a guy called Murphy dictates that whenever you buy a pricey item, a couple of days later a better, cheaper, more powerful, less mileage beauty turns up for sale. So, I felt slightly gutted today when I pulled into my local puncture repair man to get a moto oil change, only to see the motorcycle of my dreams.

A Suzuki in the family

Sreymom, Sopheap and Bonna checking out the new machine.

At the risk of having a jealous Spider, we've expanded our fleet of motos - to two. Apart from my moto spending a tragic amount of time with a flat tyre (yep, got another today, but it had been two weeks ...) the amount of running around with patients and for stuff that is involved for the Healing Home makes transport a real juggle at times.

The little Suzuki Viva (specs: 110cc, 2006 model first rego in 2007; 22k) was hand picked for us by Pastor Mara, just the most caring, zealous guy who has pastoral oversight of the Healing Home - and an ability to suss out the dogs and lemons.

Our NZ friends Marty and Robyn initiated this through their homegroup. They arrive for three months with us at the end of July. May little Miss Suzuki be a blessing to them then, too!

Did I ever mention the time when our daughter, Kara, was visiting us? The first couple of days, she was very, very quiet on the back of my moto. Then, she came alive to the vibe of traffic flow here - and I would hear her going 'weeeee - weeeee' every time something exciting happened. Here is Sopheap going 'weeeee' on the inside around the Healing Home yard.

Home sweet home

Yesterday I signed up for another two years at 8c Street 460. Like most things, lease signing is a process that has taken a few weeks.

A few new clauses were inserted into the lease this time around. One of them said that we were to be wholly responsible in the event of any fire. It was all fun explaining that we are tenants, not an insurance company. So three days later the ammended lease comes back ...

Monsieur Bonnvee at Rue 460

Anyway, the lease got signed - well, thumbprinted actually. We were all happy smiles. Then out came the second lot of lease documents - the same as the first but stating we were paying $200 monthly rent (we are paying $400). Son of landlord happily explained that would we please be helpful to them as this second set of lease docs was for the tax man.

Son of landlord is doing his masters in law. Daddy is a lawyer - high up. He's sitting on the Khmer Rouge tribunal and raking it in courtesy of the UN. I really enjoy my get-togethers with son of landlord. He is a fun Cambodian guy who at this time may not be particularly helpful in straightening out the crooked paths within this nation. There is no point in being all dogmatic and righteous. I just told him that his daddy is a very clever man and that he would know how to handle the tax man.

Farm girl

Cambodian people are often quite shy. The girls especially are polite, proper and anxious that they do no wrong around their boss. But people are people and like in every country, girls love to have fun.

When I returned to the Healing Home from lunch earlier this week, I could hear noises but could not see our staff. Peering around the corner, I found Sreymom literally up the jackfruit tree - and the rest of the girls calling out encouragement to her!

Girls will be girls

Jackpot

Today I went and sorted accident and medical insurance for four of our staff. It is part of their employment package as New Life Fellowship staff. Here is trusting that those jackfruit branches stay strong ...

Straight to the pink room

We had high tea this morning in the heart of Phnom Penh. Sitting with dainty English china in a room painted pink, sipping on a cuppa of English breakfast tea ... it was all a bit surreal.

This is Sandra's doing - our awesome Aussie friend who together with hubbie Graham have spent the last seven years being mum and dad to 16 children here. Recently they have set up a hairdressing training centre, managed by Sreyna, one of the girls they have been parents to.

Sandra, Susie (getting trained up for High Tea duties) and Sue

On the second floor of the hair salon is the Pink Room - a delightful dream that has become a reality to Sandra. On her last trip back to Brisbane she went op-shopping for the china and carted 85kg of gear back to Cambodia!

High Tea is open three days a week. I am the first bloke to come and daintily sip. There was scones and cream, club sammies and other goodies too - a great way to unwind in the midst of a pretty full-on week.

There's even lemon honey on the plate ....