Four years today

Today marks four years since the Healing Home received its first patient.  To mark the milestone I have launched out into new territory - and put a posting on Facebook.  It was a mission! Old dogs are still up to learning ...

We are approaching 500 patients over these four years - plus the over 300 family members who have accompanied them.  Still, our focus is on the one. 

Here are a bunch of pics of the people who have so impacted our lives - and whose lives have been so impacted by the goodness of God.  Some have received significant healing miracles - others are now with Jesus.  Too many times, good things have happened but I never got to take a pic.

How to meet a journo

You never know what is around the corner out here.  On Tuesday, it was a car that was hesitating, then moving.  The driver was a very nice bloke who was a journalist.  He had studied in the USA and worked in Hungary. I had the honour of paying to improve his little Corolla.  Panel and paint happened the same day.  Nobody was hurt - just a few scrapes and bruises on the Spider moto driver.  It is not in my interests to reveal who that was.

The most fun was in the un-bending of my trusty steed.  I needed it before the un-bending process could commence, so I was mounted on a crab for a bit.  Then, the trick was to find the busiest fix-it place near me, and make some more new friends.

These 'fix-it-on-the-footpath' guys are good.  A mama ran the show, pad in hand as she kept a running total of all the motos that have met similar experiences.  Stripped down, forks straightened, plastic welding on the guards, front wheel made round again, tweak a few things.  Two hours; twenty bucks. 

Naki-ites

It was great to have a couple of lively girls blow in from New Plymouth recently.  Edith and Raewyn's trip out to us was inspired from a conversation that happened (I understand) while they were at my mum's place during a homegroup meeting.  Edith had a 'significant' birthday approaching, and she declared 'I would really like to go overseas to mark this birthday'.  Raewyn replies 'and I will come with you'.

Sorry girls - shocker of a photo of you - but you get to see a couple of our current patients.  Leakanah (in the black top) is a top little lady - receiving chemo and radiation, she has been with us for about three months. We are so impressed with her heart and attitude that we have just offered her a staff position for Sundays!  Sarin (in floral attire) came to us about three weeks ago.  For the three months prior, she had been curled up, comatose-like and close to starvation.  Something traumatic had hit her, that we are still working through on.  Now, she is eating up large, talking, beginning to walk again - and she has just said 'yes, please' to Jesus.

For 10 weeks prior to Edith and Raewyn coming, we had Tash from Christchurch staying with us.  Tash was great - diving into her roles as school teacher (at New Life School) and teaching hip-hop to all and sundry with great enthusiasm and making more friends then anyone before her.  Somehow, I never did get a pic taken of her - sorry Tash!!



Cambodian Cheese

I'm aware that it has been a while since the last posting - but 11 weeks?!!  That was a shocker - some weeks here can be pretty same-same but a lot surely happens in 11 weeks.

So, we can start by introducing you to cheese, Cambodian style.  I had heard of this animal prior, but got a decent introduction a few weeks back, while accompanying Sothea (a church evangelist) and Pastor Sotha (who oversights New Life provincial churches) for five days in Kompong Cham and Kratie Provinces.

Behold the 'cheese'

The beauty of this 'cheese' is that you need no dairy industry.  It is all fish.  There is very little smell.  That is because the smell has been turned inwards.  One finger-nail sized portion will take out a perfectly good plate-sized meal.  It is an amazing concoction!

The time in the province was great.  There was a very real sense of spiritual growth in the Kompong Cham village church that meets under the house of the local nurse.  In Kratie, a team from Canada had been through recently and built an excellent kids playground.  Now, a little school for 60 children is being established.

 Here are a couple of tricks of the local village - 'thermos' (above) and 'electric jug' (below)

We brought a couple of patients back to the Healing Home from this trip too.  The sweet young mum (below) had gone three years with a skin disease that covered her right cheek, nose and lips.  Hey younger brother also came back - he had actually been with us a month earlier, but missed his mum so much, he did a runner on day 2.  This time we brought his mum with him - but there was actually no need for him to come.  His, ahh, male problem, had been prayed for the first time - and things were all now good as gold.  Our staff are getting very brave in prayer!!

Lost mamma

Touch with our un-christened, stumpy-tailed little guys.  The half-length tail is normal here; Rim's kitten had a full tail; the other two have a full tail but divided between the two of them ...

The Healing Home is the proud owner of a litter of kittens.  Our child mamma had a liaison with a nasty piece of neighbourhood work, but the outcome is pretty cute.  There were four; one was washed off the roof where mum hid the litter for the first month; one has gone to Rim's home and the other two went home with Vanny.

Then, Vanny's guys came back.  Her neighbourhood dogs were going to chomp into them.  Two weeks ago mum disappeared - we fear some neighbourhood humans have chomped into her.  We have a new patient tho' who has offered to give these kittens a village life; he will take them home when he leaves here.  That will make the Healing Home pet-less for the first time in over three years.  I can live with that!

Nice bloke

Sue has felt it has been a bit of a drain of late with many of our patients - a number of poor and needy people who have been needy needy without much visible return on time and energy investment.

Therefore, it was extra-nice to have Heng come to us. He's just the sweetest and most grateful guy - and good things have quickly happened in his life.

Heng came to the Healing Home with a few problems: he had lost 10kg of weight in December (and he seriously does not have 2kg available to lose, let alone 10kg); he had no appetite, could not sleep and a swelling in his throat. 

First thing to kick in was his sleep.  Literally from night 1, he slept like the proverbial baby.  Then the appetite kicked in, as in KICKED in.  Sreymom told me 'he eats a lot now, like he eats a real lot'!  I watched him one morning from the balcony; he had gathered three of four mangoes that dropped from our well-laden tree.  He wolfed them down like there were no more mangoes to fall from the heavens!

 

 

Heng at the outside table where our patients eat most of the time.  One of our mango trees is directly overhead; behind him to the right you can see some good jackfruit coming on strong.

A few tests and he was diagnosed with hyper-thyroidism.  That is getting treated now and quickly his throat is getting better.  So, today we lost this nicest of guys - happily heading back to his home in the province.

Home alone

Susie and Sopheap have headed to Singapore this week - to soak in a great conference led by Randy Clark and Bill Johnson.  They left Tuesday evening and return on Tuesday, so it is half-way already for two girls determined to have fun! 

We are very excited about Sopheap having this opportunity to stretch and grow.  She is the one who steps up and takes responsibility for the Healing Home whenever we are away, so we told her a year ago that we would get her a passport as an extra 'thank you'.  The break comes for a good time for Sue too - she has been finding the constant drain of giving out to person after person a little wearying lately.  God knows!

Brand new passport in hot little hand - Sopheap has been trying not to appear too excited about her first-ever time outside of Cambodia! She is such a great girl - full of mercy and love and faithful to the uttermost. 

The days are flying past very fast and I have enough to do to stay out of trouble.  I'm guessing no news = no problems regards the girls.  There is a big extra God-bonus in this too: Christian and Becs head out on their big OE in two days.  First stop - Singapore!  Sue and Sopheap will get to connect with them Tuesday morning.  It must be 'the luck of the Lord' (thanks for that line, Chris!!)

Wake-up call

There's a bit of travelling in my world at the moment.  Last week was the annual 3-day staff retreat at Sihanoukville for New Life workers.  Today, I'm back from an overnighter in a wee village in Kompong Cham Province.  Thursday is back out to Kompong Cham town for a two-nighter mens camp.

Chea, one of the church evangelists, invited me on the road trip to what is termed an emerging church.  Sister Sitar and her hubbie head up a group that meets under their house for church. Chea travels there once a month to take discipleship studies and conduct training.  These trips are great, seeing what God is up to in the hidden little villages and getting to have a bit of input too.

Decidedly my least favourite guy in the village - Mr Strutter sets his alarm clock for 4.07am, and has no turn-off knob.  I hope I get to eat him on the next visit ...

Chea has the group having lots of laughs during his training.  The uncle here has had a difficult dental history - four of five remaining teeth, and none of them are of any use for the local beef.

An excellent lady - Sister Sitar is also the local nurse, together with her husband.  Chea tells me that, before they became Christians, her hubbie was very much the family boss.  Now, it is her who has emerged to lead the 'emerging church'.  She tells me that they have 48 adults and 30 children gathering now.

There are a couple of little things that I have found are really quite important on these provincial stays:

1.  Eat whatever is served with a smile.  I never take any of my food: I'll only eat what is served up.  It is such a little thing, yet it is such a big deal to these lovely locals, that we do not dishonour them by sneaking in our private culinary supplies.

2.  Sleep where they sleep.  That will mean on a mat, on the floor.  Sure enough, I was the first westerner to sleep in their house.  Sinar says that all the foreigner like to sleep at the hotel.  The hotel would be an hour away.  It's hardly heroic stuff, this eating and sleeping thing - but it is important.

Chea encouraging the local economy - stopping at a roadside mango stall on the way.  The young lady was hardly ripping us off - at 20c per kilo for these.



Power less

We are marching steadily into the hot and dry season.  April and May are usually the months where we crack 40 degrees, so the two months prior push well into the 30's.  That's just life here - except for reasons of mystery, prolonged power-cuts are abounding.  Seasoned Westerners here say that this is the worst for 10 years.  For us new kids, that would mean the worst in coming up 5 years.

Nevertheless, life goes on, even if that means by candlelight some nights. 

Another night; another powercut - looking north from our place.  The lights-on building is about 2.5km away, as the mosquito buzzes.

Sweet Sothera

Sothera's wee life does not make any sense naturally.  Born blind; abandoned by her overwhelmed mum when she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus at age four months; missing a portion of her frontal brain - life to date is an utter tragedy for her.

She has passed all too briefly through our lives - just three days as she moved from a family who had been able to give her temporary care, and on to the Mary Knoll Catholic hospice here in Phnom Penh.  Of course the abandonment and moving is upsetting and Sothera cried 10 hours out of 12 the first night.  Susie chose that we take her home for Saturday and Sunday as she needed 24 hour care and our Healing Home staff had a house full of other patients.

Sue with Sothera in the Healing Home office.  She really fought going to sleep so we got to spend a lot of time with this sweetest of little ones.

Unforgettable.



Kiwi Team

Ten Kiwi's (American team leader Brian is fully received as an adopted NZer) were with us for four days last week, getting a good insight into the many and varied ministries of New Life Fellowship.  They were reasonably varied in age - 'young' Olivia and Emma; 'senior' Maurice (76 years old) and Derna (25+) and geography (Masterton, Tauranga, Wanganui, Auckland ...) - but pulled together as just one of the best teams that we have had on the ground.

Absolutely; they will fit me fine!  Masterton girl Christine Wratt has sewing friends - and now we have some great kids clothing to give away.  Sue and Christine figured out over lunch that they were one year apart in the same school - New Plymouth Girls High.  Another surprise - her dad is good friend and faithful, fruitful evangelist Weston Carryer.  Small Kiwi world!

'Young' Emma with Yart, a much-loved longer-term patient.  Yart and her daughter make bracelets, so even tho' she is ill, she has an eye for likely customers!  The 'small Kiwi world' continues with Emma - her Auckland church, Edge, is where my little sis Heidi is camped.

These pics come from Maurice.  He worked as a photographer for the Bible Society for well over 20 years, plus another five years for Tear Fund.  I talked the poor bloke's ear off - working in over 150 nations in his career, plus packing seriously good camera gear, plus being just a fine man - how often do we get the opportunity to suck international big-picture history from a person like this??

Happiness is ...

After a great family and friends Christmas in NZ, we returned to Cambodia 10 days ago. We returned to the best news of all.  Little Sreynut has a life.

Sreynut first came to us about 8 months ago. The little button needed a hair lip and cleft pallet operation but first her nutrition level had to be built up.  So, we took her in, fed her up and our staff loved her to bits.  The hair lip op was completed and she returned home, awaiting the cleft pallet op.

Sreynut when she first came to us.  Cambodian culture is less than graciously supportive of physical deformities, so this wee mite needed a face-lift.

Home has been tragic for this tiny 2-year-old.  Dad and mum drink heavily.  Dad recently drowned - we suspect, drunk in a paddy field.  A neighbour whose wife is very ill strolled across the road and has taken up with Sreynut's mum.  Mum has a new dodgy love and Sreynut and her older brother and older sister are now palmed off on poor grandma.  But, mum has steadily refused to allow little Sreynut to be taken to foster care.

Sreynut returned to us over two months ago, before and then after the cleft pallet op.  Before we left for Christmas in NZ we said to Libby, the great Aussie lady who has brought Sreynut to us 'please, ask one more time and we will really pray'. Sue is in contact with an American lady who facilitates foster care into Cambodian families.  So Libby sent a staff member to ask again - and mum said 'ok - for $300'  Ahh, no - that would be off the options list!  Then something turned and mum happily went to the local official to sign foster care papers.  Amazing! 

Our staff tell us that a Cambodian Christian couple who have been unable to have children now have Sreynut - and they really, really love her.

With Sue (top) - Sreynut would run to us every morning.  She gave us so many laughs as she would mimick everything that we would do.  And was she ever hungry (above) - she caught up on two years of little food in her time at the Healing Home!