Sunday in Phnom Penh

The Sunday before we hit the road to the villages is a busy day. We start out with a 7:30 AM team meeting and orientation. Only three of us are veterans from last year and two others are veterans from prior years trips. This year we have a Pastor Ron from Lexington, KY, Dr. Nelson an MD from Hyderabad India, Kurt from North Carolina, Dr. Sooley from Central Illinois, John and Regina from Palm Beach, Fl, Glen and Evelyn from Colorado and Sam Hooper from Pittsburg. As soon as we rush through intros and orientation it’s off to Church at the Transform Asia HQ. The congregation is young, a lot younger than In Roads with twice as many kids as In Roads.

Worship is great, even though we do not speak Khmer, the melodies are familiar and we sing along in English! , Pastor Ron from Kentucky gives a great message but I am not quite sure if his coon dog metaphor is understood by the Cambodians. None the less I do think they understand how his story of how a coon dog gets louder and louder as it approaches what it is after is an example of how our worship leads us closer and closer to God.

After service learn that the worship team has an amazing story. Three years ago none of them could sing or play an instrument. They were thought how to play three cords by a visiting musical missionary and after that took to worship songs with a vengeance. Today they have produced five worship albums in Khmer, are regular guests on Cambodian national TV shows and lead worship every Sunday at the Transform Asia headquarters.



Again this year the little children are in abundance and they love to meet new friends. Here area  few of my new young best friends.

After church most of the team goes off to the Genocide museum. Having been there last year, I opt to use the time with Regina our RN and get all of our medical supplies organized.

For a fresh insight into the Killing Fields experience check out Cyndy’s blog at www.cyndyincambodiatoo.blogspot.com

After opening a couple of packages of meds that burst in transit I realize that it is a good thing I am not going to be around any drug sniffing dogs. There is so much drug dust on my jeans that I am sure I would be the latest poster child for a drug mule!

We do our final shopping for hard to find items like sani wipes, and a few other supplies and then the whole team heads of to Lucky Burger for dinner.

Its early to bed tonight as we all have jet lag and its up for devotions at 5:30AM followed by a quick breakfast and several hours ride to our first clinic at the Women’s Center. I will tell you more about the Women’s center tomorrow.