Day 13 - Thursday 14th December

A flight to Siem Reap, not surprisingly, involved us going to Phnom Penh airport. This was absolutely crowded and we had great difficulty getting in. Once through the melee we discovered the congestion was being caused by a huge group of several hundred muslim Cambodians in their best clothes who had all come to see off a few elderly folk. Unfortunately the entrance to the departure lounge is via a set of escalators and it became apparent that none of them had ever been on a moving staircase before. They were therefore approaching it one at a time. Each person would wait for the person already on the escalator to reach the top and get off before starting to think about how they may consider venturing on to such a complex piece of technological equipment. The whole process therefore taking about 5 minutes per person.

Once in Siem Reap we checked into our air conditioned, marble bathroomed luxury hotel, complete with swimming pool etc and confirmed the price - £8.25 each including breakfast. We stuck with the whole tourist thing, hired an air conditioned minibus taxi for the day (£2.50 each) and set off to do the temples. These are big and fascinating if you like that sort of thing - lots of old carved stones put together in an amusing way. The best news is that the highest of the temples was never finished as each time it got to a certain height it was struck by lightening and had to be rebuilt. Apparently they did this three times before they finally got the message and abandoned it. You are supposed to spend about three days looking around the temples - we managed three hours before we finally all got bored and abandoned ourselves to the hotel swimming pool and the waiter who could not get to grips with the concept of a starter and a main course.

No doubt there will be more shopping tomorrow - then we start the journey home

Day 12 - Wednesday 12th December

Last day of our team today. Sadly we said goodbye to the guys we have been teaching English to & doing bible studies with. During the afternoon we ran our second and final youth cell, focusing on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This included a panel style question time of how do you receive prophecy, tongues, healing etc. The panel was made up of Simon, Emma and Andrew. Simon and Andrew were predictably boring and long winded. Emma however, revealed a rarely seen side of her spiritual character and explained her process of working through dreams that she has had and believes are form God. Andrew & Simon of course had no idea! We were also able to spend some final time with Steve and Midge and Andrew was in his element opining on the pitfalls and joys of church planting - they said it was helpful, but quite honestly Andrew would probably have carried on anyway.

So sad were we at saying goodbye we didn't remember to take any photos! Two days off now before flying home on Saturday

Day 11 - Tuesday 11th December

We did some hard work today - English lessons, DIY, Bible study and Andrew lead a team meeting for the Cambodian church leadership team, focusing on the ultimate purpose of the church and our need to be committed to this in church planting situations and not allow ourselves to be distracted by other ties that do not build the church no matter how worthwhile they are.

Whist Andrew sweated over the preparation of this message, having of course spent many hours in prayer, the girls went off and got their toe nails done! In the evening we went for a boat ride on the river followed by a meal in the most bizarre restaurant built on stilts above a small lake. After we had ordered our food we were approached by local traders to purchase various items. The obligatory single rose, of course, followed by a man offering us a raw potato, a lady offering us something wrapped up in a banana leaf, and the local representative of "The book club" trying to flog us copies of "The medical encyclopaedia" and other strange titles. The wine list consisted of a coloured post card with a picture of an exotic lady on and hidden in the background was a picture of the wine bottle. The beer range was also chosen by looking at a postcard of a bottle of Bud. We managed to upset the lady by refusing such offerings and insisting on the local beer which is both cheaper and much more pleasant than the American stuff.

Day 10 - Monday 10th December

I remembered this morning that I forgot to mention the frogs legs that Andrew and Rochelle decided to have for dinner the other evening – lovely but the bones are a bit of a pain to pick out of your teeth. We had a day off today, which meant going back to the Russian Market to spend our dollars on local goods. Hot, slow and crowded – bit like most shopping really. The girls decided to take themselves off to a spa for a pampering session during the afternoon, Simon wanted to do yet more shopping, so I retreated to the coffee shop and spent the afternoon there. As a consequence no photos were taken and no work completed – so quite a short blog for today!

Day 9 - Sunday 9th December

An incredibly busy but exciting day today. Andrew went to the Olympic Stadium at 6:30am to find the place crowded with groups playing football, doing aerobics and eating breakfasts. They clearly have no concept of “This is my day off, therefore I need a lie – in” - must be a Western disease designed to make us think that 10:30am on a Sunday morning is very early and we are real martyrs to the cause.

We were at the church building by 8am to pray and we ran a guest service from 9am – 10:30. There seemed to be quite a few Cambodian guests at the meeting. Andrew led worship, with all songs being sung in Khmer. The children sang a song and our team did a quick mime drama. Simon preached and we were once again able to pray for the sick. One middle aged lady had been suffering for some time with painful knees. After prayer she said that the pain had gone instantly and she was able to bend them totally free of the pain she had been feeling just minutes earlier. We also prayed for a lady in her very early thirties. She has AIDS and lost her husband a few months ago to the sickness. She has four children, two of whom also have AIDS. Immediately following the meeting we had a party and this lady was enthusiastically teaching the whole church a party game that had everybody laughing.

During the afternoon we held a party for over 40 children from the slum village. These children were great fun to be with. Most were dressed up in their best clothes. Once again we acted out a small drama to illustrate a story that was being told. Hence Emma and Rochelle's acting abilities have grown considerably this week! The children made party hats for a hat parade and every single one of them wanted there photo taken at least three times each. All in all it has been a thoroughly worthwhile day.

Day 8 - Saturday 8th December

Last night we celebrated a minor milestone – we have been here a week and nobody has managed to fall out with anybody yet. We also had another minor milestone – nearly 3 minutes of rain, the only vaguely inclement weather since leaving Heathrow. Unfortunately we have also had our first case of minor illness, with Becci succumbing to a slight stomach upset.

A half day off today, so following a powerhouse style prayer meeting at the church building, Andrew, Emma and Rochelle have played tourists – lunch at the Foreign Correspondents Club followed by a tour of the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda – ornate buildings (think “The Last Emperor” and strange Buddhist / Hindu temples (think “I will serve no foreign gods ...”). All under a hot sun requiring tea and smoothies in the colonial style Java Café.

Day 7 - Friday 7th December

The daytime activities continued in the same pattern as the last couple of days – decorating, Bible study, English lessons, and running the village kids club. It's wedding day today and tomorrow. This seems to involve erecting a large, brightly coloured marquee in the middle of the street totally blocking it to all traffic and playing music as loudly as possible for as long as possible. When I say music I use the term very loosely. One such marquee has been placed directly outside Savath's house thus Simon and Andrew had to walk right through the middle of it in order to get inside the house – very strange.

Becci's English lessons are becoming more ambitious. Today she decided to tackle positional language and the present perfect tense (whatever that is). This appears to involve building an obstacle course from upside chairs and tables and students wandering around it with their eyes closed. I'm not really sure how this helps, it all seems a long way from my school days.

Day 6 - Thursday 6th December

We achieved a first today – Emma left the hotel without wearing a single item of Land Rover clothing. It took a while for her to come to a point of being really at peace about this. Sadly we had just managed to calm her when a Land Rover Discovery went past. This was the first she had seen since leaving the UK and it unsettled her all over again with highly excitable cries of “Look a disco!”

We spent the morning decorating. During the afternoon 13 if the children from the “village” came to the church's building and Rochelle, Emma and Becci spent a happy, and noisy, hour and a half teaching them basic English skills. The jolly phonics alphabet was much in evidence and a source of much amusement to the children.

Day 5 - Wednesday 5th December

A mixed time today consisting mostly of hard work. We started off the morning with a visit to the Russian Market for Andrew and Rochelle to try a spot of hard bargaining with the locals in order to buy themselves some clothing suitable for decorating. Half an hour later with arrived at Steve and Midge's with a new t-shirt each and pair of Gap shorts each and $12 less in our pockets (yes that's about six quid for the lot). Much as we would like to take the credit for this frugal use of our funds it was all due to the great negotiating powers of 8 year old Jordan. We spent the rest of the morning painting and making a mess. As well as continuing the Bible study and English lessons we started yesterday, we spent the latter part of the afternoon with the youth of the church. This was a mixture of good and bad news – the good news Becci was able to fire them up with some great games. The bad news - we played with them, Simon got over exited and broke a chair. Andrew spoke for about 20 minutes on Baptism and filling of the Holy Spirit and we had the joy of praying for most of the group, this finished with the memorable quote from one young man after he got up from the floor “How did I get down here?”

Later on we retuned to the house of Glen and Torie for a fantastic meal. They have 7 children who had been with us during the afternoon. We went on two tuk-tuks, but unfortunately ours blew a tyre on the way. But not to worry this is Cambodia so thirteen of us piled onto one 100cc tuk-tuk designed to carry four and carried on mission accomplished– mind you, the health and safety risk assessment looked a bit dicey.

Day 4 - Tuesday 4th December

Andrew is typing this in the Java coffee shop – his second visit today!

We visited the village, a slum area built on stilts above the city rubbish and sewerage dump. We met a number of the people that the church has been working with, including Kang Plean's mum (see picture). She is 81 and nearly deaf. We were invited into her home, a one room wooden shack and enjoyed a time of worship with her. This caused much interest amongst her many grandchildren and other various friends. We were also able to pray for her for some time. We spent a great deal of time visiting a mother who did not have a home so she invited us to sit in the open shelter where she and her husband and children sleep. She has not been well so we spent some time praying with her for her health. Becci and Rochelle made friends with her two year old niece who was lively and happy and living in the relative comfort of a shack.

Later in the morning Becci, Emma and Rochelle held an English lesson with four university students and Laay, our tuk-tuk driver. Andrew and Simon were later taken off to the family home of another local guy to meet with a couple of guys with a very good grasp of English for a bible study. They are guys who Steve would expect to raise up into leadership at some point in the future. Our aim in these sessions is to work through a letter (Ephesians probably) and teach them, not so much what it means, as how to read the Bible and apply it to their own lives.

After a late afternoon team meeting, with the leadership team of the church we have enjoyed a fun meal with Steve and Midge and are now back in the coffee shop. (Did I mention that already?)

More tomorrow ....

Day 3 - Monday 3rd December

A day off today (already!), so we don't have a great deal to report – apart from the Russian Market, and the Asian Club swimming pool, and the bumper cars, and the 4 huge candy floss for 50p. The market sold a vast array of silks, carved wooden goods, and hand made jewellery at amazing prices. Midge acted as our guide and she assured us we were supposed to barter so that we did not get ripped off as mere tourists. Unfortunately this concept of negotiating a bargain played right into Rochelle's hand and we were in there for hours. The swimming pool was very colonial, and as you might expect, very wet. Steve and Midge's two boys insisted we should round the day out off with a go on the local bumper cars. These were considerably faster and more violent on impact than anything I can remember as a boy. Most of the team lasted for just one turn and refused a second go, citing various bruises as the reason for early retirement. I realised the honour of the team now rested upon me, so I took my car out for a second go. Sadly I was rewarded for my team loyalty by the entire Smith family ganging up on me. The team then reported to me post match that at one point the family had nearly tipped my car over (didn't I know it!). Rather than this producing sympathy and an understanding of the genuine risks I was taking on their behalf, they all agreed that I had deserved such a total trashing because of the “Look of glee on your face when you were chasing those poor boys and managed to force them into the side at high speed.”

Back to work tomorrow, meanwhile take a look at the picture of Rochelle in the market. She is being comforted by Midge after we had just spent a great deal of time helping her to understand that they would not give her Tesco clubcard points on any purchases.

Day 2 - Sunday 2nd December

We spent most of the day today with Jubilee Family Church, Cambodia. They have been great fun to be with and have a real hunger and desire for God. They a very small with 9 committed Khmer locals, a few other locals who come and go and a similar number of British ex pats. Rochelle did an excellent job of leading worship and sang most of the songs in Khmer! I preached from 1 Corinthians with the key message of the Kingdom God will bring change, not through plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and in power. Whilst I was speaking and being simultaneously translated, Becci took the youth and children out and taught along similar lines. At the end the children joined us and we were able to pray for many of the children and adults for both healing of physical illness and also for increased use in spiritual gifts. Our ability to bump into random people from back home has continued. Today a newly wed couple from Leamington Spa turned up at the meeting as they are visiting the country for a few days as part of their extended honeymoon. It was great to bump into them as it gave me an opportunity to remind him that I was still waiting for his Word Plus homework!

The church here is really working hard to build family and community so we all ate together at lunchtime and enjoyed some great home cooked food, as well as playing a number of silly games and trying our hands at some traditional Khmer dancing. This seems mostly to consist of making stretching patterns with your hands whilst taking small rhythmic steps. In my case these two actions combined together and had the unfortunate effect of making me look like a dysfunctional cat stretching after a long sleep, whilst trying to walk at the same time, and doing neither successfully. The difference between myself and the cat is that the cat would realise it wasn't working and stop – I am not blessed with the same self awareness and continued regardless. Strangely we were unable to persuade Emma to join in this particular activity.

Sat 1st December - Day 1 in Cambodia

We finally arrived in Phnom Penh at about 10:30am local time. All went smoothly right up until baggage reclaim, when we all able to reclaim our various articles of luggage packed in suitable rucksacks and corporate branded bags except for Rochelle. She is the only person on the trip to have brought a proper hard sided suitcase with wheels and everything. She is the only one of us to have been above the weight limit at check in. She was also now finding that she was the only from the entire flight not to have a suitcase to reclaim – it having taken a temporary detour to wherever these things disappear to in order to annoy their owners and make sure they have a bad day. Thus delayed and not entirely complete we made our way outside into the unseasonably cool 26ºC temperatures. We arrived at the large house where the church meets late morning and, after a quick coffee and introductions we were asked to lead a worship session including singing songs n both English and Khmer. Hey...we had been travelling and got no sleep at all for over 23 hours, so of course we agreed. We had a great time of worship with a group of Khmer's from the church, a group from New Zealand who have been here for the last couple of weeks and finish tomorrow and ourselves. We are able to pray for each other and especially that we would be full of his Holy Spirit. Tomorrow I am preaching and it should prove to be a very exciting time. We checked into our hotel at about 4pm and later decided to go out for our first evening meal in Cambodia. Mindful that one of the key objectives for the trip was to experience for ourselves a radically different culture, and also being mindful of the repeated warnings to be careful where we ate, we undertook some very deep and meaningful research and opted for the “Lucky Burger” (See picture).

6 hours after our exciting entry into the country, Rochelle's suitcase decided to join us - so no smelly t-shirts for her then!

More news shortly .....

Friday 30th November - 5 miles up

As I sit here to type this it is 3:30pm on Friday 30^th Nov, UK time. We are 33,000 ft above the Caspian Sea about to enter Turkmenistan and travelling at 600 miles an hour. We left home this morning at about 5:30am, just after posing for the photo. The sharp eyed among you will notice that we are in front of a Land Rover, as obviously we are going to the other side of the world and only a vehicle of that muscle and quality will do. Strangely though, we did not need to make full use of it's off road abilities on the motorway between my house and Heathrow airport.

Before we left the team were prayed for by two separate churches, Jubilee Coventry and Hope Church Nuneaton. On both occasions we received some very specific prophetic words that I thought you might like to hear about a couple of them:

One was about Power and Love: - We need to expect to pray in Gods Power at the slightest opportunity and to expect to see His power at work. Also a river of love is going to flow from us.

I had already decided that on Sunday I should preach from 1 Corinthians 4:20 “For the Kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” - So it will be interesting to see what happens.

Another was that we should expect to see signs and wonders flowing from our ministry.

Another based around Psalm 96 and to do with the importance that Praise and Worship will have on our time at there.

Again one of the focusses of our trip is to work with the local church in the whole area of praise and worship.

On a different subject we whilst we were in the check in queue at Heathrow airport an attractive young lady came up to Simon with that well know line “Don't I know you?”, Becci immediately moved and stood a little closer to her husband, but it turns out she really did know him (& Rochelle) from their Warwick University days. Meanwhile Rochelle has met on this very flight an old school friend that she has not seen for very many years and who is, apparently, off to Bali to a climate change conference – We didn't mention the Land Rover as our new vehicle of choice for the M40 slog!

Hi!

If you look at this site after 30th November 2007, you should see some news!