Day 6 Tuesday

A very busy day today - out of town to a village. We went to the house of the father of one of the congregatiion of Jubilee church Phnom Penh. We met the village elder and local government official and shared lunch. This was placed on a huge table that we all sat on eating from bowls with our legs crossed. All very unusual for us, but perfectly natural to everyone else. The elder and others told us some moving stories about their terrible life under the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970's. Hannah held a small clinic for some of the village ladies mostly dispensing vitamin tablets and advice to drink more water. We were able to tell of some of our personal stories and how our faith in Jesus motivates and changes us. We were also able to pray for healing for the wife of the village elder. On the way home we bought some Lotus plant heads the seeds of which are edible and delicious. See photo.The ones that are not edible can be popped against someones head as demonstrated by Alison and Gemma in the video. Later in the afternoon we went to a slum village and met with four of the church congregation. Paul, Mike, Gemma, Hannah and Ha Nah played with the local children for an hour or so then we all went to the "house"of one of the church. This was essentially a two roomed wooden shed built on stilts so that it sat above the open sewer below. We had a great small group meeting in this home and were able to worship, share some stories of God's faithfulness and then pray for about five of the locals. It has been a moving and tiring day - but well worth it.

Day 5 Monday

Today was a day off because it's Monday and the wole of Newfrontiers stops work on Monday- it's the law. The Russian market was hot and sticky.The boys managed nearly 10 mins before getting exceedingly bored. I bought a pair of genuine Ray Ban sunglasses (I know they're genuine, it says so on the label). After a great deal of haggling involving enquiring after each other's health, lifestyle, children and pets I obtained them at the competitive price of US$3.50. Sadly they broke after I had been wearing them for about 20mins. However, because they are genuine and not some back street market knock off from the far east I was able to invoke the worldwide, no quibble guarantee and take them back. After the helpful stall holder was unable to mend them with his screwdriver he tried his pliers.These did not work either so he brought the hammer into play. This did not seem to do the sunglasses much good at all so he was left with no alternative but to seek out his sister. When he had found her she scurried back to the market stall, looked at the now sorry state of the glasses, read the world wide guarantee and imediately exchanged them for a replacement pair.The process took no longer than 90 mins in the extreme heat of a festering covered market during the hottest part of the day. Excellent customer service all round. Sadly the second pair have now also developed a fault. I do not feel able to bother the poor market stall trader again. Instead I shall write direct to Ray Ban head office in USA to berate them for the poor quality of their product and suggest they make an imediate refund to me (at full recommended retail price) and make amends to the market trader who should not have to spend so much of her time dealing with the complications of an inferior product. The girl's bought loads of stuff, but I did not take much notice of what they were showing me, so I am afraid I am unable to report much. Seemed to involve spending money though, so they were happy. Coffee at the Jars of Clay coffee shop proved good after about the third cup. In the evening we had a greeat time with Clive and Rachael and their four chilren. They are members of the newfrontiers church in Camberely and out here for a couple of years working in a local school.

Day 4 Sunday

Sunday has arrived, and so have we. Most managed a full nights sleep, Paul & Hannah and Gemma all chose not to bother with the whole sleep thing and stay awake all night. For those of you who struggled with the clock change last night you may be pleased to know that the meeting here started at 8am and we remained at the church's premises until 3:30pm. During which time Ha-Nah had the joy of leading worship in Khmer and Mike played guitar. What a combination - a worship leader who doesn't normally lead worship teamed up with a guitar player who doesn't normally play guitar all sung in a language they don't normally speak - this is cutting edge out of the ordinary stuff. I spoke three times in the morning. During the last one and half hour marathon talk Hannah and Gemma decided the best way for them to stay awake was to hold a competition watching the rest of the team to see who was best at falling asleep without showing it. The looser was Paul who apparently stares blankly into space before the colour drains from his face and his eyes finally give in to the inevitable and close. The easy winner was Mike, as he manages to fall asleep with great elegence whilst staying upright. Whilst this was something of a revelation to Hannah and Gemma it is a well known fact to those of us who regularly preach at Jubilee. Mike is a practiced and experienced falling asleeper during sermons ... During the morning meeting I was able to tell of Gemma's remarkable healing last October which gave us the priviledge of praying for two dear ladies with HIV. Rest day on Monday - off to the Russian market for the girls to go shopping. I seem to remember there is a good cofee shop nearby so it is not all bad news.

Day 1.75

Ok time to meet the team. Mike you met earlier looking smug. The rest of the team are Alison, Garry, Paul, Hannah, Gemma and Han-Na. You can see photos of them all here. Unfortunately they couldn't all be bothered to wake up so you may need to use your imagination a little.

Day 1.5 Friday

Enjoyed an 11 hour flight and now find ourselves at the airport in Seoul, Korea awaiting our connection to Cambodia. Unfortunately it is delayed by 1.5 hours. Except for Mike, he is booked on a different airline due to depart Seoul 25 mins after the rest of us. His flights were cheaper, his airline has a higher star rating and his flights are not delayed. Hence he is being incrediably smug. We willl soon sort that out!

Day 1, 2010 trip

2 years and 101 days later, we're doing it all again! We have a new team (I'll introduce them later), new technology (I'm doing this on my phone) and a new hair cut (which Hannah says makes me look really bald in photos). We have improved our green credentials by going to Heathrow on a coach. This was only 45 mins late. Garry was particularly pleased when an old lady stuck her bottom into his face in a vain attempt to grapple with her seatbelt. Oh the joys of public transport. more news when we get there.