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.