Jau is Khmer for thief. In the city there are a lot of thieves. It's well known that if you leave anything out / not locked up really well, then it will not be there the next day, or even the next hour. Growing up in Oklahoma, things get stolen, but not too much. Here, I've heard stories of thieves stealing women's purses while they're on driving down the road on their moto. The thief either pulls really hard to break the strap, or they come prepared to cut the strap with scissors. Like I said, I heard of these things, but didn't really take it too seriously. Honestly, I thought that Cambodians are just too paranoid. Well, a couple of nights ago I was driving home, just before 9pm on a busy street, and two guys came up beside me on my left side. My purse strap was across my body, and my purse was in my lap. All of a sudden, the passenger on the moto grabs my purse and started pulling on it. I immediately yelled a long NOOO at the top of my lungs while slapping him with my left hand and driving with my right. He kept pulling for a few seconds, a car behind us was laying on their horn, then the guy let go and the moto sped off. Praise the Lord that I am okay, we didn't wreck, and he didn't get my purse! Needless to say, I bought a small backpack the next day! (Thieves won't try to steal a whole backpack because it's not easy to steal, like a purse with thin straps.)
--> I tell you all of that, not so you can be worried, but so that you can pray for our safety, and pray for this country. We should be careful and take all safety precautions, but no matter what we do God is in control!
Phnom Penh Tour
I started out the day with Proverbs 16:1, "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." The original plan for the PP Tour was to have three groups of 2 Americans and 2 Khmer, with the Khmer taking the students to certain "touristy" places around the city on their motos. As of yesterday, one guy cancelled, one girl tried to cancel so we weren't sure if she'd show up or not, and another girl said she didn't have a moto; therefore, we changed the plans to three tuk-tuks. Another guy was able to come unexpectedly, the girl did show up, and the other girl did have a moto! We already hired the tuk-tuks, so we just continued with that plan, which gave us more quality talking time during traveling! Here are some pictures:
Both groups of girls at the Royal Palace (left) and the Riverside (right).
My group (left), and all three groups together (right). Both are at Wat Phnom.
Market Scavenger Hunt @ P'sa Orussey
This was the part of the day that I'd been worrying too much about all week. We invited both 3:30 classes to go to the Orussey Market with us on a scavenger hunt. I was praying that God would have the right students come, and the right number of students. I was really worried that too many students would show up. The number I thought would be ideal was 3-4 guys and 6-8 girls, but still knowing that God's thoughts and ways are higher than mine.
We've always obeyed the buddy system with teams, but in the past it was okay for one of the buddies to be a trusted student. This year, it's important for the team that there are two Americans together at all times, which meant we could only have three groups. To no big surprise ... God is in control and He does answer prayers!!! We ended up having 4 guys and 7 girls, in addition to us 6 Americans. PERFECT! The groups weren't too big, each group had one tuk-tuk, and we all had a wonderful time!
Dried Shrimp BBQ'd pigs
We ran into the guys ... and the girls!
Ducks only feet away from death We came back and ate snacks together
We all tried crickets for the first time! They're really not too bad! I wouldn't choose to eat them, just because it's a mental thing, but I'd eat crickets over hot dogs any day! They're kind of like chips!
Please be praying for the students in the pictures. There are only a couple students pictured that say they are believers, and only one that I've seen fruit from. A few of the students, we haven't gotten to talk to them much before today, but most of them are genuinely seeking! These seeking students already KNOW The Truth, but aren't willing to surrender yet. Please pray that they'd quit saying, "no" to the Holy Spirit, and confess Jesus Christ as Lord!
Also pray for us, as believers, that God would give us strength, energy, health, obedience, and above all LOVE for our students!
"For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
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