Presentations of our Cambodian Experience

Hi Everyone!
I know that we’ve been promising a presentation/open house, and now we have details for you. Children are invited to all presentations, but we’ll be discussing child prostitution, so I’d rate the material as PG-13.

We’re giving a 10 minute overview presentation at New Song Christian Church during the Sunday services August 10th. The services are held at the Folsom High School at 9:00 and 10:30 am.

Then on Friday, August 15th, we’ll be giving a full presentation at New Song’s Prayer and Praise night. We meet at the New Song Ministry Center, at the intersection of Blue Ravine and Prairie City roads (near Ciros Pizza). We start at 6:30 pm, and should be done by 8:30.

Finally, we’ll be hosting an Open House at our home on Saturday, August 16th, starting at 6:30 pm, and ending around 8:30. Our address is 108 Kennar Way in Folsom.

Let us know if you have any questions,

Rick

Oops - Lost entry from Karli

[This email from Karli didn't get posted when it was sent originally on 7-3, so I'm posting it now]

Hello fellow Americans! Today is the umm… well, actually, I don’t know what day it is. Anyway, this is Karli. For those of you who don’t know me I’m the short one in all the pictures. I’m not technically a Kraemer, but I’ve been adopted for the summer.
Today we did our usual VBS deal. Our new location is a tiny little hut on stilts over a pond, (Lizzy wants to make sure you understand that it is a very nasty pond) that you can see through the cracks in the floor. We have to be careful not to jump or stomp around too much ‘cause the whole thing would probably go splashing into the water.
So yeah, that’s the house. The kids make you feel so over appreciated. They’re great! They’ll wade out into the murky lotus ponds just so they can greet you with a big pink blossom. Lizzy and I both have bags of little leis made from weeds and flowers they collected, crayon portraits of ourselves, paper rings and crowns and other treasures. They also like to give you their coloring pages and paper sheep or whatever craft we are doing that day. They are just so grateful that we come, but I think we have just as much fun hanging out with them as they do.
During game time, the girls prefer to give Lizzy and I makeovers instead of playing soccer. They’ll herd us under a tree chattering away like we can understand them. Then three or four girls, armed with one tiny plastic comb, will be assigned to ripping out your hair in a futile attempt to get the snarls out, while others shimmy up the tree to gather big red blossoms to weave into our hair. They also like to press the tree’s sticky green leaves onto your fingers nails making fake big green acrylic nails. Today they tried to talk me into swimming with them in their lotus field/pond thing, but I didn’t think that was the best idea.

Yeah… so if any of you guys have an issue with the Kraemers, just give me a call. I have a bunch of dirt on them now. No just kidding. But I have put together a list of things one should remember if you plan to head out with the Kraemers.
Do not get your cooties on Lizzy’s bed.
Do not call Lizzy “Lizzy”.
Don’t bother to pack any ibuprofen… they pretty much carry their own pharmacy.
Do not wake up Rick!
DO NOT TOUCH THE CHOCOLATE the Kraemers are the only family that could tell you how many squares are in a Hershey bar off the top of their head, and how it would be divided evenly (among the people in earshot at the time).
There is always, always more Mentos hidden somewhere.

Yeah, so that’s about it… see you guys later!

Karli for the Kraemers

4th week of VBS: Siem Reap

Hi, this is John, writing for the Kraemers. We drove down to Siem Reap for Phnom Penh on Sunday. We met the two pastors of our assigned church at dinner that night. The senior pastor, who I still don’t know the name of [His name is Ban Yen – Rick], and the Junior pastor/translator, Kong. We discussed logistics for the next week.

On Monday, we met Kong and his friend at around 8:30 in the morning for a short 3-minute drive to the church. We were all happy with the hotel, which was much nicer than the one in Phnom Penh. The church building was very nice; it sat right next to a field that sent a cool breeze through the building. The kids at Siem Reap were much better behaved. They had more adult supervision than any other church we had visited, so they were all pressured to sit down quietly like it was school. We didn’t want them to feel bored with everything, so we quickly got out musical instruments bought at the dollar store and riled them with songs. We were surprised by the number of kids at the VBS. We were told to expect like a hundred, but we got 45 on the first day. At the end of the day, we watched as the church used our money for huge meals for the kids. 3-year-olds walked around with Styrofoam rice containers, spilling the rice around. Something had been translated wrong, because that was too much food for even us to have in one meal.

On Tuesday, the kids seemed more excited that we were there and looked less like they were in school. Kong said that all the kids at the church had been brought in by Tuk-Tuk, a carriage pulled by a motorcycle, and that none of the local kids were coming. Kong had thought that the VBS was for christian children, but had not known we were hoping for more of an outreach program. Therefore, we went out in the morning and got about 10 more kids to come in off the streets. We had the same problem with food on Tuesday, and my parents were frustrated with the misuse of their money, but couldn’t find a way to get across the language barrier. My mom was most affected.

On Wednesday, my dad was sick, and stayed home while we went to the VBS. More kids came than on Tuesday, and the VBS was a great success aside from the problem with the food. We played duck duck goose with the children after the VBs as we waited for our ride, and really connected with the kids. We met dad back at the hotel and rested for like an hour before heading out to Angkor Wat, a massive Buddhist temple and tourist attraction. My mom was angry that my dad couldn’t come, because we bought the tickets on Tuesday and couldn’t refund dad’s ticket. Angkor Wat was really hot, and had lots off century-old sandstone in it. The only fun part was the carvings of battles and kings and legends on the four walls of the temple. We also went to another temple and climbed around on the stairs their. It had like 2 dozen towers with huge faces on them. The climbing was fun, but also very hot. Lastly, we visited the temple where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed. That was the best one. It was not as hot as the other ones, and had jungle sounds all around. Their were 700 year-old-trees growing around the massive walls, and we took lots of pictures of us climbing in the trees.

On Thursday, dad was feeling better and went with us to the VBS. It was great, but at the end the Senior Pastor asked us for more money, when we had given him our budget for the entire week. We told him no, and were disappointed because we gave him more money than he should have needed to feed the kids. Were we tired on Thursday and rested for the rest of the day.

On Friday, I was feeling sick but went anyway to say goodbye to the kids. After the VBS, we stayed longer than any other day and took lots of pictures with the kids. They were very sad that we couldn’t stay another week.

On Saturday, we toured Angkor Wat in the morning, this time with my dad. We went to many of the same places, but hired a tour guide to tell us more about the places were had been through quickly. In the evening, we went to a dinner show with traditional Apsara dancing.

On Sunday, we visited the Vietnamese fishing village on the great lake in Cambodia. We sat in a motor boat and watched people who spent their entire lives on floating houses. At the end, we went to a fish farm and tourist shop. We watched the man feed some fish. The fish were fun to watch as the water thrashed while they fought for the food. Next, we purchased a large fish and watched as they fed it to some crocodiles. They tied it to a pole by the taile and dangled it down. When the crocodile got it, they pulled the fish back up. Once, when they were doing this, the half-eaten fish flew upward when the crocodile let go and I had fish entrails splattered all over me.

On Monday, we drove back to Phnom Pehn. We met some donors from IJM, and talked with them a little bit about our trip. We were tired from the drive and slept early. *Sigh* back to the bad hotel.

On Tuesday, we met our friend Kimsua at the National museum and toured that for the entire morning. I went with Kimsua on his motorcycle and bought some DVD’s at the mall while everyone else went back to the hotel. About an hour later Kimsua and I finished shopping and arrived at the hotel. We went to lunch with Kimsua and said goodbye to him. Then we visited Moses’s house and gave the VBS supplies to Moses. We said goodbye to the disciples and went back to the hotel.



John for the Kraemers

Cambodia Update 7/8

Hi, it’s Becky again. Here are some highlights from last week:

We had over 70 children and adults in a house the size of my bedroom, built on poles over a putrid pond. The people begged us not to leave and come back and teach them more about the bible. It was extremely humbling realizing how many opportunities and resources we have to study and learn about anything we want, whereas they have hardly any.

We spent several of our afternoons and evenings at Dr. Moses Seth’s house helping him with his new web site. Our original goal was to correct any grammar errors in the English translation, but we spent quite a bit of time re-working the navigation and re-naming the titles on the links. Rick was frustrated that we didn’t have time to do a complete re-design from scratch, but Moses was eager to launch the site before his web designer expired and moved to a different project. The original AIM site, www.aim4asia.org, is centered on their work with child sex trafficking, while Moses’ new site (www.aim4asia.net), which may not be posted yet, is more comprehensive, and includes their church planting and media publication efforts.

We also had the opportunity to be a part of two more rice distributions with the team from Bayside Church of Rockland, CA. One area was where we had our wild V.B.S at Sway Pak. The kids at Sway Pak and the girls and counselors who came from the ARC were so excited to see us. They keep hanging from us, shouting “Hello”, high five-ing us and singing the songs we had taught them. The Bayside team got excited and later asked us how to relate to the Cambodian people better, so we got to inflict on them all of our expertise from three weeks in the country..

The power of candy and a soccer ball! If you need to stop a toddler from screaming so you can tell a story, pop a candy in their mouth. If you want to acknowledge a grandparent or parent and their child, give everyone a piece of candy. If you want to show love to an entire village with no words—smile and pass out candy and coloring pages using a puppet or two. Start a game of soccer, and a fifty people will immediately get involved. Acknowledge each person in their own language: acceptance and love can be expressed without too many words. Of course, it is sweaty and dirty, and you will watch all your crayons walk away. You’ll want to say and give so much more, but it is impossible. And, you are extremely grateful to get back into your air conditioned truck and drive back to a clean hotel, shower and have a meal. While they are left with a bag of rice that will save them from starvation, a candy wrapper, and possibly some hope that they are loved and not forgotten by God.

On Saturday, we finally went to see the Killing Fields Museum, and visited our translator’s home to see his wife and new baby boy. The killing fields were actually very small, at probably less than 20 acres, but could contain all 22,000 victims of the Tuol Sleng (S-21) torture prison in its mass graves. Moses’ father-in-law was one of these victims, so we purchased a flower, and laid it in front of the memorial. The central memorial contains skulls from the excavated mass graves, and is stacked about 8 feet square and 4 stories high with skulls. It was a very sobering experience; when you walk through the paths between the grave sites, you have to be careful not to step on bones and clothing that have been pushed up by the rains.

On the other side of the emotional spectrum, we were able to visit our translator, Kimsua, and his wife and new baby boy in their home. We always find that you learn the most about a culture by visiting their home, so we purchased the traditional gift of fruit, as well as a baby gift, and visited them in their little concrete and brick house. They live simply, but happily, in a 2-story house of about 500 square feet tucked back in a maze of muddy trails through other homes. We got to tickle their new son Isaac, and they fed us a sort of jelly made from mangoes and sticky rice wrapped in leaves.

We are on our last week of V.B.S. The logistics and adjustment to Siem Reap, a city six hours of bumpy driving north, the new hotel, and the new interpreter have been exhausting. We have had over 60 kids and helpers in a much better organized and, by Cambodian standards, wealthier church. We have also had some conflicts to overcome.

The five churches involved this week have priorities and expectations much different from ours: we want to include as many kids as possible including the neighborhood children, they do not; we don’t care if all the children sit in chairs or care if they are extremely quiet and obedient; or if the sound system works and the lunch is huge and gourmet—we enjoy controlled chaos! We want them standing, singing, moving and laughing loudly. We want active listening, but crafts put together while they sprawl all over the floor. The Cambodians don’t quite know how to let us do the program. They want us to pay for everything and then keep it very controlled and tomb-like. Conflict resolution is hard enough when we all speak the same language. It is extremely difficult and even more frustrating when our interpreter is young and not precise.

Slowly, the leaders are relaxing a bit as they have watched us teach a whole day. Now, they lead songs in Khmer and then we teach them some in English. Sometimes it has gotten a bit out of hand with no clear leader when our interpreter decides to play the drums instead of help interpret the songs. However, I always like to include their leaders and let the older kids participate upfront as much as possible. It is confusing not speaking their language and trying to lead a large group, but it is worth the confusion so more can be involved.

We felt like we’d barely made an impact at Rahab’s house, yet when they opened the church the following Sunday, people from the neighborhood flooded in. Despite our frustrations with the leadership at this week’s church, we’re sure the children are absorbing a lot, and the leaders are learning how to host a Vacation Bible School. We’re looking forward to finding out what other ways God will use our efforts this week; just keep us in prayer as we struggle through our conflict resolution with the added language and cultural barriers..

Becky

7/3 - back from Thailand

Hello, it’s Rick again from Cambodia! We had a great trip to Thailand last week, which was a great break, and got us energized for the final two weeks. It was a typical family beach vacation, with a few monkeys and elephants thrown in, so you’ll have to ask for a review of our pictures once we return.

This week we had planned to teach in Kompang Speu, which is a rural village, so we were looking forward to seeing how most of the country actually lives. However, a new opportunity came up in Loredt, so yesterday we began teaching there.

When we were teaching in the former brothel (Rahab’s House) at Svey Pak, we didn’t have any local adults helping out, and the kids had not been to any form of school, so attention spans and discipline were serious problems. That is to say, the kids were a little like wild animals. After that experience, we weren’t entirely excited about returning to Cambodia to teach again, because it had been so frustrating, and we weren’t sure whether the kids had actually absorbed anything. However, last Sunday was the first week to hold church in Rahab’s House, and they had 50 adults and 30 children attend the first day. Since everyone walks to church in these poorer areas, most churches have a regular attendance of 40-50 people. So we’d like to think that our week of teaching contributed to community good will, and encouraged this large crowd. Remember that the locals used to call this building the Death House, and wouldn’t allow their children near it.

So, after our very difficult time at Rahab’s House, we were encouraged by our experience yesterday at Loredt. If the rental agreement goes through this week, a new church will be planted in Loredt this Sunday, so we’re going in again to build good will in the community before the opening of the church. What’s different this time is that a couple volunteered the front room to their house, so there were 6 local adults available to supervise and direct the children. Except for the language barrier (and many of these kids have had an introduction to English), it was almost like teaching in America. The children were wonderfully behaved and attentive, and were quick to memorize verses and songs with us.

In Loredt, people grow plants in flooded fields, so the house we’re using is built on stilts over a pond. The room we’re in is about 20 feet long and 15 feet deep, and if you look through the cracks in the boards, you can see the water. We had 38 children by snack time, and we added a few more after playing games in a nearby water buffalo pasture (certified by locals as landmine free, and the water buffalo just ignored us). So just imagine what it would be like to have forty children packed into your living room for the morning, and you get a sense for how crowded it was. When we started singing and jumping around, the house started to sway quite a bit. The owners got nervous, and asked us not to jump around quite so much. We didn’t want to destroy our host’s home, so tomorrow we’ll sing songs with more sedate motions.

We’ve all passed around a brief but intense cold this trip (I had it for a couple of days in Thailand), and now its John’s turn, so I’m staying with him for a day while he recovers. Here’s our itinerary for the rest of the trip, which you can use to post on your refrigerator and track us:

June 29 – July 4 Teach at Loredt on the edge of Phnom Penh
July 5 Sight seeing at the Killing Fields
July 6 Travel to Siem Reap by bus
July 7 – 11 Teach in Siem Reap
July 12 – 13 Sight Seeing (Ankor Wat)
July 15 Return to Phnom Penh by bus
July 16 Fly to San Fransisco

Rick for the Kraemers

6/23 update - heading to Thailand

Dear friends and family,

Something has happened to our posts, so I'm re-posting with correct dates in the titles.

Kari is feeling better, but now Elizabeth is sick. Rick stayed “home” with Karli yesterday and John stayed today. I think the break was rejuvenating for the two introverts in our family.

I thought I would share some of the frustrations I am experiencing. I know that these experiences are what cross-culture living is all about. I also realize character and creativity are developed; but, it is not without tension and a constant reminder to me to live and think outside my normal patterns.

The hotel will only give us one bath towel each—no hand or wash clothes and barely any toilet tissue. Any type of tissue is very thin and very small. As a matter of fact, everything seems smaller here. I’m starting to think we have “super-sized” everything in the U.S.

I emailed a specific supply list before we arrived, but it wasn’t looked at very closely and some items are impossible to buy here and/or incredibly expensive. Cambodia makes strong plastic bags, but no paper bags are to be found ANY where. Thankfully, we made card stock copies of frog face and mouths and instead of gluing them to a paper lunch bag, we just color them and fold the mouth so it opens and closes. (Thank you, Judy J.) We then glue on colorful styrofoam cut outs I threw in my luggage at the last moment.

Overall, items are expensive, lower quality, and harder to find in quantities over 5 to 10 items. You have to hunt around many areas of the city and from many little stalls. Although entertaining, it is time-consuming and a bit frustrating trying to adapt. By the time I learn where things are located and the least expensive, I will have returned to the U.S. Even when we have shopped with Cambodians or Bridget so much gets lost in translation. I think I am being clear about what I need and I get taken somewhere else. For example, I am taken to a sterling silver shop where Samantha says have the best quality and price instead of a place for craft supplies. We did want to go shopping for gifts: I just didn’t realize it was going to be right then. Another time, I asked what the name of an unusual fruit was called and received a bag of them because they misunderstood and thought the kids loved them (which was not the case in this situation). I am enjoying the journey even when I do not know exactly when or where I am being taken..

We are the trial run for other Bible clubs in the future. AIM is figuring out how this can work best to help the 700 plus new churches Moses has started all over Cambodia. The goal is to adapt and continue to offer other groups the opportunity to incorporate Bible clubs into their visits.

The food is delicious here, but there have been some interesting experiences. We anxiously ate fish fried for us (from a questionably clean pan in who knows what oil) picking the bones out of our mouths thinking we are doing well just to have eaten it. Instead we were asked in astonishment why we didn’t eat the entire fish, head, bones and all. John obediently ate the fish head: I just couldn’t do it after the toilet, heat, and everything else. I promptly offered it to any one who wanted it. Even in my clumsiness to speak Khmer and understand the culture around me, I mess up. You definitely have to keep a sense of humor.

I never think of myself as having a ton of energy, but yesterday I ran three translators, 20 years younger then me, into the ground. I am positive that translation is exhausting. It is difficult for me because the three young men that are working with us are so passive. They enjoy the kids and are very helpful, but need to be instructed how to act in every situation.

With Rick and Karli gone yesterday I felt I needed to split myself into four people. We had 50 plus kids and many older boys. I would give them the stern “Teacher look” and many would stop and obey, at least for a few minutes. John, Daniel, and Elizabeth worked amazingly hard. I would drag one translator or another with me through music, story, craft, games, more music and another review bible story. The transitions between activities are always the hardest to maintain control. However, I am passionate about what I am doing. I did not travel half way across the world to share about the greatness and uniqueness of Jesus—the Way, the Truth and the Life--to let heat, a language barrier or undisciplined children stop me.

I have the privilege of laughing, playing, singing and teaching in a place where evil has reigned. One of the greatness moments for me was turning on our c.d. player and singing at the top of my lungs “Shout to the Lord” and “We Want to See Jesus Lifted High” as I looked around the beautiful, restored former brothel. I know there will always be evil in this fallen world. However, for this short moment in time, in this small little place, I can see the power of God and His goodness in action.

Today the girls were all over me. As I hugged them and played “duck, duck, goose”, I prayed for each precious one. I would high five the boys as a bamboo soccer ball zoomed by or clap their hands with them to the beat of the music. All of these children are caught up in a part of society that sees them as expendable and valueless unless making money for the family. It is hard to comprehend. I have a delayed emotional reaction to the whole situation once I return to the hotel every afternoon. It is sobering and exhilarating all wrapped up together.

Love,
Becky

[Agape Restoration Center – From Daniel]

Hey everyone! This is my first update so far. Sorry for not writing more e-mails or updating more than I am. This trip has really kept me busy, so lots of the time I am working.
So far, this trip has been fun. On Saturday, we all went to the ARC. That’s where they take care of all the girls that have been abused. They also live at the ARC. At the ARC the girls learn to read, write, understand, and speak English.
We went to the ARC on party Saturday. Party Saturday is a huge party held every month. The party is for every girl with a birthday that month. Right when we got there, I was all of the sudden hounded by girls who wanted me to do something with them. I was such a novelty to them because they only see Americans ever so often. And on top of that I was a boy. (Isn’t that cool? Just for being a boy a get the attention of thirty girls for just saying hi to one of them. And if I was playing a game, every girl thought that it was necessary to play with me for me to have any fun at all. All of them also wanted me to dance these weird Cambodian dances with them.) So I took out my cards and ten other girls played Go Fish with me. The reason why we played Go Fish was because they didn’t know enough English for me to teach them a game. Then, we ate a HUGE meal and danced until we couldn’t dance anymore. We must have done the Macarena five times. After that, everybody followed the counselor and did something, but I didn’t stick around too long to find out. So, I just sat on one of the tire swings enjoying myself. Then, all of a sudden, ten girls came up to me and wanted to play cards. So I, out of the goodness of my heart, (not really I was getting kind of bored and I like to play cards) played cards with them. The next thing everyone wanted me to do with them was swim. I didn’t agree though because first of all, the water was tap water and if I got to much water in my mouth I could get a disease. Second, I didn’t want to get wet and have to dry off the old fashion way. Third, I didn’t feel like swimming. So, I just sat in my tire swing and waited until they were done. When they were done, they wanted to play cards yet again, so I played for a little bit then we had to go. Overall, it was a great experience and I’m glad I went.

Daniel

Cambodia Update from Becky

Hello everyone, it’s Becky! It is Saturday and we don’t have to be anywhere until 10:45 so we are letting the kids sleep in. I slept in until 7: 00 and just had to get up. I love to go up to the 4th floor where they serve a complimentary breakfast. The walls are all open to the outside. You can hear and see motos and cars and “Tuk-tuks” go by. You can see the Mekong River and Tonel River merge into one churning muddy river. You see people out walking for exercise and monks in their saffron robes and shorn heads going to work. I watched a woman go onto the grass where a water line was leaking and discreetly take off her outer kroma, wash her clothes and hair, return to the street, squat down to dry out as we both watch Sambo the zoo elephant be led past by his handler. I sit and drink coffee and jasmine tea and read over the bible story that I am going to teach that day or read and work on our family bible study in Acts. The book of Acts is the continuation of the gospel story: the fulfilling of the law and beginning of a new era; the Holy Spirit working in each believer with the beginning of the church, persecution, miracles, excitement and God’s love and power revealed in new ways in His now confident followers.

I feel like Cambodia is at the place of new beginnings. They are very open to the gospel and many NGO (non-government organizations) and church affiliations are united to work together (unfortunately an unusual concept) to help mentor, train and come alongside the Cambodians to help them reestablish all the systems that are broken. These broken systems exacerbate corruption causing the weakest--the poor, the children, the disabled to suffer the most. The salaries for civil servants—teachers, government officials, policemen—is so little that bribes are a big factor in the entire system. Plus there is really only one party with power in their democratic system, so they want to follow the party line to stay in their position. There is openness to dissent and differing points of view in the papers, but of course not to the level we enjoy in the U.S.

On the way to KM6 (Kilometer 6 road), where we just finished the first week of Bible class, Moses and Samantha Seth’s driver ran a red light (one of two I have seen in the entire city so far). Two police men ran along side us banging on our windows. They kept running along side the left window where Rick was seated but the Thai made Toyoto truck has driver on the right side like in England. The driver pulled over and Samantha quickly handed the policeman a bribe, before he could ask a price. If you ask for a price, and start negotiating, the cost of a ticket could end up as high as $100.00 if the policeman felt like it, or we argued and he would feel he needed to save face. She gave him about $1.25, and we were on our way.

Cambodian people are small of stature and quick to smile. Samantha Seth, the church planting part of AIM, was amazed to see even monks grinning at our kids and the interpreters. You would grin too if you drove by 7-8 people in the back of a pick-up truck singing, shouting greetings in Khmer and English, practically causing moto accidents everywhere we go.

All our kids including our adopted daughter for the summer are having a grand time. I am proud of their flexibility, creativity, humbleness, and joy and love they express to everyone they encounter. They let all the kids hang off them, not caring about the toilet that you flush with a scoop of water from a bucket, the wood plank church floor, and the smell that wafts in through the open side of the church building from the burning and cow pasture near the building. We have a fan and it has rained every afternoon lately so the humidity is not so oppressive.

Thank you God! I still come back to the hotel and shower and change my clothes after teaching all morning. Except for when they decided to take us to lunch at the best buffet in town and then back to the Seth home to help rewrite his testimony. Or when we picked up the Seth’s son and nephew who had just arrived from Texas and then on to shop at the Central Market toting eleven people around to shop—driver, house girl, friend of driver, us, the new arrivals and Samantha. It was crazy but it worked well. I bought everyone ice cream—they order coconut flavored because it is not too sweet. Most foods here are not as sugary as in the U.S.

We are content and safe, but we feel a little off balance all the time because we never quite know what to expect with the timing of things or what is required. So, we always carry water, camera, money, map, hand sanitizer, instructions to our hotel in Khmer and tissue everywhere. Plus I carry a bag of English and bible supplies so we can take any and every opportunity to share.

Karli is beautiful, but in this culture with her Caucasian and Japanese features, height, and paler skin tone, plus her ready smile: she is the epitome of beauty. I feel she is safe with us, but I never let her out of my sight nor do we go out at night. She is very sweet, compassionate, and quick to respond to anything I ask her to do. She does not like to wash her clothing in the sink every night, and she has a gift of scattering her things everywhere which cracks me up. Unlike Elizabeth, whom we call Lucy here, (because her name is difficult in Khmer), who takes an hour to get ready, Karli is ready in minutes. We girls like sharing a room, though the beds are as hard as rocks. It reminds me of growing up sharing a room and bathroom with my two sisters.

The boys have a room next to us which Rick keeps at arctic temperatures. He also needs to drink Aquafina bottled water made by the French company in Thailand instead of the Cambodian purified water which is not as well filtered. The kids and I seem fine with the less expensive kind, but Rick is not. Pray he feels more normal. He is incredible with all the kids, and keeping us happy buying French baguettes for our dinner. We ended up eating a candy bar for our dinner one night and the kids giggled and laughed that we had allowed such a thing. It reminds me how young they are and I smile amazed at how God is working in all of our lives here. I personally love the break from constantly cooking, washing, cleaning, driving, maintaining our stuff. I like just being and having a chance to remember who I was before being so inundated with children and responsibilities. I hope to return to the States more peaceful and confident in what God is doing in my life. Thank you for all your prayers.

I am juggling a lot of things packing up our supplies each day and directing everything trying not to do it myself but train the kids to do the teaching. We all our adapting to the age range of kids, the culture, and using our interpreters effectively—and anyone else there is to help. I try to incorporate everyone’s skills, the Cambodian high schoolers, the church’s Sunday school teacher and Charlie and Randy the visiting Texas relatives. Charlie is a believer, but Randy is not. They both speak Khmer and are great with kids. They are big and I need them on Monday with the rowdy hundred plus kids expected on Monday at Svay Pak. Pray they can and will come next week. I am not quite sure how it is all going to work. I have enough materials and we have done it once now, but I am overwhelmed and excited with the challenge of so many unschooled children. Rahab’s House has fans and a toilet in the building, so I am sure God can do anything through us!

We spent a fascinating two hours at the International Justice Ministry (IJM) Headquarters for Cambodia. This is the organization that Karli’s uncle founded and runs. IJM mentor and train the Cambodian police force to gather credible evidence from a sting operation to rescue underage girls from brothels to establish a case in an international court, like the ground breaking trial in L.A. last month where an American pedophile was successful convicted of his atrocities committed in Cambodia. What an amazing work!

We are joyful. We leave for the ARC—the rescued girls home. We are bringing 80 rings to give to the 80 girls and women that will be present today at “Birthday Celebration Saturday”. These rings we give from the money donated to us to buy gifts for these girls—they represent the hope and healing that is available only in the love found in Jesus. We are excited to present them as gifts from YOU—real people praying for them in America. We are honored to be allowed to participate in what God is doing here. Thank you for partnering with us so together we are showing love to these lovely girls.

Love,
The Kraemers