Weeks away now

Hi! This is Rick Kraemer, sharing Dale's blog again, to update you on preparations for our Cambodia mission trip.

Our itinerary is nearly finalized, so here’s a pre-view; we’ll send out our full itinerary right before we leave. In the mornings, we’ll be teaching children’s bible school (music, crafts, bible stories and lessons, snacks, and games). In the afternoons, we’ll be teaching English as a second language.

June 3-5 Travel to Cambodia (15 hour flight)
June 6-13 Teach in Phnom Penh
June 14-20 Teach in Svay Pak (former brothel; now an outreach center)
June 21-29 Relax in Thailand
July 1-5 Teach in Kompang Speu
July 6 Travel to Siem Reap (near Angkor Wat)
July 7-13 Teach in Siem Reap/Hold medical clinic with Becky’s parents
July 14-16 Travel to Phnom Penh, then back to US

We can tell that people are praying for us, because so many details are falling easily into place. Our friend Andrea has volunteered to live in our house and watch our dog while we’re gone. We’ve received our visas, reservations for all of our travel and lodging, and a ride to the San Francisco airport. We’ve collected all of the curriculum, games, puppets, musical instruments, and learning aids that we think we’ll need, and we’ve purchased 6 weeks worth of medicines, sun screen, and insect repellent. We’re still clothes shopping (where do all the socks disappear to between trips?).

So, with all of that lined up, what do we have left? Since shipping and extra baggage are so expensive, we’ll be paring our luggage to the very minimum. We will purchase the snacks, most of the craft supplies, and game equipment in Cambodia. This means that we still have some planning and tough packing decisions to make in the next few weeks. We also have a full summer’s worth of normal house, car, and yard maintenance to complete before we leave. The kids have end of the school year projects, exams and concerts, which are also crowding our schedule.

Becky is feeling a bit overwhelmed. She needs to find uninterrupted time to finalize her lesson plans. She needs to plan for a traveling club/class run by our kids, with translators, for an unknown number of children, with varying learning abilities. We’re planning for every contingency we can imagine, and then expecting to be as flexible as possible once we get there . . . yikes!

Cambodian society does not value people or life, as demonstrated by the horrific slaughters they’ve experienced and the parent’s willingness to sell their daughters into sexual slavery. A big part of our trip will be demonstrating to the children that they are special, important, and valuable. To help with this, we have a stack of disposable event wristbands. We’re asking everyone we know to write their name on one now, and then we’ll hand them out to children in Cambodia. Cambodians feel like it is a special privilege to meet and interact with Americans, so we thought it would help the children feel valued if they know someone in America was praying specifically for them, and had sent a personalized gift to them. If you see one of us before we leave, make sure you get a chance to write your name on one of our wrist bands. If we won’t see you in the next month, email us and we will write your name and note on a band for you.

Thank you to everyone for their encouragement and excitement as we all “participate” in this adventure. We can’t do it with out you!

Love,

Rick, Becky, Elizabeth, John and Daniel Kraemer
Karli Haugen