The Kraemers are going to Cambodia!

Presentations of our Cambodian Experience

2008-07-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

[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

2008-07-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-23T19:26:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-04T06:34:00.005-07:00

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

2008-07-04T06:30:00.002-07:00

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

2008-06-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

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

We're teaching in Cambodia!

2008-06-11T05:34:00.001-07:00

Hi, it’s Rick again, writing once more from Cambodia. So much has happened in the last few days, that it’s hard to know where to start.

We began Sunday by going to a local church, where we were honored like foreign dignitaries. They made us sit in the front row, then when everyone stood up to sing, no one could see the song leaders, who were all 2 heads shorter than us! Since we were teaching classes that week at the same church, we gave a short, impromptu presentation with examples of what we’d be doing, such as the songs and stories. Becky had taken her ventriloquism dummy, Danny, and everyone was fascinated by him, even though he couldn’t speak khmer any better than Becky.

To really understand our day, you have to know about Moses Seth, and his wife Samantha, who the other half of our Cambodian hosts. Moses has been a Cambodian monk, general, governor, and prison camp prisoner. When the Khmer Rouge was slaughtering everyone in leadership or with an education, he escaped from a prison camp with his wife, and lived off the jungle for 3 years. He made his way to the US as a refugee, and eventually ended out with 2 PHDs from American universities. He is currently the equivalent of Billy Graham to the Cambodians, and has started over 700 churches in Cambodia.

With that background, you can understand how weird it felt to be the center of Moses’ sermon for the day. He used us as an example for each of his points, including how we were willing to give our time and money, and how we have peace in our hearts because we have a personal relationship with Jesus. He spoke about how Cambodian’s don’t have peace in their hearts after all the terrible things that have happened to them, but that God wants them to have peace through Jesus. He made an invitation, and abut 30 people out of a crowd of 100 came forward to change their lives. We heard all this through an interpreter, which was a whole new experience for us.

After the sermon, we helped distribute rice to the poorest people in the church. Moses had us distribute the first few bags, with lots of pictures, and I felt like I was some kind of rock star posing for a photo op. AIM provided the rice, but I think Moses told the people we had, because he wanted to be clear that Christians in America love them. Moses told us that the price of rice has tripled in this area, and that without this relief, these people would either starve, or sell their daughters into sexual slavery.

On a personal note, for Rick, the heat in the church was indescribable. It was the first time I’ve seen a Cambodian sweat, and the only part of me that was dry was the bottom few inches of my untucked shirt tails. The kids started getting sick, so we had to send them home early, and I got a little bit of heat exhaustion. Please pray specifically that I would be able to handle the heat somehow.

Rick

[From Becky]

On Monday, we had 63 kids ranging in age from toddler to high school. The kids go to school in shifts: 8-11, 11-2, and 2-5 pm because the school is overcrowded. We did all the parts of a Kid’s Camp, but only split into separate groups for craft and games. It was organized but chaotic with lots of the musical instruments going in pockets and not back in the bag. The children can’t differentiate between what we’re giving them, and what we’re lending them. They return their coloring pages, but keep the instruments. At the end of the day, they tore the Popsicle sticks off of their crafts, and took just the Popsicle sticks home. It is frustrating at times. It is not cultural to stand in line and there is a lot of hitting to keep the pecking order straight. Ringing a bell to get attention is working well—Thanks Jill for the idea. Everyone seems to be enjoying all the excitement.

Tuesday we had fewer kids because of transportation issues, so it was calmer with only 33 kids. Our kids played and interacted longer and more freely with all the Cambodian children. They liked today better whereas I got really miffed about one puzzle piece going missing. I sat down and prayed for all the little stealing rascals. I offered a candy reward for the “Antarctica border piece” if it was returned. Amazingly enough, it was found in minutes by a small posse. We couldn’t figure out who really brought it back, since the highest kid in the pecking order brought it to us, so we gave everyone a piece of candy.

Really, we never know exactly what is going on. As long as we can laugh, it is fine. We ordered a bran muffin and got the carrot one, or we think we are ending and eating lunch at 11am and don’t get lunches until 1:00, etc.

We can feel the difference your prayers are making in everything we do, so keep them coming,

The Kraemers

We're in Cambodia!

2008-06-08T03:19:00.001-07:00

Hi, it’s Rick and Becky again, this time from Cambodia. We made it safely here after a grueling 16 hours of flight in coach, and were greeted by our hosts with flowered necklaces, which were very damp and cooling. Between the time shift and the oppressive heat and humidity, we seem to be enjoying ourselves. The girls got up early to do a Cambodian dance down in the square in front of the Royal Palace which we can see and hear from our hotel. With single pane widows and 3 separate impromptu classes starting at 4AM, you can not help but join them. Elizabeth’s height makes for many double-takes. Everyone is very kind and happy to talk with us and stare. We spent our first afternoon here just lying around, and getting organized.

On our second day, Friday, we went out shopping for supplies with our local contact, Bridget. We spent the day driving around in the local form of taxis, the tuk-tuk, which is a motorcycle towing a 4 person trailer. It was incredibly hot in the marketplaces, but we were able to purchase most of the supplies we needed from a 6x6 foot booth stacked to the ceiling with paper, pens and other supplies.

On Saturday, we made a pre-visit to Rahabs’s house in Svay Pak, an area on the outskirts of town, where AIM is renting a former brothel for their outreach. We’ll be teaching there in two weeks, but it was good to get a vision of the area, and do a little marketing for our upcoming school. We spent about an hour playing twister, practicing letters, giving out home-made play-dough, and giving horse-back rides. We distributed bracelets from the McLaughlins, the Derriks, the Adkins, and the Grigsbys. They were very popular, with some children hiding one wrist, and asking for a second bracelet. In this neighborhood, girls are collected each night and taken to the brothels, so each of your families should have a bracelet on at least on of the girls caught up in sexual slavery. I remember putting Dana Adkin’s bracelet on one little girl who already had bracelets, then finding out later that the only girls with jewelry in this neighborhood are wearing it because it has been given to them by pedophiles. We’re eager to return to this area and share a message of hope and love to these children.

On Saturday afternoon, we drove around looking for the last of our supplies, and ended out at a craft booth, where they didn’t speak any English. It was funny to watch Becky try to communicate what she needed, until I tried to explain that I needed black construction paper without using words. We ended with another of many tutorials on how to pronounce Khmer words, this one centered on the number seven. No matter how hard we try, they all still laugh at us during our attempts, but encourage us anyway.

Your prayers ARE BEING HEARD AND ANSWERED!

Karli and the Kraemers

We're on our way to Cambodia!

2008-06-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we’ve completed all of our preparations and packing, and got everything to fit within the luggage weight limits, thanks to the expert and patient packing help from our friend Lilly. The only victim seems to be our camera, which went missing, and had to be replaced at the last minute. On Sunday, our church interviewed us, prayed over us and commissioned us. Monday we raided Target for some last minute toiletries and snacks, and now we’re ready to travel.

Tonight Karli’s mom will drive us to the San Fransisco airport, and we’ll fly out at 2:00 am on Wednesday. Here is a detailed itinerary for the next week or so:

Thu/June 5
Arrive Phnom Penh – 11:45 PM /Phnom Penh Orientation
Fri/June 6
Silk Village/Evening Night Market
Sat/June 7
Shop for supplies
Sun/June 8
AM-Visit AIM Church KM 6/PM-Riverfront
Mon/June 9
VBS Phnom Penh (KM6) - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Tue/June 10
VBS Phnom Penh (KM6) - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Wed/June 11
VBS Phnom Penh (KM6) - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Thu/June 12
VBS Phnom Penh (KM6) - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Fri/June 13
VBS Phnom Penh (KM6) - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Sat/June 14
AM Visit ARC /PM Sight Seeing (Phnom Penh Markets)
Sun/June 15
AM Weekly Food Distribution @ Rahab's House/PM Sight Seeing
Mon/June 16
VBS Svay Pak - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Tue/June 17
VBS Svay Pak - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Wed/June 18
VBS Svay Pak - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Thu/June 19
VBS Svay Pak - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Fri/June 20
VBS Svay Pak - AM Bible Study/PM Teach English
Sat/June 21
Sight Seeing (Toul Sleng/Killing Fields)

The first few days we’ll be learning our way around, including discovering how and where to eat, and finding locations where we can purchase craft and snack supplies for our classes. On Monday, we’ll be heading into our first class, which should be the toughest, since it will be the first time we teach the curriculum, and we’ll be adapting to how things are done in Cambodia.

We’re especially excited about distributing food at Rahab’s house on Sunday, June 15. Rahab’s house is a former brothel, which has been rented by AIM. In the past, this house was called the ‘house of death’ by the neighbors, because so many little girls died there. But now we’re bringing that neighbor hood hope instead of pain. On Sunday we’ll be distributing food, and then on Monday through Friday we’ll be teaching classes. We may even get some help from girls who were rescued from this brothel, and are currently teaching weekly jewelry making classes in Rahab’s house.

Keep us in your prayers for safe travels, harmony as a team, success finding supplies, and opportunities to show love to these children who have suffered through so much.

Love,

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

Just a few days away!

2008-05-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's Rick again, with another update on preparations for our Cambodia trip. We’re one week away from our trip, and getting very excited (and overwhelmed).

Becky discovered a Cambodian family in Folsom, and has been working with them to translate many of our visual teaching aids. The translation team in Cambodia is working hard to translate the words to our songs, but we couldn’t find a sound track without English words, so Manuel Luz at Oak Hills Church generously offered an evening to help Becky record instrumental tracks to all of our bible school songs. John and Rick spent an afternoon downloading children’s songs from iTunes, so we can reinforce our English lessons with songs. Between Twister and the Hokie Pokie, every child is sure to remember ‘Right Hand’ and ‘Left Foot.’

We can’t read the characters written on our posters, but we’ve been slowly picking up a little of the Cambodian language (Khmer) through Youtube videos and other internet sites. Hello is Suei S’dai, and the word for Yes is different when spoken by males (baht) and females (jah). We’re hoping that we’ll figure out how to ask for the bathroom before we leave…

Here are the challenges ahead of us this week:
• Finalizing daily lesson plans (delayed by the death of Becky’s grandmother last week)
• Getting our luggage down to 15 Kilograms each (about 33 pounds)
• Toughening Rick’s feet enough to wear sandals for 6 weeks straight (including a badly jammed toe)
• Surviving the teen’s high school finals, and completing the last days of school
• Figuring out how to safely travel with thousands of dollar in cash (they don’t take credit cards or traveler’s checks)
• Carving out the time to be spiritually prepared, despite all of the details demanding our attention

We’ll be driving to San Francisco the evening of June 3rd, and flying out early in the morning June 4th. We’ll have a couple of days to get oriented, be jet lagged, and shop for teaching supplies, crafts, and snacks to accommodate up to 500 total children. We’ve reached our fundraising goals, and now have the funding to purchase everything we need in Cambodia; thanks again to those of you who contributed toward supplies.

That’s about all we have for you now. We’ll send a detailed itinerary soon, then start sending you updates from Cambodia!

Love,

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

Weeks away now

2008-05-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

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

The Kraemers are going to Cambodia!

2008-05-29T09:42:00.001-07:00

Hi! This is Rick Kraemer, posting as a guest blogger on Dale's blog.

As you may know, my employer is providing me with an 8 week sabbatical this summer. After much research, thought, and prayer, we decided to take our family on an international short-term mission trip.

It was a long search to find an opportunity in a third world country where every member of our family could make a useful contribution, but we finally committed to work with a group called Agape International Missions (http://www.aim4asia.org/) in Cambodia.

AIM has three goals in Cambodia: 1) provide assistance and education to the poor, 2) start and grow new churches, and 3) provide a shelter for victims of child sexual slavery. We will be assisting AIM by teaching English (a very valuable and employable skill in Cambodia) and conducting children’s bible schools in the village communities. We’ll be in Cambodia from June 4th to July 16th.

Cambodia is considered one of the poorest countries in Asia, and is still recovering from the devastation of the Khmer Rouge massacres, killing fields, and civil war. There are many orphaned children and others who are abused in various ways, because their culture does not value human life.

Cambodians are very open to Americans, because they have received aid from America, and see America as a driving force to improve their lives. They are eager to learn and practice English, because the best paid jobs go to people who can speak English.

While we are in Cambodia, we will be traveling to a different village each week, and teaching bible school to 30-100 children. The bible school will include games, crafts, bible stories, music, and snacks, which we will purchase in Cambodia. In the afternoons, we will be teaching English to classes of 30 children and teenagers each week.

Since we don’t speak Khmer, we sent some of our materials for translation, and will work closely with local translators in the villages. We also plan to attend special events with the AIM team, and do some sight-seeing on the weekends.

We’ll be taking the entire family, including one of Elizabeth’s friends, Karli. Elizabeth is now 16, John is 14, and Daniel will be 12. Becky's Parents, Noel and Liz Van Ness, will join us the last 2 weeks of the trip. Everyone will be involved in the bible and English classes, plus the boys are looking forward to soccer and other games with the Cambodian children.

Preparation for our six week trip has included travel planning and reservations, extra shots, curriculum development, buying and packing for a hot and extremely humid climate, and scheduling care of our house and dog. We’ve spent considerable time educating ourselves on the country and working with the AIM representative, Don Brewster, on our itinerary.

If you’d like to follow along on our adventure, just drop by this blog every couple of weeks for an update.

Thanks in advance for your prayers,

Rick, Becky, Elizabeth, John and Daniel Kraemer

Financial Support information:
We plan to fund this project ourselves, but several people have asked to help us with the cost of curriculum, crafts, and other supplies for the bible schools and English classes. If you’re interested in supporting us financially through a special offering, you can give checks directly the church. For donations to be tax deductible, they must be made out to ‘New Song Christian Church.’

They should be clearly labeled ‘Cambodia Mission’ on the memo line, and can be either dropped in the offering plate, or sent to Attention: Cambodia Mission Fund, New Song Christian Church, 13389 Folsom Blvd #300-302, Folsom, Ca 95630. You are welcome to send a one-time gift, or send monthly checks from now until the end of August.