Cambodia Day 1 - safe and sound

Greetings everyone from Cambodia! We arrived this morning, Friday, about 11:30am Cambodian time. I am completely lost as to what day it is over there as compared to here. I am exhausted but just wanted to let everyone know I am safe and sound.

We are staying in a very nice hotel tonight and tomorrow night. After arriving at the airport, we checked into the hotel and 45 minutes later were off for our first stop.

First we went to the "dump daycare" where about 70 kids are picked up from the dumps of Cambodia, brought to this daycare, bathed, fed, and cared for. Monday thru Friday this happens. The children literally live in the dump, sleep there and eat what they can find in the wasteland. Terrible. Setan and his wife Randa had on their heart to begin to care for as many of these children as they can. So they started the dump daycare. When they first brought the children in, they had to spend quite a bit of money to get them all medical care. Many were sick or had disease like ring worm, lice and such. Now all the children brought to the daycare are healthy. Each morning they are picked up by a van, they have only one van and must take two trips to load all 70+ kids and bring them to the daycare. They smell so badly from living and sleeping in the dumps that they are bathed immediately upon arriving and they are given a new set of clothes. The day is spent teaching them preschool aged content as all the children are preschool aged or younger. The efforts cost about $3000 monthly which an orgination in Canada ha been funding. But in 3 months the Canada orginization will have to reevaluate if they will continue to fund this effort or not so they are trusting God to provide a renewal of commitment or a new commitment from someone else that God calls to provide for them. Such beautiful kids!

Many of the children do have families that live in the dump with them, but it is so poverty stricken they cannot do anything for their own children to make a better life. Setan said that many of the children's parents wonder why they would do sucha thing, to care for their children as they do. He said it gives them an opportunity to share the love of Christ and many give their hearts to Jesus.

The town itself, to me, seems much like what Uganda was. Lots of street vendors in the city, trash lining the streets, poverty evident everywhere you look. It's hot here too!

After the daycare we went to Setan and Randa's home/office where they run transformasia from. Then off to dinner at a nice restaurant for fried rice, pork spring rolls, chicken cashew, and beef skewers. Great food, a special treat for our first night here.

Tomorrow we are going to the killing fields and a museum so we can get a feel for the tragedies this country has faced. I hear it is an emotional time. Then on Sunday my team will head to the Women's center. Randa, Setan's wife, will be my translator for speaking, connecting with the girls. I am so looking forward to that! For those that don't know, I am leading the team that goes to the women's center. We will be teaching them a new trade of jewelry making, sharing our personal testimonies with them and I will be teaching from the story of Joseph in the bible. We will also have opportunity to pray a blessing over each girl. There are 15 girls, ages 15-20 years old and all have recently been taken from human trafficking. I am praying God will bring healing to their lives thru our time spent with them.

You are all wondering how my back is holding out, I am sure. So far, so good. I haven't had any major issues and am believing for complete healing to manifest physically while I am here. So please pray to that end as well for me.

While I am at the Women's center I will not have internet access as far as I know so check in again tomorrow for details and then it will be a few days before I can give an update. Next time, I will see what I can do about getting a few pictures posted as well.

Blessings!
Kelsey