Operation Justice, Poi Pet, Cambodia - Day 3, Wednesday

Today we went to Siem Reap. We had a relaxed trip in an air-conditioned bus. I sat with a young girl named Esther. Esther and her family are from New Zealand, but are missionaries in China. Esther has a deep and abiding passion for horses, but little opportunity to interact with them where she lives in China. I heard later, from her mother, that Esther had been very keen to speak with me, but had not had an opportunity. How like our faithful God to arrange for her to sit next to me on the 2 1/2 hour trip to Siem Reap! She had a long list of pre-prepared questions to do with horse behaviour and communication, herd behaviour, and horse training. She knew a lot, and was very focused on adding to her knowledge. She reminded me of myself as a teenager in terms of intensity and passion for these lovely animals. It was a privilege to be able to interact with her and encourage her in her interest. Claire, sitting in front of us, was amused to see that we could really talk about horses for all that time. And she was even more amused to see that we could talk just as intensely about them on the return trip too!

Siem Reap market

My delicious lunch, beautifully served on a palm leaf

In Siem Reap, we had some time to do some shopping at the market. Claire, Linda and I went together, and were quite fascinated by the huge variety of foods available. We had fun in the clothing section, buying scarves and tops and other odds and ends, with help from Sambo who interpreted and advised about currency (In Cambodia you have Riel, but Thai Baht and US dollar are also accepted. Not GB Pounds though, so I had to do plenty of quick arithmetic.) After all this, we met up with other members of the team at a restaurant where we had lunch. The food was excellent. Chicken steamed in coconut juice and Khmer spices, with rice of course! I savoured every morsel. And I had my first ever coconut juice...


After this we were off to do the emotionally challenging outreach at the rubbish dump, where the poorest of the poor pick over the rubbish for items that can be recycled. They fill a couple of bags a day, and earn $2 or $3, just enough to keep themselves and their children alive. The children work at this task alongside their parents. When we asked one small child if he goes to school he replied that no, he is needed to help his family in their work.  It was indescribably hot and dusty. And the smell was appalling.

She is such a beautiful child...

I have seen this kind of thing, from a comfortable distance, in South Africa. It was very challenging meeting people face to face, and knowing that this is their life, not just a 2 hour experience after a comfortable trip in an air-conditioned bus and a good lunch. As we got off the bus, we were issued with masks and gloves. I wore them for about 2 minutes, but then thought ‘Well, if they live this way all the time, why can’t I for a few hours?’ and took them off and jammed them in my pocket and got on with loving the people. After a while the smell did not matter any more. 


We talked with people, washed their feet, prayed for God’s help with specific  problems, sang songs with the children, and handed out gifts we had brought with us from our respective countries.

Washing feet

I have to admit that I was overwhelmed by the thought ‘What difference does this make?’ They still have to live like this. It was hard. 


But for that small moment, it did make a difference. One man, whilst having his feet washed, was asked the question: ‘Do you know that God loves you?’ His reply? ‘I do now, because of you, washing my feet...’


And I was reminded of a favourite old song by Cliff Richard. It was called 'Love and a Helping Hand':

'...It's a drop in the bucket, 

I can hear you say

but the bucket gets wetter, 

I know we'll fill it some day...

So hear  what I'm hearing, 

see what I see

Jesus said: 'If you do it for one of these

you do it for Me...'

'Bill had a friend who, tragically, committed suicide 16 years ago. Lennie really cared about children, and because the pain of his death was still alive in Bill’s heart, and in Lennie’s other friends, they decided to club together and send gifts for the children in memory of Lennie. They sent many things, but especially T-shirts with a picture of ‘Lennie the Lion’ on them, and numerous footballs, which are being used to play with the children on village outreaches. We were privileged to participate in the distribution of these gifts in memory of Lennie. Bill, sharing the story with us later, was in tears. My prayer is that this experience will finally bring resolution and healing to him and to his friends.

Today was the first day I ate like an authentic Cambodian.... rice for breakfast, rice for lunch, rice for supper - Cambodians eat rice with everything. I suppose this is kind of obvious, because rice is grown everywhere! Rice for lunch was accompanied by chicken. Breakfast was savoury rice mixed with egg. Supper was rice and vegetables and chicken. Thea, one of the interpreters, told us that it would be unthinkable for him not to have rice with every meal - and there was a lot of joking about mashed potatoes. Our Cambodian friends think it is awful!