On Sunday morning I awoke to the lovely view of the sun rising over the Mekong river, and the beautiful roof of the hotel opposite sillouetted against the sky. The sight had me rushing for my camera. Soon after I received a message from Sophy to say that they were going down for breakfast, so I dressed quickly and went to join them. It was absolutely wonderful to see Andrea Aasen, XP's 'Operation Justice' leader in Cambodia, and to catch up on happenings since we had last seen each other a year ago.My body did not agree that it was time to eat at all (it was just after midnight in the UK), so I had water, then cranberry juice ('grandberry juice' on the sign), then jasmine tea. I was certainly well hydrated if nothing else!
Breakfast done, we met up with some of the other team members and set of for church. Phnom Penh was busy; traffic everywhere, and I thought Andrea was amazing as she skillfully manoevred our truck around bikes, cars and pedestrians.
The church we went to is run by a British couple, and it was good to meet them and chat a little. And of course I enjoyed the service, which was in both English and Khmer. Afterwards we had an opportunity to pray for people, and to bless them.
In the afternoon we met up with the rest of our team, and we all went for lunch at the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club). This was very enjoyable, because of the obvious connection, for me, with what I already knew of Phnom Penh through the movie 'The Killing Fields', which is about the friendship between American journalist Sydney Schanberg and Cambodian Dith Pran before, during and after the Khmer Rouge. There were well known historic photographs on the walls, and along with a great view of the river and a colonial atmosphere, it was easy to imagine the war correspondents. Not that they ever did come here in reality - this restaurant has only been around for 18 years.
I had fresh coconut juice, and Pad Thai (minus the prawns!) Then it was back to the hotel for some rest time. I fell asleep straight away and woke up with a bit of a shock to find that I had just 10 minutes to change and get downstairs for our 'official' first session at 18h00.
It was so lovely to meet up with a few of my lovely Cambodia friends - Rose, Kimmie, and Sambo. I have had the privilege of working with these three at various times last year, and it made me very happy to see them again.
We began with prayer and worship. The strong emphasis that came through our 'God Time' was that of the Father's Love. How He loves each human being, and that our purpose in coming here is to share and testify of this love. Love, mercy, goodness, kindness... these are the things that characterise His heart for Cambodia. So many here are fatherless - in reality or in experience. In a country struggling to overcome the far-ranging effects of war and genocide, a people whose hearts were broken by the things they experienced struggle to express love. I had a very strong sense of the grief of our Father's heart when He looks at the pain of Cambodia - and of His longing to touch and heal and restore.
Andrea gave us a short summary of what to expect for the week, a bit about XP policy, and a bit of health and safety advice. As in Poipet, it is not advisable to use tap water, not even for brushing teeth. Bottled water for everything!
After this, it was off to bed. I found though that it was hard to get to sleep, so I put one of Heidi Baker's talks on and listened until, eventually, I fell asleep. I am gradually adjusting to Cambodian time.
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