Last weekend we headed out of Phnom Penh with friends for a long weekend. This was the Chhum Benh Holiday during which the Khmer believe that their ancestor's spirits are released for 15 days. They believe they must appease these spirits, visiting the temples, buying gifts for monks and so forth. It is a very dark and often fearful time for many Khmer.
We took the opportunity to head to Siem Reap with the children. It took us 8 hours on the bus to undertake the trip of just over 300km. But the kids were very well behaved.
In Siem Reap we enjoyed access to a hot shower and bath, (we do not have hot taps or a bath at home), air conditioning and a swimming pool.
Our tuk tuk driver nick named Tommy was a humble and lovely English speaking Khmer youth. He was a friend of one of our group who has been witnessing to him over a two year period. He was carrying a previous injury and the 11 of us sat around him and prayed for him, which was an incredible privilege.
We visited the Angkor Wat Temple Ruins and also the Vietnamese floating village. The kids and I got up at 4:20am to go out and photograph Angkor Wat at sunrise. It was surreal to think "I am sitting in front of "Angkor Wat", and reflect back 2 years to our NAC trip.
Nathan was keen to get a landscape photo for the 2009 Aussie Kids Photo Festival (which now has an older age category also that Naomi can enter.) Above is one of Nathan's photos of the sunrise. No reds and oranges, just somber blues and blacks, He is very happy with the result.
Back to the grind today of teaching in a humid, noisy city. We shared Tommy's story with our pastoral group and will continue to pray for him. Pleasae join us in prayer that his foot is healed and that he will also come to know Jesus.
God Bless
Fiona
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