We're in Cambodia

"Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world's ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God" (1 Jn 5:5 Message)

Jen and I arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday, May 5th.

The Kelly's arranged for their Tuk-Tuk driver to be there and pick us up. His name is To and he was a Huge blessing! They use him all the time, so it's great to have someone you trust when you go out. You are always approached by Ton's of drivers, so it was good to have one you knew

Welcome to Phnom Penh!

Patrick and Carol Kelly! The Teen Mania Global Partners for Cambodia. They are a fun Aussie couple that were a breath of fresh air! So hospitable and amazing! They hosted us the whole time we were here- really made us feel welcome! Check out their website to see the great ministry they are part of- click here

This is a pastor they work with. One of his ministries is an orphanage. But he has SO many things he's involved in. His faith is so strong and so contagious! Every time he speaks, he gets so excited about what God is going to do, he ends up almost coming out of his chair! This is his son in the picture with him

The kids at his orphanage

Jen and I with the kids

Then we went to one of the Kelly's places- it's a children's center called TLC. Some of these kids, when they started coming, it was the first time they've ever had milk! And for many of them, the meal they get at this center is the only nutritious one they get.

Jen loved being around the kids!

One of the boys in the surrounding village

Another kid from the village

This was "grandma". She didn't want to smile because she was embarrassed that she didn't have any teeth

Jen and I carved out some time to go see the King's Palace. They told us this was something we should definitely make time to see

More at the King's Palace

One of the Many statues they had there

We also made time to visit the Russian Market- another staple of the city. It was HOT in there! And Very packed!

One of the ministry sites we visited was the World Education Center. It's strategically located across the street from a high school. It's opened up to teach kids English, computer skills and other things. They use all the resources they have, which isn't much. But they are believing God to help them expand. Right now they have about 1,000 kids that come there (some live there) and more want to come, but they just don't have room. (Or money to expand)

They also use this facility for local pastors and church leaders to meet together. We had a chance to share some encouragement with them and also hear some of their testimonies. It was a really sweet time!

We went to visit one of their churches and took a picture of them all in front of it

Patrick and Carol have a lot of different ministries, but one of them is a sewing ministry. It helps provide jobs and job training to different women who have come from mixed backgrounds. These are 3 of the ladies that work with them.

Patrick and Carol treated us to a nice riverboat ride at sunset. It was so peaceful and a neat way to see a lot of the city at one time

This is me walking onto the boat- walking up the plank!

The "toilet" on the boat. 2 slats of wood and a hole that went into the river!

Jen and I enjoying our time on the river

It really was quite beautiful!

Here the sun is setting behind the palace

This is a monument downtown

On Saturday, we visited some more possible ministry sites. We went to the "slums" and visited some families

The slums is located right off the river. And in the rainy season, it floods really bad- it comes above this wall! Also, this trash is Everywhere you look

Jen taking pictures of the kids. They LOVED having their picture taken!

This little guy was giving me the funniest look!

Walking through the garbage to get to a home

She wasn't a believer, but her son is. He got off of heroin after becoming a believer and brought his mom a bible. We prayed a lot for her. She asked us to pray that her heart would be open to God

Her neighbor closed up the walkway into her house and told her they wont take it down till she pays them $100. She told the village leader but they wont do anything. So we prayed and are believing that God will have that wall torn down as a testimony to her that He is in control and loves her. Just as He's going to knock down the walls in her heart towards Him. Please pray for this wall (both of them) to be knocked down as a testimony to her of His love for her

A view from the slums of the bridge and river

Some kids in the village

This family wasn't believers, but we prayed for the little girl in the middle. From drinking the river water, she has mental problems and cant walk or speak. So they wanted us to try to help her. We explained that God was a healer, and that we would pray for Him to heal her.

Please keep this family in your prayers and that God would reveal Himself in a real way to them and this entire village.

This village was mostly Vietnamese and VERY poor. Its full of heroin, gambling, drinking and prostitution. It was very sad walking through this village

(Vietnamese village)

This woman was so sweet! She's had that growth on her neck for 40 years!

Here is a shot of the slums from the bridge

Another site we were told we had to see was the Genocide Museum. It was a very difficult thing to see. But it's such a part of this countries history, and it really helped you to understand why the country is in the condition it's in. I recommend you Google it and read about what happened. It happened in the 70's, so really not that long ago.

It's full of rooms where they kept people and tortured them. It's very difficult to walk through and I didnt want to take pictures, but I wanted to share the history on here. It's really an important part of this country.

This is a little cell that people were kept in

They have mugshots of everyone they took. Every age and type of person was taken

Doorways from cell room to cell room

Learning about the Cambodian culture has been tough but amazing. It has really given us a heart for this country and it's people.

On a lighter note . . . this trip has been such a refreshing experience for us! We've been treated and pampered, worked and traveld, visited many different possible ministry sites, sweated like crazy, got to pray, share our faith and encourage other believers, learned about other ministries, got Godly advise and overall had an amazing time!
We have Many more photos to see with stories attached to them. Click here to see them.

We want to thank Patrick and Carol for all of their time and hospitality! Thank you for the "cuppa's" and all the delicious meals and all the pampering you've done for us! You have really refreshed us and helped widen global view! We will continue to pray for your ministry and all that that God is doing through you both!