Mother Love

I’ve been meaning to write about Cambodia all week now…but every time I would try, it would feel so flat. Like I couldn’t really put it into words. Today is no different, but somehow I don’t think I’ll ever be able to really put the thoughts and feelings about this country into the correct words.

Ben and I spent four days in the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, during our visit to Asia. We wanted to get out and experience another country while we were in Asia, in addition to being in Thailand. We deliberated long and hard about where to go outside of Thailand, and finally decided on Cambodia. I’m so glad we made that decision.

I loved Cambodia. I didn’t expect to, to be honest. I didn’t expect to have it grab me like it did. I didn’t expect to wake up thinking about it…to have the faces and stories and experiences haunt me throughout the day. I didn’t expect to feel the pull to pray for this country like I do, to cry out for God’s justice and God’s mercy for the people there. I didn’t expect to fall in love, but I did.

Here are some shots + chatter from Cambodia:

One of the first differences we noticed from Thailand was the street driving! It was much crazier and full and busy, with motor bikes and tuk-tuks and vehicles just making their way through intersections and streets without any kind of reasoning. We got around mostly by tuk-tuk, which is a little cart thing pulled behind a motor bike.

It was always interesting trying to explain to the drivers where we wanted to go, especially if it was something outside of their normal routes and tourist attractions. Between city maps, iPhone maps, and broken English, we were usually able to communicate and get to where we wanted to go.

We spent a day visiting the Killing Fields and a large prison in the city where prisoners were held until they were taken out to the execution field. This was such a sobering experience…I can hardly fathom how human beings can treat fellow human beings like this…how a soul can know so much darkness that basic human compassion and empathy doesn’t even exist. This was a prison cell at the S-21 prison.

Piles of clothing and personal items from the S-21 prisoners. This happened to real people with real lives…

The actual Killing Fields site is outside of the city a few miles, and this is the place where the prisoners were taken for their executions. Men, women, children, and babies were killed here…no one was exempt, no one was safe. And what is even more sobering is that these events happened in the 1970’s…only forty years ago. It’s not from a far off place in a far off time…it happened in my parents lifetime.

One of our favorite experiences in Cambodia was visiting Daughter’s of Cambodia, an non-government organization that reaches out to the victims of sex-trafficking and exploitation in the city of Phnom Penh. They offer employment to men and women who want to get out of the sex industry…which essentially offers them so much more than just a job. They offer them a new life, value, freedom, and hope.

Once we visited Daughter’s of Cambodia once, we couldn’t help but return several more times. It was just a beautiful place and a beautiful thing to see these women who had been used and exploited and broken now filled with life and smiles and value. It was as though the meals we had there were filled with so much more than just physical nourishment…it was filled with a feeling of hope for these women.

If you ever visit this city, do yourself a favor and stay at the White Linen Boutique Hotel, which is a guesthouse run by the Daughter’s of Cambodia organization. We had originally booked a hotel elsewhere but once we found out about White Linen, we switched our reservation. Such a good decision! This is a beautiful guesthouse, and the entire atmosphere there is filled with peace. The staff are professional and friendly and warm, and the complimentary breakfasts are spot-on!

Rooftops of Cambodia. I failed to get any photos of this experience (because of this!), but one of our favorite things we did in Cambodia was a visit to Agape International Missions in Svay Pak. We had learned of this mission from the Nefarious documentary, and wanted to go and see for ourselves what was going on there. The little village of Svay Pak is known as the red-light district of the world for child sex. As in sex with little girls…men coming to this place to rape little girls. I don’t mean to use shocking language or terms here…but it’s what happens. It happens every day, and we need to know that. We need to care and fight and do something. We need to take our heads out of the sand and let the realities of what other people in our world experience wreck us. We didn’t get to meet any of the young girls that Agape works with…and in some ways I think I am glad about that. I know that if I had, if I had seen these little girls (the youngest girl that agape currently has in their program is five-years-old…five-years-old) with my own eyes, I would never have been able to erase those faces and eyes and stories from my heart.

We had a few meals at Friends Restaurant, which is another really neat organization that reaches out to street youth, and uses their restaurants as a place to provide good training and jobs for them. Once again, food seems to taste better when it supports a noble cause. And this guy…I love globe-trotting and motor biking and smoothie-drinking and experiencing-cultures and living-life with this guy. I love his heart for justice, for people, for Jesus. Plus, isn’t he so cute?!

All in all, our trip to Asia was incredible and fun and eye-opening. We felt God move in our hearts to care for the nations and to make their struggles a part of our prayers and a part of our life. As believers, we are called to shine forth the glory and light and life of Jesus Christ, and how He wants us to do that is different for each of us. Some are called to pray, to give, or to go. However He calls you to shine forth, do it! Don’t wait for someone else to fill the role He has created for you…because you absolutely can make a difference.

What about you: when was a time that you were greatly impacted by realization of injustice or evil done to others? How did this impact you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts! 

We’re back home in the cold, cold north…trying to forget about the warm and sunshine and short sleeves and sandals and bright flowers and cold smoothies of the other side of the world. We were hoping, albeit a bit unrealistically perhaps, that we would get back and winter would be over and spring would have arrived. It’s not here yet…but soon! Like I’ve said, I’ve had fun with a good northern winter…but running around for two weeks in the warm temperatures of south east Asia makes you realize just how awesome spring and summer are.

Our trip to Thailand + Cambodia was good…really, really, really good. There is something about being in another culture that makes me feel alive and inspired and passionate. Something about the different ways of living, talking, eating, and relating…it’s invigorating! It’s refreshing! It’s wonderful!

Our primary reason for this trip was to visit and spend time with my mom-in-law who has lived in Thailand for the past two years or so. I know how special it is to have family come and see where you work, live, and do life when you are somewhere other than home…because my family made the trip to Ghana, Africa when I was there for a year and it was such a great time for both me and them. I loved being able to show them around and introduce them to the ones that I was working and living with. So Ben and I wanted to make the trip sometime, although it was definitely not all for unselfish reasons. I’ve never been to Asia before this trip, so it was great to have a “reason” to go! And, uh, we wanted to do the trip before any little ones come along…but don’t get any ideas any time soon about that just because we did the trip now. Ok? Ok?!

Ok, I’m glad we had that talk.

Here are some shots + chatter from Thailand:

One of the things I noticed right away when we arrived was all the color and freshness. Lots of flowers along the highways and in gardens…and the markets! So much freshness! The markets made me want to just linger and touch all the fresh, colorful produce (i’m a touch-er shopper…i touch everything! it’s kinda weird).

One of the attractions we took in was a thing called Walking Street, which is basically a street full of food booths and craft booths and all-kinds-of-things booths. It happens at night, so we went and roamed around for a few hours. I wish I would have gotten more shots of some of the items and crafts for sale…there were so many delicate, beautiful, and ingenious things there. My purchase of the night was a facial mask made from spices…in this photo, the vendor is mixing up the spices for the type of mask I chose. You then mix the spices with honey, sesame oil, and yogurt and try not to throw up while you have it plastered on your face for twenty minutes. See? It actually worked pretty well and my face feels so pleasant and soft now.

Street food…it all looked and smelled so good! Sometimes we would be walking and I would catch a whiff of something, and I just wished I could follow my nose to wherever it was coming from and take a bite.

We got around mostly by motor bike in Thailand, and at first I was a little freaked out by it all and kept imagining all these horrible ideas of how we could crash and get run over and die…but eventually I realized how awesome and free it was! This shot was a common sight for us…speeding around after mom-in-law, trying to keep up with her. I always rode with Ben, because I’m a scaredy cat and don’t even know how to drive motor bikes because the one time I tried when I was a teenager, I ran into a clothes line. I’m bad for convincing myself that I can’t do something if I’ve tried and failed before…it’s something I need to work on.

One of the highlights for me was the day we spent at a Thai cooking school. We love love love Thai food and what a dream to learn to make the real deal stuff! These are ingredients that are about to transform themselves into curry paste using the heftiest + awesomest of mortar and pestles I’ve ever seen. I brought one back with me actually, and can hopefully make as yum a curry paste here as we did there.

My husband was such a good sport and seemed to have as much fun at the cooking thing as I did. He whipped up some pretty good stuff! This is his Drunken Noodles dish, which totally won over my noodle dish (pad thai).

Ok, sorry for all the cooking class and food photos…there was just so much color and prettiness to photograph! This is my pad thai dish about to get thrown into the wok for cooking…see the little dried shrimpies? It wasn’t the best pad thai I’ve had actually. And supposedly most pad thai you get in the states is actually made with…ketchup. Such shocking un-originality.

We took an afternoon trip on the motor bikes around the mountain one day, which was about a five or six hour journey. We made a few stops in a few villages, and this photo was taken in one such village way on top of the mountain. The smog was pretty thick and you can usually see much farther from what we were told. But it was still a beautiful view and a fun adventure!

We went up the mountain to the elephant camp one afternoon, which was a pretty neat show. The trainers had these elephants doing everything from playing soccer + basketball, throwing darts, playing harmonicas, and painting art. They can paint a better picture than I could, anyway. Amazing!

A little post-show rendezvous with one of the elephants. They did this cute thing where they put a hat on you and then gave you three little pats on top of your head…it was pretty funny + entertaining. I was content with being the photographer and not the photograph-ed in this particular experience, ha!

Thailand was such a fun time, especially spending time with our family there and getting to be a part of their world for a couple weeks. We spent some time at IGO with them and learned more about the work and vision and cool things going on there, as well as meet many of the people that are a part of their life. We ate sticky rice + mango, shopped the markets, drank lots of fresh fruit smoothies, and loved every minute of every experience we had there.

We also spent a few days in Cambodia as part of our visit to Asia…stayed tuned for some shots + chatter on that experience!

What about you: do you enjoy experiencing a different culture? How do travel and culture experiences impact you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!