The Tutoring, The Dump, The Team, The Sights

THE TUTORING..This is a couple of shots of me tutoring two of my students. (Pity about the side profile - mine, I mean!) These two beautiful girls have, unfortunately, missed out on too much schooling to be able to fit into the school system successfully. So they have private tutoring at home. They have one-to-one lessons every week day in Khmer and in English. Both are coming along very well.

This girl is a real gem. She is quickly developing into a lovely young lady. Now that she sees some result's in her learning, she is very keen and waiting for me to teach her every day. I used to have to almost drag her to her lessons. Praise God for what He can do through us!! It's wonderful what a little love (sometimes tough love), time and TLC can do.
THE DUMP.......
These are shanty houses built in the dump. The heat and the smell is atrocious, but still, families live here. They sort through the rubbish that is bought in twice daily in trucks, and collect recyclables. Then they one-sell them to a middle-woman, for very little profit (so I have been told by a very reliable Khmer source). The middle-woman has the transport to take the recyclable rubbish to the company that then deals with it. She is the one who gets the most profit. But still, she sits on the dump all day as well, with her kids. What a life? Can you imagine the outcry if Australian families had to do that to survive?I am also told that the dump is being moved, and some huge construction is going on this sight, in the very near future.

This lady, above with her family in their home, lives and scavenges here. She carries her little daughter while she sorts.
We took some fruit up to give to the kids. A lot of them do sometimes go to school for half the day, and then scavenge well into the night.



The kids gratefully accepted the fresh fruit that we took up. It has become a bit of a ritual for "visitors"to take fruit for the families. On this day, I went to the dump with Leigh Ramsay and Trish McDonald. Trish was moved to tears, especially for the little babies that are born here. Yes delivered right here on the dump. It costs money to go to hospital. Money that most of these people don't have.

Destiny Rescue runs a daily children's program somewhere in this vicinity. So that the littlest get looked after, fed, washed and some education at least. I haven't visited them yet, but plan to soon. Lisa and Mimi spent a day with Destiny's dump program while they were here.
THE TEAM..
(only the Aussie component there is a fantastic Khmer component as well) This is Julie, myself and Ann. Julie and Ann both come from Citipointe Church in Brisbane. Anne has been here for two and a half months working in the office. She heads home tomorrow. Julie has just taken over as Project Supervisor and is here for twelve months. We make a great team, and have some great laughs. Not to mention that we are now gym buddies! Julie and I will miss Ann when she goes.

THE SIGHTS.....

House hunting......
I came upon this sight while we were house hunting last week. I found it a little intriguing...A set of stairs going up a tree, but led to nowhere. I would have loved this as a kid, but the tree would have soon housed a cubby-house. I recon I would have had the flashest cubby-house in the street. Unfortunately it didn't suit our needs to house us and the girls. So still we look!!!

Wat Phnom...
This is the entry to Wat Phnom. It is set in Central Phnom Penh in the middle of a large park. (I assume the park has since been built around it) You can get an elephant ride in the park for about $15.00US. There are monkeys high in the trees, and some kids begging from the foreign tourists. There are also kids wandering around selling water and chips etc.

Siesta Time....It is custom here to have a sleep in the middle of the day. I suppose because the days start very early, and the heat. People can, and do, sleep anywhere. As you can see by this man on his moto. I think I'd roll of the seat, if it were me. We gave his mates a little laugh by taking this photo.

It is common to see hammocks on the side of the road with sleeping bodies in them. Also to see shop keepers in the markets, asleep on the floor of their little space. Wonder if Australia should adopt that custom??? HMMM, there's a thought.
Well my friends, that's all for me for today. I have a day off and am going to get a massage(compliments of Julie), and head to the market to help Ann choose some gifts to take home for her family. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. Love and Blessings, Lane in Cambodia!

Where I am at.....

I am still at the SHE Rescue House and still teaching English, amongst other things. The girls have come a long way with both their English and their attitudes. It is still challenging at times, but it's a pleasure to see them develope both personally and academically.

We are looking at training them in a few other areas to get skilled for the future. Ann, Julie & I went to ICF (International Christian fellowship) Church yesterday. It is an English speaking church, mostly full of NGO workers. It was very productive, as we found some more contacts to network with for the future. We met a nice Aussie couple who gave us a lot of info, and ended up going to dinner with them. The husband is a pilot here and the wife teaches at the aviation school. They had previously come for 6 months and ended up living here, in Phnom Penh, for 11 years. Then they retired, but have been recalled to fill in for 6 months again.

Today...the House Manager, Channy is very excited. We are moving one of the families, of two sisters, that we have here in the house. They currently live on the river front, sleeping under the stars, and begging for money. This family had a two year old boy also, who was last seen when he went begging with another 6 year old boy. Neither have been seen since. There has been a police report and attempts to trace them, but nothing has turned up. It has been about 2 months now.

This is the first attempt, for SHE rescue, to try to relocate a family and improve their living arrangements, and work situation. We have found a small but adequate "home" for the remaining 4. The physical move is the first step, with a lot of support, we are hopeing the family can have a new start, and really change their circumstances. So please pray for God to have this family covered, and that He opens doors for a better future for them. Thanks.

Other than that, all is well here. I am constantly praying that God show me where He wants me and what He wants me to do specifically. I believe this time is a preparation and learning time. So I try to take one day at a time, and remain open. I miss everyone at home, but I am committed to fulfil this call right now. I have found a gym that costs $1 per hour so I can get some badly needed exercise. And I am considering getting private guitar lessons for my personal growth, and an interest. I want to be able to worship from the guitar when I return to Kampong Charm (and home). We often go to the villages for outreaches, but don't always have a guitarist.

Please also pray for finances for me. My biggest cost that is impending in the VERY near future is to extend my visa for 6 or 12 months.

Thanks for your prayers and support. I love hearing from home, so if you have any comments, or news you can email me at lanethomas1@gmail.com

Love & blessings to you. Lane.

DESTINY RESCUE - Chiang Rai, Thailand (Feb 09)

The Three Musketeers.......Here we are indulging ourselves in a Phnom Penh Spa, before we set out to Thailand & Laos. Mimi, Lane and Lisa.
We all spent 3 lovely days in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, before setting out to the wild blue yonder. Throughout out journey, God gave each of us an opportunity to share a testimony and/or his word. It was great!!!!!! details to follow.I don't have pictures, but on our first evening in Chiang Rai, we ministered to a group of about 8 rescued girls at their house. It was such an anointed evening. We opened by giving the girls a foot scrub, and painting their toenails. That was a bit of fun and fellowship. Then we sang a worship song, prayed and Lisa shared part of her testimony and a word from the bible. Then we ministered some more to the girls in prayer & song. It was a special night.

Here at Destiny Rescue, Chiang Rai, Thailand. Here Mimi & I are with Heidi, and Kerry (male). Heidi is in charge of the rescued girls jewellery making program. They make and sell jewellery as an income to help support themselves. Kerry is the person in charge of taking care of visiting teams (amongst other things), which he is very good at. He's a lovely aussie guy, with a great aussie sense of humour. He was our guide for 4 days, and helped make our visit very enjoyable, as well as educational.

This is a shot of inside the shed where the work gets done. I believe some of the girls come from the village, behind the Destiny Rescue property, as well. Lisa & Mim brought back a supply of jewellery to on-sell for them. I bought a really lovely bracelet that one of the girls had just finished. That will be my souvenier from them.

This is an outside shot of the same shed. This is a large block of land with accommodation, as well as a lot of outside area.

This is the other side of the shed where the sewing area is set up. They aren't using the machines at the moment, but have previously sewn dresses, I believe. They do plan to get it going again in the near future. It's all skill training for the girls, to create an income, both for them and Destiny Rescue, as these programs cost a lot of money to run. Destiny has just become legal owners of the property they are on. They purchased it approx 18 months ago, but have only just received the paperwork in their name.

I have a cuddle with one of the girls babies.

Sunrise Children's Home. Another of Destiny's programs. This property is on the outskirts of town. It is run by two Thai couples, who have a heart for children. Most of the children here come from very poor outlying villages. And they would not otherwise have the opportunity to go to school. They live here and attend school for the week and some go home on weekends. I believe some are orphans also. They are also introduced to Jesus, and almost all of them are Christians now. They regularly pray for their families, and some children's families are also open to christianity.

This is an outside shot of the dormatory that the girls live in. About 13 of the boys live with the leader and his wife & children, in a modest size house (not pictured).

They raise pigs to sell also. Lisa & Mim are introducing themselves to one of the residents in the pig pennery.

Some of the little pigglets that will be fattened up and eventually sold. They are a good income creator, I'm told. And tasty too!!

This is the fish farm area they have just created. Eventually it will be full of water and growing fish. They, with the help of a visiting team, dug this out by hand. Well they did use shovels.

"Lahu"- Hill Top Tribe Outreach... One afternoon we all piled into Kerry's little truck, 4 in the front and a family of 5 in the back, and headed into the hills to the village of the Lahu tribe. This is a fairly new venture, which they do once a month. As the Lahu people are quite shy with visitors, they start off by warming the children up with games and getting some of the mums involved as well. Then we were dinner guests at the local teachers house, and afterwards they have a music service of christian songs. It's not quite a worship service yet, as they are introducing christianity slowly. They also bring teaching, and films about the dangers of trafficking and drugs, sex education, aids etc. Most of the young people of this village have no future here past the age of 15, and end up in town either selling drugs or themselves.
This is the stage set up. The leaders of our crew introduced all the team to the villagers, including us. Mimi had the opportunity to share part of her testimony and God's word on this occassion. She shared really well and it was very appropriate for that meeting. We could not do an alter call though, as they are not up to that stage yet. Much to our dissappointment, but we respect that.

We did go for a stroll around the village while the set up was still happening. This is one of the houses in the village. I was fascinated by the built in bench on the end of the verandah.

This photo makes me laugh every time I see it. here Lisa is refusing to be photographed with yet another pig. I can't understand why??? The pigs were as much a part of the community as the people.

Lane & Lisa having a chat with a local dog. The people were quite shy, but they didn't seem to mind us wandering around. I suppose we were something different to look at. Getting home...At about 9.30 pm we all piled back into the another vehicle, this time I had the privilege of travelling in the back tray with some of the other family, for our one and a half hour drive home in the red dust and cold night air.

Just, Checkin out the pig pen in this village.....

Back in town.......We did meet Tony Kerwin and his wife for lunch one day. Tony is the founder of Destiny Rescue. He and his wife oversee all the opperations and are heavily involved in the rescuing of the girls. Also, on our last day we finally met Kerry's wife Di, and went out for coffee.

Here we are having a lovely time with our host Kerry and his wife Di. They took us to their favourite coffee house. Set up along the side of the road, amongst some greenery. They are a lovely couple, and very easy to be around. We were very blessed to have Kerry as our guide.

One of our projects during our stay was to paint the lounge room in the team house. The building is a very practical, 4 storey, brick building, with about 4 bedrooms, a lounge area and a kitchen & dining area, with a big roller door entry. It's practical, but it's not very homely. Some painting has been done already. But Kerry wanted to create a cosy lounge area for teams to relax and meet etc. So we went about choosing colours etc, and Mimi blessed them with by buying the paint and some extra brushes etc. Then we set about doing the painting job. It was fun and a real team effort. It wasn't quite finished when we left, but the remaining family and Kerry, were going to finish it off. By the time we had finished, a lovely blue lounge had also been ordered for the room and paid for as well. Kerry was very happy.
We were really blessed that particular weekend, as the outreach to the Lahu tribe happens spasmotically, and their regular church service only happen once a month. And they both fell on the weekend that we were there in Chaing Rai. On our last evening we went to church. It is held on the grounds of the Destiny Rescue property in the open air. I was asked to share at the service. So I shared on a vision God had given me in the first two weeks that I was in Cambodia. it was during a worship time with Heartland, in Kampong Charm. God showed me that He was bringing an army of reinforcements, from Australia and other countries, to soldier along side of the army of christian nationals that were already here doing a mighty job. That the reinforcements are not sent here to take over or say "we know better", but to stand with, encourage, and work along side them to help bring this nations of Cambodia & Thailand back to where they should, and can be. Also that the young people I was talking to were so loved by God that He sent me there to tell them. Some of them would be leaders in the country one day and would be able to change things at that level. But that ALL of them can change things in their own lives and circumstances, and environment around them. Because when you have Jesus in your heart, you carry Him wherever you go, and then Nothing is impossible. Amen.

I am now back in Phnom Pehn safe & sound, after my travels around Thailand & Laos. It was a great experience, but a little hairy travelling home. I left my girlfriends the bus station in Bangkok, after our overnight bus trip, as they were flying from there to Australia. I bussed it to the border, had to walk accross the border, being herded like cattle, with very litle explaination as to what the procedure was. Got ripped of by a corrupt official, buying another visa, he charged me $50 US, ($80 AU), but it should have been $25 US. Then got stuck on the other side in a little town called Poi Pet, because no busses went to PP that night. Had some guys at the bus station pushing very hard to convince me to take a taxi with 3 others. All khmer men, all the way to PP. The deal is, the foriegner pays $25 US to take a taxi, and the others get a free ride. No way was I putting myself in that position either!!! They were doing it to everyone. Mostly if you had other tourist going to the same destination, you could share a taxi. But they were all going to Siem Riep, and I wanted to go to Phnom Penh.

I prayed hard, in all the confusion and asked God to just get me home safely, and He did. Another fellow came along, after I prayed, who could speak english. He told me about the public bus system, which I had read a little about in a tour guide book. So I took a gamble and trusted him. He flagged down a passing tuk tuk, took me to buy the ticket and booked me into a guest house. I Spent the night in that guest house, locked in my room. Then caught a public bus for the 7 hour trip from Poipet to PP. I was the only foriegner on the bus, AND the only person who could speak English. But I made it. Praise God. Im sure it's all growing á experience, and preparation for something.... Anyway, I hope you and your families are all well.

Love and Blessings to you, Lane.