Prayers Please!!!

I have just had a very busy week and am grateful for a quiet night in my own bed tonight...........

I spent 4 days, with a youth team from Australia, at Heartland Church in Kampong Cham, and another night at John and Kathy Tucker's NHCC village - New Hope for Cambodian Children. That is an orphanage for children with HIV & Aids, one an a half hours outside of Phnom Penh.

(I will go into our visit to NHCC later)

I enjoyed my short visit back there in KC. It was lovely to see everyone again, and they were all very happy to see me also. We accompanied the Heartland staff to the usual programs they run. The Ladies Meeting at Windy Village, ministering to all the village ladies. It's held on a big tarp out under the trees, while the children's program is going on around the front. Then we feed them all and clean up afterwards, and played balloon games with the kids.

Some of the team, myself included, got to visit Destiny Rescue House 2, where the girls performed some Khmer dances for us. They had been very much looking forward to having us as their audience, and were all made up for the occasion. They also bake and sell some cookies, muffins and coconut ice, to raise money. Of course I bought too many, but hey.... it was for a good cause..(no wonder I am not loosing any weight!!).

We visited the Aids and Maternity wards at the KC Hospital and were able to pray for some patients. I personally prayed for one lady who had a tiny baby, but her milk had dried up so she couldn't feed her baby. And she had a raging fever and was in obvious pain. She said, through our translator, that she thought she was going to die. I stayed with her for a while and prayed. The fear in her eyes almost brought me to tears of compassion. I prayed life over her and not death, for God's healing, and for God's peace to break the spirit of anxiety in her. I don't know how she is now. We gave her a tin of baby feeding formula, for new borns. And the Aussie team left some money for more formula. The Heartland team were going back to visit her on Friday, but that was the day I was leaving.

I travelled back on the bus, Friday morning with Pastor Chenna. When we arrived in Phnom Penh, we went straight to visit a lady, from KC, who's daughter is in PP Children's Hospital. Well Chenna actually went in, as they wouldn't let me in because I was a foreigner, so I waited downstairs.

This 3 year old girl fell into a fire about a week ago. Her father is disabled and took a while before he could reach her and get her out. So this little girl (pictured) has very severe burns to both her legs, and I'm not sure what other parts of her body. I think her mother, due to lack of first aid knowledge, also put chili on the burns for some reason, thinking it would help in some way. She knows no one in PP, and hasn't enough money to feed the two of them. So Ps Chenna came down to bring her some money for food. We only left her with enough for one week, at $2 per day. As we both agreed that, if we gave her the whole months supply, she may not be able to budget that amount of money and make it last. So I have the bulk money with me and will visit each week and give it her to live on.

The Aussie youth team , that is here at the moment, donated another $60 to cover more food (approx one more month), and hopefully I can cover the disposable nappies. The child is in too much pain to be carried to the toilet, so her mother has to put disposable nappies on her. I don't know where the first lot of nappies came from. Perhaps the hospital supplied them, but then told the mother that she had to supply her own after that. I didn't get that detail from Chenna, once he returned and filled me in. I hope to get one of our house mum's to buy the nappies from the market for me, at the cheapest rate going - Khmer prices. (I have been told they cost about $5 to $7.50 a bag - that's a lot of money - Westerner price I bet)

I hope to also be able to help Chenna out by helping the lady get transport home when the daughter is well enough, therefore saving him the 3 hour trip down here, and then return, to take them home. But I will see how that goes, as I will have to raise some finances myself. (I can enlist the help of a christian, Khmer, tuk tuk driver, that I know well, as a translator to help me with communication etc with the mum).

Ps Chenna was really grateful to have someone here in PP that he could trust, and rely on. And I am happy to help both of them. So prayers that all goes well for the little girls thorough and quick recovery, would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Being in KC again was a bit of a shock to the system after the busyness of PP, hot water, and having made some friends (female, English speaking, & my age) here. I know it will be lonely, when I return for a couple of months, even though everyone is very lovely, no peers to play with!!!! (white, english speaking people, my age)

And I'm not exactly sure what I would do there for two months in July/ August, so my flesh panicked a bit. It is much more of a sacrifice, both financially and emotionally, to live there. (But then I reasoned that I am not here for me, I'm here for God and He would get me through).

I still feel that I would like to be part of the team there again for a while. No Intercontinental there!!!!!!! or any other sort of continental for that matter. Just mattresses on the floor, cold water, cows, carts and dusty roads. Are you feeling sorry for me yet?.

Keep posted for the photos about the orphanage I mentioned earlier. I am going to have some dinner now. Love and blessings to you all. Lane in Cambodia.