BASIC CAMBODIA 2007

The BASIC Cambodia mission took place from July 14-29. The team was in Phnom Penh, the capital, before traveling to Poipet, on the Thailand/Cambodia border. You can check the team's calendar, to find out what their schedule was each day of the trip.

Team members include BASIC leaders Jim Grinnell, Karen Eland and Chris King, plus nine BASIC youth, Laura Sullivan, Judith Newcomb, Anne Miller, Anna Schroeder, Kevin Schroeder, Ethan McEndarfer, Cameron Reed, Christian Reed, and Paul Goodchild.

This page includes updates sent by the team during the trip. Look in the coming days for new pictures at the link below (which takes you to a separate site, with many more pictures than we can fit onto this page or the other page on the TCF site),  as well as reports from the team members about their time there.

The team left Tulsa for Cambodia on Saturday, July 14. Their travel on the way home took the team through Singapore, from Singapore through Hong Kong to San Francisco, then to Dallas and back to Tulsa. The team got home safely on Sunday, July 29.

Check the current weather in Phnom Penh, or Poipet, also known as Paoy Pet. Additionally, you can see this map of Cambodia to see where the team traveled during their time there. 

Check out larger versions of these pictures and more pictures of the team's trip, check the TCF page with additional Cambodia mission pictures, or this page, with some of the pictures team member Ethan McEndarfer took. Also, Daniel McEndarfer produced this video including video and pictures from the trip.

CAMBODIA MISSIONS TRIP REPORTS & UPDATES

These reports below were updates posted during the trip.

July 29 - day 15

SAFELY HOME!  The team got home right on time, Sunday morning, July 29 at 9:50 a.m. after traveling almost 36 hours from Phnom Penh.  The weary but grateful group was greeted by many family and friends.  Look for more reports from some team members in the coming days as this page stays active, and link to more pictures at the link above.

July 24 - day 11

Well, we've got one day of ministry left, and everything is going
well. We spent the morning at a future home for families with
parents on AIDS medicine, digging fencepost holes very much by hand.
Jim defeated a superhuge centipede with his machete and everyone got
nice and muddy. This afternoon we went back to the last village for
another VBS type session. Judith and Christian shared testimonies
and about salvation, and many kids were interested and prayed along
to receive Jesus. Tomorrow we hope to explain more of what it means
to continue to follow Jesus the rest of their lives.

Every night the BASIC kids have been playing with the local kids in
the muddy field next door and here are some pictures of that.
Tomorrow night we are throwing a big party for these kids and
everyone around, like in Luke 14. Please pray the Lord plants lots
of seeds as we love our neighbors here. We are the first team the
YWAMers have brought to this area, and they want to continue working
here every year. It seems we are being used in the fertilizing and
planting part of the Lord's harvest more than the reaping, but we
still rejoice to be laborers. BASIC really does seem gifted in this
kind of thing.

Oh, and here is a picture of Chris going to the barber across the
street for a painful straightedge razor shave- a bit of cultural
experience.

Till next time,
Karen

July 20 - day 7

We've made it to Poipet after an uneventful but interesting bus ride
through the countryside. The last hour was mud and potholes but the
bus handled it fine. We'd heard it was the worst road on earth but
we have to disagree and thankfully so.

This is definitely a dirtier and smaller place than Phnom Penh, but
we jumped right in after our 8 hour ride to get here- all 16 of us
jumped in to 1 little truck and we were off to the villages! The
roads are very bumpy but fun. we are working with a wonderful
ministry called CHO. They provide 'classroom on a mat' to the very
poor villages around here. Teachers bring tarps and set up under
some trees, and 25-60 kids come to school. They otherwise would not
have the chance to be educated. We have now gone to about 5 of these
in different locations, doing some Bible stories in skit form and
having the kids act them out, learning songs, playing games, doing
crafts. The kids are so polite and well behaved and just
delightful. Everyone in BASIC is healthy and full of energy to love
and play with the kids in spite of the heat.

We visited a small orphanage with about 10 kids and 2 house mothers
that broke our hearts. It was just a couple rooms with no
electricity or anything except bare floors and their bedding folded
up in the corner. They were about to have their dinner, 1 plastic
bag of rice. These kids barely had clothes and some had no shoes,
and definitely no toys or anything. We prayed a lot there and hope
to bless them with some things they need.

Today ( I think it's Friday) we also visited a very poor family with
a 3 year old girl who was blinded and left mostly paralyzed after
having the chicken pox. They asked for prayer and we fervently
prayed for her healing. Please join us in prayer for her to be
restored. She seems to be a bit brain damaged or something. I'm
sending a picture of her and her mother with our translator.

Then we went to harvest peanuts in one of their gardens and enjoyed
that thoroughly. We've definitely been kept busy, driving from
village to village in our little trucks, and look forward to the rest
of our time, whatever we may be doing.

Thanks for your prayers- we are doing well!

Karen

July 18 - day 5: First full day in Cambodia

 Hello everyone! Sorry it has taken us so long to send some pictures and
let you know we are doing fine. Our plane trip was uneventful and all flights
were on time and all bags arrived as planned. Virginia Mange was at the
airport to meet us along with YWAM staff from Seattle. It's very hot and
we are sweating constantly - but it cools off at night enough to be comfortable
with fans. We're all healthy and enjoying great food.

We jumped right in to Cambodian life by racing around the city on
'motos' (motor scooters) and yes, we wore helmets. Traffic is along the lines of the Scripture that says 'everyone did what was right in his own eyes'. We saw major historical sites, marketplaces, and visited a Buddhist temple, meeting and talking the best we could to local people. The Khmer language is impossible!

Tonight, all but Karen and Jim are at a 2 hour teaching on intercession
with 9 Vietnamese students that is being taught by Virginia, and tomorrow we get on a bus at 6am and drive 8-10 hours to Poipet, which is affectionately dubbed 'the wild west' of Cambodia. When we tell other missionaries here in Phnom Penh that we are going there, they simply roll their eyes. Virginia says we will touch the core of Cambodia there. Friday and Saturday will be work days, Sunday - church, Monday-Thursday - VBS and work project.

Note the pictures of our first adventures here!

Karen and Jim

July 16 - day 3: arrival in Cambodia

After a more-than-30-hour trip, the team arrived safely in Phnom Penh, Cambodia today.  Here's the first brief report on the team, sent by TCF's career missionary in Cambodia, Virginia Mange, who met the team at the airport:

All have arrived safely in Cambodia!!  It was so exciting to see them all, Jim Grinnell & Karen Eland here......I thought I was dreaming or out of context or something.  Had a good time with them at dinner. Will see them tomorrow afternoon.  Then take them on a prayer walk in Phnom Penh on Wednesday afternoon.

July 15 - day 2: enroute to Cambodia

The team spent the entire 24 hours of July 15 enroute to Cambodia, flying over the Pacific from Los Angeles, through Taipei, and Singapore, on their way to Phnom Penh.

July 14 - Day 1: departure from Tulsa

The team gathered two hours before their flight for check in at Tulsa International Airport, checked their bags through to Phnom Penh, took a team picture, had a prayer together with the team and those family and friends seeing them off, went through security, and headed for their gate. They were about 20 minutes delayed in departing Tulsa.

The first leg took the team from Tulsa to Denver. The next flight was from Denver to Los Angeles, where they had a three-hour layover before getting on a 1 a.m. red-eye to Singapore. More than 30 hours after their departure, the team is scheduled to arrive in Phnom Penh at 5:15 p.m. local time (5:15 a.m. Tulsa time - CDT) Monday July 16.

a report on the trip from Cameron and Christian Reed

Thank you so much for praying and supporting us on our trip to Cambodia.  You really made it possible.  We had the most incredible time and experiences as we shared and received the gospel in a land crushed by war and poverty.  God certainly worked through our team and left us and those we met changed forever.

We stayed the first two days at the YWAM house in the capital, Phnom Penh, where we learned about Cambodia’s history, spirituality, and culture from TCF's experienced missionary Virginia Mange.  She also taught us a lot about prayer and intercession which we put into practice, going on prayer walks and scavenger hunts around the city.  The city was a vibrant, exotic place, with crazy traffic and colorful fruit markets. We fell in love, both with the place, with zipping around the city on motor-scooters, with dragonfruit, rhumbatan, and all the exotic fruits, and also with the beautiful people we met. 

Cambodia is a Buddhist nation with a government which, despite its proclaimed freedom of religion, has been tightening down on Christianity through laws banning Christian meetings and worship in public places.  Christians make up approximately 2% of the population, yet still, God is doing amazing things.  Only a few decades ago, the Cambodian people were ravaged by the oppressive Khmer Rouge government, a sad part of their history which we glimpsed when we visited the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh,  a former Khmer Rouge interrogation center which was converted to a museum uncovering the atrocities.  Yet God has truly gone before us! His healing was evident in the hope, smiles and laughter of the many Cambodians we befriended and interacted with.  

The majority of our trip was spent in Poipet, a small town on the Thai border.  Poipet is the most neglected part of Cambodia and considered their “Wild West”.  Our ministry there was made up of work projects, village teaching, and playing with street kids.  We were fed and housed by a local Christian organization C.H.O. (Cambodian Hope Organization) which also provided transportation.  Each day we would visit a “Classroom on a Mat,” a portable school brought out to the villages for kids who don’t have access to a school and would otherwise be forced to work.  We would come and act out bible stories, make crafts, play games, and sing songs.  Many of the kids received Jesus and we were able to share with them some of our own stories.  It was so fun to play with these kids and hear them sing praise songs like “Father Abraham” in Khmer.  They were very appreciative and attached to us.  We visited several different orphanages and Christian ministries in the region where we got to talk with missionaries, hang out with kids, and help out with building maintenance or yard work.   It was encouraging and inspiring to talk to the different missionaries and hear their stories. 

One of the most exciting experiences we had was our interaction with the neighborhood kids around our hotel in Poipet.  Every evening we would come back from our activities and play Frisbee or soccer with the kids we met in the dirty, muddy abandoned lot next door to the hotel.  All week long our relationship with these kids grew and more and more came to play each day.  It was such a vivid expression of God’s joy and love in fellowship- every evening was like a big, crazy party as we got to know the kids; they taught us their names and learned ours.  God’s hand was really on all of our interactions with people and He blessed these times with His abundant love and joy.  So, in order to bless these kids and show them how much we and God love them, we decided to throw them an actual party on our last night in Poipet.  We invited all the kids and their parents, along with many others we had met, the ladies who cooked for us and those who washed our clothes.  God provided amazingly, we were able to have the party in the enormous, fancy banquet room at the top of the hotel.  Many of the kids had never even been inside a hotel, much less ridden in an elevator, so it was so cool to get to take them in an elevator up to the top floor of the hotel and serve them. 

Our final visit was to the ancient temple Angkor Wat, where we explored the 1200 year old ruins.  We learned a lot together, but mainly that we are called to love everyone even if we aren’t on a mission trip.  We really want to see the same love invade where we live and care for those around us whether in a vacant lot, school, or a downtown street.  We also got to see God in a new perspective and his kingdom coming in a different place with different needs.  We will always remember what God did in us in Cambodia and everyone back home who prayed and supported us.  Thank you all so much!

a post-trip report from Anne Miller

When I first arrived in the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with such contrast of what I am used to. It was completely different to realize this was something that has been always here while I was there, sheltered of the world. I noticed the people and their struggle for life and culture.  It was what they lived for.  They moved about their ways and would always stop to stare. I, among others, was a focus because of the skin color. It was like they were wondering why in the world I came here to be with these people of this culture.  This was the beginning.

Now as time went on and my experiences multiplied and we moved onto Poipet, Cambodia (border of Thailand), I found much more inside these people.  With each wave and smile they gave, it boosted my heart and soul.  It made such a difference in my view of life.  I would stare at the clouds while riding the extremely bumpy road and gaze in wonder of God.  I found this easier when I was with people I love and am close to.  There is something deeper to the way we view life.  It is greatly impacted by love.  All kinds of love.  It is the very core of our being.  It's the genuine care and concern for others that heightens them.  Isn't that what God is?  Love?   And that's how He created us.  That's what we are meant to be.  Now, we may look around and love people, but that doesn't affect them.  It's the acts we put into it that effects them.  It's the smile, it's the welcome, the wave.  It's the time and care we put into the kids.  It's the effort we put into building up communities and sacrificing ourselves for others that shows love.  That is what affects people.  That is what effects God.

Now inside these people I saw such joy and kindness.  They had the image of God in them.  Other people can help to bring Him out and be revealed.  That is what we did.  We revealed the God in these people.  We unveiled the Joy that was hidden, the Joy that comes from purpose, the purpose to love and serve God.  It all intertwines.

When I saw these kids, I felt sorry for them, for what they didnt have.  But I also felt sorry for their lack of love and attention, though that was the one thing we never ceased to give to them.  I believe that was our purpose.  Our purpose was even those small conversations with random people that saw the light in us and even themselves. We need each other. It only helps if we bring each other up. Why bring each other down when we practically depend on such things.  How we live on is strength, and the joy of the Lord is our strength. We can bring each other joy when the core of it is God.