Cycling Camp in KosKong, Cambodia

During the May holiday, my fiance Seyha and I went to Kos Kong in Cambodia. It's part of his cycling / youth / health ministry future plans, and was a great blessing. As promised, there ARE mountains in Cambodia... and I was impressed by the big group of cyclists that took the 2 day ride out to the campsite. Our site was by beautiful waterfalls, and close to the ocean.

However for me, as stated by Dickens, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times..." Taking the buses/taxi from Thailand, then to get on another bus full of Cambodian teenagers, sitting next to my fiance's cousin whose English is like my Khmer, while being on my period, and not knowing what's going on, being eaten by mosquitos, and then setting up the camp to realize there are 5 icky *wet* toilets, is not my camping ideal! (actually, I could make a whole new post – maybe even a blog – on my toilet experiences in SE Asia, but I'd rather not dwell on that) On top of everything, the most frustrating was having problems with my fiance and feeling isolated by language. I helped with the cooking a lot; there's not too much language involved in chopping vegetables. *sigh* Anyway, it was tough for me, but I'm happy the kids had a good time.




I'm not sure of the total number of cyclists, but I'm surprised that some of these bikes made it!




Our friends' two super-cute kids!

CPR and warm-up techniques.


To the beach!

Some channel or bay that goes to the ocean. Below is my tent-mate Noy, another cousin of Seyha's. I think not speaking the same language is ideal for rooming together, because I noticed it made us extra thoughtful of each other's needs. There was no way for me to really explain to her that she rolls around a lot in her sleep. It was very endearing.



Seyha on the left with the guitar, David on the far right, "no hands" across the bridge.

It wasn't a requirement before, but now I can only marry someone who can ride a bike and play the guitar at the same time (while singing, of course).



Sorry I don't have more of the waterfalls. It just doesn't occur to me to take a camera if I'm going to go swimming. Below is the *tinniest* barber shop ever, covered in ad-posters, but using the principles of decorating with mirrors to enhance a small space.

Cycling trip to Kao Yai

Last Sunday we did a cycling trip to Kao Yai National Park. It was SO beautiful, I wish I had more pictures to post (but I couldn't really haul downhill and take pictures!). There were only 3 of us this time, since everyone else was cramming for finals, but we had an amazing time. 

We cycled around and went to one of the many waterfalls, and then cycled down the mountain. As my hands got numb from riding the brakes, I enjoyed the dream-like quality of the ride down the steep and windy road. Lush tropical forest, fresh and cool mountain air, butterflies lazily flitting by.... then one almost flew into my mouth. 

Anyway. I also got to pet a baby deer! It licked my hands, probably because I was so sweaty/salty. Seyha was such an encouragement to me, and I'm thankful his cyclist friend patiently bore with me as I walked my bike uphill when I couldn't make it (unfortunately this was several times). 

Next week is our youth cycling and evangelism camp in Cambodia. I'm praying that the young people would be richly blessed, and I'm praying I can keep up!

Lao church and Vegetarian restaurant!

Seyha and I felt so welcomed and cared for visiting this Adventist church in Laos. The members were so kind and thoughtful of us, and, also let us taste some of their recipes for the vegetarian restaurant they're starting up soon! Please keep Laos in prayer, the Christians here are very regulated, and sharing your faith publicly is illegal. But in spite of the restrictions, the friends we made at this church are cheerfully doing what they can to share God's love and His health message in their community.

Can you imagine being required to have a communist flag in your church?

I'm thankful this market was partially open and not so stuffy! 

Every time I look at how meat is handled, I am proud to be a vegetarian / wanna-be vegan. Yes, there are TONS of flies all over this meat, sucking up the blood and laying their eggs. Sick.

Our two sweet Laotion cooks... hooray for tofu! Vegetarians across the world unite! Pray for them as they study more about biblical health principles and raise funds to rent a space for the restaurant!

Someone picking out the freshest frogs.

Totally amazing food.

My first design in Thai and Muak Lek Evangelism

This was a super fast flyer that needed to be done the same day. I have never felt so at peace about the text for a project, since I couldn't read it! It was relaxing to let other finesse the copy and hand-hold me through the revisions...  The Theology department hosted an Evangelism series at the town close by. There were a lot of youth, since they come to the center there for English tutoring. It was a great blessing and the college looks forward to doing more outreach in the neighboring communities.