You wat?

Proverbs 3:6
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

I am trying to learn some basic Khmer and my efforts seem to go a long way, especially with the staff here at the guest house. However, I do need to work on my pronunciation as the other night I proudly announced (to their amusement) “I'm going to sleep in the frying pan” instead of “I'm going to sleep in my room”.

Visited a community of displaced Vietnamese people of which there are around 40,000 in Cambodia. Originally arriving around AD 400 to fish the Mekong, they are long established here yet greatly marginalized. Being Vietnamese they have few rights and cannot own their own land, cannot return to communist Vietnam as they were not born there and struggle to make a living amongst the Khmers of Cambodia. Debt is a huge problem as illiteracy leads to gambling and monsoon rains can severely limit their ability to earn enough money to pay both the interest on their debts and their rent.

It is very difficult for the Vietnamese children to access education as they don't speak Khmer and many can be seen traipsing around the streets of Siemreap looking for plastics and other items that can be sold to raise enough money for their families to survive. However, there is a Canadian Christian NGO that has a school in Siemreap which enables these children access to basic education. They are taught Khmer, Vietnamese, English and maths and it is understood that there are limited scholarships available to those who are proficient enough to go to university. After school, many of them still have to go looking for recyclable items.

Spent a day cycling to the various temples within the world famous Angkor Wat temple complex. It's far enough cycling there from the guest house and by the time I'd ridden to a couple of the other temple sites and then back home again, I began to understand what Major Bumsore must've been feeling when he penned 'Ten Years in the Saddle'. Angkor Wat was built in the mid-twelfth century and was then rediscovered in the 1850's by some French botanists. It had become overgrown and since then, various teams from around the world have been involved in its restoration. In the 1980's an Indian team were brought in to remove some Portland stone which had been unsuccessfully used in a previous restoration attempt and during the Khmer Rouge era, restorative work was suspended, leaving the site to fall into further disrepair.

During my noodle soup lunch I was surrounded by sellers of all kinds of things: t-shirts, books, scarves, paintings but as they were waiting so patiently for a chance of securing a dollar or two, I took the opportunity to share Jesus with one of the sellers, a buddhist, who stated that she had a cousin who was a Christian. It was a great time of sharing and encouragement – her name was Narin and I said I'd pray for her. Learning that Jesus loved her seemed to strike a chord and hopefully that seed will be watered.

As vast and sprawling as it is, an interesting part of the ancient complex is Ta Prohm which is known as the 'Jungle Temple' where the relics have literally been taken over by immense banyan trees which have rather artistically twisted their way through the remaining stonework. During Pol Pot's reign many of the Hindu and Buddhist idols were defaced, many having had their heads removed due to the fact that the Marxist regime at the time wanted all religion removed from Cambodian society.Nowadays, Cambodia is a country rapidly rediscovering its identity and the people seem remarkably gracious, open and receptive.

Driving in Cambodia is a whole new world; they drive on the right... and on the left when they feel like it and you have to be aware of motorists using mobile phones oblivious to your presence; tuk-tuks, dogs, people, cattle and people driving straight towards you are common hazards so you need eyes everywhere. This reminds me somewhat of Proverbs 3:6 as indeed, if we acknowledge Him and trust for our paths to be strengthened then surely we'll reach our destination. Moreover though, this applies to how we conduct ourselves in view of others, especially over here. I often wonder what some cultures think of the West, with the way be behave abroad; this nation, these Cambodians, are looking for something that is authentic, something that they can aspire to and model. As well as considering this verse whilst using the road we should also acknowledge Him to make straight the pathways throughout all of our lives.

So for now it's "chum reap lear" from me, which is a polite way of saying goodbye in Khmer - just don't ask me to actually say it though as it'll probably come out meaning something completely different.