Seda and Asna

These are pictures of Seda and her brother Asna... Seda is a great friend and she gave me a great surprise by calling me on Friday evening... I always love to talk to her, although I was a bit tired, and we didn't have the best connection at the end of the call. Nonetheless, great to get a call from as John McCollum calls it "The Other Side of Dawn".

Thanks Elisabeth...

As I have read a variety of books, Elisabeth Elliot has to be one of the people who has had her feet most planted on the ground. I love reading the things she says because, A) it makes sense, B) it is rooted in God's Word and C) She know how to write well. But I also like her writing because she has a tendency to pull in quotes from completely unknown (to me) sources that always make me pause... here are two from 'Passion and Purity"

From Lilias Trotter (who?)
"The first step into the realm of giving is... not manward but Godward: an utter yielding of our best. So long as our idea of surrender is limited to the renouncing of unlawful things, we have never grasped its true meaning: that is not worthy of the name for 'no polluted thing' can be offered" (pg. 164)

From T.C. Upham (who?)
"The disposition... to leave the dearest objects of our hearts in the sublime keeping of the general and unspecific belief that God is now answering our prayers in His time and way, and in the best manner, involves a present process of inward crucifixion which is obviously unfavorable to the growth and even the existence of the life of self." (pg. 150)

McCollum's Blog

If you get the chance, check out John McCollum's blog on his current Cambodia trip... The Other side of Dawn... he has got a great way with words...

A couple pictures of Pheakdey

Pheakdey sent me some great pictures of herself lately... she is a young woman in Kampuchea who is studying hotel management at Norton University. Thanks for the pictures friend!

Chanry

Some of you may remember the 14 year old girl that from the orphanage in Battambang that had to have her front four teeth removed this past summer. She has been able to get some dental work done, and they have gotten her some replacement teeth! Here is a picture of her, I think that this picture must have been taken after the procedure because she is looking pretty tired out... her name is Chanry.

Life in Cambodia...

This story breaks my heart... life in Cambodia...

Sophat

I don't know if this picture will seem anti-climactic, but this was definitely my favorite picture from the trip. The last picture was summed up alot of my feelings about the trip to Kampuchea... a lot of fun, beautiful people, a great high for me personally... but this picture sums up Asia's Hope, the ministry that I have gone with... God is providing hope to Khmers and Thais through a small group of people that are looking to Christ. This boy, Sophat, who had no future of any significance, can now have food everyday, clothing, a place to live, friends to play with, and hope for the future. I will always remember a moment where he was excitedly naming all the parts of the body for us (in English). It was just something that he had been learning, and he wanted to show it to us. These are the discarded of Kampuchea... the supposedly worthless... yet, treasured by God. Thank you God for letting me be there to see it happen...

G, Sreynith and a boy

This picture has become the image of my trip this past summer. Most people who have seen it have mentioned how we look like we are happy and having fun. Sreynith, as I have mentioned before is such a sweet little girl. She had spent a lot of time with me and so did the little boy on my lap. I am looking forward to seeing them again soon.

2 girls

This shot did not come out like this on purpose, but I have loved it more and more as I look at it. I was actually trying to get a picture of the girl in the background, but the girl in the foreground did not know that, and thought that I was trying to take a picture of her. I think the girl in the back knew what was happening, but she and I were still trying to make the shot work. Nevertheless, I finally relented and took the picture as it is. It turned out to be a great shot. I love the expressions on both of their faces, for different reasons... I did take another picture immediately following this that I will try to add to this post later.

Sreyven

This girl just has a million dollar smile. She is one of the cutest children at the orphanage. She has practically nothing to her name, but you wouldn't know it by her personality and disposition. We were playing with a slinky that we had brought in our bag of toys. She had never seen one, and we tried making it work on the stairs in the orphanage, but they were a bit wide for it to work well. Nevertheless, we made it into a belt and necklace... just improvised fun. I look forward to seeing her again next summer.

#5 - Seda eating tarantula

Wheh... this picture turned out well, but I was grimacing as I saw her do this... even though she did not eat the whole thing, it was the thought that she was putting a tarantula in her mouth that 'bugged' me... she ate the legs off of it, and that seemed to be enough... they were being sold like snacks on the side of the road... anyway you can click on the picture to see it a little closer... also, here is an article that you can link to about one guy's experiences eating spiders in Cambodia...

A time for giving...

Each of the orphans in Phnom Penh received a toy (beanie baby type), a book as well as some other things... here is a picture of one of the girls after she received hers...

Fun times

Need I say more about this picture? It was fun for these girls to have fun with sunglasses that they had never seen before. We had a bag of toys and these were in there... just fun.

Ohio State 31 - Iowa 6

In what should have been an even more punishing win, the Bucks score 31 points (even though they fumbled 2 times on the Iowa 5 yard line), racked up more than 500 yards of offense (Ohio State? Really?) and the defense allowed negative 9 yards rushing by Iowa for a dominating win at The Horseshoe. Thanks Dave for taking me along and Go Bucks! There are two weeks remaining until the first away game, at Penn State... enjoy the pics... (even though Script Ohio is upside down...)

Buckeyes 27 - San Diego State 6

Apart from a terrible defensive start for the Bucks, they come away with a win... it was not a pretty game for the Buckeyes, but a win is a win... here are some pics that I took last Saturday (thanks Greg!) ... this Saturday, Iowa (Thanks Dave!) As Always a great day for the band!

Back with #7

Well, I know now that my home computer is pretty much dead now... so I have lost a few things, including my list of what order I put my 20 favorite pictures in... so, I am going to have to guess on a few things about what my last favorite 7 pictures were (or at least what order they were in...) so this is one of the guesses... one of the beautiful children at the orphanage in Battambang...

Ah, Computers...

I have no idea if anyone out there is paying attention, but if there are, I have had to pause a while with new postings because my home computer has gone the way of the dodo... hopefully some new things will show up soon... In the meantime, maybe check out Paul McCartney's new album and website... or, you can check out information on Dodo's...

#8 - Girl in Battambang

I love this shot. Here is this little girl who has nearly nothing to her name, but is so joyful over the prospect of holding a ball filled with air, and getting her picture taken. We were working on several of the children's teeth, and she was either waiting to be seen, or waiting for the other orphans to be seen by the dentist. This is the same girl (if you have seen any of my video shots) who is swimming at the water park in the same dress she is wearing in this picture. There are no swimsuits... it is just jump in with the clothes you have. This is one her of two outfits. In many ways it seems like we should pity her, but she is content and joyful. Those are things that I want! What a smile!

#9 - Phillip

I had a feeling when I took this shot that it would be good. Phillip is a Khmer young man that I have gotten to know the last two summers... he is a really neat person who has a wonderful spirit. I got to meet his father and at least two of his brothers. He told me that he has six brothers and one sister! I think that she may be the youngest as well! He has been playing guitar for a while, and even though you can not see it, that is what he is doing in this picture.

#10 - Boy in Market

This young man (I have no idea how old he is), just blew my mind when I saw his legs (click on pic to enlarge). He was sitting in the Central Market in Phnom Penh and was basically begging for money. My heart and mind were totally caught off guard when I saw him. What do you say to someone who is so debilitated? One of my Cambodian friends said that he was born that way, but others have proposed the possibility of his legs being purposefully broken at birth, which I have heard of happening in third world countries. Franlkly the deformities look too symetrical to be done any other way than via a birth defect. I gave him some money and he allowed me to take his picture. Easily one of the most moving pictures of my trip this summer.