What is Kampong Cham?

Kampong Cham is many things.

Kampong Cham is people.

A man on a seven meter long boat holds a plastic bottle aloft with a rope while a little boy enjoys kicking it. The River Megong is a little lazy as it has not yet drunk the rains of the monsoon. An island, usually submerged, is visible. The commune chief's office has a baby chic in it that leaves before our interview is over. Perhaps a better interview and repast is set outside. The police have a half-completed office that is decorated with a half-dozen dogs of various shapes, colors, and temperaments. I get a nice hand washing before I leave. Today the police do not ask for money. I see them as fathers and husbands--even friends. Every town has one coffee shop (though I only drink tea) that becomes my Bali Hai retreat. Today I find one here, and enjoy my first chat with new friends. The truck we've had for two days has its baptism into service bringing a load of laughing villagers to Sunday service. It meets two obstacles; one, an old man, who having found a whiskey bottle patrols the street, hoping to get gratuities from trucks, and the other, a narrow road on the riverside cliff that defies u-turns. The lazy air is host to the beating rhythms of karaoke until midnight; then at 5:01A.M., 5:03, 5:08, and several times thereafter, morning greetings are imparted with the jingling bells of little horses pulling little carts on the way to carry someone's goods to market. Motorbikes, trucks, and squealing puppies enthusiastically join the aforementioned chorus. A swing on a second story tiled terrace is a setting for the tortured pronunciation of the Khmai language as a foreigner finds vowels to be the most recent of enigmas to enter the universe.

Kampong Cham is many things.

Kampong Cham is people.

What will tomorrow bring to Kampong Cham?

There were three events this month you may like to hear about. Here in Cambodia, the ministry celebrated its tenth anniversary. The large property we have out by the airport hosted about six hundred people under a big tarp. We had all of the churches and preaching points represented, plus guests from other groups, the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia director, the leader of the Hagar Development Ministry, a group from the Hong Kong FMC, the Bishop of the Philippines, the Director of APFMMA, and the Superintendent of the Hong Kong FMC. We had two brothers ordained, and two recognized as conference candidates. It was a time of wonderful blessing. We hope to be here for the twentieth anniversary!

The women of the church here have quarterly retreats. This month they went to a nice retreat center at Kampong Sohm. No children are allowed, and time is given to learn about practical and spiritual topics. Yuko went with four ladies from Kampong Cham. Over seventy ladies in all attended. I'm looking forward to hearing some testimonies on Sunday.

Yesterday we went to the town of Soum. We used to have a Bible study here a few years ago in a large house that had been a hospital for the Khmer Rouge. For various reasons the fellowship shifted hands and was eventually left untended. We received an invitation to come back on Sunday and share from the Word. Soum is about half an hour from Kampong Cham. This may be the outreach and leadership training, that we have been praying about, rolled into one. Please keep it in your petitions to the throne.

Yuko and I appreciate your friendship, prayers and support.

Love, Chris and Yuko

"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: 'If any one would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this sinful and adulterous generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.'" Mark 8:34-37¡@NIV