Peanut Butter Friends in a Chop Suey World

This week marks the one year anniversary of our family moving to Cambodia. I vividly recall many unanswered questions  as we boarded the plane for Cambodia. The issue of taking Micah, Reece, and Kyler to Cambodia and raising them overseas was a difficult choice for Wayne and I. Our families asked us, “Will they be safe? How will they be educated? Will they have proper medical care?” Some say that one of the most challenging tasks for many missionaries is that of raising their children on the mission field. While Wayne and I both asked ourselves these same questions when we decided to make this move, the one answer we did have was this:  God called us as a missionary family to serve in Cambodia. He has a plan for our family to live and minister as successfully in Cambodia as we could in the U.S.

Micah handing out snacks at "Joy Club"

This last Thursday Wayne had an opportunity to take Micah out to the slums with the “Joy Club” at our church to minister to over 200 kids through Bible stories, hygiene lessons, and handing out snacks. When we asked Micah what he thought about it all he said:


“I feel sad for them. I feel blessed.  I feel like I should do something for them. Like more than just 10 cents or 20 cents. More like $25,000 so I can build a house for them.”

Micah, Reece, and Kyler are confronted daily with special opportunities and unique challenges. Wayne and I continually take steps to help them understand the world through their eyes.  While it’s true the USA is considered the land of opportunity, we believe that Micah, Reece, and Kyler are experiencing 'other' opportunities while living in Cambodia. They are seeing things and experiencing things differently than those living in the United States - but equally as beneficial. They are learning to relate on a new level to others who are not like them and learning to appreciate those differences. They are learning how to step out of their comfort zones. They are experiencing different cultures first hand - rather than just reading about them in geography books. They are learning to be resourceful, flexible, and adaptable.

Watching Bible Lesson

In preparation for our move to Cambodia a year ago, I read a specific children’s book to help me understand what the boys would go through and the challenges they would face. This book describes the experience of a little girl  moving to Taiwan with her parents to become a “missionary family”.  I recently recalled an excerpt from the book as I was reflecting over what the boys have experienced over this past year. 


 “Sure, my peanut butter (American) friends would never be the same as my Chinese friends. But  I had a wide variety of peanut butter friends, and I was beginning to realize that my Chinese            friends weren’t all alike either.  Friends came in all kinds of flavors.  And all of them were good.” ( Peanut Butter Friends in a Chop Suey World by Deb Brammer)

Thank you God for the amazing journey you have brought us through this last year. Thank you for our family and our friends both abroad and here in Cambodia. 

-Tricia

Miracle at 33 Weeks!

When we first met one of our new clients, our concerns for her health and the health of her unborn baby were at the forefront of the management of her case. For the safety and confidentiality of our clients we do not use real names and so for this story I will use the name Sopia. When clients first enter our program at Mother’s Heart, we accompany them to RACHA (health clinic) for general prenatal checks. It was this checkup that confirmed what we suspected from our preliminary screen. Sopia’s blood pressure was high. She was suffering from a condition called “preeclampsia” which basically means “before seizures” . Our staff began praying immediately for Sopia and her unborn baby.

Pre-eclampsia is a diagnosis given to women who suffer from high blood pressure and swelling under the skin during pregnancy which untreated can ultimately result in dangerously high blood pressure, seizures, and death. It occurs all over the world regardless of age, culture, or ethnic background. Access to an obstetrician is a luxury for most. According to the World Health Organization an estimated 12% of maternal deaths in Cambodia are as a result of this condition. It is estimated that 1 woman out of every 1,666 women will die in Cambodia from complications of pre-eclampsia, however in  comparison to the US the maternal mortality is 1.5 in every 100,000.

 Our Nurse Midwife, Sreytouch, continued to monitor Sopia closely over the following weeks. When Sophy was only 33 weeks pregnant, she developed complications from the preeclampsia and her baby was delivered by emergency C-Section weighing only 2.5lbs! Sopia’s baby boy was admitted immediately to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit here in Phnom Penh. He was placed on a ventilator, feeding tube, and I.V. Our staff continued to pray for a miracle that his lungs would be healthy and mature enough to sustain his breathing. God’s grace and answered prayers quickly followed. Sopia was discharged from the hospital a week later. Her baby boy continued to gain weight daily and after a few short weeks became independent from all the tubes and IV’s. He is thriving wonderfully and was discharged from the hospital just 4 weeks later. Thank you to everyone who prayed for Sopia and her son.

Please pray that pregnant mothers throughout Cambodia will have access to prenatal, labor, delivery, and post-partum care necessary to keep them safe and give birth to a healthy child.

-Tricia

Bicycles Break Barriers



Transporting donated bikes to Mother's Heart

At Mother’s Heart, one of our goals is to assist the girls and women in our program in obtaining access to either vocational training or job placement. One of the biggest barriers to these opportunities is transportation and the cost that surrounds it. However, a bike can change a life in a poor country. Yet for most of the women and girls in our program, a bicycle is financially out of reach. Bicycles help to ensure that the girls and women in our program are empowered through improved access to food and water, employment, healthcare, education and social opportunities. This month, Mother’s Heart received a generous donation of bicycles from the Cambodian Bike Project. Thanks to their donation, 7 women in our program will now receive a bicycle to assist them with both affordable and sustainable transportation

Human Currency: Trading Freedom in Southeast Asia

I was recently reading an article in the Southeast Asia Globe titled the “Cambodian Maid Trade”.  In the past three years up to 25,000 Cambodian domestic workers  who are from impoverished rural communities have migrated to Malaysia following promises of a better future. But, the reality for these women and children is the risk of abuse at every step of the migration cycle. These Cambodian women and underage girls are paying for the chance of a better life.  Once they enter the country of Malaysia, the legal system provides them with little if no protection by the Malaysian government in the recruitment process and regulation of private agencies. According to Malaysia’s labor law, Cambodia’s domestic workers are defined as ‘domestic servant’s, and employment conditions are left to the discretion of the employer.  I realize at this point it gets quite graphic, and apologize if this becomes to blunt.  But as a result, Cambodia maids are routinely over-worked, physically abused, under-paid and burdened with inflated ’handling’ fees and debts.  The worst is that many of them are starved, exploited, and sexually assaulted by their employers according to Tenganita, an anti-human trafficking organization.

Up until recently, I had heard of these rumors and read of these cases. However, this past month at Mother’s Heart has been quite difficult for me.  We have recently taken into our program two young girls (one who is underage) who were sent back to Cambodia by their Malaysian employers. They are both pregnant as a result of sexual assault by their employer. One of them, who is 14 years old, has never been paid in the past two years since her employment as a maid.  My heart is so broken to actually see these women face to face and graphically hear their experiences. They are no longer stories I read on a piece of paper, but have become a reality in my everyday life as I see them come and go from our office as we help integrate them back into Cambodia.

These are the moments that I can say how truly humbled I am to work at Mother’s Heart. To be able to help these young girls is a great honor. Please pray that not only can we help them through their pregnancy, but we help walk with them to restore hope and love them as Christ loves each of us.  One of them began at one of our partner organization for vocational training this last week.

Tricia

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

 

What is BorBor?

Making minced carrots, spinach and chicken

You may not recognize this word, but for a young Cambodian woman trying to feed her baby it is a very important concept.  BorBor is a simple Cambodian term which means “rice soup” or “porridge”.  It’s a process which consists of adding more water to the white rice when cooking it so that it is a thin consistency making the texture in such a way that babies can eat it. Rice itself before its brown shell is removed is actually very healthy. However, in Cambodia, only the animals and prisoners are given the brown, unshelled rice.  The Cambodians eat only the white, polished rice. Unfortunately, the brown shell is what gives the rice its nutrients.

It is not uncommon for many babies and children in Cambodia to become stunted in their growth due to micronutrient deficiencies (which basically means very little vitamins and minerals are in their diet).  Stunting means their bodies are not able to grow in height to reach their full potential due to a lack of vitamins and minerals.  Rice is the main staple for all their meals.  Once the mother stops breast feeding, foods high in calcium and iron such as cheese and milk along with vegetables high in vitamins are commonly absent from the diet due to poverty, culture, and a lack of education.  Malnutrition remains a serious problem for Cambodian children specifically Vitamin A and iron deficiencies.   

Baby food must be made fresh daily because most
mothers don't have refrigeration.

When Micah Reece and Kyler were all babies, I decided to make my own baby food. I could easily buy jars of baby food at the store, but decided I would make baby food for them from fresh vegetables and fruits. I didn't realize how fortunate I was because when I was tired of making my own baby food I could just supplement it with store bought baby food. Little did I know, that God would use that experience in my life again some day.

This month, we held an afternoon workshop for all our mother’s in the program at Mother’s Heart on how to add more nutrients to the BorBor which makes it healthier for the baby than just rice alone.   Mother’s Heart staff taught the women how to chop up locally grown cooked vegetables like carrots or green leafy vegetables which adds vitamins like Vitamin A, B, and K.  We also taught them how to chop up cooked chicken or pork to add protein to the BorBor. Once the chopped and minced ingredients are added to the rice porridge, it then becomes a nutritionally dense baby food.   To many people, these concepts may seem very basic and common knowledge. However, in Cambodia, these concepts are foreign and access to information like nutritionally healthy baby foods remains a barrier to most women.  Don’t forget that few homes have any type of refrigeration, so most of these foods have to be made daily. 

Courage and Leadership

My friend Phka sharing the gospel to a group in a village home

Life was going nowhere. Everywhere he looked Josh saw a bleak future for his community, businesses, his faith family, and his personal family. That is, if things continued to follow the status quo. They had been operating the same way for 40 years and it had worked, but the outlook for staying with the current model was pretty bleak. To top it all off the community’s primary leader was now out of the picture.

Then came the appointment Josh had been waiting for!

“Josh, it’s time.” “I want you to be the lead on taking everyone in the direction I set for them 40 years ago.”

Josh knew exactly what he was being told. Years before he and one other man had encouraged the group to move into a new region. Back then his advice was quickly thwarted. The vast majority of those making decisions only saw the risks and potential costs. Josh had seen the benefits with his own eyes and hadn’t been afraid to voice his opinion.

“You are the man for the job. It’s going to require courage and there will be obstacles, but the opportunity is there for the taking!” “I’ll give you everything you need to get the job done.”

Josh went away from today’s meeting excited and making plans. However, in the back of his mind he wondered how people would respond. He knew some would oppose him because they were comfortable with the way things were, while others would be afraid of the risk or the unknown. But that didn’t slow him down, he headed straight for his friend Caleb’s house to tell him the great news. Like any great leader Joshua knew it was time for change.

I’ve been encouraged lately to spend some time with great leaders. Leaders who aren’t afraid to ask the tough questions.  Leaders who aren’t afraid to personally act based on the tough answers to those questions.  Leaders with great depth of character who possess courage.

When God spoke to Joshua and told him to take the Israelites into the Promised Land He told Joshua: “Be strong and of good courage.” There were giants in the land where Joshua was about to lead 2.5 million people. In the past there had been many who were afraid and it was likely that hadn’t changed. Yet God was calling Joshua to lead in that direction anyway. This is a good picture of the way author Richard Daft defines courage. He says “the defining characteristic of courage is the ability to step forward through fear.” Courage doesn’t mean the absence of doubt or fear, but the ability to act in spite of them.

Students in a village school

It seems every week in Cambodia I face a new unknown. God continues to challenge me to push past any personal fears, press past identity and self-esteem issues, to attempt new things and take greater risks. I’ve been reminded in God the possibilities are endless for our lives. However, this is only if we welcome God to be everything He desires to be in our lives. The problem with that is sometimes who He is or what He wants us to do in us can be scary. God is often just plain confrontational with us and sometimes requires us to be confrontational in our approach to life with others.

I wanted to share an answer from one of my favorite textbooks, The Leadership Experience, to a question I’ve been asking, “What does it mean as a leader to possess courage? 

“As a leader courage means to develop the backbone to accept personal responsibility for achieving desired outcomes, go against the status quo, and stand up for what you believe. Push beyond your comfort zone and break through the wall of fear that limits you.”

When You Are Out Of Options

Andong Slum just outside Phnom Penh

I am daily reminded how many safety nets I have and how many more I used to have. I have come to realize I relied much more on resources available to me in my everyday life instead of a reliance on God. In some ways this is not a bad thing given that God has provided many of those resources and provided us with the wisdom to use them. The real lesson I have learned in Cambodia is about what I do and where I go when I am out of those natural options.

Very soon after we arrived in Cambodia we were faced with a dilemma that has stuck in my mind and is a signpost for me to keep my faith and life focused in the right direction. We were having dinner in the home of a new friend. At the end of dinner we had a time of prayer and he asked us to pray for one of his Cambodian friends. The man had a motorcycle accident and had a head injury. Fortunately, he was transported to the hospital in the capitol city and received basic care. He had swelling in his head and was in a coma. His family sold many of their personal possessions to get him to the hospital to receive emergency care. After a couple of days the family ran out of money. In Cambodia the medical system has very limited resources and cannot offer free medical care. The doctors told the family if he did not start waking up the next morning or if they did not pay the $100 per day fee the hospital would have to release him and the family would have to take him home with no medical care.

The family was out of options. Our friend was telling us the story during the prayer time. My natural reaction was to consider how I could get the $100 per day the family needed. Then I realized I was personally waiting on a bank transfer and wouldn’t have access to any funds for at least two days. After thinking a moment I too realized since we were in Cambodia we didn’t have options to help. It was at that moment I was filled with both faith and conviction. Our “only” option was to pray for him to wake up the following morning and I was immediately convicted because this should have been my first and the best option.  I asked the group to agree with me in prayer the man would wake up the next morning. The next morning I received an excited phone call saying, to the doctors’ surprise, the man had come out of his coma just before the doctors arrived.  I had the privilege of going the hospital the next day to visit with the man and his family and witness an amazing recovery. 

In the village of Kampong Pluch during the floods.
Many families were displaced. 

Time and time again in Cambodia I have seen people out of options and seen God do the miraculous. I recently read a report that showed 20% of Cambodian Christians said they came to Christ after seeing a visible miracle take place in their life or someone close to them. While I in no way feel that Cambodia’s current situation is God’s best for the people who live here, I have seen when people have few options they most often search for God and His help. Being a loving Father He answers and as a result this country is ripe for harvest. In the midst of hardship and the most difficult of circumstances people are accepting Christ and the church continues to grow. The majority of pastors in Cambodia have at most a primary education. It’s not biblical knowledge people are searching for, but relationship with the Living God.

If you find yourself in a place where you feel you are out of options (or better yet as your first option), try following Dr. Dean’s advice:

Go to the source of truth. Go to God in prayer, in His Word or to someone you know who is the “real” deal. Not to your credit card, google or gossiping girlfriends.

Submit to God's directives by faith. The bible is filled with stories of the miraculous. Too often we focus on the miracle and not on the point of the stories. It was the acts of obedience and trust in God by those who received.

Trust God's perfect provision and timing. Ephesians 6:13  “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

Simply put. When we are out of options, God isn’t.