Irony.

Cambodian irony (and Don Garberg can correct any improper usage of the term irony I might offer here) begins with spending a week at one of our orphan homes that has two squatty potties to accommodate everyone’s personal septic as well as general hygiene needs. The hygiene aspect involves holding a small bucket of water over your head, attempting to accomplish the goal of leaving the bathroom feeling freer of dirt and residue than when you entered…

This generally works. That is until you step out of the bathroom and walk a few steps, acquiring a brand new layer of dirt and dust. It’s an unbreakable cycle.

This makes the idea of coming home to a shower (and perhaps this is very un-missionary-like of me to admit) after 5 days that much more wonderfully appealing. Warm water that involves no scooping or dumping. Clean feet. Not having to be concerned with quickness in case a line of people has formed outside the door.

After a 6 hour drive back to Phnom Penh on Saturday, I arrived home with a car tan (the kind that only covers part of one of your arms), road trip snacks, and lofty expectations involving a mounted shower head and adjustable water pressure (again, I'm sure I should at least appear in writing to be more hardcore than I actually am, but I strive for honesty here).

The "irony" entered the story about halfway through when both water and patience were unexpectedly lost.

The end result? A little Cambodian ingenuity involving a bucket downstairs and the one faucet in the house that still had some remaining water left to offer.

So yes, the moral of the story here is of course that sometimes you can’t escape a bucket shower. It will find you.

In other non-hygiene news, it has been a busy 2 weeks as we have partnered with a YWAM team currently in country. They have come to do part of their DTS here and have served with incredibly willing hearts and attitudes (not to mention a great deal of flexibility). The week before last they helped us to paint part of our Training Center in preparation for the annual pastor's conference happening the first week of March.

This past week was spent with the team living out at one of our orphan homes in Banteay Meanchey. Pastor Samuel, his wife Srey Net, and about 15 amazing kids let us invade their home for a week to help paint their sanctuary, do some community outreach, and eat the amazing food Srey Net (who is beautiful, gifted, and now 4 months pregnant) prepared for us.

One of the projects FCOP (foursquare children of promise) has taken on is to put playgrounds in at some of our homes throughout the country. Playgrounds are not the common site here like they are in the states and they have proven here to be a great way to get kids from the surrounding neighborhoods connected with the church home.

It is hard to not become fairly attached to the kids after spending a week with them and wanting to break Cambodia legalities by bringing some of them home, like this little girl and her frequent hugs and over all irresistableness (because that is a word..).

During our stay we got to experience some of the finer methods of Cambodia transportation, such as the Toyota 4Runner. Originally designed to seat 5....in Cambodia used to transport 11 (if not more).

And my personal favorite, the "walking tractor," or mechanical cow.

I also got to live out my long-suppressed acting abilities by filling in last minute for a YWAM skit. The cross-cultural adventures never end :)

Pastor Sam took us to one of the Buddhist temples near his house, which sits atop a steep ascent of stairs lined with statues and small dwellings where monks come to live and study.

I live daily now within the reality of a Buddhist culture (with Hindu influence intertwined). I've been reading a book simply entitled "Buddha" by Karen Armstrong because I want to understand the foundation the culture has built their faith upon. As I understand it, Buddhism is largely concerned with escaping all suffering and building up merit in this life in order to contribute to the next.

From what the book says, Buddha had a wife and son, both of which brought him no pleasure, and so he chose to leave them in order to live an unfettered, "holy" lifestyle. He believed it was his attachment to things and people which bound him to an existence that seemed mired in pain and sorrow.

The author offers that the story of Buddha expresses our hidden acknowledgement that life is incomplete and there must be something better, fuller, and more satisfying elsewhere.

I agree with much of the above. Our suffering generally occurs as a result of the people we are attached to. The innate feelings we all possess of an "incompleteness" point us toward something outside of ourselves that we may struggle to define. The difference I believe here is where we seek the missing elements we cannot seem to obtain on our own. Is the answer to flee from all that causes us pain?

I see on a daily basis evidence of a culture attempting to be free of pain. This is found in the belts that the majority of people wear around their waist to ward off evil, as well as "Spirit houses" found outside many homes to ward off or appease spirits with elaborate offerings of food (which are then later consumed by those in the home or restaurant where the offering resides).

Habakkuk 2:18 "Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it. But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him."

Buddhism would also tell us that an orphan (or any citizen of low social status) is now deservedly living that way as a result of their previous life.

Isaiah 1:17 "Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."

John 1:3 "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."

And in a last bit of exciting miscellaneous news for the month, I made my very first attempt at driving in Cambodia last week! As far as we can determine, no pedestrians, moto drivers, farm animals, or animated police officers (so many of them waving with friendly gestures at me!) were injured in the process...