It is a very stretching thing to "prepare" for a clinic outreach in Cambodia. Medicine...check, needles...check, first aid...check. But really, every time one emerges from the van into the sea of beautiful Cambodian faces, you have just stepped into a 3rd world ER where flexibility is a must and love is the care point. The Lord was yet again so faithful to bring provision and discernment in all cases. Patients were seen and treated by 1 of 3 nurses and then given meds by the pharmacist. Some of the patients even got physical therapy. Then they each got to pray with a Cambodian pastor and receive info on FP and Jesus Christ. It was amazing! It was supernatural! Simultaneously our dentist was a total rock star pulling teeth and treating patients. What a phenomenal day!
A huge highlight for me was a man named Lim. In October, he was a patient of mine who had his leg blown off by a land mine in 1980. He asked me to pray and tell my church to pray for a wheel chair so he could work for his family and get to church. God provided and this year, first thing, he got his wheel chair! Praise God! He was so excited! He gave our team a box of boiled chrickets as a thank you! God. Is. Good.
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"Laughter has no language barriers."
The children's energy can outlast any adult. They played every imaginable game with a beach ball, including soccer. One round object filled with air works for many activities. The kids can run and play all day long out in the hot, humid, muggy air without being affected. We on the other hand, were worn out at the end of the day. We have had a wonderful time with the Cambodian children coloring, blowing bubbles, jumping rope adn making witness bracelets. They love to chase the bubbles around and pop them. Bubbles even brought smiles to children's faces while they were getting treated by our nurses.
The children in the villages are very loving to each other, as if they were all part of the same family. It seems that those with less are more giving. When one child has a container of bubbles they share it with all the other kids before they expect to use it again for themselves. They also love to hear stories from the Bible and look at pictures from the books, our translator can mezmorize them with the stories. We have 1 day off tomorrow but are anxious to get back to the kids and share the Good News of the Lord with them.
