Saturday Recap and exciting news!

Sorry for the late post...

We arrived in Cambodia late Friday night and basically went to bed as soon as we made it to the hotel.  The travel (as you can imagine) is pretty exausting and we were all ready to sleep in something besides our airplane or bus seats - but God helped deliver us safely and that is all that matters, right?

Saturday - Everyone is in good health and in good spirits.  I woke up a little late becuase my phone was still set for US time, but thanks to my teammates (knocking at my door and eventually calling my room) I didn't delay breakfast too much and we walked next door to enojoy some eggs, cerial, and, you guessed it, fried rice :)  What a great start to the day!

Next we headed to S.21 (a concentration camp) in Phnom Penh.  This really helps the teams remember and also realize the hardships the Cambodia people had been through not so many years ago.  The images are horrifying and you can feel the pain on the beaten faces of the prisoners whos pictures now remain as a reminder of a time these people never want relive.  It's aweful - really aweful.  The torture rooms and weapons are there for everyone to see.  Blood stains on the floor still remain and the skulls... some with bullet holes, some with fractures that clearly show severe impact.  Illustrations of babies getting hurled against trees by the hands of the Khmer Rouge soldiers and screaming mothers who are helplessly being held back.  Barbed wire line each floor so that prisoners can't hurl themselves over the balcony to end their misery.  We left with heavy hearts and swelling eyes to say the least.  Then, off to the killing fields...

This is another horrible place that has a history much like S.21.  The name explains exactly what it is - fields and fields full of dead bodies.  Wooden signs reveal just how many people were found in certain places.  There are so many small areas that are dug out (maybe 12x15 feet - no deeper than 2 feet) where hundreds, yes hundreds of bodies were found.  There had to have been a huge pile and, of course, an unmistakeable stench.  Now, only bones can be seen raising above the surface of the soil where the years of rain has unearthed them.  It's a terrible reminder of the men, women and children that were so brutally murdered there. 

It's hard to get back on the up-swing after a morning like that, but we broke for lunch, reflected on everything we just saw, and headed to New Life Church.  It was so amazing to see the progress that has been mad there over the past year and it was amazing to hear the stories (from our translators) about just how much they are spreading Christianity over here.  It's still less than 2%, but the church continues to grow and grow.  Next, a surprise better than any other surprise we could have gotten came our way... We got word that ALL of the children from each orphanage had arrived in Phmon Penh earlier than expected and that we would get the chance to see them that day.  YAY!  Talk about a change of emotions.  Going from a pretty rough morning to a very exciting evening made Saturday, all in all, an awesome first day.  More news tomorrow about our adventures from Sunday @ the beach :)

Exciting News!
We found out today that some of the leaders in charge of S.21 (who up until 2007 had not been arrested for their crimes) are finally getting senenced tomorrow!  Only one has admitted to any wrong duing and only God knows what their true punishments will be... 

Check out this article for more information!

Much love,
Mike