The Other side of the Mekong...

We were on the road very early this Morning to visit a large province on the other side of the River. These are the people who were hit the hardest by the flooding this past year. Mangos are the main source of income for the people and they are grown by the thousands. Unfortunately, all of the excess water from the floods killed off the trees, and with that, their income. The trees are already being replanted, but it takes 4 years for a mango tree to bear. That is a long time to wait for your next pay check.

 

Romanea described this huge province as the poorest of the poor!
HIV and TB have hit the country. Rather than removing the children from their hometowns, 150 are being cared for in their villages, with AOC bring ARV drugs to the homes, and checking on each person 2x a month. They do a loan program, where families can get chickens, or ducks or pigs or cows to raise and bring in income.

Wathana is a bright  12 year old boy who lost both parents to HIV. 

He is living with his Grandma, who has the responsibility of all 3 of her grandsons. She has been given a water filtration system, and Grandma just purchased a cow. AOC helps with his pills , school fees, travel money to the hospital, and nutritious food and vitamins. The holistic care demonstrated by AOC is amazing. What a privilege to pray for this family and commit them to God.

Another ministry that AOC is providing is education for students in poverty area. They have set up small schools for the children who cannot afford to pay school fees....mostly the children of HIV patients.

To our great delight we got to meet with two house churches....Lynn was able to share with the first. You can see on their faces and the JOY coming from them, that even though, as Brother Romanea said they are the poorest of the poor,  Jesus truly makes a difference.

In the midst of the poverty....Gods beauty still abounds. We detoured off the road a bit to a lotus pond. Not only was it beautiful, we discovered that they also provide food in the seeds, and the large fluffy leaves are used for a variety of things....packing, rolling up rice when you are working in the fields, and yes, even a hat to shade you from the strong Cambodian sun.


We stopped at another house church....Pastor Wei and his wife built a church, that is used for a school during the week, and church and special meetings for the community. They have a fish farm and raised fish until the floods last year swept away all of their fish, and they are starting over. Mrs. Wei provided a fantastic lunch of fish, mangoes, rice, chicken, vegetables. We told her it was reminiscent of a Thanksgiving dinner we would have in the States.

Their 26 year old daughter became mentally ill or demon possessed a few years back. It happened on the day her aunt died. The family did not know she died, but the girl  woke up and said..."my aunt wants me to come be with her" only to find that she had passed away during the night. These past 6 years have been filled with violence and Mrs. Wei cannot leave her alone. She asked for prayer ....and we were honoured to do so.

Our last visit of the day, to another school and house church. Judy was asked to share with the ladies group and they were warm and receptive and it was such a privilege to be with them.

I didn't describe the road after we got off the ferry....
I am not sure that I can describe the road that we were on for the whole day. It was damaged by the flood....bridges wiped out, and the ruts and potholes were bone jarring to the core. The journey was hot, dusty and tiring for us all, but especially for Romanea who was gripping the steering wheel tightly to keep control for the 8 hours that we traveled.

The community gathered hundreds of the poorest of the poor
The road was flood damaged almost beyond use
But hope was offered to the hopeless....
Healing was offered in the name of Jesus
Education and economic relief was being made available....
All in the name of Jesus.....