Cows, and a VIP. Saang at a glance.

Why did the cows cross the road? We didn't know either.

Ok, so what did you think of Saang? What? I never give you much detail?

Well, ok. Here goes...

No, I didn't re-use the same photos. It's all about the subtle differences.

Like I mentioned before, this is Father's House. The bottom level there has several rooms, a kitchen and dining area, and a classroom.

Inside. Nice and airy.

Not that kind of detail? Yeah, alright. I'm getting there. This is the branch of In His Steps that provides a safehouse for children. Specifically, at-risk children - orphans or otherwise - who are at a high risk for abuse and/or human trafficking.

Trafficking? Yes, those commercials and news stories you see on T.V. are real. Children (and kidnap victims) are sold into slavery here sometimes. Often, it's done by a family member to get money - as little as a few dollars too. I'll leave it at that. We already did one of those light side / dark side posts.

The children that come here are fed well (better than many American children - they have a spectacular cook), clothed, and given spiritual and educational edification (check my fancy words!). More importantly, they are no longer orphans. Yep, once they are here, they're family.

The upper room. No, not that upper room.

Above the Father's House is the upper room. This is where church services are held, as well as Saturday children's service and other functions.

You saw Aidan at one of the services in the last post. He had an absolute blast! We got to meet a lot of good people, and see children that were eager to learn about the Bible.

Why is the upper room important? Well, it's here a lot of the children's and youth meetings/gatherings are held. This is the opportunity to reach Saang at large. The children learn, and they go and tell their parents.

Aidan hanging with new friends. That's Aaron on the far left - the one he keeps talking about.

Ahh, perhaps I can anticipate your next question. You are wondering... how Batgecko is doing! Oh... no? Ok, then maybe you are wondering just how effective this place is for the community.

I get this look a lot.

This is Srey Ohm (little one, basically). She is one of the many children who come to the gatherings. She is a very important little girl, in that she is the first example I was given of change. Because of the love she was shown here, she was transformed.

You see, she used to be the village outcast. What's an outcast? Thanks to the special flavor of religion
that permeates this place, it's someone who is different in a deficient way, such as missing a leg, or cleft lip, and it is considered that the person is born this way because they must have done something terrible in a past life. Therefore, they have no value - here, or in the hereafter, which then leads to that person suffering a terrible fate at the hands of people who consider them less than an animal.

Of course, even non-religious folk know that's a load of bunk. Everyone has value. Everyone.

Why was I so impressed? Not only has she overcome a major speech impediment (that was what made her outcast), she now has joy as well. She's fully accepted by the village again, but more importantly, she smiles, and laughs...

...and knows she has value.

How's all that for detail? There's more of course. Somewhere around here, there's a playground, and there's Sak Saum on site, and the Foundation Center for teaching, and this:

Here, there be... construction workers.

This is the new Kairos Center. When it's complete, I'll be doing most of my teaching work in there.

I'll blog about that later. There's still so much to show you, and so much to learn.









...but don't worry. There's still plenty of goofing around to be had.

What you don't hear, is the cries of 'aim at daddy!' followed by 'faster! faster!'. You also can't see me being chased around a tree.

Till next time. Email me if you want, or leave comments. Let me know if there's anything special you'd like to see on here! Ryincambodia@gmail.com