We arrived in Cambodia on Friday night - we had a safe trip. Aidan had the whines on the airplane but a Danish man who was missing his kids tried to play peek-a-boo with him and keep him occupied - praise the Lord for sympathetic travelers! Aidan also had an allergic reaction to some of the airplane food, but a little Benadryl helped a lot. So far we've really enjoyed our time here.

Cambodia is a lot nicer than what I had expected. The past few years have brought much progress here. Matt's contact here (Daren) is an American, and his first visit was in 2000 or so. At that time, there were only two paved roads here in the capital city. Now there are modern traffic lights with timers that count down the seconds until the light changes. There are nice shopping malls springing up, banks & ATM's (new in the last two years), even "Western"-style food chains - KFC and "Lucky Burger." The airport is extremely nice and clean. The city is much calmer than those we've been to in India or Bangladesh. Not as much honking, not as crowded, cleaner. 

It is still a very needy country. There are still problems with landmines in certain areas. Daren said that reports of landmine injuries are usually heard every week. Because of the mass killings in the 70's, there is also a noticable generation gap - as in the older generations are almost missing. Even only being here for two days, it is very noticable. Around Phnom Penh, we've seen so many young people. Daren told us that reportedly, around 70% of the country's population is under 25, and this number is supposed to be even higher in the cities. He said that in the course of a few years in the 70's, 700,000 of the nation's 800,000 children went unaccounted for. So that would be the people who would have been in their 40's now. In addition, out of those who were adults at that time, any who were artists, monks, Christians, professors, doctors, or any others posessing higher education, religious attachment, capitalistic views or connections to foreign countries were systematically weeded out and killed (so that there would be no one with an "outside" view to oppose the brainwashing regime). The young generation is in great need of guidance since there is a comparative lack of elders. There are also other issues such as poverty, orphans, child trafficking, & malnutrition in the kids - one thing that contributes to their small size. We recently met a 4-year old boy who wasn't much bigger than Aidan (who is at the "bottom of the charts" in America). 

The government, although stable, is very corrupt. We were told that many of those in power were part of the Khmer Rouge. One of the men involved recently became a Christian, came forward, and confessed everything that he did. So there is a type of trial going on for him, but the government really doesn't know what to do with him. Anything that he would be guilty of, they would be too!

Saturday morning Matt met with all of the area pastors that HeartCry is supporting. They are part of a network of churches known as "Shalom". Saturday afternoon, we traveled outside the city - taking a ferry across the Mekong river to a riverside village where a fellowship is building. We really enjoyed the trip, aside from the extreme heat, because the countryside here is really beautiful. After our tour of the village areas, we were treated to fresh mangoes and hacked-open coconuts. We did witness two of the typical vices of the people here: alcohol and gambling. We saw a drunken man chasing a village boy and a group of people gathered together playing their equivalent of "Bingo" - only in Cambodia this game is for gambling.

Today we attended the Shalom Phnom Penh service; then Matt traveled out to Kampong Speu to another Shalom fellowship while Amanda & Aidan attended an English Shalom service in Phnom Penh and spent the day with Americans here. The group here works closely/ in conjunction with the indigenous pastors. It is a good situation, from what we can tell.

Tomorrow we're doing a city tour with Daren, and we'll have some more time to rest. 

Thanks for your prayers & e-mails!! We'll keep you updated!

With much love,

Matt, Amanda, & Aidan