Battambang!

~Finally, we have arrived in Battambang! Let me recap the path that lead us here....

From Seoul, we took another 6 hour flight to Phnom Penh. Although we all slept a bit on the long flight, we've been relying pretty heavily on adrenaline to keep us moving forward. Pastor Vek and his wife met us at the airport and escorted us to the Goldiana hotel, where we stayed the night. They are very gracious hosts, and they welcomed three teams and 28 missionaries with open arms. We were all exhausted from the travel but pumped up with adrenaline, so those of us who could sleep did so, and those who could not.... will be sleeping soundly tonight!

This morning, Pastor Vek gave us a tour of the new church building in Phnom Penh - it is incredible! They have a large sanctuary with a balcony and giant stage. They are still raising funds to finish the interior, so there are several floors that are under construction. Once completed they will have classrooms and dorm rooms for visiting groups. From the roof you can see all across Phnom Penh, including construction on what will be a 42-story building just a few blocks away. We were all blown away by how much God has blessed them, especially with such rapid church growth causing the need for the wonderful new building!

We also visited the Genocide Museum, also known as the Killing Fields. This is where prisoners from concentration camps like Tuol Sleung (S.R. 21) were brought to be killed. Huge holes in the ground are all that are left where mass graves holding up to several hundred corpses were. A large monument contains hundreds of recovered skulls of the Khmer Rouge victims, making the reality of what happened there hit hard. Young children and even babies were not spared in the holocaust, and many were brutally murdered there because they feared future uprisings or revenge. The Khmer Rouge's paraphrased belief was that they needed to "kill the grass" permanantly by removing even the roots.

Of note was an exhibit about one of the four main leaders of the movement who is currently facing trial for his crimes (the trial began in March 2009). He has admitted all his wrongdoing and apologized for the atrocities he ordered, even going so far as to say that his underlings should not be held responsible for doing what he directed them to do. From his statements, it seems that once he faced the horrible crimes committed against the children he was no longer able to justify what he had done.

After we arrived in Battambang (a little 6-hour jaunt from Phnom Penh), we checked into our hotel and headed out to dinner. We ate with several members of the church who accompanied us on our bus ride, and were also joined by the local pastor. Over dinner, one of the church members stunned several of us by revealing that many of the Khmer youth deny that the genocide occurred in the way it is recorded. They apparently have a difficult time believing that anyone could do something so violent on so large a scale without any reason behind it. I imagine it's hard for anyone to believe that such terrible evil exists in the world, but the country is only beginning to recover from the damage done by the Khmer Rouge and the legacy of those who survived is already at risk.

Tomorrow, we'll go to the church service where we will (finally!) get to see the kids! All the effort getting here will be rewarded handsomely then. Thank you all for your prayers, and please pray that God will be glorified this week as we serve Him and enjoy the blessings He has given us through the orphanage!

-Mark