It's a Sunshine Day!

I think I'll go for a walk outside now,
The summer sun's calling my name,
I hear you now

I just can't wait inside all day
Gotta get out, give me some of those rays

Everybody's smiling - Sunshine Day!
Everybody's laughing - Sunshine Day!
Everybody seems so happy today.....

IT'S A SUNSHINE DAY!

July 20th is SUNSHINE DAY!

Wear yellow on July 20th to show your support for Sunshine Cambodia and what we are doing here in Phnom Penh.

The Sunshine Cambodia is a Christian Care for Cambodia project in southern Phnom Penh, serving poor families and promoting appropriate care for children in the context of families in the community.

Our vision is to see Cambodian families grow in a holistic way - physical, emotional, social, spiritual and educational.

Please spread the word in your church, workplace, with family and friends - help us make July 20th a day for Sunshine!

You can donate by the following links:

Australian donors: https://www.globaldevelopment.org.au/donations.php?for=J529_Sunshine_Centre_for_Children%2C_Cambodia

Non-Australian donors:
https://www.globaldevelopment.org.au/usa/donations.php?for=J529_Sunshine_Centre_for_Children%2C_Cambodia

Donations are tax deductible for donors from Australia and USA.

SPREAD THE WORD! WEAR YELLOW ON JULY 20TH!

Join our facebook event!


Join us on July 20th and help us raise funds for Sunshine Cambodia!

Out and about in Phnom Penh

Just a short post today. It is very hot right now sitting in our lounge. James has just gone off to bed after a tiring day. We are still struggling with finding decent nappies for him which is causing him to wet through and soak his sheets once or twice a night. Sigh. Lots of washing...

 Local street market where we brought some vegetables today - I stood in something wet and as I was wearing jandals (thongs for the Aussies) my toes got wet. I didn't want to look down at what I had stepped in but just cringed and made a beeline for the shower to wash my feet once we got home! The smells and sights here were not for the faint stomached - I am still not sure how I managed to survive without being sick!

Phnom Penh Police - sponsored by Asahi Beer.... Police box that the traffic police sit in while they look out for drivers not wearing helmets. Notably it seems only the drivers need to wear helmets. Passengers and children also riding on the back of the moto don't need to. We have so far seen up to 5 people riding on a motorbike. Not a tuk tuk - a motorbike! It still catches me by surprise to have a moto pull up beside our tuk tuk with a family of 4 onboard with a baby sleeping squished between other members of the family.

For those of you who have been asking, we now have access to a PO Box! You can find the address as well as our cell phone details under our contact page at the top of our website here.

Smells....

The smells in Cambodia vary greatly.

Riding in a tuk tuk is an experience not just for your eyes and ears but also for your nose. We have been here for just over a week and already I know the areas around our suburb that I should hold my breath. 

Going over the creek where there are so many little shacks with people living in them.

Going past the back of the restaurants.

(Sadly) the smell of some of the street children who have no understanding of the need for hygiene.

Our smells after sweating it out in the heat all day... Ugh!

There are also some absolutely beautiful smells here! Right now I am sitting in a comfy chair smelling the neighbours dinner and wondering how I would go about asking for cooking advice. I have been conversing with the lady who lives next door - conversing rather than talking as she has only a little English and I have very little Khmer. So far I have figured out that she is 31 years old and her daughters are 4yrs5mths and 10mths. She knows that James is 2yrs10mths. She knows we come from Australia (although I don't think she had heard of New Zealand) and that we are living here for 6 months. She wants to learn English - I want to learn Khmer. 

It was our first day at the Sunshine Cambodia centre today. We got a better idea of what we will be doing here and now both feel excited for what lies ahead. I particularly have a lot of work ahead of me with the planning for the preschool / daycare centre which will cater for 3-5 year old Cambodian children.

Heading home we walked up the road to find a tuk tuk with some of the children walking with us as they headed to afternoon school. I was tapped on the arm and turned to find a sweet little girl about 6 years old presenting me with a small bunch of flowers she had picked - "teacher! teacher!"

Oh that just melted my heart!

Well thats about all I have time for today. Now to go and figure out how to cook something that smells half as good as what the neighbours are cooking....

Playgroups and karaoke

Friday morning James and I headed down the road to a house for playgroup. We found this playgroup online and were invited to attend. It is full of expats mainly from the UK and USA. We were happy to discover a lady with her 4yr old son who are not only from Australia, not only from Perth, but from Rockingham! Turns out we know a couple of people in common as well. James loved playing with all the kids and I loved meeting the lovely women who were so welcoming and helpful. I got some good advice about where to shop for different things, what to cook and also some suggestions of churches.

James decided to sleep like this part way through the night...

Saturday we took up some of this advice and headed to the Russian markets to buy some fruit. It was hot, stuffy, full of smells of cooking food but also full of beautiful handicrafts. I surprised myself by actually walking through the meat market (yes with dead barely skinned chickens with their feet still attached hanging up everywhere and all sorts!). I just had to remember not to breathe! I then was able to pick up a couple of cooler items of clothing as my t-shirts seem to be as thick as a winter jacket over here!

 the skirt pants - love them!

Today (Sunday) we headed to the church of our new friends from Rockingham - the Anglican church of Cambodia. It was a nice cool (lots of air-con) service and we were also pleasantly surprised to see two of the ladies working at Sunshine in attendance! We went to a lovely cafe called Fresco's for lunch which had a good play area for our James and their 4yr old boy. James is now the little boy's shadow :) We followed it up by a wander around Soriya mall where we found a box of over 400 Disney movies for $15! We didn't buy it but may head back sometime soon.

James and I outside the Anglican church playing on the swings

And so, we are sitting here relaxing, listening to our neighbours sing some very loud and rather off-key karaoke. They were singing it all yesterday too :) It's rather funny to listen to. James seems to like it though....

Day 4...

We seem to finally be getting a bit calmer about being here in Cambodia.

The first few days have been pretty rough for us in all honesty. Talk about culture shock! We have been thoroughly overwhelmed by our surroundings and on more than one occasion have fought the desire to book the next plane home. James however seems to be doing much better than the two of us!

We headed to the Sunshine Cambodia centre on Tuesday and were met by some beautiful children. They were all surprised to see James and he was just so happy to see kids! When we took him upstairs to the offices to do some paperwork he just kept asking for the kids. After the kids ate their lunch James enjoyed playing in the courtyard with them running around and chasing and being chased. He giggled as he was surrounded by kids and only got a little nervous if one of them tried to pick him up. There were lots of surprised giggles from the kids as they pointed out James' nappy (He is toilet trained but just unsure at the moment about the toilets here) - the kids thought he was 5 years old! Why would a 5yr old wear nappies? No, we told them - he is 2! James is as tall and sometimes taller than the 5yr olds at the centre!

 Our bedroom

The view from our balcony to the front courtyard where the employees of Prison Fellowship Cambodia park their moto's while they are working in the offices downstairs during the day.

We don't have our job descriptions for what we will be doing at the centre yet and are not due to start until Tuesday. So we are relaxing and slowly getting used to the heat, smells, food and language. James so far knows one phrase in Khmer and brings laughs and excitement to all who hear it - he puts his little hands together just under his chin in a prayer action and says "aw kun" (thank you) which is how everyone here seems to say it. So cute! Will try and get a video of him doing it as it just makes me laugh each time!

Last night we headed down to the river-front and dined at our favourite restaurant - the Kiwi Bakery. We sat on the upper level right on the balcony and enjoyed the cool breeze and the sights of the beautiful clean promenade and all the families walking along it as the sun set. Afterwards we took a walk along ourselves and stifled laughs as we saw a large group of Cambodian women doing what seemed to be a country line dance right there on the promenade. The trip home in the tuk tuk with a sleepy James showed us more families enjoying the early evening along the parks near the independent monument, playing hacky sack, soccer and yet more line dancers. Family seems such an important part of life here and it is just beautiful seeing all the families out together.

Nick enjoyed the much anticipated cold coconut... Mmmmm

The promenade 

Tomorrow we hope to go to an expat playgroup and meet some fellow westerners and get some tips about how to adjust to life here in Cambodia. Where to shop, what to eat, where to take James, what to do/not do.... It should make for an interesting day :)

Eating crackers and watching the world go by from the back of a tuk tuk.

We are so thankful to all our supporters, particularly those who are praying for us at the moment. We need your prayers. Please pray that we find our place here in Cambodia. Pray for strength and courage as we face the unknown. Amen.

Day 1...

I am such a mix of emotions right now.

Today started with a 3.30am wake up call to be at the airport by 4.30. James was such a trooper and got up and was excited to be awake when it was still dark. Arriving at the airport in Perth I discovered a secret that was kept from me - my best friend Esme and her husband and two little boys in their pj's were waiting to see us off! What amazing friends we have that they would get their whole family up to drive 1/2hr to the airport at that time of morning!

The flight to Malaysia was pretty good - James did so well sitting for 5.5hrs! The activity packs I made up worked a treat and were received with awe and excitement. Having the portable DVD player was also fantastic!

At the Kuala Lumpur airport we had a couple hours wait. Just before we were about to get on the plane James walked into the back of a chair which had a pointy bit just at eye level. Poor boy got a shock and a little sore just under his eye but thankfully it hasn't bruised or puffed up.

Sleep finally took over for all three of us in the 2 hr flight between Malaysia and Phnom Penh. Our first taste of the friendliness of the Khmer people was the lady sitting next to James and Nick who promptly adjusted James to lie over her with his head on her knee after he fell asleep. Everyone here seems taken by our little man :) They love his cheeks!

We were met at the airport by the Director of Sunshine Cambodia, Channy, with a big smile on his face. After piling all our luggage into the waiting taxi we were off! James learnt his first new word of the day - tuk-tuk. He is fascinated! He pointed out everything of note talking rapidly so that even we couldn't keep with him. "tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, ohhh! More tuk-tuk!"

After meeting Adam (director of Prison Fellowship Cambodia - the organisation that uses the building we are staying in) we settled in and it all started to hit home.

We are in a country that we don't know the language of. We are confronted by different smells, sights and sounds. We are sweating like crazy (30 degrees and humid is awesome!) We don't know anyone here. I am still feeling sore from my tooth extraction and a bit fragile with my diet post gall-bladder operation.

We headed to the mall just down the road (there are 3 in Phnom Penh and we just happen to live just near one!) and stocked up on milk, bread, spaghetti and nappies. Trying to figure out what to buy in a supermarket where most things seem full of sugar and/or don't have English on them is difficult. James loved riding in the tuk-tuk however!

And so, we are back at our home base. Sitting in our bedroom with the air-con on. Wondering what we have gotten ourselves into. We miss home. We miss our friends and family. We are scared.

Today is day 1. The last time we were here it took a few days to get into the swing of things and to settle down. We are going to take it easy this week, easing ourselves into life here in Cambodia. We want to be here. We believe in what we are doing here. Now is the time when we get to the end of ourselves and rely on God's strength, comfort and guidance.

Please pray for comfort and peace. Pray that we will meet some great people who we can connect with. Pray that Nick and I find rest in God. Pray for our supporters and the support they have pledged to give us - both in prayer and financially.  Pray that we all have a good nights sleep. Amen.

T minus 9hrs...

I am about to close my eyes and try to get 5 hours sleep.

We leave Australia to move to Cambodia in 9 hrs!

We had an awesome send-off at church this morning and more than a few tears have been shed today. We have really been blessed by prayer, both the prayer we were given on stage at church this morning and the intimate prayer time spent with my parents and sister and brother-in-law this evening. How it has blessed my soul! I am so thankful that my family have come to know Christ and that we can now pray together and support each other in this amazing way.

To all our supporters, thank you! We are 100% funded now which is amazing! If anyone still would like to support us financially, we would use the amount raised over and above our target to provide for needs we see over there. You will be amazed at what $20 can do!

And so ends our last blog post from Australia. Stay tuned over the next few days for our first post from Phnom Penh, Cambodia!

9 days to go!

I can't believe in 9 days we will be on a plane heading to Cambodia.

Two months ago we made the decision to follow God's leading and head to Cambodia for 6 months. Within the last two months we have been repeatedly blown away and amazed at how faithful, generous and amazing God is! We have seen so many miracles and answers to prayer already and we haven't even left Australia yet! I once heard a missionary say that the fundraising is half the lesson of a mission trip as the actual mission trip itself. We have found this to be true as we have had to rely on God and others to provide for this work we are about to embark on.

Since I last wrote a post we have gone for $2600 left to raise to just $280! We are so close to getting 100% of our funding and we are just so thankful to all those who have given of their prayers and finances. We can't wait to see what God does in our supporters lives as we truly believe God blesses those who give.

And so with only 9 days to go - I want to encourage our supporters - both those committed to praying for us and those who are committed to providing us with the funds for the trip.

In one of Paul's letter to the Corinthians he write about giving to those who are doing God's work.


"Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality"
2 Corinthians 8:13-14.



Paul was writing to the Corinthians to encourage them to be faithful in what they had promised to give towards Paul's work as what we would now call a "missionary". He encouraged them to first give to God's house (the church - our tithes) and then give to others. He says:


"This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you."
2 Corinthians 9:12-14



When you give to missionaries - you are partnering with them in what they are doing. When they help those who are poor and desperate, you are helping too. When they are telling others about God and what Jesus did when He died and rose again, you are sharing with them too. When they are providing clothes, food, health care, education; you are providing it as well.


In Matthew 25 we hear Jesus talk about what will happen when we meet God on judgement day. Of those who knew God and followed him he says they feed him, clothed him, visited him in prison and when he was ill.


"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
Matthew 25:37-40.


You may never know how you helped them. You will probably never meet them. When you reach heaven you will have a host of people who will be there to testify of how you made a difference in their lives, simply by supporting missionaries and aid workers in their work.

Thank you for joining us in making a difference.