Message from Kent Good...

Dear family and friends,

Greetings from Road 5 en route to Battambang. Our hearts are full and our bodies are tired as we head home. We just saw the "Speechless" team off at the airport. The week was great and will hopefully bear fruit in the lives of the team from Orange, CA and in our NW Cambodia youth for years to come. 

For the families of the Speechless team, you should be really proud of your kids who demonstrated the attitude of servants from the time they arrived to the time the departed from Cambodia. They connected with our Cambodian kids big time.

The most amazing moment of the week was probably right before the Cambodian/US Speechless team's presentation on Friday the 12th. At 5pm as final preparations were being done to the stage, the clouds rolled in just as the weather forecast had predicted. It started to sprinkle. The chairs were empty. The Cambodian youth prayed for the trickle of people coming through the front gate. Then, the rain stopped and the sky cleared to become bright blue. People started coming. The program only actually got going at 5:41 with a good crowd of neighbors and friends. The Cambodian kids performed the majority of the 11 pantomimes by themselves and were only joined onstage by the US kids on two or three. The Cambodian kids did marvelously thanks to their great US Speechless team coaches.

Thank you, Grace Church of Orange, CA for releasing your kids and sponsors to come and minister with us. We and our Cambodian teammates and youth have been blessed by them.

As I send this, your kids are probably boarding the first leg (to Taipei) of their flight home. We pray God will bring them to you safely.

His and yours,

Kent 

Leaving Phnom Penh

Good bye, Cambodia!

Heading Home

So, first things first.   It  rained again today.  Pretty hard.  Started about 5:00.  Hmmmm....

Uneventful travel from Batambang.  Good time of fellowship and singing along the way. 

Now, we are  back in Phnom Penh.  We will be heading to the airport tomorrow morning and then on home.

Thank you for your prayers and support.  We  look forward to sharing more  with you about the trip when we see you all in person.

Abundant Mercies

Miracles have a way of grounding your faith and flexing spiritual muscle. For those of us in Cambodia today, we benefited from such a display of God's sovereign power. First some background:

We landed in Cambodia last Friday - having connected through Taiwan. Upon arrival, we learned that our flight was the last to leave Taipei that day. A Typhoon had swept in and all other flights were canceled. Same thing that happened two years ago. But God was sovereign and our plane came to Cambodia.

Since our arrival, as is typical in the south pacific, we have seen heavy rain and thunderstorms every afternoon. Speechless was scheduled for 5:00 today. Yesterday, it poured from 4:30 to 6:30. This raised several issues. First, Speechless was scheduled for a large outdoor meeting tent - without sides. With the wind and rain, we would be very exposed to the weather. Speechless would be virtually impossible. Secondly, we have been told that Cambodians don't go out in the rain - and even if we waited until the rain ended to start the program, we would have problems - they don't really go out after dark either - which is 7:00. So, the whole program was in jeopardy. Forecast was for Thunderstorms to hit all afternoon, peaking between 4:00 and 5:00.

Today dawned hot and humid. By 1:00 PM, the clouds were rolling in. At 4:20 ( 40 minutes before start time), rain started to fall. But before it really got started, it stopped. And the clouds rolled back, leaving blue sky overhead. We looked North, South, East and West, and thunder clouds hovered in every direction. But directly overhead, our patch of earth was under the late afternoon sun. And it stayed like that for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Could not have had better weather.

5:00 rolled around under a blue sky. But virtually no people were there. We waited...wondering why God had held the rain at bay - but did not bring people. 5:30 came - and still few people. But we did not start yet. Shortly after 5:30, people began trickling in, and soon we had a full house. Not only that, but the people who came were people that had been specifically prayed for. 

The program started about 5:45. The Cambodian kids did a great job - performing far better that they ever did even in practice. They rose to the occasion. Our team provided the support, direction and encouragement. In the end, the gospel was loud. The gospel was clear.

Language barriers prevented us from having significant further conversations about the material - but the responses were very positive. We may never know the impact of this Speechless program - but we could see God's clear hand in making it happen. SOMEONE was there tonight who needed to hear the gospel. Maybe we find out who when we are in heaven.

In addition, the Cambodian Speechless team was pumped - they were so excited to be a part of proclaiming the gospel in this way. Who knows how God will use them with this material in the future.

But we do know that God used the program this week - and as he stripped away any semblance of control that we thought we might have, we give Him all the glory for what happened.

Go Time!

Good morning, CA!  Too tired to write much right now... we'll let the pictures speak for themselves :).

The Tent!

Our stage

Getting ready

Rain clouds all around... but bright blue sky right above us :)

Girls' Dressing Room

Backstage :)

Order of Dramas... our program

"Prop Table"

Cambodian teen vs CA teen :D

Day in a Life

Sound Board... a little different than Yorba Linda Friends Church!!!

Almost time to start...

Yikes... wind!

The crowd

Thank you for all your prayers!  Our God is faithful and always on the throne!!!

Name Wall

There is a tradition at this American Battambang restraurant that we frequent for breakfast this last week... we get to write our names on the Name Wall before we leave :).  So, this morning, we left our mark :D.    

We found quite a collection of names of other people from GCO!  Cool to see how GCO is making a mark in Cambodia... literally :)

Speechless Prayer Request - Weather

Typical of tropical southern Pacific summer weather, it's rained every day here. Hard. Usually in the afternoon, but at different times. This week, it has poured as early as 2:00pm. but today (Thursday), it started at 5:00.  The downpour usually lasts a couple of hours.  Then, as abruptly as it comes, it stops immediately and completely. 

Here is our prayer request:  

• Speechless will be held in an outdoor tent - with no sides.  Speechless scheduled for 5:00 tomorrow.  It has to be over by 7:00 when it gets dark - most people won't stay out after dark and they won't go out in the rain.  We're supposed to have the dress rehearsal at 2:00.  Can't do it in the rain.  We need people to pray that weather will work... that God will hold the rain at bay!

• Also, stage was delivered today.  It is a old wooden stage.  There are spots that are a bit spongy.  If someone were to jump (like in Ashton) and come down in the wrong spot, they could go right through...  Yikes!  Please pray the stage will hold :)

Just part of the fun of Speechless in Cambodia!!!


*** Please note that Friday 5:00pm in Cambodia = Friday 3:00am in CA  *** 

Camp Games... Cambodian Style!

It has been so much fun hanging out with the youth as we provide some internal helps with the Youth Camp.  We've had lots o opportunities to interact with the youth and attract attention (sometimes not intentionally!) to Friday's Speechless program :).

 

Like most youth camps, there is a "game" or "recreation" component the the program.  Today (Thursday), we were introduced to a few at the near by school field!

• Hacky Sack - This is a popular game in Cambodia.  We even raffled off some birdies at VBS on the last day (the type with colorful feathers on top and a hard plastic accordion looking weight on the bottom).  Well, as with most youth games, there is always a twist to the make like interesting :).  With this game, we played hacky sack with a live mouse.
• "Scavenger Hunt" - This is a not a hunt where you go door to door asking for specific items on a list.  We were not given a list for this game.  After dividing up into teams, we were sent out to hunt/capture/collect live animals and critters.  Points were awarded for each live critter we brought back... frogs, birds, large insects... you get the picture :D.

Lining up for the Scavenger Hunt...

See my awesome toad???

Not sure how they captured these 2 birds... lots of points though :)

• Tug-o-War - We all thought, "Oh good... a good old fashioned game that we all know and love!"  Well... we were a bit surprised when there were no ropes in sight.  We used a PERSON as the rope!  You'll have to ask us about how that worked out :).
• Candle Relay Race -  This is a simple relay race.  Instead of a baton, we had candles.  The candle must stay lit while you run.  To protect the candle from the wind, you were to put it under a shirt (your shirt... the one that you are wearing).
• Stoning - Ha ha ha, just kidding, Jolene thought that would be the next game :D.  They are setting up to play Dodge Ball... don't know what the variation is going to be yet.  Hopefully they will not be using stones as balls :D!!!

Cambodian "Steal the Bacon", a bit awkward looking, but super fun :)

All in all, this was a fun time!  We might be bringing some nontraditional games home to play with our High School Group and VBS :D.  Please continue to pray for our endurance and relationship with this precious group!

Behind the Scenes

Today was a productive day - but also a chance to catch our breath a bit.  We spent much of the day making and finding props, costumes, and signs still needed for Speechless.  We capped off the day with an amazing worship time with the 91 students attending the youth camp.  Enthusiastic music, led by both our team and theirs, plus some fun skits, a Bible study and some special presentations made up the night.  It was a great opportunity for our group to connect with and bond with the Cambodian Speechless team plus a chance to get to know the other kids who just joined the camp.

Making our Speechless signs in Khmer

Finding fun while we walk down to the ministry center :)

More fun!

Getting set up for a camp picture

Relaxing Days (or not!)

It was a good day today!  Because of scheduling constraints, we had to finish all Speechless prep by 5:30 pm tonight - including dress rehearsal. We got through everything we wanted to do - and finished at 5:28 pm!  Everyone is very excited about how it's coming together.

Praise note:  It is obvious that God's hand is on all that is happening here.  We were told that power was scheduled to be off in this part of the city today for the whole day.  That would have created big problems for us, but we never missed any power for even a minute!  We are thankful.

We aren't sure why, but somehow, after these last two "relaxing days" we all seem to be exhausted!  The boys even passed up a chance for a second dinner in exchange for returning back to the hotel.  We are hoping to go to bed early tonight.

Please keep praying.  New kids showed up at camp today (in addition to the 25 that came early to practice Speechless.)  We are hoping to be able to connect with and encourage these new kids in the coming days.  Our role going forward is to work on Speechless details and provide infrastructure support for the camp.

They like the costumes!

Sharing our joy :)

The sweet ladies that work so hard to feed us.

Tuesday lunch and fellowship

Costuming is complete!

Neati our team mascot.  She is Kent and Becky's neighbor that helps interpret.  We LOVE her :)

Tuesday morning breakfast at our favorite place.  The most popular breakfast -duck/noodle soup or fried rice with meat pieces. 

We are attracting attention.  People are very excited and curious about what we are doing.

The Cambodian Jai Ho dancers

Street view of the ministry center.

15 Steps pantomime with American and Cambodian cast.

The streets we walk.