One Foot In Front of the Other

We are in Siem Reap now, land of the famous Angkor Wat and other millennial temples. The team is now visiting some of these famous sights and I am here at the hotel fighting the proverbial battle with the Internet. Last night I tried to connect but the Internet at our hotel was not cooperating. I fell asleep with my computer still on and woke up at 4:00 a.m. to get stuff ready for our departure at 5:00. We arrived in SR at about 8:30 today.

I decided to stay back because I have been to Angkor Wat several times and also because I wanted to post some pictures on the blog. Kevin Kane, who came on the bus with us, is also here in the hotel. But my frustration with posting pictures continues, as the connection is too slow and I keep getting bumped offline. My apologies. In the end, when it is all said and done, I may be able to post a handful of pictures.

Highlights from yesterday:

All the girls at Grace Place, Battambang, got a hair  and nail treatment yesterday. They all looked so pretty with their beautiful black hair washed, and done up nicely as Holly and Juana worked hard to help all the girls through the process in about an hour and a half. The guys played soccer with the boys at the hottest times of the day, a project coordinated by Jason and Adam, and other team members helped recreational stuff. I was amazed at the speed with which a couple of the boys put together a puzzle with the map of the United States. Later we all helped the children tie-dye a white t-shirt that had been provided to them by the church. RAD came up with the idea and it was a blast. Even some of the staff members participated.

Mike coordinated the breakfast. We wanted to give the children a taste of a "typical" American breakfast -- milk and cereal. I think it is fair to say that the young children endured it and the older ones, after sitting politely and trying it, were finally discreetly given permission to quietly leave for the kitchen carrying their bowls with them. The wife of the director commented to me that she missed pancakes, which we made for them last year but decided against it this time around because it took to get everything ready on one stove only. Oh well, we may need to go back to pancakes and eggs next time around...

Josh's concert. What a blessing that was for our team to be able to put together this concert. It was totally cool to see how Jill's students responded to Josh. This is an English class that Jill has been teaching for about three years now and there must have been over 100 students there. They all heard the gospel clearly presented to them. It was great to have Faa give her testimony, in Thai, with the able translation to Kmai by a remarkable young lady by the name of Pheakday. You could say we heard the same sermon twice but have no idea what the speaker was saying. I guess Faa is going to have to work on improving that testimony now... ha, ha. As someone has aptly said, "We are all ignorant, only on  different subjects."

I know other team members will write about this, but what can I say about dancing with the children and staff last night -- total joy and exhilaration followed by one giant sound of sadness at the end when we said good-byes... nothing can possibly prepare us for what we lived with those kids last night. Unforgettable. And I have been doing this for a while. There is nothing more piercing to your heart than to hear one of these children with tears on their eyes saying, "I don't think you will ever come back again." Those who have experienced rejection the most are the ones who suspect the most that they will be abandoned again. And herein lies another reason we must continue coming back to see our children.

I will never forget lifting some of the small children who come hugging you to say good-bye, and almost by accident hearing their little hearts beating at an accelerated rate. It is the most vivid picture of the tenderness and precariousness of this moment.

We joined hands together, prayed, but in the end, we simply must put one leg in front of the other, and ignoring the tears and sobs, you take our seat on the bus, try to keep smiling, and send love back to them until they are no longer in sight. I am choking up just thinking about that moment right now.

But don't think that this is a gloom and doom moment, please. We also remember many of the smiles on the faces of children and staff, and a quiet assurance that they are in good hands. And those hand are big enough to hold the universe in place.

Thanks for your prayers,

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade

itrindade@woostergrace.org