Dec. 21

Last Sunday, Dec. 21st 2008 we had a choice experience indicative of many we have had but I write about this one because, more than most, it touched my heart.
We were invited to go with our missionary couple next door to an outlying orphan home just to visit with the little children there and perhaps brighten up their day. Mom really wanted to go and so did I so we accepted. Just in case ,I threw into my bag a folk dance CD that had a bunch of mixer dances recorded on it. We drove to the outskirts of Phnom Penh, turned onto a dusty unpaved road for about half a mile and then turned onto an even narrower dirt road and had only gone about 100 yards when a bunch of little children on bicycles came riding toward us waving and obviously full of excitement. Yes, they were the advanced group sent to greet us. We pulled into the compound and the van had hardly stopped when one of the bigger children pulled open the sliding van door and we were surrounded by the most precious little bare-footed children. They wrapped their arms around our legs and said in English “I love you, I love you”. Mom almost immediately fell in love with them and soon had three little sisters, ages 3, 5, and 7 beside her. I will post that picture. They were so excited to see us and began to show us some of the things they had made. One little fellow had been taught how to crochet by one of the volunteer workers and he had beautiful infant blankets he had made. Another little fellow had tried to make himself a drum set out of old gallon cans and some lids. Seeing that, the parents of one of the departing missionaries generously purchased him a nice drum set and it wasn’t long until he was playing a few drum solos for us while the rest of the little children were chanting favorite Cambodian nursery rhymes to the beat of his drums and cymbals. It was adorable.
There were 35 children housed there in a walled compound of about one-third acre. I want to mention that the wall is not to keep the children in but to keep dangerous predators out. I took a few moments to walk around their little area and I saw about 8 banana trees, a couple mango trees and a nice area where they grew a fairly large garden. The produce is used to help sustain the children. There were a whole bunch of handprints on the wall made by the children dipping their hands in hand paint of some sort and then putting their print on the wall. I noticed close to the hand prints the letters “CTR” encircled by the standard CTR border. The 2 women who established this home are recent converts and have taught the children the importance of the motto “Choose the Right”.
Just a word about these two women and I mention their story because it is typical of almost all people in Cambodia who lived through the mid 70’s. In school (comproble to our High Schools) they were on opposing basketball teams and were not friendly to each other. Then, during the Pol Pot atrocities in the late 70’s both of their families were slaughtered and they alone somehow survived and were thrown into the same concentration camp. They established a survival friendship which helped them live through it all. After Pol Pot was destroyed and they were freed they lost contact with each other until just a few years ago. Ironically they both had been investigating the church and showed up at the same building on the same Sunday. It was a choice reunion. Shortly after their conversion They decided, with the approval of their husbands, to establish this home for orphans—having themselves experienced the life of an orphan. Both of these women are precious care givers and there are two other women who live with the children for board and room. These women are true saints.
Now, back to our Sunday experience. I noticed that there was an outside bathroom facility for the girls and one for the boys, there was an outside kitchen under a thatched roof where two of the women were preparing us a meal. For stove burners they had two sets of concrete blocks set up with some dry branches burning between them for heat. I took some pictures of their kitchen. Sleeping quarters was a square wood structure probably 25’ X 25’ with a main concrete floor and an upstairs. The little gals slept upstairs on mats and the boys slept down stairs on mats. The entire place was neat and tidy as were also the children. Their feet were dusty but their clothes and their little bodies were clean.
After we had visited with the children for about 15 minutes the children began lining up some metal discarded school desks of assorted heights and then draped a piece of yellow plastic over them to make a long, somewhat uneven table. We were invited to sit down and then the children and the caregivers brought out the food. It was as if we were surrounded by angels serving us a delicious banquet fit for kings for indeed it was. Who cares if the table was uneven, who cares if I, dressed in my best suit, was sitting on a somewhat dirty, splintery old wooden chair. Who cares if the meal was rice wrapped in a rice flour/egg wrap that had been cooked over an open fire. Who cares that those serving us were barefooted orphan children. It was one of the most savory, delicious meals I have ever eaten because it was seasoned with the seasoning of love, charity, gratitude and humility in proportions I have seldom experienced. I understand now more than ever before why the Savior wept when he was surrounded by the little children, probably many of them orphans, as recorded in 3 Nephi 17. I wept also. I understand better now why He chastised his disciples when they tried to stop the little children to come to Him to be blessed with the words; “Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of Heaven “ (Matt 18 & 19, various verses).
I’m grateful I took my CD because the children love to dance and danced a number of traditional Cambodian dances for us. They were so rhythmic, so graceful. Well, I then taught them the “Chicken Dance” and they just loved it. They wanted to dance it again as the last dance before we left so we did. As we were preparing to depart I reflected back on the past hour and a half we had been there and the sweet spirit I had felt. It was like we had witnessed just a bit of heaven. As I surveyed that little compound the words the Lord spoke to Moses after he had had a like experience came to my mind “Remove thy shoes from off thy feet for the ground on which thou standest is holy”.
Well, the children gathered around our van as we were ready to get in and again hugged us and said “we love you, we love you. Please come back”. I picked a number of them up and just held them tight for a few seconds. Then I couldn’t resist the desire to pick up this little three year old girl who’s father had deserted her and who’s mother died of aids. I just held her tight and kissed her little brown cheek.
We drove off with them waving to us and begging us to return. It was then that I thought : “Let’s see, we were asked to come and cheer them up? Who cheered up who? Who lifted who? Who taught who? So it was last Sunday and so it is almost every day of our mission. We gain so much more than we give. And this experience is just an example of experiences that happen daily to us. Do you see why we are here? Do you see why we love our mission?
Children, thank you so much for your faith and prayers in our behalf. Thank you for all your help while we are here. We love you all so much.
Love Dad