Election Update

For those of you interested in the election events here in Cambodia (or any other news for that matter) you can go to the Phnom Penh Post's website at:   http://www.phnompenhpost.com

As of the moment, the CPP (Cambodia People's Party) is claiming victory, which means that Hun Sen, the current Prime Minister will remain in office.  However, there seem to be some shady dealings with the elections (not unusual) and people are estimating that 100,000 people here in Phnom Penh were not allowed to vote because their names were "somehow erased" from the voter registration papers!   Outside of this, the election went by rather quietly...no problems as in the past.

The Opposition parties are asking for a re-vote in Phnom Penh....but we'll see if that actually happens!  We have been warned to stay out of public places and crowds this weekend in case anything happens in the form of a riot of protest.   

Another interesting article on current land grabbing issues here in Cambodia can be found at:  

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/26/asia/27cambodia.php

What we're eating these days...

     

We are often asked what kinds of food we eat here in Cambodia.  Though there are Western grocery stores and items available here, in our home we eat a majority of Khmer food.  There are a few dishes that we have found that we don't  like, but for the most part we eat some REALLY good food!

     People often talk about losing lots of weight when they travel overseas....here in Cambodia though I think we have to be careful that we don't gain weight!  Here's a few of the things we ate just this passed week.

Pic #1  Fried Tilapia with Ginger and fermented beans  (doesn't look too lovely, but really doesn't taste too bad!)

Pic #2  Samlah Mechjew Krueng  (made with tamarind for a sour taste, hot peppers, water convolusus, and beef...this is a VERY popular Khmer dish and it really is VERY good!)

Pic #3  TaoHuu  This is Chris' favorite breakfast here.  There was a dish like it in the Phillipines that he loves as well called Tahot.  Pretty much its homemade tofu with a sugar ginger liquid...yum yum!

     For the longest time I've thought that I have the perfect business opportunity while living overseas.

     As foreigners, and native English speakers living in another country you can often be bombarded with advertisements and even billboards that are written in English.  When we lived in Battambang we collected different types of clean water bottles because we truly enjoyed reading the English descriptions of the purification process on the bottle.  When  you go to restaurants it can also be humorous to read through the menu as many times the translation of the type of food you are ordering suggests you are eating something quite unique!

     So I've decided that if I ever needed to make a little extra money all I need to do is contact restaurants and different companies that like to advertise in English and offer to proof-read their materials before they decide to print several thousand items with very poor english on them.  

     The picture above is of a wrapper for an electric mosquito killer that we recently purchased.  It reads: 

beautiful enduring

safe encironm-eatal

piotection

usage convenienie

Hmmm.....yet another one to add to our collection!

     This is also a reminder to us of the importance of really focusing on language learning and good communication.  We were told a story the other day about a man who has come to Cambodia to 'preach the Gospel', but he didn't believe in the necessity of good, solid language learning.  Our friends heard him preach the other day, and because speaking about religious things in the Cambodian language requires you do have an entirely different vocabulary (which this man didn't know about) he ended up preaching total heresy!  Rather than saying that humans are totally incapable of getting rid of our sin and that without Jesus we can never get close to God, he stated that humans did not sin and that we could be like God!  Wow!  Getting three or four words wrong can communicate the opposite of what you really meant to say!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (4/13/08)

YES, we did just say Happy New Year...Happy KHMER new year that is!  Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand all celebrate their New Year on April 13th this  year.

     For Cambodians this holiday means 3 days off work, and often people go to the provinces to visit their families.  Another way the Khmer celebrate is by throwing water on one another, which can be nice (if done in a gentle way) as April is the hottest month of the year here.  They also like to throw baby powder on one another (usually on the head/face).

 

     The night of the 13th is an important one as the New Year  Angel is supposed to visit each house.  Much like we leave Santa Clause cookies and milk on Christmas Eve, the Khmer will make an angel table in their home with food and coca-cola for the angel to enjoy!  The next morning people take food to the Wat as an offering so that they can ask for blessings of money and good fortune in the year to come.

     We don't yet understand all that these customs mean, but hopefully as we learn more language and culture we'll be able to engage people in dialogue about this important holiday!

     SO...again, we wish you happiness along the road as we enter the NEW YEAR!

'Crossing the River' (4/10/08)

   Today we are celebrating the arrival of our new nephew!  My (Julee) sister just delivered their 3rd baby...a little boy - Wyatt Anderson McKay!  We are VERY excited for them and wish we could be there to celebrate with them and to hold this new little guy!

     Life events like this one open the door for us to learn new words in Khmer as well as cultural things.  As I shared with my language tutor today about this new baby boy I learned several things about having babies here in Cambodia.

     When you tell a person here that you just had a baby you use the phrase, "I have crossed the river".  The Mekong is a rather large river here and swimming from one shore to another, especially at the height of rainy season, can be very dangerous...many people have drowned making the attempt.  Giving birth has its risks for just about everyone, but in developing countries like Cambodia, that do not have good medical care, it can be even more risky.  For this reason, the Khmer describe labor and delivery as having to 'cross the river'.  Some women will make it through this process, and some will not.

     When I told Suen (Sue-uhn) how big our new little nephew is she gasped, grabbing her chest and fanning herself!  Wyatt weighed 9lbs 3oz at birth, which is on the big side in the states, but is on the HUGE side here in Cambodia!  An average Cambodian baby (IF the mother is healthy and ate well during pregnancy) would weigh somewhere around 2 to 3 kilo (4-6lbs), so when I told Suen that Wyatt weighed 4.2 kilo she just knew that my sister hadn't survived the birth!  I told her that things went very well and that my sister was doing great, she exclaimed, "Oh, they must have cut the baby out!"  I told her no, that the delivery was natural, no surgery required.

     She was amazed, and I told her that because we (westerners in general) are bigger than most Khmer, we tend to have bigger babies.  She agreed, but finished by saying "Yes, but SO difficult!"

     Mr. Wyatt, we are SO happy that you are here, and a part of our family.  We pray each day that God will help you grow strong and healthy and that some day you will choose to follow Jesus with all of your heart...for the rest of your life.

We love you!  auntie julee and uncle 'ris

PRAYER CARDS! (3/28/08)

This was something we meant to take care of quite awhile back!  OOPS!

Before we left the states we made some prayer cards, and meant to get them in the mail to people, but with the craziness that surrounds the last few days before departure, it just didn't get done.  They are now a few months old, but we still would like you to have them if you'd like...

For those of you in Kentucky, I am going to have my mom send one pack of them to Pat Richmond at Asbury Seminary, and one pack of them to Sue Cook at First Alliance Church.  If you are interested in having one of our prayer cards, please pick them up from one of those two offices!

For those of you in Amarillo, there will be a packet of them sent to Chris' mom, who can get them to you as needed.

For the rest of you out there, I'll most likely need your addresses if you would like one of our prayer cards.  Please just send us an email at:  the bellars@hotmail.com and we'll get them send your way!

I'd also like to ask something of each of you!  We would like to have a digital photos of you and your families.  A few years ago we were in another missionary's home and they had a wall with photos of all the people back in their home country who were praying for them.  It served two purposes:  1) as a reminder of God's faithfulness to them as He supplied people to pray for them on a regular basis.  2)  the pics served as a visual reminder to the missionaries to pray for those who were praying for them.    We are extremely blessed that you pray for us, but we also want you to know that we pray for you as well!

Returning and Remembering (3/25/08)

     In January of 2003 we came to Cambodia with Dr. Eunice Irwin and a group of students as part of the requirements for a class we were taking called 'The Church Abroad'.  The trip was quite formative for us, as it was during these two weeks we spent in Cambodia that we became acquainted with CAMA Services, and in turn ended up on the track we are on now.

     Part of our trip included seeing cultural sights, especially those having to do with the tumultuous recent history surrounding Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.  As you may know, during the Khmer Rouge reign, between 2 and 3 million Cambodians were savagely and routinely murdered.

     During this trip we made a trip to a place known as Toul Sleng (also known as S-21).  Before Pol Pot, Toul Sleng was a school here in Phnom Penh.  However, during Pol Pot's time it was transformed into a prison and place of toture and murder.  When people were brought to S-21 to be interrogated their 'biographies' were taken along with their pictures so that the Khmer Rouge would know exactly who had been killed in that place.  The 'mug shots' of those who died in the torture cells at Toul Sleng fill several rooms that you can walk through as part of 'museum'.

      Chris and I were especially struck by one picture in particular, and it is one that we have never forgotten, almost as if its been burned into our minds.  This picture is of a woman, possibly in her 30's holding her  young baby (I would guess maybe 5-6 months old).  The most sobering part for us was the date on this particular picture, 1978.  For the two of us, the reality hit that this picture could have been our own mothers, cradling us in their arms before both of us were cruelly executed.  For us, being born in the United States, and not in Cambodia meant life, and not death!  We were babies during this horrible time in history for Cambodia, and had we not had to study the history of Cambodia for this class, we would have never known of all the atrocities that happened here.

Today, 5 years after our first visit to Toul Sleng we returned with a CAMA Services friend who was visiting Cambodia for the first time.  Chris and I again stood in front of the picture of this woman and her baby...but this time we were holding our own child in our arms...

Cambodia's history is one that must be remembered, it must be learned from.  I am struck by the fact that RIGHT NOW there are places in the world where prisons like Toul Sleng are in operation, where genocide is occurring and adults and children are being killed every single day.  We must remember history, and we must embrace the truth of what is happening around the world today and make an effort to do something about it.