Honor the Texas Flag....

It is difficult to understand the culture of a people without fully understanding their history, where they have come from...On Saturday, Dani took me to go see the Toul Sleng. It is an old school that was turned into a torture chamber for people whom Pol Pot decided were trying to overthrow him. He was a leader in Cambodia, and somewhat like Hitler, he went insane, and began thinking that people were out to get him. This is quite obvious when you walk through this place, now made into a museum, and just look at the faces of THOUSANDS of innocent people, young and old, male and female. There are paintings of the types of torture they endured, you can touch the VERY beds that these people slept in. I was almost getting nauseas, because the reality of this event was gripping walking through the buildings! I could almost hear these people crying out for mercy! This only went on a little over 30 years ago too. I shook my head in confusion when I go to the portrait of Pol Pot, himself. I wondered how someone could ever, EVER make it right in their mind that torturing another human being is right, that's it is good.

Danielle and I were talking the other day about Hosea, because we are going through it in a Bible Study we are doing with a girl named Michaela, and we started talking about sin. We discussed how we as humans think sin is good, that it is right and better for us, at least in the moment, or otherwise, we wouldn't do it. The enemy is so good at twisting truth, making you think, little by little that what you are doing is right. And if we are not on our guard, seeking the LORD daily, resisting that devil voice whispering in our ear, then we could end up in genocide...never underestimate the power he has been given to manipulate, tempt, lead astray, steal, kill, and destroy, BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY ALWAYS REMEMBER, "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" 1 John 4:4!

Dani has also een telling me about the corruption of the government! Their school had no electricity last year, because the government kept shutting it off...because this is a Christian school!....So, this year, the school raised enough money to buy a generator to keep their electricity on, but the government found out and said that they would not be able to use it unless they provided power for the whole neighborhood or paid them $40,000. They said no, so about once a week it is turned off, but they really can't do much about it!....Persecution, so blatant! They also are trying to rebuild Cambodia, adding new buildings and trying to make it more appealing, which is not a bad idea in itself when gone about rightly, but the government decides to take over people's land, give them $25 and then torch their houses and whatever they cannot carry out with them. Once again, there is not much the people can do about this.

After the museum, we walked along, seeing the palace and many different monuments in the middle of the city. We almost got arrested a couple times too, because Dani decided to have us commit some illegal acts, but did not find it necessary to tell me that they were illegal (very small things, though like walking on the grass in front of the palace...). The funny thing was, we were self-timing all of our pictures, but D was ALWAYS the one to set up the self-timer, so I was ALWAYS the one committing the illegal act for the longest, and therefore the one the police officer would approach and blow their whistle at! It was great, though! We shared lots of laughs, and I learned a lot about this side of Cambodia!

NOT TO MENTION...When we were eating lunch at this little place on the riverside, Dani pointed my attention to the national flags lining the river, and THEN, I EXPERIENCED ONE OF THE BEST MOMENTS IN MY LIFE!!!!!....there it was, in the midst of all the National flags....THE TEXAS FLAG!!!!!!!!....the best country ever!! :) It was just incredible! we even made a video of it, because we are just so proud!!!

After the tour of the city, we went home and just rested a little...Sunday we got up and went to the coffee shop to just talk and have our quiet times! One of my favorite things about Dani and being here with her is just getting to talk about God all the time and pray about anything and everything!! She is just SUCH a sweet blessing to me, and I thank God for her love for Him and her obvious obedience to serve the nations in his name, for HIs glory!!! It just fires me up to do the same!

We went to church, then had our bible study with Michaela at another coffee shop. It was just INCREDIBLE!!! We went verse by verse through the first 13 verses of Hosea, just talking about the commentaries we had read over the night before, how it gives God CRAZY amounts of glory, what it means for us, what it is saying about Israel, and how we can apply it to our lives! I was so filled after that! And then, we prayed!!!!...one of my favorite things to do here, in public! :)

Then, Dani decided to get me a bike for my birthday, so we went and got her bike, walked it to the bike shop, IN THE RIVER, got my bike, ate at the Pizza Company, then biked back, through the disease-infested waters....I do have to say though, that Dani and I prayed for protection from the diseases! Then, we made it home, and washed up!!!....AND, I got to SKYPE with my boyfriend!!! It was just the best ending to the day!

God is just opening my eyes to SOOO much here, and to be ablt to share it with one of my best friends is just incredible!!! God is Glorious!! :)