Journey Back Home Part I

I am on the journey back home today.  It is Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 at 9:30 AM.  I am riding in one of the vans in the  front seat.  The driver is Sophal.  In the bench seat behind me is George Sooley one of the Team members.  We have several translators in the van also.  Watt, Lucky, Nairy, So Pie and Chan Nam.  So that's eight persons and as much luggage, backpacks and computer bags that we can stuff in any available space.  I have my backpack under my legs, I am typing on my laptop which is on top of my computer bag on my lap.  Right beside me my arm is resting on two duffel bags.  You get the idea.  We are off to Phnom Penh.  Nearly all of us will be leaving tonight at midnight.  We have a six hour drive ahead of us.
I was just able to Skype my daughter Hannah while riding in the van, and wish her Happy Birthday. I was able to sing her Happy Birthday on her 16^th Birthday which was pretty important to me. Thank you Lord for this wireless internet card that Watt loaned me.  I turned the microphone towards the back of the van and had the five translators sing Happy Birthday to Hannah in the Khmer language!  I thought that was pretty cool!  :)

I just took pictures of those in the van with me.  One of the translators (Lucky) was sleepy when I took the pictures.

Sophal the driver

George Sooley and Watt

Lucky (in front - he was sleepy! :) ) and Chan Nam

Nairy (left) and So Pie

And....me!


The  only component that remains for this mission trip is to travel to Phnom Penh, rest there until around 10:30 PM and then go to the airport to catch the midnight flight to Seoul, South Korea.  That is about a 5 hour flight.  I have a 4 hour layover in Seoul, then fly to Atlanta. That flight over the pacific ocean is 15 hours long.  That is a long flight for me!  I hope I can sleep some on that  flight! Then I fly to Asheville, NC and arrive around 1:30 PM on Saturday.  According to my biological clock it will be 1:30 AM Sunday morning.  So I will lose 12 hours when I arrive in Asheville.  I will probably nap a little and then try to stay awake until my normal bed time.  
Some thoughts about this mission trip
So here I am now on the tail end of Mission Cambodia 2010!  I can hardly believe it. Honestly, to me right now it is like I arrived yesterday.  Many on the Team expressed the same thoughts.  It has been a truly blessed experience to be on this Mission Trip!  We serve an awesome God.  I think one of the main thoughts that I have, and have been shared by many on the Team, is that we are privledged to be asked by God to serve Him here.  We all believe God has appointed us to be on this Team.  He assembled it.  He called us to serve. We responded with a yes.  And God did the work through us.  This is way we should serve God 24/7 anywhere, everywhere.  God is the almighty, awesome God of the universe and He is the one who does the work in the life of a human soul.  God, in His perfect plan, has ordained it so that  He chooses to use Human Beings to carry out His work. He uses us to do His work.  We are His hands, his feet, and we should be ready to serve. 
At the airport
Well, we made it to Phnom Penh uneventfully.  Everyone had a good trip.  John Clark got sick upon arrival, but he is now sitting with us at the airport and seems to be fine.  We prayed a lot for him.  We said our goodbyes to the drama team before we left Siem Reap.  We said our goodbyes to the translators upon arrival at Phnom Penh.  It was a sad site to me to see the backs of those young people walking away from us into the crowded streets of Phnom Penh.  I wanted to run after them.  Then we spent a few hours near the TransformAsia office.  We prayed one more time for John Clark and prayed for Setan Lee and his family.  Then headed off the airport.  We made it through customs OK and then said our goodbyes to Glenn and Evelyn Cobb who are taking a different flight then me and the other Team members.  We are now seated at the gate ready to board the 5 hour flight to Seoul, South Korea. On that flight with me will be George Sooley, Sam Hopper, Ron Cole and John and Regina Clark.  We will be boarding soon.  We debriefed a little  bit at the airport and all felt the Mission Trip really went well. We felt the presence of the Holy Spirit with us and saw God work in mighty ways.