More Portraits in the Red Light District

Today my team and I once again went to the red light district to lighten the atmosphere through music and art. It was very busy because of Chinese New Year so there where a lot of people to paint. I was able to talk to more families and the men that where in the area. I have really been enjoying this ministry and the people I have been able to meet. I also spent some time teaching random English words and face drawing to some street kids. Birthday well spent :)

Happy Chinese New Year!

Went to a Chinese New Year Celebration outside the palace gates. Made some friends with the dragon performers and enjoyed some early morning coffee/sunrise :) 

Trash Pickup

Something we have been doing as a side ministry is trash pick up around areas of Phnom Penh. There are not many trash cans around and garbage usually lines the streets. We get to clean up and encourage people to care about their environment. People often come up and ask us who we are and what we are doing. It's just a simple way we can give back and have some fun as a team.

Painting in the Red Light District

In Khmer it says: "Free Portraits"

Today we took our paint brushes, paper and guitars and went to the Red Light district of Phnom Penh. I offered free portraits in water color and ink. I was able to tak to the women I painted, tell them they were beautiful and show them how beautiful they are in a painting. At first they were shy, but with a bit of  encouragement we attracted a crowd. A food vendor even set up around us! I had so much fun talking in broken Khmer/English and making them smile. The red light district surrounds Wat Phenom, a large park with a "mountain" (small hill) at the center. It is also a heavy drug trade area. With our music and art we were able to change the spiritual atmosphere of the park. People asked us who we were, a monk passing by asked to take a photo with us. I don't know any of these beautiful women's stories, but I can see in their eyes that they have been through a lot. They teared up when I told them they were beautiful, I knew they did not hear that very often. It was such an eye opening experience and I would love to go back and do the same thing (with more paper next time). One girl in particular was very excited about her portrait-- she even painted me afterwards. All in all; an awesome ministry experience. 

one of the girls painting me!

Adding some lovely music to the atmosphere

Photos of Phnom Penh

The Slum We have been working at the past week. We work at a Children at Risk center and we support their education as well as their health needs.

Center of Phnom Penh 

Tuk-Tuks (they are like taxi's here)

Monkeys on the phone lines

Monday Jan, 20th 2014

On Saturday my team and I went to a well-known temple and park. Surrounding the area were hundreds of doves for people to feed. There was a group of kids selling birdseed to tourists in bags. While being watched by their parents they approached my friend Tylyn and I. We paid for some birdseed but let them feed it to the birds. Then we played and talked with them for a while.  They spoke English very well and we were able to hold a nice conversation. Eventually we had to leave and we thought we would never see those children again.

Today we went to a slum outside the inner city to teach health care and do some home visits. The kids we met were in the class! We get to see them for the next few weeks for ministry.

Today we had home visits around the slum to Christian families. I lead a bible study in a home with 5 older ladies. They were so sweet and open about their lives. I was truly inspired by their courage and warmth. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring; everyday has been such a blessing.

Below are photos we took with the kids when we first met them at a temple:

Kids club and teen center

We stared the day at New Life Church which had a Khmer/English service. It had about 200 local people and it was an amazing experience. We get to go there for the rest of our time here in Phenom Pen. It was nice to just go to a church service and not worry about leading it.
Afterwards we drove outside the city into one of the slums to work at a youth center. For 2 hours we taught about 40 elementary school kids. We taught them songs, bible stories and games. Then the last 2 hours we taught junior high/ high school kids English, art and music. I spoke for about 20 min about "The fruit of the Spirit: Peace" and I also led an art class. I set up a basic still life composition and taught them different artistic styles and some art history. Today's focus was on impresionism and abstract art. Below are a few examples of their work and some action shots. These kids are at risk of human trafficking because they are very poor and many peopltake advantage of that. Other times these kids end up in hard situations in order to provide for their families.
They were so much fun and I can't wait to get to know them better over the next few weeks. Its really important that we give them life skills, boost their sense of value and self worth and deciple them in a loving environment so they can have a better life.