This is how we Rolllllllllll....

Well here we are... Headed hommeeeeee. I'm writing this with 9 hrs down and 21 hrs to go. I'm still deeply processing a lot of our trip, so I thought I'd bring you some humor while I organize my thoughts. 

Driving/walking (there really isn't a difference): 

I made the following meme to help set the mood...

Let's start with when Josiah got ran over by a moto.... Don't worry his foot is fine... We had a medical professional look at it...aka Nurse Lindsay. Fortunately, Cambodians drive like crazy people (FYI my driving skills are going to fit in great) so at least when it got ran over, they were going so fast, they soared accrossed it instead of crushing it. Besides a few tire marks, a few scrapes, and a broken toenail you'd never even guess his life flashed before his eyes. Way to take one for the team Josiah... A true leader, sacrificing his leg for the good of others... (But let's just say, luckily no one else followed his lead on this one...) 

Earlier that morning, Linds, Brittney, and I decided to go on a walk... We asked the lady at the front of the hotel where to cross the street aka where the crosswalk was. She replied with ...right there.... Pointing to the "four" lanes of traffic zooming by (more like 12... No one actually uses the lines). Ummmmm how appealing was that riverside view accross the street? Appealing enough that we found ourselves standing on the edge. A nice tuk tuk driver saw us doing the chicken bob...go now? No, now, no wait, now, no... and graciously parted the traffic for us.... All our feet made it successfully. Apparently the secret to getting across with only your foot run over, not your whole body, is to just walk at a moderate pace and the cars and motos and tuk tuks and mobile fruit stands just weave around you (unless you are Josiah, then they just run over your foot).... If you run... Then they say you die. Well we didn't die, so we must have figured out the "moderate pace." 

This picture doesn't do it justice, but this is where we crossed...

Then one time, we couldn't figure out why we could run across the street and not get hit, and why our driver, who is always early, was no where to be found. Apparently, the King heard we were in town and wanted to stay next door to us at his palace. He even invited the Prime Minster over. So thoughtful of him, but somehow our invite got lost in the mail. Hmmmm. And word on the street is (literal street haha) that when they come to town, it's like when the President is in town... They block off all the streets and no one can get through so they don't get shot or shanked. 

But it was ok because then we got to walk along the river and then ride in tuk tuks and buy 2 for $5 fake Ray Bans from a man out of a box hanging around his neck... Way better than popcorn, but not as cool as buying them out of his coat....  

Well, lots more still to post :) but here's a snipbit till then... :) 

Xx Prayyya pro de'em po (God bless you) 

Kat 

He never gives up on us.

Day 2:

We were all fast asleep by 730pm last night and up by 530am to take on a new day. 

We are right next door to a coffee shop... Randomly the best Americano I've ever had... But the sunrise might have been influencing that :) and the steepest stairs I've ever climbed... Insert photo here lol 

We ate breakfast and headed to church. Linds and I were just chatting about how we really do serve a universal God, we know that in theory, but don't truly know it, until we've fully experienced it. Standing in a room packed with people of all ages, singing in Khmer and us singing in English, will bring you to tears. To feel His presence radiate off those arounds you as they sing, with every ounce of themselves, praises to the one true God, is something that can't be described. We were thankful for the English subtitles and a translator, but had we not had them, we still would have felt at church, in worship, in God's presence. 

One of the songs said, "He doesn't give up on us." How beautiful is that truth? We are in a church with survivors of trafficking worshiping next to ex-pimps/ ex-traffickers. We are in a church with survivors of the Khmer Rouge. God doesn't ever give up on us. It is never too late, we've never done too much, or not enough. 

The pastor spoke about how much God hates sin and how much he loves holiness. He loves us so much, he cleanses us of our sin and fills us with His holiness, His righteousness. He spoke of Noah and how God distroyed the world, but saved Noah. It made me think- God could have started over, He could have wiped the whole earth clean and built a new Eden, but He didn't. He didn't give up on Humanity, he spared Noah and His family. We serve a beautiful and redeeming God. 

The Killing Feilds: Content below is going to be graphic and heavy, so read at your own risk. 

Some of my blog post hopefully make you laugh and brighten your day, but I hope they also open your eyes to the world that we don't see regularly... Or ever. I hope they provoke you to step back and think and value life and inspire you to participate in stoping injustice, no matter how small the contribution. 

Today we went to one of over 300 of the mass execution and grave sites from the Khmer Rouge era. The Khmer Rouge started in 1975 and fell just over 3 years later. 3 years doesn't seem like much, less than you need for a college degree or a high school diploma, but in those 3 years and 8 months, 1 in 4 Cambodians were killed in a mass genocide. In less that 48 hours of the Khmer Rouge had forced every person out of all the cities. Can you imagine New York City completely empty by force in 48 hours? Everyone was forced to their "home" village and forced to work in the Feilds. Pol Pot, the head of this communist party, demanded rice production be tripled immediately. Now, I don't know about you, but if I grew up in a city.... I wouldn't know the first thing about farming. So here these people were, with no training, no tools, forced into labor they didn't understand, from the early hours before dawn, until well into the night, with no food and no breaks. People were dying in Feilds, tied to plows. They were also separated from their families, men with men, women with women, children with children unless they were very young. That was for the lucky ones. 

As for those who were educated, spoke another language, wore glasses, or were trained in any modern vocation, they were executed. 

Overnight, Pol Pot took a culture back to the Stone Age. 

Obviously this was not a stable plan, so eventually people would steal rice (babies were dying because mothers couldn't even produce milk) or try to escape. They would be thrown in jail and forced to write false confession of fake crimes (being spies for the US etc.). Later, they'd be taken to the Killing Feilds and be executed. They would do it at night and blare revolution music, so that those living in the area wouldn't know that people were being executed. So much of this horrifying atrocity was done in secret. The rest of the world didn't even know if the rumors from the refugees that made it across the boarders were true. 

Here are some of the mottos of the Khmer Rouge: 

"We don't gain with them, and we aren't at a loss without them." 

"To kill the grass, you must destroy the roots." 

You could say the regime didn't have a high value on life. The first one is a major reason why so many were killed, the second is why all the members of their families were eventually killed as well. They said they had to kill them all so none would one day grow up and seek revenge. Sick. I know. 

As we walked through the grounds and saw the graves it's quite overwhelming. Most of the large bones were exhumed and put in a memorial 17 floors high, but they left the smaller ones because there wasn't enough room. So as the weather shifts the soil, more bones rise to the top and every few months they are collected by the care takers. As you walk on the path there are small signs and when you look close it says, please don't step on the bones. And as you look closely at the path you see bones rising up right below your feet. I can't fully discribe the feeling that overwhelms. It all becomes so tangible. 

The horrors just kept coming. The regime was poor, so they had no money to buy ammunition, so they had to execute everyone by torture. They used anything from axes to hoes to sharp edged vines. Women, men, children, babies, and an entire mass grave full of headless soldiers. Among the other graves, were 6 Americans and 3 Australians. 

Pol Pot was so paranoid, he killed millions by making them sign false confessions. He was never seen in public and ran his communist regime in as much secrecy as possible. He studied in Paris and while there, became part of the communist party. He drew on the Chinese for power and example. When he came back to Cambodia, ironically he was a history teacher for a few years before the revolution. 

Needless to say, Cambodia has had a very recent traumatic past. The USA didn't intervene, due to just finishing Vietnam and the USA not having a positive image with war among Americans. Eventually, Vietnam intervened and over threw Pol Pot. Through the 80s Cambodia struggled still and eventually the U.N. intervened and held the first public elections in history in the 90s. But even then, the candidates were flawed and from political parties with very selfish platforms. To this day the amount of corruption in the government is still great. 

But from the few I've met and the many I've observed, they are overcoming. They are making life turn as best they can. God never gave up on them. He is redeeming them. Their hurt, pain, PTSD, and the culture that has formed from such traumatic experiences. i.e. Trafficking. 

Tomorrow we will start our work at AIM, and see first hand how God has transformed the largest Red Light District in Phnom Penh. A street, that less than 10 years ago was lined with brothels (mainly child brothels), now is 100% rid of them. 

Sorry this is being posted so late. More to follow. Also, my spell check isn't working so.... Who knows what I actually typed lol 

Xx 

Kat 

I should always travel with a nurse... #freefood

We've officially made it to Taipei! 14 hour flight from LA and our kankles are ripening nicely. The rest of the crew is hunting down Starbucks and I'm manning the bags and charging the phones. 

You're probably thinking... Blog post already? You aren't even there yet, but we're the Swick's... We can't do anything conventional. Take flying for example... The cabin is all tucked in, lights off, I'm in the middle...and my feet don't touch the ground... Needless to say everyone, but me is passed out. And good thing, because Nurse Lindsay is dead to the world when the announcement comes. 

"Attention all passengers, we have a medical emergency, a passenger needs immediate medical attention, will all nurses and doctors reveal yourself." 

Me... Panic mode sets in (all I can think of is when Marine flew for Air France and a man died mid flight over the ocean). I whip around, shake the ball that is Lindsay awake (not an easy task... It took me screaming, "Lindsay they need a nurse, they need a nurse" at least 3x). I flag the attendants, Linds grabs her glasses, stands on her seat,  jumps over us, and is off down the aisle (insert proud sister moment here). Meanwhile in all my panic, I slammed my toe into the metal pole at my feet, adeline has now passed and all of a sudden, I get so light headed I pass out.... I didn't think I actually passed out, but Linds was only gone in my world for like 30 secs... In pretty sure it was at least 15. Nausea swept over and I kept taking deep breaths, I knew if I stood I'd puke and passout in someone's lap (all I could see was Niccole passing out and breaking her nose on the train last month...). I was sure I broke my toe, but my super sympathetic sister said, "You're fine, dork." 

Part of me wishes I'd stood up, because it would have made the best story for them to tell Lindsay, "I'm sorry, we need you back by your seat, there's another medical emergency."

Anyway, the lady was fine. Apparently when you don't drink water all day and then fly and then add in some red wine, you pass out. So nurse Lindsay took her blood pressure and diagnosed her and proscribed water and orange juice. She shaped up real quick. The doctor that eventually showed up, kept asking Lindsay what she thought and eventually said, "I think you got this, I'm going to go back to my seat." The flight attendants even asked for her business card... (We need to make her some for next time) Ok so they probably asked for liability reasons... But still. 

In return for her service we got a 1st class fruit tray and a bag of snacks.... The good kind. I made her share, since had it not been for me sacrificing my toe (that's still throbbing, but "not broken") and waking her up she wouldn't have been Hero Nurse of Eva Air. 

So needless to say, we thank you for choosing Eva Air, and hope you fly with us again soon... It's always entertaining. 

From Taipei, 

Kit Kat Toe (get it... Like tick tack toe?) 

Pulling out the rusty old blog for another Kat adventure...

It's midnight...and I've been packed for over 24 hours. This is a first. I almost can't go to bed because I keep thinking I should be panicking and pulling an all nighter... I have to be forgetting something? I'm Kat! But here I am... all ready to go. It's a good feeling, a calm. I sometimes find myself wishing my everyday life was spent this way; instead I'm always rushing and late. I think this is why people speak of finding rest in the Lord. Restful rest feels good. The rest where you don't have burdens or worry, because you're prepared. God is always prepared, so we always have the opportunity to find rest in Him...if we choose. My prayer for us as we embark to Cambodia is that our team walks in His restfulness. That we don't become consumed with the little things that make us lose sight of Joy, but that we seize every opportunity and our minds are at peace. Cambodia has had a very rough last 40 years. A lot of death, destruction, and trauma. I pray we process these events and are humble and sensitive toward a hurting people. At the end of the day we are all broken and hurting people in desperate need of the Gospel. We are broken people serving broken people. We may not have seen genocide, experienced extreme poverty, or been faced with selling our children so our families can eat, but we have our own list of trails and tribulations that define us. So, as we embark, please be praying for humble hearts, protected minds, selflessness, and that we will overflow with love and joy. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to blog, but I'll do my best to try to post something :) Love you all, and thank you to all who are supporting me- financially and through prayer. Blessing and love, Kat xx