hey! I'm back! I went to Poipet, Cambodia, not Laos. (May's confused!) It's approximately 4 hours overland from Bangkok and does not have an airport of its own. To get into Poipet, we have to walk from the Thai immigration to the Cambodian one. Roads are really dusty and full of potholes. Just across the border, there are many many casinos. Apparently, it is said that Poipet hosts the worst of everything in Asia. (don't quote me! I heard it somewhere) Drug trafficking, child kidnapping, you name it, they have it. Back to where I was. Beyond the casinos, the scene changes drastically. Instead of the glittering, white walls and colourful neon lights, one is greeted with poor dusty roads and many many slumps. And this place, beyond the casinos would be our hotel for the next 5 days. We took a Cambodian taxi (mind you, it has no aircon. Taxi means a motorbike attached to a small cart and we sat inside the cart.) from the border our hotel, a very simple hotel with only the basics. No carpeted floor, no grand entrance and our suite had no hot water. We were thankful no doubt. And hey! Our hotel was even recommended by the Lonely Planet book! We met with the 2 missionary families there, Dr Kent Copland's family and Syna's family. Throughout the 5 days, we met some Cambodian Christian youths and even played football with them! Ok. I kicked some dung together with the ball in an attempt to pass it. And when I say dung, it is really cow dung. Fresh from the few grazing cows around the field. But we had fun no doubt!!! On Sunday, we visited a village church tucked away in a really rural area. But it was heart rendering to see little kids, poor though they might be but so rich in spirit and rich with God's love! Thank God!They sang for us and I played my violin. the village church was just a one room church with zinc walls and roof and sunday school was held just under a tree beside the church. It might be simple, but yeah, I must say the best church service I've ever attended! Although sermon was given by Syna's husband in Khmer and we prayed in Khmer, even the Lord's prayer in Khmer. And we had communion! Great. Simply awesome. Oh, and we also painted Dr Kent's clinic! I was doing the skirting of the sides and ceiling all the time. So I had to stand on a chair and a few times, I almost fell. But yeah, it's all for a good cause! So now Dr Kent has a wonderful sparkling white clinic with beautiful white walls for his surgery room and pharmacy!!! Through it all, I've realised that God does work in wonderful ways! And yes, it is true that poor are made rich in spirit by God's grace and everything He does is so perfect. Sometimes, we work so hard here in this secular world but we fail to realise that we do so little for our Father in heaven, where our true reward really lie. Had we known, working for Him all our life would not be enough to repay Him for what He has done. After being in Cambodia, one realises just how fortunate or unfortunate we really are. Yes, we have all the material wealth here, but we lack so much in spirit! The faith they have in walking without sight, in walking with the Lord despite their poor conditions. Indeed, the riches in heaven belong to them who believe though they may be poor. And who's more fortunate than them, to have such big acres of field to gaze at the night sky or feel the cool evening breeze and see the awesome sunset? It was the first time I've seen so many stars in the sky. And to know that our Lord God created all this for us to enjoy, yet their quiet beauty is blinded by man-made lights, all raw and gaudy. If given a chance, I want to go Poipet again. In Poipet, one lives, but here in Singapore one simply survives.