The Mill Inn

I was going to do a 2016 recap, but there is only one main event that deserves its own recap. There were many other amazing things that happened, people we met, places we went or little ones that joined our family, but this, this I am so proud of for many reasons. 

Let me explain and be the first to introduce...

(Well, I'm not really the first as this is months late past the formal introduction.)

The Mill Inn. 

A New Season for Dad

{ The glory days. }

After 40 years of scanning patients, Dad turned in his badge, claimed old age and now enters the season of retirement. 

There are projects to be done, lists that have been running long overdue for years and mornings to sleep in as the alarm clock is turned off for good. No more beepers, pagers or complaints of pushing stretchers around the hospital. No more politics, on call shifts, days without lunch breaks or breakfast spent in the cafeteria enjoying biscuits and gravy. Mom is now on her own, a hallway away from Dad's CT scanning room, where she'll have to adjust to working a days shift without her honey an extension away. An adjustment for both of them.

Dad had a grand plan arranged for sliding out without notice. Too bad for him, word got out and the party planning committee quickly put things into action. Thanks to Pure Bliss Desserts, there were cheesecakes for all of the X-Ray department to enjoy as the three of us kids came to celebrate with Dad. Of course encounters with the ER had to be remembered too as Dr. Dag Jensen arranged for the Cat scan cake, stubby finger fish food cake and the moment when Dad fell off the ladder on a fire call.

{ Celebrating Papa with family and grandkids. }

Prior to the hospital, Dad drove ambulance for United General where he experienced the worst call of his entire career. Some scenes are harder to forget than others as most in the medical industry can attest too. After falling in a pond and being pulled out by their mother, dad arrived to find two girls laying under the Christmas tree, lifeless, in need of resuscitation. Only one made it that day. Between the hospital and fire department, I too, have many tragic memories witnessing Dad's career unfolding before me. 

Paul started his career back in 1970, working south at University of Washington Medical Center. With the Huskie Stadium being so close, Dad certainly took advantage of the cheap seats at $4 a piece on game day. The other benefit was having access to the athletic department across the street playing racket ball for free. He then transferred to St. Luke's South Campus in 1975, enjoying the small hospital feel, knowing everybody and having limited politics. In the late 1980's, Dad made his final career move to St. Joseph Main Campus rounding out a total of 40 years of service behind the CAT scan machine.   

My best memories are from St. Luke's where my childhood McDreamy crush worked side by side with Dad. Devlin was a ladies man and a cute one I may add, even though I was not even double digits at the time. A girl can dream. Ask any women in the X-ray department today and they'll know exactly who I'm talking about! 

{ McDreamy is on the bottom left in fancy scrubs. }

Then there were the scary moments of being tossed in the red reading room through the round tunnel door and of course sitting on Dad's lap pushing buttons during scans. Probably should keep that on the down low, but I'm sure it's no surprise that times have changed dramatically since then. I will always remember picking up chestnuts in the parking lot and walking in the front ER doors, turning left to get to the X-Ray department and getting an X-ray if needed. Some Sunday's we would go and have lunch in the cafeteria; my choice usually was the egg salad sandwich. Then came the main campus where I would visit Dad with Addison sharing lunch together or sneaking candy treats and stickers from those working by Dad's side.

{ Dr. Crabo and Dr. Dag Jensen }

{ Co-workers creating a tunnel and send off to retirement. }

Paul was the senior in the group. Everyone in the department knows about our family and Dad boasted with beaming pride when sharing about his grand kids. My work ethic, commitment and ownership in work came from the years of Dad's employment giving me a solid foundation, an abundance of provision and sense of security through his countless hours of labor. I am incredibly grateful for the sacrifices made to accomplish such an amazingly strong finish in Dad's career. 

This painting below can be found near the East entrance of the hospital; a legacy of service remembered. 

Thank you doesn't seem enough for what you gave me and the endless stream of patients that entered the CT room. 

This community thanks you for serving us well. 

{ Happy Retirement Dad! }



Cambodia Take Three: Final Days

North County Christ the King has founded and supported the Life Giving Network over the course of several years. Tim's company supports the LGN monthly so part of this trip for Tim was following upon those funds, and continuing to help support the LGN pastors on the ground.

 Theses are a few successes in Cambodia alone through the ministry of the LGN from a note that Tim sent to his staff:

"Last week I got a note from the head of the LGN stating the following.... One of our pastors who reaches out to Muslims lead 32 Muslims to Christ in one day and five different villages. Another of our pastors there now has 30 churches with 3000 people in it. Pastor Koy had 85 baptisms the week I was there. Sophea just emailed me and told me something like 23 youth gave their life to Christ just the other night at his church. One of the other pastors was part of a 10 province crusade he lead and we had 1400 people receive Christ of which 145 were baptized. We (Sophea, Kim and the church) also were able to adopt 50 children with special needs in Cambodia and I just interviewed and am preparing to adopt 50 orphans in India through our pastors in the LGN there."

Tim's final days and thoughts in Cambodia....

 { Boys and their bikes. }

{ Brian and Sophia casually enjoying an afternoon nap. }

As the trip ends, there were a couple stand out successes and areas 
for continued work.

1. 1)  We will be establishing the micro loan business now in Cambodia, which we should have off the ground in a couple months. This will produce great returns for the investors, and will also produce extensive revenue and profits that can be left in country to support a few key organizations. We were able to get a plan developed for this, and now have people on the ground who are going to run it and manage it for us. Very exciting!
   
   
2. 2)  Big success - got to see the Tortilla making company that we have been coaching for a year and a half now. They doubled in size last year, doubled their profits as well - in a growth year. We helped him position his infrastructure as well for better profitability in the next year, and he’s on track for that too. So cool to see it in action. He has become the “wealthy business man” of the church there (that’s how they see him), and is now able to start giving back financially to the church and it’s paying huge dividends. He is also coaching other local businesses now and paying it forward. So great to see!
   
   
   
   
3. 3)  Spent half a day with a start-up medical clinic and helped develop their budget, market plan, and have given them the tools now to effectively start their new company. They were two people who came to the business course we taught, and wanted to get together to discuss further their plans and concerns. Very sharp kids! We fully expect next time we’re back (September) to see this medical clinic open and operational. 

4) Taught a business course to over 100 students on business development and marketing structures. Great time of dialogue and questions from them, and reviewing business plans that many of them have and are about to implement.

5) On my first trip here we visited a village where there was no school, so kids were going entirely without education, and there was no local church and literally zero infrastructure in the town. We stood outside the town on a piece of property that the local pastor had a vision for and prayed over it. We just went back yesterday (one year later) and saw a completed church, school, and entire complex developed and fully functioning. I got to stand outside the class and see kids playing games, learning, and being taught essential life skills that most here do not have. They built the entire complex for $55,000, and they have 200 students daily. Through the LGN and its support, this has all happened fast! Profits from the micro loan business, funds from the home building in Whatcom county, and other investments have helped make this a reality.

6) Have committed to build a new school in the slums for Koy and his church. Will start putting a plan together on this to see it happen in the next year. Will put a team together from the community here and will go handle it with the Cambodians. Any one interested??? :)

7) AIM.... Here is what we are working on with them.... 

We got together several times with an International organization called Agape International Missions (AIM). They focus on the Cambodia sex trade industry. In a nutshell, here is what happens over there... literally! Families have debt that has accumulated over the years and an easy way out is to sell off one of your children. The boys have less value than the girls, because the girls can be sold into sex trade and produce way more money. So the parents will sell off their young girls (average age of sold girl is 8 years old, as young as 5 at times). A local hospital first confirms that the girls are actually virgins, and they are given a “certificate of virginity” which allows them to charge top dollar for the girl. These girls are then locked in a room (called Pink Rooms), and they are kept in there and sold to pedophiles who will pay high dollar for a young virgin. After the virginity is taken away, they leave the girls in these rooms and sell them multiple times a day to men who come from all around the world for this specific reason, as well as local men who just want a quick fix. These young girls will stay in this environment until they are 12 years old or so, or when the debt is paid back. But at that point the families have become used to the additional income that was going to the debt, so they leave the girls in that environment and start collecting some income from them. If the girls can escape, which is rare, they usually go right back and become prostitutes because they only know that industry and can make ok money. This is the reality of what is going on over there!
AIM has swot teams on the ground in the cities that target pedophiles and follow them around, they identify where the girls are being sold and locked up, and then go in and save them. These

girls are then taken to a location that is not named, and cleaned up, raised, educated, and provided a normal living environment with counseling and support. To fund these homes, they started making T shirts and selling them. Now they have a small factory that makes and prints T shirts and ships them around the world. The funds go to the girls directly and to the organization as well. 


{ All of these brown roofs are brothels where young girls are
locked up being sold daily. }

This is a door that locks from below so they can secure the girls in a section of the house overnight to keep them from getting out.

  

We were not allowed to take many pictures, as they don’t want to reveal the locations of their safe houses. We had to go through back ground checks before we could come and see the operation as well. They take this part very seriously!
We toured the homes, the schools, the housing, etc. All if it was so well done. After learning about the background, and watching video’s of what is going on, and then seeing a school room full of young girls, who are having fun, laughing, learning, etc, it’s inspiring to say the least! We then went and toured the shirt making factory.

This is where we started to talk business with them. They have $3 mil budget every year, as they have a lot of donors around the world. A few years ago CNN did a big blitz on this organization and made a movie documentary, “Every Day in Cambodia” with Mira Sorvino (actress), which brought a lot of light to the situation in Cambodia. Next there was another documentary done called “The Pink Room”, which won awards and again, created awareness. So AIM has great funding, but is struggling in many aspects to go from begging for funds, to creating a structure that produces regular revenue and repeat donations.
We spent a better part of a day with the business development folks on the ground and were able to come up with some changes to their approach. They are hesitant and worry that the head of the organization wouldn’t go for them. We had nothing to lose so we just reached out to him directly and he is extremely interested in help. So we will be meeting with him next month in California and will be explaining our thoughts, and the concerns we had from a marketing perspective, and business management perspective. As an organization, they are now realizing that there are some things that are broken and need repair. It will be super rewarding to help them restructure their approach. With the donor base they have, we should be able to make a dynamic impact by helping them be more effective on the front end development of funds, and the execution of processes in the field.

So in the end, it was a great trip! From helping coach businesses, teaching the business course, seeing the purchase of the property, starting new businesses, etc, it was all around a success, and a busy trip. 

Thank you to everyone who had covered Brian and Tim in prayer as they traveled to and from. The kids survived, I didn't eat them in frustration of being a single parent and we all were happily waiting for Daddy last night when he came home. The sweaty laundry has been cleaned and plans for the next trip have begun. As Charlie says every night, 

"Mom, don't forget to pray for the kids in Cambodia!"

12th But Not Last: December Thoughts

I love the month of December for many reasons. 

I cherish all the family gatherings; the sense of belonging and togetherness. 

Even at the Element's work party, I felt like I was chilling with our extended family and I look forward to that special time chatting with as many as I can. Hearing about Anita's writing adventures, Cheri's expecting horse, Jennifer's boys and Doug's downtown apartment remodels makes me feel like I'm the background team member. I love knowing the accounting girls see me as more than just Tim's wife, but as a friend. Our Elements family has grown so much this year and it was my pleasure to introduce the better halves of many to other team players. 

Ever since we sold the salon , this has been the one and only thing I miss most.
The people. The relationships. The extended family.
 I still have contact with many of our stylists and I'm grateful for those amazing women as well. Family is more than just blood or those who married into a name.
Family to me, are those who share life together and those at the Windmill and past work adventures are just that: family.

Another reason I love December is the reflection and focus it brings to the manger. There would be no Christmas, no salvation or hope without Baby Jesus. There is immense pressure in society to keep up with the latest and greatest; to make us think we never will have enough. This entire month we are shelving the iPad in honor of Advent and Baby Jesus. There are a few in our home who resemble a two-year old having a temper tantrum when the words, "No iPad," are shuttered. Sometimes stripping the most wanted to make aware of the most important is needed. I would rather our family spend time pondering the birth of Jesus Christ and give Him our best as He always offers more then
we need daily.
The last few months has brought much fear revolving around health. I myself, find every headache or pain to make me question whether I should call the doctor or leave it alone. I've called many times reassuring myself that all precautionary tests are up to date and current. I try to pray for the worry to go away but it seems it's answered with another diagnoses. Am I having an anxiety attack? Possibly. Lately it seems most things are out of control when it comes to our health.
But, I will reflect on the past year and the good it has brought our family, the closer bonds and expressions of gratitude's rather then the negative…at least I'll try.

The sweetest reason I love December is simply because of ALL the treats!
My goodness they come in waves of chocolate truffles to sugar cookies and delicious pies and pastries found at the local bakery. If you haven't made your way downtown to The Lynden Dutch Bakery you should. They have four new scones which are dutch-bred and delicious. Yes, I've tasted and approve them all too.
Today the kids delivered another week of Lynden Tribune's to all 108 homes. Last week Addison snuck a Christmas card in the papers and was gifted with cards, tips and Russel Stover's truffles. Christmas is a time to celebrate, reflect, share and tell others
"Thank You."
These too, are treats for our family.
My board of faces in the salon is needing an update and all the cards being sent to us are eagerly awaiting their new placement for the year. My Love doesn't understand the importance of a card and quite frankly thinks it's silly. Me? I've always known my mom to do Christmas cards and I've always loved seeing and reading about the families
near and far to us.

The kids have about ten days left before Christmas break and if the older two don't strangle, trip or chase the other out of the house, then I've done my job well. I have even gone to the extreme of tempting to cancel Christmas if the "normal" sibling fighting doesn't stop. Actually, what I should do is buy each of them a big red button and every time they want to push the other over the edge they just push the button instead of egos and emotions. I should work on this and bring it to the Shark Tank. Who needs a demonstration when they could just watch and listen to a normal day here with Addi and Charlie? I just tell myself they love each other. Right? This I would not classify as a treat.

December is known to not be such a happy time for my Dad, but I'm praying as we wait for more test results from surgery and procedures that God will grant us more reasons to celebrate then to fear. Until then, I will continue my E2 Fitness workouts so I can overindulge in the treats and party meals of this rich, glorious season.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men 
on whom his favor rest."  Luke 2:14

Elements Hospitality Has Moved!!!

The day FINALLY arrived when the Element's team could pack the boxes and start the move to the new location at the Dutch Village Mall!!! The fork lift served a purpose as it seemed easier then multiple flights of stairs with loaded arms. It took everyone to make this a successful move. Brandon was the key player as he was, and still is, the Windmill fix-it guy. You may have seen him up high on a ladder, hauling loads to and from the hotel gift shop area back to the office where he had the major upper hand of making this entire project happen. Some may ask why it took so long? Well, take an old building, tear it apart and you will find surprises, dry rot, dead rats and many other unpleasant surprises that prove to be major set backs. 

The design team seemed to color coordinate their outfits for the day! (designers ;)

And to make things even brighter was the "Chalk the Walk" kids field trip where elementary grades make chalk pictures throughout town on all the business sidewalks. 

It was amazing to see everything find a new home so quickly. 

The first week in the office and the musical is wrapping up along with the Lynden Music Festival beginning. Already busy, busy! I don't even work here but I love the team that has made this company come alive. I'm SOOOOOOOOOO proud of My Love and the team of busy bees behind the scenes making it all happen. Thank you for letting me crash your moving party and allow me to hang out with such amazing people!

I will do my best from keeping Myriam's fingerprints smudging the desk and doors. If it does happen…it was somebody else's kid!!!

 { Element's Design Team }

 {Thank you Brandon for all your hard work! }

 { CEO, My Love & COO, Shane Bajema }

 { With the kids in Portland, I made myself busy helping. 

At least made it look like I was helping! }

{ Project Managers new office space upstairs. }

{ Breaking in the office with a beer and snacks. Well worth the celebration! }

 { Tim already busy at work in his new office. I LOVE the doors!!! }

 { My favorite: The wood wall! There's two more upstairs in the conference call rooms. }

{ First day on the job and a little welcome meeting to get the day going. }

A Calling to Cambodia: Part Two

{DAY FOUR}

We got picked up today by or host, who took us to a place in the hills called Teen Challenge. This place takes teens and youth off the streets who have addictions, and takes them in for 6 months, makes them go cold turkey off their addictions, and then teaches them schooling, agriculture, work, English, etc. They make them work the land for their food, they have a motorcycle shop where they learn mechanics, which they can use later in life, etc. They also teach them English via the bible, which is a common theme here of the men we’ve met. They didn’t know English, so someone taught them English by helping them read through the book of Mark, or one of the gospels. They learned English this way and in the end, knew all about Christ. Such a great way! Teen Challenge however is funded again, by outside money and is struggling to keep going. So they are learning the hard way to produce $ by selling crops, raising pigs (with the help of NCCTK) and making business decisions that produce income. We reviewed the land and what they are doing and see many ways to be more efficient and produce much more income, with very limited resources needed. 

 

We then went to where Pastor Sophea wants his future church to be, prayed over the land. After that we went to a school that Sophea leads, where they are teaching kids - very cute kids, English, computer skills, etc. It was fun playing with the kids. These kids have so much joy. It’s amazing how having so much, produces people who have no gratitude - even amongst believers. Here they have nothing, and everyone we come in contact with is so gracious, kind, and the kids are so happy all the time. 

{DAY FIVE}

Today we went to the killing fields. Not much to say here. It was overwhelming. When Pol Pot killed off 25% of the population here, they all got put in burial grounds that were later uncovered. I’ll send pictures later, but the hardest part was the killing tree. This is a tree, that when found, was red in blood, had brains and teeth stuck in it, and there was a huge pit next to it. The soldiers would take the innocent children, grab them by the feet, swing them at the tree, crush their skulls in the hit, and then throw them in the pit. Words cannot express the emotions that come over you when you see this spot. I thought about my children, and absolutely wept. And as Kim said this morning, we do it all day long in the states. Abortion. We sit by as a body and do nothing except think of how bad it is. Yet people pull kids out of wombs, inject chemicals, etc. We are as bad as them.....

{DAY SIX}

Got up around 4, and spent some time reviewing my message. I worked to add some more verbiage and make sure that I had it all put together well. I knew I was going to get interrupted a million times by the interpreter. Had a brief breakfast with Kate and discussed our different approaches for our messages, and then Kim came and prayed over us both. The interpreter then showed up and off we went. 

It was an hour and a half drive to the small village - dirt road to get there. When I arrived the sanctuary was empty. Boy was that an odd feeling of failure. They then explained to me that it is rice season right now and all are very busy, so they expect them all to be a few minutes late, and about the time they said that, people started to show up. Before long we had about 35 people there. I think in the end it was around 50 or so, but a lot of kids. Either way, I was in a small village in Cambodia, sharing what God has done in my life. Kind of surreal. 

They started worship and boy do they worship. They spent time in prayer, and when the pastor is praying, you cannot even hear him because all are praying over top of him. Very charismatic, but so real and contagious. I felt myself not knowing what to do as I couldn’t understand them. After a while I realized that I could pray over them and their church while I waited. This was sure helpful for me to get my mind in the right place, and off the sermon and what I was going to preach. 

The time came and I went up. I started off by getting them laughing about me not being a preacher and not wanting to do this. Then I started in and shared my testimony. The interpreter did a great job keeping up. When I got to the part where I said that I had a pornography addiction, had premarital sex, and had cheated on my wife, I think all jaws dropped to the floor. In this culture they do not talk about that, yet so many struggle. The interpreter looked at me like “you really want me to say that” and actually chuckled. When he said it he laughed a bit cause it caught him off guard. But from then on it was silent in the room and all were very engaged. When I got to Easter, I got choked up and had to pause. Again, it took them by surprise. I then went into how people ask if God allowed me to fail so I could be used. I talked about how God tests us to prove us, but Satan tempts us to fail. I explained biblically the difference and then talked about walking in the spirit and how, even though hard to do consistently, it’s the only way to stay on track with the Lord and his commands. I talked about failure and how we all fail, but how we need to get back up, dive deeper into the spirits calling, and grow again in our faith. I read Psalm 32 starting at verse 5. I had about 10 amens. It was really cool. I closed in prayer and prayed over their congregation. 

What a great experience. It was hard to stay mentally in it, as the sentence by sentence interruption was difficult, so you couldn’t get on a run and get fired up easily. But in the end, it was a great opportunity and I was so blessed by it. 

I am starting to have a problem with my foot though. I got a cut on the back, which was fine for a few days, but now is hurting. It went from being a bit itchy to almost unbearable to walk on in less than 1 hr. So I will sleep on it and see if I just agitated it or if it’s something worse.

{DAY SEVEN}

It’s something worse... I think my foot is infected. I can hardly walk on it. Going to have to find a doctor today. 

I am thankful that I can be here, as the Lord is clearly speaking to me about my future and use in His kingdom. I feel a firm calling to shadow Kim and Dan and follow them on their trips to learn more over the next year or two so I can potentially teach the PEACE plan and SHAPE to pastors and planters around the world. This models so much the work that God has been doing on me, and makes sense now as I look back on the sermon teaching / mentoring that I went through, the struggles that I have faced as a man which are so relevant in the world today and pastors face them around the world, the abilities the Lord has given me to plant vision and direction to teams (in business so far), etc. I see so much clearer now that God wants to use me here. 

{Pastor Kim teaching the SHAPE class to a group of men}

{DAY EIGHT}

Spent the day today teaching shape again. Today was great as we focused on helping people identify their key strengths, and then partnering them with people who share those strengths, and ministries that need those strengths. This way we are all doing works and using the abilities that God has given us, and not spending time on chores, but focusing on core. I was used as an example many times today, and then shared my testimony with the group, probably more emotionally than I have in ages. I then taught with Kim for a while on using life experiences to help identify placement in ministry. This was so much fun. I am out of my area a bit as I am not as confident in the Word and material we were teaching, but overall we did great. The men were fired up again. 

{A few of the meals during the trip}

After the service that I preached in the village, the pastor started talking to me and asked if I felt it was a conflict of interest to be a pastor and have a business on the side to help support his family. I told him that I felt it was not at all a conflict of interest, in fact, it’s probably the best thing for the church. We talked about how youthful churches cannot financially support their pastors at the early stages, so it makes sense to supplement that income by other sources, which relieves financial stress on the church and allows it to use it’s funds for missions, youth, etc. He said he wanted to plant mango trees, one of the things we have been looking at here last week. He wants to buy 100 mango trees, for $1.00 each. This will give him more income supposedly. So we dove into the financial side of the picture, I got out my calculator, and we talked about how much land he had, how much space a tree took, the yearly return per tree, and how much income he makes now. In the end we figured out that he can handle 200 trees, and this will double his income in 3 years once the trees are fully grown. From then on each year he will have double the income with limited effort as the trees don’t need much work, so he can focus on church. We then went and prayed over the land, and I committed to buying the trees for him. He was thrilled! 

{The future site of 200 mango trees}

And just a few random pictures from the trip...

 {Dinner is almost served...transporting live chickens}

{Brian, Kate, Ann, a local pastor and business man, Pastor Kim, and Sophea}

{Church facility NCCTK has helped build through the Life Giving Network}

{Brian dared to eat crickets. Tim did not.}

So now we pray for God to move powerfully in Cambodia and for the pastors to be left encouraged, refreshed, and ready to work the land where dry and barren means more then just no rain. Hearts are ready. Hands are in need of affection. Minds are willing to learn. Who is going to go? Who is going to teach and to show God's people how to pray? The lost are in need of being found. It doesn't take anyone special to go and be Jesus to others. From businessmen to moms...we are ALL called to BE JESUS to those around us. Would you be ready to go?

A Calling to Cambodia: Part One

Last month My Honey and 4 others, went to Cambodia in search of ways to better minister to the local pastors and how to better the business structure within the church. Only 98.2% of the population are Christians. 1/4 of the population was executed decades ago which left just the old and the young. Tim & Brian went with a passion to build business partnerships and to show Jesus through business strategy. The Ryan's, Kim & Ann and their oldest daughter Kate, taught the SHAPE class to churches which narrows your spiritual gifts to show you your divine design God has for you. Together, all five personalities provided a impactful trip that blessed many locals and has inspired to continued to bring good to foreign countries that are much in need of Jesus. Here is a glimpse into the ten day trip from Tim's journal and pictures that words cannot express. 

{DAY ONE}

The church is finding that the model of teaching education, and business, is proving wise as 70% of the population is under 30 years old due to the 25% wipe out of the population in the 70’s, and lacking opportunity for education. So by providing education, this age group knows and learns how to be smarter in business, generate more income, and then sees the benefit in tithing well to the church, as it was the one that provided the education it had. This matches so much more to the original church model, before the American culture created a model where people just come to church to “get”. Now they give to the church because the church gave to them. 

Met for breakfast with Brian, Pastor Sophea, and Jenny his wife. He had a guy there named Heng Cheng, who is one of the originating pastors here in Cambodia. This guy was the general secretary for the Evangelistic movement in the country, as well as a board member for a micro finance company locally. His goal is to start the first Christian college in the country. He would call it Trinity Institute Cambodia (TIC). 

{Durian: a common fruit in Cambodia but according to the hotel rules NOT ALLOWED inside because of the smell}

{DAY THREE}

Today Brian and I left at 4 am to make the 6 hr journey to Angkor Wat. What a trip! This place was started in 8th century and is amazing. It’s a Buddhist temple, but the pictures will speak for themselves. 

The highlight though was the fact that driving here is like a radical game of chicken. You have 2 lane roads, with painted lines, which no one pays attention to. You have cows coming out in the road, chickens, dogs, cars swerving on the wrong sides of the road, and then throw in 20 scooters and potholes the size of a table. It’s a trip! I got to drive for a few hours. There is no speed limit either :) Sorry dear..... I was a bit dangerous :)

{The people of Cambodia are very kind. Some drive cars or scooters. Some cows.}

{Very common to see families of 4-5 on scooters with just the driver required to wear a helmet}

{Minor delay with car troubles so Tim and Brian went to a recommended restaurant which happened to be ALL WHITE}

{Angkor Wat}

{Sorry there are so many pictures of the palace but it's stunning craftsmanship and the trees are spectacular}

 {The kids loved to see Daddy playing with the monkeys}

{Monkey see, Monkey Do}