James Glasscock, Robert and Debbie Mahaffey were here.

 James Glasscock was here for a little over 2 weeks.  He worked with our student on Evangelism for 2 weeks.  This is James' 3rd trip.

We have a special connection with James as he was in our first youth group in San Angelo, TX.  (Of course, he was "Jimmy" then)  He currently preaches in Early, TX.  We are thankful to his wife and 2 daughters for supporting him in his trip to Cambodia.  Maybe one day, they will come as well.

In his previous trip, James hadn't been to the Killing Fields just south of Phnom Penh.  So, on his last day here, we decided to go...and got caught in a downpour!!

This first picture is us up against a tree in the middle of the area trying to get out of the bulk of the rain.  Obviously we were already soaked.
 During rainy season, the sky can go from sunny to dark, windy and heavy rains very quickly.  I took this picture while we were standing under the tree.  You can't really tell how hard it was raining.

The Killing Field is now a field with holes all over it where they dug up nearly 9,000 bodies that the Pol Pot regime executed.  When you go there, you walk around the area that has signs describing what they found in each area.  For example, one plot (about 6' x 8') was labeled as having 166 headless bodies in it.  Some articles of clothing were found having the opposing party initials on them.

I will tell a little more about the Killings Field later on in this blog.

James Glasscock left on Monday, May 22nd.
 On Friday, Robert and Debbie Mahaffey came to Phnom Penh.  They had been on Partners In Progress' Ship of Life for 2 weeks working.

We were thrilled that they got a couple days to come see us.
 This is Robert and Debbie in from of the palace.  The picture in front is the king.

When we were in Broken Arrow, we went on medical mission trips with Robert and Debbie.  It was great to get to catch up with them.
 I took them to Toul Sleng, the high school that Pol Pot turned into a prison camp, where he tortured thousands of people.  It is truly unimaginable what he and his men did to their own people.  It is a hard thing to see but it really makes you appreciate this people.

After Toul Sleng, I took  the to the Killing Field as well.  In the middle front of the field is this monument.
I don't know if you can see or not in this closer view, that there looks to be white balls inside.  Those are skulls, and at the top, other bones that were found in this field.  They are in layers all the way to the top.

Both Toul Sleng and the Killing Field tells of a horrible time in the country of Cambodia.

There were fields like this found all over the country.  I don't want to give too many details here as the facts and descriptions are nauseating.  But the Cambodians (Khmers) today really show great appreciation and love for their families and for peace, as this happened not many years ago (1974-1979).

On that note, commune elections were this past Sunday and then the national elections will be next year.  The Prime Minister here has won easily until the last election.  The political situation is uneasy right now.  Please keep the Khmer Christians and the Khmer people in your prayers as the elections proceed.

Much love,
Ronda

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