unconventional charm

I have had a few friends who have spent some time in Cambodia. More often than not, they each come back claiming how they have fallen in love with Cambodia. Well, Cambodia must be pretty charming, because I have to admit, it’s stolen my heart too. At first, I couldn’t quite place why. We’ve been blessed in both the Philippines and Thailand that things have gone smoothly and relatively problem-free. Enter Cambodia, and we’ve hit bumps along every bit of the way. Places we were staying have forgotten about our bookings and confirmations. We’ve been lead astray trying to find our way from Phnom Penh to Battambang. We’ve been incredibly ripped off by seemingly friendly tuk tuk drivers charging us 20 dollars for what should have been a 9-dollar ride. Compared to the last two countries, Cambodia is more underdeveloped scarred from a painful genocide-torn past. Moreover, it seems to host the most expensive goods (probably because the US dollar is frequently used causing inflated prices).

It leaves one wondering where all the so-called charm of Cambodia is. At least for me, I think I’ve come to figure it out. I’m the type of girl who doesn’t really like the seemingly perfect, clean-cut, put together kind of guy. I love unconventional and rough around the edges. Overlooked, but once you do look, you’re strangely captivated. And that’s what Cambodia is to me.


For the entirety of our five-hour bus ride to Battambang, my eyes could not leave the scenery outside my window. I loved watching the dirt road in its magnificent earthy red, contrasting perfectly with the lush foliage of coconut trees. Behind it are modest houses built on stilts hovering over acres of rice fields. Above, dragonflies decorate the skyline. On these rice fields, Cambodian cows roam the land, and children run around trying to help their parents mind the field. Mothers rock babies on hammocks. It’s beautiful in all its simplicity.


But it’s also more than this small frame of imagery that makes me love Cambodia. Having ridden the tuk tuk (a motorbike with a passenger cart behind it) a handful of times now, we’ve gotten in the habit of smiling or waving at anyone else on the road. This gesture is almost always returned with a smile or a wave. The Khmai people are a friendly people. If given an ounce of kindness, they’ll return it ten-fold. We’ve visited a few shops, café’s, and Internet places… Each place covers their walls and tables with pictures of their family – of mothers, fathers, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, the whole deal. Although they’ve had such a painful past, they stand today as resilient, loyal, compassionate, and family-oriented.


I realize that all these thoughts may seem abstract to you, and probably won’t make much sense to anyone but me. Cambodia is unconventionally beautiful and I can’t wait to discover what other hidden charms are here. Welcome to Cambodia. Wish you were here with us!

God of this City: Pattaya, Thailand

As we’ve said before, much of our trip is an open agenda. This means opening ourselves up not only to whatever ministries God puts in front of us, but also to whatever cities he brings us to. From the beginning of our time in Thailand, we were presented with a few options – Chiang Rai, to teach about the Bible with an awesome team from LA or to go to Chiang Mai to work with the Karen refugees. Although both of these options sounded appealing, for some reason, one city kept tugging at the both of our hearts: Pattaya.

Pattaya is a fairly well known city – infamous worldwide for being a prime destination for sex tourists. At that, it’s not exactly Disneyland (although, Pattaya is recently being marketed as a family-friendly place). Pattaya was first established as a resort town during the Vietnam War. What had once been a sleepy fishing town transformed into a livelier place due to U.S. Army GI’s searching for some R & R. With word quickly spreading, the town became a hot spot for weekend partying. Decades later, this impression has lasted and has since left the city with quite a reputation.

This reputation mostly sits at Walking Street, the center of Pattaya’s nightlife. Go-go clubs, bars, and sordid massage parlors line the mile-long street accompanied by scantily clad girls, dancers and a large handful of tourists. It has become so notorious that locals and tourists alike have labeled it as “Amsterdam times ten”. Because of Pattaya’s already negative status, much of sex tourism and seedy activity is quarantined to this city. The government views this type of lifestyle and tourism as inevitable, and their solution to managing it is to let such activity happen in a small area (i.e. Pattaya) where it can be controlled.

As you can imagine, our desire to visit this city was not always well received. Two girls traveling to this city alone seemed dangerous. One local friend frowned upon it warning us that since we both looked Thai, men would approach us asking, “how much?” Although we understand this cause for concern, when God places something on your heart, you don’t seem to have any other choice but to follow (a theme that seems to run throughout our trip). Without any connections in Pattaya or a place to stay, we just knew we were going to end up there. As usual, God provided. Our connection came in the form of Mercy Center (read MERCY CENTER blog post).

Although most of our days were spent at Mercy, through a series of divine connections, we were able to spend a day downtown and a night at Walking Street with our own personal driver and a Thai tour guide. In broad daylight, this city does not try hard to hide much. Amidst the groups of sunbathing families, we found swarms of men of all ages either with or in pursuit of Thai women. Walking Street by night is a long stretch of neon lights and chaos. Girls stand outside beckoning for men to enter their club, pole dancers can be seen out in the open, girls wearing short skirts and revealing tops dance on balconies above your head. These sights no matter where you look surround you. Never before had we seen such a concentrated presence of prostitution. Unlike what we had expected, the visitors of Walking Street come in many colors… young, old, men, women and children from all over the world. I wondered if this street had come to desensitize families that it didn’t matter that images of sex and prostitution were so obviously displayed in front of them.

With impressions like these, it’s easy to view the women who work in these areas as dirty, a disgusting choice they’ve made. Often, they enter this line of work because they have no choice. Poverty and greed have a nasty way of making individuals do whatever is necessary to get what they want or need. Unfortunately, the girls are victims of this increasing problem. It’s a sad reality, but it’s what these girls have to face day to day. Sometimes they are in this sex trade out of their own consent to help support their families. Other times, family members sell them as a commodity for extra income (sometimes sold for something even as little as a television). Tragically, this is a hard life to escape, as many are held captive by debts owed to brothel or bar owners. This was a lot for us to take in, walking down this street, passing by many beautiful girls. In my head, I silently repeated to each girl I caught eye contact with, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made”. I couldn’t help but wonder what each of their story was...

Although we didn’t get to hear any personal stories of these girls, there is one story that we came across and often like to tell. At a youth conference called Passion World Tour, we first heard the song “God of This City”, a worship song that has been made famous by Chris Tomlin. The song was actually written by a small Irish band called Bluetree in a small city called Pattaya. Before coming, they didn’t know much about the city, but soon heard countless stories of girls in the sex trade, sold as young as the age of 5. They came to this city to attend an event called Pattaya Praise, to worship God and to show his light in a dark place. Wanting to play more than just the event, they found a bar in the middle of Walking Street that would let them play worship on the condition that they would buy bottles of coca-cola all night. Although nervous and uncomfortable at first, they begun to play and soon enough, felt attune to the music they played. In the middle of this set, God spoke to them in the form of a spontaneous song.

In that moment of worship, they saw God’s heart for Pattaya and the words came out easily. In Bluetree’s own words, “Amidst the depravity God says, ‘I’m the God of this City, I’m the King of these people and Greater Thing are Yet to Come, Greater Things are Still to be Done HERE”. This song had not been written before that night, but Bluetree came out of that bar having God’s song – a song that has made its way from Pattaya to around the world.

We’ve always loved this song, but having been to places as dark as Pattaya, this experience has given us greater meaning to this song. Even through the darkness, there are still glimmers of hope and we’ve seen this firsthand. God has blessed this city with his people – missionaries, NGOs, a house of prayer… All these things remind us that our God is a big God.

“You're the God of this city. You're the King of these people. You're the Lord of this nation. You are. You're the light in this darkness. You're the hope to the hopeless. You're the peace to the restless. You are. For there is no one like our God. There is no one like our God. Greater things have yet to come. Greater things are still to be done in this city. Greater things have yet to come. Greater things are still to be done here.”

[Check out our Pattaya video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsJtaVxp5IM ]

Community Garden

Like we've been saying in the past few blog posts, Mercy is an amazing organization - slum visits, orphanage, church plants, prison visits... and a garden project, something we had the privilege of taking part in. At this garden, community members are to grow vegetables, perhaps to sell at a local market. This had been made possible with the help of a landowner who had graciously donated this small plot of land rent-free. It had first began as a small initiative to help one member of the community and has since expanded into a venture aimed at bringing together and helping the entire community. It hopefully will foster growth, relationship and community within this slum.This project is a symbol of hope for each member who has gone through a lifetime of difficulty – each person with his or her own unique story. Even though their stories are very different, they are able to come together with joint purpose and create bonds that will tie them together. This creates a sustainable future for the members of this slum and their families.



We first heard of this project at the Mercy Center. We had been told by one of the staff that today was its first day the garden would be put into effect. She had asked if we were interested in going along to take pictures for them. Excited, we agreed and took a ride to the community. What's really comical here, is that we had no idea what we were getting ourselves in to.

After a quick tour of the community, we were stopped where the garden was to be planted, our host revealed a couple of hoes. She smiled and offered them to us. We carried them, unsure of what we were supposed to do with them. Blankly, we watched her take her hoe and start taking out the weeds and thick foliage surrounding the area. We finally clued in. They wanted us to help! Never having used a hoe before, we tried to imitate what the others were doing. We watched them raise their instruments, drop it to the ground, and blam - the weeds were gone. Likewise, we attempted to do the same only to end in confusion. No matter how hard we'd hit the ground, it seemed incredibly difficult to get rid of these weeds! The locals noticed and began to laugh, amused at our effort.

With the language barrier, they tried to show us repeatedly how to take the weeds out, but I don't think either of us really understood it. After a couple of failed attempts, both of us were soaked in sweat and dirt, feet covered in ants, and a bunch of new mosquito bites. We were a wreck and compared to the locals, they looked as if they hadn't even started to work. It was hilarious on both parts. I guess we just weren't made for this! We felt bad that our efforts fell short and had to take breaks, but it was such a sight to see them take a jungled mess and transform it into a top soil that would produce a beautiful garden. In a sense, this seemed metaphoric to me - through the chaos of poverty, together, they were going to clear that mess, till it, mind it, to grow together in community and result in a beautiful kind of love.
Although this farm is only in its initial stages, it is evident that excitement and hope lingers with the people. Already, they go together hand in hand to prepare the land for future growth. While the land waits for seeds to be planted and for water to make their crops grow, so they too wait for their work to harvest and bear fruit.

Food bags and Pattaya slums!

Having spent a week with Fred, one of Mercy Center’s directors, there are a handful of stories he likes to repeat. Like a typical grandpa, half the time you’re not sure where he’s going with his story, but endearingly, you listen along because inevitably, it’ll be a pretty good story…

“In the annual bed race,” Fred would say, “Mercy entered!” Confused, we later found out that various companies compete in a media-covered race within Pattaya. Each organization enters by decorating a mattress to race down a hill. Strangely, this race is another testament to how God has been blessing Mercy Center. Through this event, Mercy was able to get press to check out their orphanage and some of the other ministries it dips its fingers into.

With that, we rubbed shoulders with CNN as we handed out food packages in some of Pattaya’s slums. Although I never got to talk with this journalist, I admired his desire and purpose to covering Mercy. With the recent political crises that Thailand has undergone, there are many negative images of the country (so negative that people had previously begged us to stay away from Thailand during our trip). He wanted to document something different – a glimmer of hope in a torn country. And in Pattaya, Mercy is definitely an organization that stands for hope.

Early in the morning, some of the volunteers formed an assembly line making dozens of tightly filled food packages made up of rice, noodles and various canned goods. With sacks of food packages, we loaded them into the song thaew (pick-up truck with two benches!) and headed to the slums Mercy visits on a weekly basis. In fact, some of the kids at the center came from these slums – either abandoned, neglected, or their parents just did not have the means to support them. Getting to know some of the kids, it was really neat being able to visit where some of them came from.

Our first stop was the smallest of the three slum communities. We parked the truck so that its back faced the dirt pathway that led to a handful of homes. These shacks were made of flaps of scrap wood probably found on the roadside and pieces of corrugated tin that act as a roof. We arrived welcomed by a few people who were excited to talk to the Mercy staff. If there’s anything any of them need, the staff were available to help them in whatever capacity they can. Slowly, families would emerge from their homes to receive their food bags. One of the staff members would call out their names, and we would hand them bags. Each person would gratefully accept their pack and walk home.

As we drove in to the second slum, we met a few children riding their bicycles with their pants barely staying on playing a nice game of bumper bikes (attempting to collide into one another). Because there were so many kids here, we were able to hand out little bags of chips and chocolate milk drinks. It was incredibly cute distributing these snacks and watching kids smile and prompted by their parents, thank us by giving a wai (the Thai greeting of slightly bowing, palms pressed together raised at mouth-level).

Following the same formula, the staff would call out names and people would come up to collect their packages. Sometimes, parents would send their children to collect the food for them. We were so amused seeing these cute kids try and carry the packages. As soon as we would let go of the bag, the package would fall straight to the ground and the kids would try and drag the bag to their mom or dad.

At the last slum, the shacks looked similar and the community alike. One of the houses had a newborn baby inside. They invited us to see this beautiful baby. Like most homes at the slum, their houses are very modest and not any bigger than my bedroom at home. In this small space, a bed takes up most of the area, with their small piles of stuff pushed to the side not leaving much walking room. On this giant bed was this tiny baby – so cute and so still, with her father looking on adoringly. Above the bed was an opening in the wall that acts as a window. Beside the hut was an open fire where some of the members of the community were burning garbage. The smoke seeped in through the open window flooding the room in clouds.

We stepped outside the house and began distributing food again. As they called out more names and handed out packages, I saw an older lady crouching in her home. She sat peering outside her door so that half of her face was exposed, just enough to sneak a peek at us. Her friend collects her food for her. She smiled gratefully.

In our course of time in SE Asia, we’ve seen many slums and have heard many hard stories. Unfortunately, not all of these poor communities have many resources to assist in their living. Mercy has been in and at work with them, planning different projects to help further the people and get them out of poverty.

[Check out our video on this post coming soon!!!]

Mercy Center

If your looking for stories of hope, some remnant of sanity in this Insane world, and a clear demonstration of LOVE, look no further than the Mercy Center located in one of the seediest cities in Thailand: the most famous destination for sex tourism, Pattaya.

We came in contact with the Mercy Center's founders and directors Fred and Diane, through a former employee of theirs who now works as a translator in Bangkok. A phone call to Diane brought the open door to Pattaya that we had been waiting for. It just so happened that the day we had planned to arrive, a place to stay became available in one of the Center's apartments. Literally, the long-term volunteer that normally occupies the place had left just hours before we arrived. With a place to stay, and an organization to work with, we came to Pattaya.

Fred and Diane, in all appearances look like, talk like, and hug like the grandparents everyone has always dreamed of having. Their story, and the story behind Mercy, however, reveal that being a grandparent is just one part of their job description. At the age where most couples are cashing in their pensions and getting ready for holiday cruises to Bermuda, they were picking up from their home in Canada and moving to Thailand, where they would start a center to house at-risk slum kids who needed a new home. They saw a need, felt a calling, and met it. This was years ago. Today, the Mercy Center houses 17 children and has plans to build a new Center by the end of the year, that will have the potential to house 50. To describe the Mercy Center as an orphanage would be putting it lightly. The minute you step into the Mercy Center, you feel like you've gone home.

The Center doesn't just care for the children, it seeks to provide a permanent home for the kids, paying for their schooling, their clothes, their food, their medical bills, everything. While occasionally, in the best case scenario, the kids are reunited with their families, in most cases, these children come from homes where either their parents have abused them, neglected them, or even outright abandoned them. Mercy has become family for these kids, particularily for those who don't have any. Spending a little time with these kids, you soon realize that they have found family with each other. The older kids take care of the younger ones- even if it means holding their hand or teaching them how to use a new toy. There is a definite presence of love in these children's lives.

While providing a home for these kids is a large part of the ministry, Mercy also has separate programs including slum ministries, and prison ministries, and a sponsorship program.

In our week at the center, we were able to witness firsthand the fruit of Fred and Diane's step of faith . While Mercy is openly a Christian organizations, I was amazed to hear that 80% of their funding come from non-Christian donors. The Mercy Center is real-life evidence of God's faithfulness.

For more information on the Mercy Center and how to donate, visit their website at http://mercypattaya.com/

Ramkhamhaeng University / Ma Ha Thai Slum

Thai university students love Uno, baby powder, and just plain ol’ having a good time! How do we know all this? Right across from where we were staying is Ramkhamhaeng University, one of the largest universities in Bangkok. Every school day at building 7, you can usually find a group of students mixed with a few Farang (Thai for foreigner). On the occasional day, we would drop in to hang out with this unusual group – for it’s quite a rare sight for onlookers seeing both white and Thai together. Not to mention, our group can often be boisterous enough to be heard from the other side of campus.

Our loudness is often due to a heated game of speed Uno, or games that involved plasting baby powder on your face as a consequence. Although we mostly get weird looks from passersby, once in a while a new face would join us, intrigued by the commotion. This little group has become a community unto itself. Amidst the silly games and English lessons, it’s been neat seeing people grow in relationship with one another and through this group, connecting with a church family.

Their hangouts don’t stop at the university either. One day, we joined them to do a slum visit at Ma Ha Thai. Sitting in the back of a pick-up truck, a group of us drove over to hang out with some kids, fellowship with the community and spread love in whatever way we could. Immediately, we were greeted by dozens of people. A little boy greeted us with a Sawadee, and immediately we took to the people there.

Earlier on our trip, we had bought some temporary tattoos just in case we worked with street kids again. Although the kids were hesitant at first, once we had tattooed one kid, the rest wanted to follow suit. Soon enough, kids wanting “Finding Nemo”, “Whinnie the Pooh” and “Ben 10” characters on their hands bombarded us. This emphasized the culture of the Thai children for me. It seemed as if these kids hold up walls of caution towards us. Thankfully, these walls were not too difficult to break down to get them to laugh and play with us. And in a life filled with poverty and tragedy, it’s easy to see why these walls are up.

While we don’t know all of the details, we heard stories of a child being sold for extra money (sometimes even for something as little as a television), or a woman who faces life alone, abandoned by her husband for another woman, and her daughter who ran away to be with her boyfriend. These weekly slum visits, however, offers a glimmer of hope for them – a chance for the community to come together, be supported, and to get to know a God that cares for them and will never abandon them.

Thai Song

It started with a bag. Just one. And in less than one year, this bag has multiplied into the dozens of bags that are sold all over North America. This bag is much more than a fashion statement. For a handful of women living in the slums of Bangkok, this bag represents hope, and freedom.

A Thai Song Bag

Through a missions meeting we attended early on in our time at Thailand, I met Tukta, one of the founders of an organization called Thai Song Fair Trade Organization. When her and friends got together to start the business, they began with no previous business experience, no formalized plan, and no money, just a single bag made of recycled plastic bags and a calling.

Each of the ladies that works for them has a unique story . One of heartbreak, and poverty, but ultimately, hope. Through the sale of these bags through Thai Song fairtrade, these women are given a steady salary of which they can depend upon. Each bag they make is another opportunity for them to better both their own lives and that of their families.

P. Lec making bags

On one of our last days in Thailand, we got together with Tukta, to help her make a video on a few of the ladies Thai Song employs. The purpose of the videos were simple: to show the kind of lives the ladies live everyday. We saw inside their homes, which sit on smelly, swampy water, and on hot days you can literally smell the urine from below. And we saw their families, which many of the ladies are solely responsible to support. Its amazing how just a little thing like taking a look inside someone's home can alone shock you into the realization of what a blessed life we live in North America. I'll let the videos speak for themselves, but I hope that as you travel with Tukta through the dark rooms, past the litter, and among the dust, you will see poverty for what it is: preventable. (and that you will feel compelled to buy a bag.. or two). ;)

Denise filming Tukta for the Thai Song video

Checking out the Swampy Water in P. Mai's house

Smelled like PEE

P.Mai's Grandson saying "Hold me!"

He loved the camera

P.S. this isn't the end of Thailand... stay tuned for more

Check out both videos on P.Lec and P.Mai at www.youtube.com/l3ak3d

Check out Thai Song at http://thaisongfairtrade.org/