Going with The Chapel

On a Mekong River excursion with the kids and staff of our Prek Eng 1 home

After my family left for America on Wednesday night , I had exactly one day to feel lonely, get caught up on sleep and generally take time off. On Thursday night at about 10:30pm I met a contingent of kids and staff at the Phnom Penh airport to welcome Pastor Tim Armstrong and his team from The Chapel (Akron, OH). Our staff took the team to the hotel, and I stuck around for another couple hours and picked up Sam and Rachel Cobb, and brought them back to the hotel with me.

Tim is one of Asia's Hope's most passionate and productive advocates. He's been extraordinarily successful at leading businesses and families into generosity toward Asia's Hope and other ministries in Akron and around the world. The Chapel sponsors our Prek Eng 1 home and our Battambang 6 home, and underwrites the operation of our brand new Battambang secondary school.

Sam owns Real Wood Floors, a flooring manufacturing company that sponsors our school in India. Sam's opening a factory in Cambodia, and wanted to come see our work here. He and Rachel are hanging with me and the Chapel Team until Monday, when they'll head off to the factory and I'll take The Chapel to Battambang, to see the kids and the school they support there.

We've been going dawn to dusk and are headed off to church soon, so I'll just post a few pics from our trip so far. It's great having these guys here — they've been such an encouragement to me and to our staff and kids.

Picking The Chapel team up at the airport.

Visits to the notorious Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Fun times with The Chapel and other guests

John McCollumComment
You say goodbye, I say hello.

Our six hour trip from Battambang to Phnom Penh was mostly uneventful. I've gotten pretty good at conveying across the countryside kids and luggage in our van — a 12 passenger, 2 liter diesel that can't exceed 63 mph — dodging cows, kids, bikes, tractors and the occasional monk. All was well until we hit construction traffic about 30 minutes outside of Phnom Penh, where we blew a rear tire. Thankfully, our staff had prepared the car well, and within 45 minutes we had found the tools (under the front passenger seat, of course), dislodged the spare and changed it out for the badly flattened original.

We took only a few minutes to relax at our hotel before heading out to our Prek Eng campus about a half hour outside the city. More driving than I'd have preferred for one day, but my family's time in Cambodia was limited, and we wanted to get as many minutes with our staff and kids as possible. Exhausted from the day's transit, I unwisely left my camera at the hotel, and thus missed some really sweet times of fellowship, including a feast provided by our staff and enjoyed on the front porch of Prek Eng 1, Sopheng and Somary's Home.

The next day, we spent the entire afternoon and evening with the staff and kids, visiting each home, playing games and returning to Phnom Penh for dinner. And then on Tuesday, it was time for one last opportunity to see all of the kids and staff. After breakfast and lunch in the city, we headed to Prek Eng and enjoyed the kind of long, summer afternoon evening with friends and family that kids remember wistfully for the rest of their lives.

As the afternoon turned to evening and then to night, I knew we had to get our kids — especially the little one — back to the hotel and into bed. But it was hard. Although we'd visit the homes one more time the next day, many of the kids would be in school and that this was, for a lot of them, goodbye until next year.

Yesterday morning, we got up early and grabbed breakfast at a reliable favorite, The Feel Good Café. It's easily the best coffee in Phnom Penh, and it's run by Marc and Jose, two men whose business ethics I admire greatly. I could write a whole post on them, and might do that later. At any rate, after a filing breakfast, we headed out to Prek Eng. A surprising number of kids were home from school — I wonder if some of them were there specifically to see us off. 

After enjoying a delicious staff lunch at Prek Eng 6, Samnang and Son's home, we gathered all of the kids and staff together and spent the next 20 minutes mugging for the cameras, and hugging for the memories. It could have lasted for hours, but frankly, I hate long goodbyes. When I felt like we'd reached our threshold for sad adieus, I announced, "Okay, guys. Time to go." It took another 15 minutes to actually get into the car and exit the gates.

We were mostly quiet for the rest of the afternoon. We reached our hotel, finished packing the kids' and Kori's bags and unsuccessfully rested until about dinner time. Kori and I process these types of transitions differently. My instinct would be to spend the last few hours embracing, squeezing every drop of intimacy out of the day. Hers would be to sit quietly, perhaps even alone with her thoughts. We compromised by taking a nap. Occasionally a hand on a shoulder, a kiss on a cheek.

And then it was time.

We had to grab dinner first, and we decided on Sam Doo, a dim sum joint Pak had been bugging us to hit throughout the trip. After a preposterously difficult parking job, wherein we somehow jammed our mini-bus into a space more suitable for a Honda Civic, we plopped down quietly into the sticky white vinyl booths in the windowless first floor of the restaurant. 

The food was good. Actually, it was great. It was plentiful, too. In fact, there were dumplings left over, something that rarely happens when Dyson (I mean Pak) is in the room. For that, I partially fault my tendency to over-order when faced with a multitude of small plates. But none of us were exactly at peak appetite. 

After dinner, we drove to the airport. No real traffic, no delays. So we got there early. We were greeted by some of the kids and staff from Prek Eng 2, Narun and Sophal's house. And that was really nice. And then it was time for me to say my goodbyes. A little awkward with lots of people looking on, but I kissed my wife and daughter and hugged my son (sneaked a kiss on his cheek). 

And then there were a few tears. I hugged Xiu Dan, and I felt her shoulders heave as she buried her head in my chest. I kissed her head and told her, "I've really enjoyed traveling with you. We have memories that will last a lifetime. I will see you very soon. You can FaceTime me any time you want, day or night. I love you." And I gave my wife one last hug and kiss and then stepped back. The Asia's Hope kids stepped back too, and blew kisses as my family walked toward the security guard at the front door of the international departure lounge. And then they were gone.

I drove back to the hotel and turned on the TV. I turned it off immediately when I realized it was all U.S. election coverage — as if saying goodbye to my family isn't discouraging enough. I took a shower, read a chapter in a book and went to bed. I didn't really sleep soundly until I'd gotten the text from Kori confirming they'd reached Bangkok and had gotten checked into their transit hotel.

I woke up feeling okay. I have a few hours of solitude, wherein I plan to buy a pair of glasses, maybe look at some shoes (mine are not appropriately dressy for the meetings I have scheduled with officials later in the week) and get ready for a month of back-to-back (to back) visits from sponsoring churches and funding partners.

I am, to be honest, a bit melancholy this morning. But I've given myself until lunch to reflect on how much I miss my family. After lunch, I'll start getting excited for the arrival of the first team — one from The Chapel in Akron, joined by my dear friend and fellow board member, Ron Biddle. The Chapel sponsors our Prek Eng 1 and Battambang 6 homes, and they're underwriting support for our new school in Battambang, opening August 1! I can't wait to welcome Pastor Tim and his team, many of whom are visiting Asia's Hope for the very first time. 

Along with a contingent of staff and kids from Asia's Hope, I'll meet them at the airport around 10pm. The staff will drive them to the hotel, and I'll stay at the airport to welcome Sam and Rachel Cobb, owners of Real Wood Floors. Real Wood sponsors our school in India, and is expanding their production facilities in Cambodia. They'll join The Chapel team for the first few days, and we'll have a chance to compare notes about the kind of big, blue-sky thinking they're proposed for corporate involvement with Asia's Hope.

Even typing all that is lifting my spirits. I love this part of my job — showing off the accomplishments of our amazing staff and kids, boasting in God's power and love for his people, dreaming about changing the world with and for orphaned kids. I probably need a nap first, but I think I'm ready for this. Almost.

John McCollumComment
Thoughts on a fine summer evening in Cambodia

I remember one specific summer night as a child in Ohio at our friends, the Hoppers', farm. I can still smell the bonfire and taste the strawberry ice cream churned fresh on the clapboard porch. I remember playing hide-and-seek in the high grass, relishing the freedom to run and roam while the grownups chatted in the kitchen as the sun set at the stars stretched out across the night sky.

No, our lives weren't perfect. We didn't have much money; I felt perpetually misunderstood by my parents and alienated from my siblings. But on that night, everyone was happy. Everyone ate their fill. We all played nicely with each other, and for a few moments, I even felt like I belonged with the older, cooler kids.

I haven't thought about that evening for many years. But tonight, the memories flooded back as the blazing heat of the Battambang day slowly gave way to a balmy dusk. As we wandered around the campus this evening visiting each of our homes in turn, stopping for cookies at one, a game of corn hole at another, I felt a profound sense that, at this place, children are safe. They're loved. They're included.

Even among the teen boys — engaged in a mighty struggle against a local high school's soccer team — a spirit of camaraderie not conflict prevailed. Younger boys looked on admiringly as their big brothers settled the score with a shootout; girls of all ages cheered on their siblings and admired the lithe athleticism of the visitors who lost graciously before waving goodbye and riding off on their motorbikes, vowing good-naturedly to fight another day.

The lives of the kids at Asia's Hope aren't ideal. These kids were once orphans, after all. They've experienced loss and alienation that I can only imagine. They're here because there's no other safe place for them. Their extended family either can't or won't care for them. But tonight and in this place, they're building memories of security and acceptance that they can treasure for a lifetime.

This place is not entirely unique — there are many wonderful towns and families one can grow up in. But for the orphaned and vulnerable children of this world, this is an extraordinarily rare environment. Many children who have been permanently separated from their parents by death or abandonment live each day on the edge of absolute disaster. Of starvation. Of exploitation.

But it doesn't have to be that way. I'm sure of it. We can expand the work of Asia's Hope to include other children. More importantly, we can describe, disseminate and distribute our model to poor communities from Ukraine to Uganda, from the Burundi to Bangladesh. Will you help?  Please consider making a donation that will allow us provide high nurture, family-style care for even more of the millions of orphan kids who will go to sleep tonight without shelter, without food and without the loving home enjoyed by the children at Asia's Hope in Battambang.

God bless you.

John McCollumComment
Pu'erh and Pizza

Yesterday we got up and walked a couple of blocks to the Feel Good Cafe, purveyors of Cambodia's best cup of coffee. It's also a darn fine place for eggs, pancakes and other Western breakfast staples, and after about a month of Asian breakfasts, we decided to indulge.

We ran into the team from Central Vineyard Church and invited them to join us on a visit to the Q. N China Brand Tea Shop, one of our favorite stops when in Phnom Penh. Kori, my wife, doesn't drink coffee, doesn't really care about clothing, doesn't need any more Asian souvenirs and doesn't wear much jewelry. So I'm always more than happy to drop a few bucks on some high quality teas that would cost four times as much in the States or Europe.

After a delightful hour of sipping and selecting jasmine, fresh oolong, dried oolong and ancient pu'erh teas, we drove to a nearby branch of The Pizza Company and met 20 of our university students who have graduated from Asia's Hope in Prek Eng. Oh, how I love those kids.

These are bright, hardworking students. They put in hours of study that would horrify most American co-eds and they're involved in ministry at their church and with the kids at Asia's Hope. They're relentlessly positive — I spent two hours with them and despite some good-natured teasing among the kids, there was never a hint of snark or cynicism. They love their country despite its imperfections, and they're all committed to working for its good as lawyers, teachers, doctors, economists and entrepreneurs.

They are the first fruits of our ministry here in Cambodia, and are the living proof that residential orphan care is not only not intrinsically harmful to kids, but with the right leadership, proper funding and a family-centered model, can be absolutely transformative. 

After lunch, we headed out of the city, over the bridge and through the rapidly developing side streets that were just a few years ago nothing but rice fields and banana farms. Arriving at our Prek Eng campus after spending the previous hours with our university students, I was struck with the encouraging yet daunting prospect providing for the dozens of kids who will be joining their ranks in the next few years.

Upon returning to the city late in the evening, I spent a couple hours reflecting with some of the members of the CV team. "How are you going to pay for all of those scholarships?" "What can we do to help?" 

Good questions.

Thanks to the generosity of our church partners, we have a certain portion of our university fees already committed. But we need a lot more. It currently costs about $1,500 on average to fund a full scholarship for one of our 82 university students in Cambodia and Thailand. That includes tuition, books, fees, technology and underwrites a portion of transportation costs. 

That's not bad when you compare it to the cost in a Western country. But when you look into the not-to-distant future and see that we'll have more than 200 college students in less than 5 years, you see the size of the bills we're facing. And if you factor in anticipated cost increases and the fact that we'll soon have dozens of graduates in India, where university is considerably more expensive, you'll understand why we need to raise significantly more funds for our scholarship fund.

I wasn't planning on making a fundraising pitch, but it's hard for me to think about our university kids without thinking about these needs. So if you want to see these kids reach their full potential as their country's next generation of leaders, will you consider making a generous one-time or monthly investment in our scholarship fund? I can assure you that your money will play a vital role in changing communities and even entire countries.

John McCollum Comment
Goals

We arrived in Cambodia yesterday morning, having spent an uncomfortable and mostly sleepless night in the Bangkok airport. After checking into our hotel, we decided to walk to a restaurant nearby where we ran into the team from Central Vineyard Church. Kori, Xiu Dan and I were too tired to visit the Prek Eng homes that afternoon, so we arranged for Pak to go out with them for the evening. Kori, Xiu Dan and I joined Pastor Savorn's family for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Phnom Penh.

After the team returned from an afternoon and evening of fun with the kids of Prek Eng 2, they brought Pak back to our hotel, and Kori and I went out with a few of them to a cool rooftop lounge down the street. We relaxed and caught up on their trip, and on our recent doings in India. Conscious of our waning energy and a big day ahead, we all got into bed at a decent hour and got caught up on most of the sleep we'd lost over the past few days.

Jeremy Slagle, Deb Woods and Stacy Keyerleber joined Kori and me at a rooftop lounge just down the street. A cool breeze and some great views of the city.

This morning we enjoyed a wonderful church service with the kids and staff of Asia's Hope in Prek Eng, and then the staff took us out for a very Cambodian lunch in a cabana beside a lake. We had fried fish, roasted chicken and Khmer hot and sour beef soup. I've been coming to Cambodia for about 15 years — this is something like my 27th trip — and it always feels like a family reunion. 

After church I returned Kori and Xiu Dan to the hotel and I drove out to meet Pak and a bunch of the older boys. We rented a football field for a couple of hours and they boys worked up a good sweat. Such great kids. It's been a privilege to watch them grow alongside my own sons from little boys into young adult men. It was also a bit overwhelming realizing that almost all of them will be going to university in the next couple of years, and that we have a lot of fundraising to do to make that happen.

After a dinner with just my family, we dragged ourselves back to the hotel, where Xiu Dan is now sleeping, Kori is reading and Pak is chuckling over some web video. I've used all my energy putting these thoughts onto paper and editing these photos. Tomorrow is packed as well. Good times, I tell you. It's nice to be home.

John McCollumComment
Unexpected goodbyes
P7070386.jpg

Goodbyes are always difficult. Moreso when they are unexpected or untimely.

We had planned to stay in India for another five days, but we were forced to leave when it became clear that it was unsafe for us to remain. In the end, it was resolved with a few interviews with the police and other officials, and we were able to reschedule our tickets. 

We lost a few days in India, a few hundred dollars in tickets and a few hours of sleep. This pathetic attempt to intimidate us by forces opposed to our work has already backfired. We leave this country even stronger, and with greater confidence that we are called and protected by God himself. 

To any of you who knew about the situation — or inferred that something was up — thank you for your prayers and your support.

Our next stop is Cambodia, where our early arrival will allow us to meet up with the team from my church, Central Vineyard. All said, a good outcome all around.

John McCollum Comment
Dal, baby.

If you've spent much time at all with me, you know that I love to cook. A perfect day for me usually involves a long bath, a good cup of coffee, a trip to an ethnic market, hours in the kitchen and a meal with friends.

Four outta five ain't bad. After procuring a stopper for the bathtub at our hotel, I took my first actual bath since leaving America three weeks ago. And while good coffee is impossible in this town, I settled for some delicious Darjeeling tea. 

Yesterday was a market day in town, so Pak and I walked down the hill from the Silver Oaks hotel through the crowded streets of Kalimpong with Sunil and Amber, Asia's Hope India directors, into the Himalayan hill station version of my hometown's North Market. 

Spices for sale in the Kalimpong market.

My staff here has been working hard under often-stressful conditions over this last year, and I wanted to make them a meal as a tangible expression of my appreciation. I wanted to do something "American," and ruled out pizza pretty early in the game — none of our kitchens have ovens. Hamburgers seemed trite, and so I opted for tacos. 

Indians and Mexicans alike love chilies, limes and cilantro, so I figured I could find most of the ingredients. I must admit I was a bit overwhelmed by the options offered in the countless spice stalls, green grocer carts and butcher stands. But at the end of the day, I had burdened my companions with satchels of spices, bags of vegetables and newspaper parcels of meat.

Meat.

We returned to the kitchen of our Kalimpong 1 Children's Home and began prep in earnest after dinner. Shambolic mise en place aside, I was able to get a dry rub on half of the meat and a wet marinade on the other half thanks to the effort of various kids, moms, dads and aunties. We whipped up a couple gallons of pico de gallo, sautéed some mirepoix and chopped up a few bowls full of cilantro, chillies and shallots — just in case. I built a savory pork bone broth and soaked a couple kilos of red beans for what would become what I told them was "Mexican dal" (dal being India's iconic and ubiquitous lentil stew).

Applying the wet marinade.

This morning, I arrived at KP1 shortly after finishing breakfast with my family, fired up the two-burner propane stove and started cooking the meal with the assistance of Punam and Radha, wives of Sunil and Amber. As noon rolled around, a couple dozen staff members, a relative or few and a handful of kids who had finished school for the day assembled to taste my approximation of authentic Mexican grub. I didn't have time, energy or ingredients to make tortillas, so we made do with chapatis. 

After demonstrating how to fill, roll and eat a taco, we prayed and dug in. To be honest, this wasn't a culinary masterpiece. Each dish was only about 70% as good as I had hoped. In my own kitchen, I know where everything is and how it all works. And when something doesn't taste right, I can reach into my own pantry and find whatever it takes to bring it into line. Today, I had only what I bought at the market and a few ingredients I didn't really know how to use.

But it was honestly one of the most satisfying meals I've made all year. All present expressed sincere appreciation of my efforts and curiosity of my methods. And though I suspect some of them merely feigned enjoyment of the actual food, everyone understood that I was doing it to serve them, to thank them. 

The rest of my day wasn't nearly as exciting — meetings with lawyers and a few hours of research. But I'll go to bed happy, knowing that I've enjoyed something wholesome and meaningful. May God bless my family, here and at home. Good night.

John McCollumComment
"So many stories of where I've been..."

As our plane took off from Kolkata for the short flight to Siliguri, I put on my headphones, cranked the volume all the way up and played a song that, for whatever reason, is always the first one on my playlist for this portion of the trip: The Story by Brandi Carlisle. 

A chill ran across my shoulders as the guitar intro rolled.

"All of these lines across my face tell you the story of who I am. So many stories of where I've been and how got to where I am."

And as the second verse hit its stride, "I climbed across the mountain tops, swam all across the ocean blue..." waves of emotion swept over me. "I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules, but baby I broke them all for you." I buried my head in my hands and bit my lip.

The second song on my playlist, "Set Me Free" — an old Vineyard worship tune — was one of only two songs (the other was "Break Every Chain" by Will Reagan) I could bear to listen to as I was enduring a particularly dark three-week period almost exactly a year ago.

"Fall on me, every so gently. Washing, washing my filthy stains. Shower me with your love. Breath on, breath on these dry bones. And break these chains and set me free."

As the song rolled into the chorus, I came undone. And although I didn't cry as hard — or for as long — as I did last June, it felt as if something broke loose inside me. And if I hadn't been on an airplane where my histrionics were likely to cause distress in my other passengers and the flight crew, I probably would have crawled into a fetal position and sobbed. And those who know me well probably know that I'm not especially lachrymose. 

So why all of this emotion? Well, I can't really go into all of the details in this forum, but my return to India was not a foregone conclusion as of this time last year. And this year, we had some concerns about our visas that caused us to wonder if we would be entering the country or returning to Thailand to activate "Plan B." Or "Plan C," if you're really counting. Even now, as I lie securely in my bed in Kalimpong, this visit is freighted with all kinds of intense feelings.

We drove up to Kalimpong from Siliguri this morning and arrived by lunchtime. Despite heavy rains in the early morning, we didn't encounter any landslides or washed out roads. The trip was relatively uneventful; the only delay was caused by a very slow moving train blocking our path about a half hour outside of Siliguri.

After enjoying a room service lunch and a brief nap, we headed out to visit each of our five homes (a sixth one is on the way; the kids are living among the other homes while we iron out funding to rent a house of their own). I surprised myself at how many of the kids names I remembered — I'd guess at least half of them. Considering that we now have more than 800 kids across Asia's Hope, that's not too shabby. 

Although I time was short at each place, it was a pretty joyful reunion. We finished the evening with a dinner at Home 1. I got some tips that should improve my chapati making, and I promised to make lunch for the staff later in the week. I'm thinking tacos. 

By the time we got to the last two homes, it was already getting dark, so I didn't get many pictures. But as I told the kids, I'll be here for a while. 

Tomorrow is church. I look forward to worshipping with these dear families tomorrow. And I hope I hold it together; I'm not sure the kids would understand 'why is John Uncle a blubbering wreck.' Tonight I'm thankful to the staff of Asia's Hope India and to those who work so hard to support these amazing families: Lake Forest Church in North Carolina, Transform Construction, Narrow Road Church, Scarlet City Church, Sacred Space Church, Vista Church and Life Church in Ohio and Real Wood Floors in Missouri. You guys — along with the many people who contribute to Asia's Hope — are my heroes, and are a blessing to me and my family.

Jaimashi! (Jesus wins).

John McCollum Comment