Today my good friend Phil almost got stepped on by an elephant…. Here’s a little backstory. So I’m in Phnom Phen in Camboia for a week leading a team of 30 college students from Berkley on a trip.  We just got here today and were doing a tour of the city.  At one of the big temples an elephant was walking around and I decided I needed a picture of me standing by it.  As Phil was taking the picture the Elephant almost walked over him.  Later at that temple we walked through a big group of monkeys. 

So its hot here.  Hot and humid.  I’m not so happy with the weather but it did rain all afternoon which was cooling.  We’re going to the Killing Fields tomorrow which should be pretty powerful and saddening at the same time.  The next day we’re goint to Angkor Wat temple which I’m told is one of the most beautiful places here. 

A great conversation today while we sat outside watching the rain about the church, disipleship and what seems to be the hindrances to making it happen better.  We came up with a few good answers but mostly just asked questions. 

More about Elephants, motorcyles and monkeys later…..

Just got to Singapore and now have a 7 hour layover in the middle of the night as we wait to fly to Cambodia.  3 meals on the plane was pretty cool.  Never flown any airline that gives out pints of Hagendaz like they are peanuts.  Anyways I’ll keep updating this as I get opportunity this week. I’m pretty stoked to be here.  It’s hot though….real hot

On Monday I’m traveling to Cambodia for a week of ministry.  I’m helping lead a team of 30 college students from Berkley.  It’s going to be a busy week as we are both touring the country and serving in a village.  One of the placest I’m stoked to see is Angkor Wat which are some of the largest temples in the world.  Someone recently told me that of all the palces they’ve vistited in Asia it was by far the most impressive.  We’re also touring the The Killing Fields which should be a very emotional place to visit. 

I’m pretty stoked for this trip because I get to hang out with my friend Phil from YWAM Seattle . Phil and I have been friends for a bunch of years and I’m pretty stoked to be going overseas with him. 

One of the main reasons I’m stoked about this trip is that I will be doing something in ministry that I’m not actually in charge of.  After being a pastor for 10 years and having very busy ministry schedules its nice to be under someone elses leadership. I’m expecting to be stretched to see/do ministry in new ways.  Already in the preparation I have been impressed.  One of the other leaders of the trip Wade has put together a series of 4 podcasts that are supposed to be downloaded to an ipod and played in specific locations in the country where we are doing ministry.  Fore example at the temples there is a podcast to listen to that tells you about the religions of Cambodia and what specifically to pray for.   It’s sort of like a museum tour that you can plug yourself into and connect with it in a different way. 

I’m going to miss my family while I’m away on this trip.  It’s the last trip of 2006 that I’m away from home and I’m glad for that.  Things are happening quickly at Castle Rood.  Today I took Soren outside to learn to ride his bike without training wheels. I took the wheels off and away he went right away without falling.  Pretty impressive and pretty scary that he was that good that quick.  I don’t like being away because I will miss stuff like that……

Here’s a "BIG" frustration of mine.  I spend a lot of time on a Summer calendar of youth group events.  Then I go to print that calendar on our normal printers and copy machines and it looks horrible.  I can’t take it to Kinkos because for a double-sided color copy they want big bucks.  So, I’m reduced to either having an ugly calendar or trying to send it to everyone hoping they’ll all print it out with their color printers.  So, here it is you can download it yourself.  Download HSSummer06.pdf

Finally I have my computer back. Just felt a bit naked without it. My posts have been so sporatic of late. The rafting thing is still on my mind and I wish that I was a better writer so that I could convey the experience of the weekend a little bit better. This week is once again a bit crazy. I’m heading to Cambodia next week to help lead a group of 30 college students on a missions trip. I’m stoked to go because it’ll be one of the first times in years that I’m doing ministry but not being the guy in charge. Looking forward to hanging out with some good friends and possiblly even eating some dog.

So things don’t often go this well for me. I got a call today from someone telling me that he had the kayak that got hung up this weekend. I didn’t recognize the name right away but realized when I called him that it was one of the grizzled older guys who had tried to help us take the kayak off the tree on Sat. It turns out that they were so bummed that they couldn’t get the kayak for us that they spent a good chunk of the night coming up with a plan to get it the next day. Their new plan was to have one guy jump from a raft to the tree and free the kayak. But, when they attempted he slipped and fell into his own boat. Then they got hung up on a tree below the kayak. Since they were already hung up they figured they might as well go get the kayak. They were able to get to the tree (water was down a little) and after about 1/2 hour peeled it off the tree. It was heavy since I’d deflated a couple of the tubes trying to get it off and they’d filled with water.

The call today came from the one of them who lives in Carlsbad about 10 minutes from my house. I went over to pick it up and met his girlfriend and her daughter whom they want to try and get connected into the youth group.

Long story, funny connections and the weekend ended better now that I have my boat back……

A reminder this weekend that I am not as powerful as I thought I was. We spent the weekend rafting on the Kern River. It was a great time but the water was very high. In fact it was the highest I’ve ever seen it. We ran it mulitple times Thurs, Fri and Sat. On Sat a couple of my friends were going down in a kyak and got hung up on a tree at about the only place you could. I went through the rapid and then did a 1/4 mile sprint back up stream to check them out. They were fine but I needed to get out to them. So, I did the hero thing and swam out in the rapid and to the tree they were on. After getting them comfortable I figured out they were going to have to go into the water. First person made it ok but the second got hung up and ultimately swam the whole rapid (it was big) she was fine though a little scratched up. I tried to get the boat off but ended up falling and and swimming out. Later that night I came back with 5 grizzled veterans of the river who saw it as a challenge to get the boat off the tree. I just watched in awe as they put together pully systems and tried a number of things. Unfortunately it was getting dark and we couldn’t get it off. Chances are good though someone will get it for us this week.

Bottom line is that it was a great weekend and if there aren’t mishaps sometimes things get a little borring and you feel invincible. I have a new respect for the river.

Just got done with a weekend rafting trip.  Amazing…..the river was flowing higher than I’ve ever seen it.  I didn’t fall out of my kayak.  The families had a great time.  Something amazing happened too.   We had a lot of spots extra for the trip so we took a lot of the young adults from our trip. They interacted so well with the families and the students.  It was almost as if I planned it as a weekend to find new volunteers.  I didn’t but it sure worked out well.  Another weekend of rafting in 6 days….can’t wait. 

My goal is to post something real and worth reading this week.  I’m a bit grumpy still as I don’t have my laptop for about another week and I’m forced to borrow other computers.  The one I’m typing on now is a complete pile of junk….but I guess its working.

Another sad day for my relationship with Apple Computers. My laptop fried itself on Sat. On a positive note I’m sitting by a pool in Palm Springs and not missing it.