Ratanak Kiri

It has been a while since my last blog, we spent the last week of February and the first week of March up in Ratanak Kiri. It is the most North Eastern part of Cambodia and borders Vietnam. We stayed with a Thai Christian contact who formerly worked with Whitecliff bible tranlators in amongst the villagers. It was such a beautiful place, but everywhere they were burning their forests- there was smoke always rising from a distance, it was so disheartening. So many forgien investors have stolen the villagers lands for rubber, cashew and palm oil plantations- which the land cannot withstand more that a few years because a lack of biodiveristy and a total devistaion of the ecosystem by a slash and burn method.

We had the privalege of staying 2 nights in a village collecting data and compiling information about 3 different villages and their new agroculture methods that had to be rapidly developed when a flood wiped out their upland rice crops and swept away there food from the previous year and their seed for the next harvest. The missionaries have come in with much forgien aid, but there is still a small yeild in contrast to the labor. We documented this all from both ours and the villagers stand points. Our team compiled an 11 pg report. I was very impressed with our team- not only to withstand some tough conditions in the village but also a challenging task of compiling and organizing data.

I got very sick in the village and was pretty sheepish to find out that it was caused by dehydration. But 4 days of rest and 8 days of diarrhea later I came right. We had two students take an additional 4 day tramp through the Cambodian outback along the Vietnamese border where they came face to face with illigal logging and forging of the land. It was a real eye opener in that area. We were just outside the town of Banlung and it felt like the wild west. The police were completely corrupt and though there was law, it was not upheld.
The Villagers are in constant fear of the spirits and are always making sacrifices to appeal them, the most tangelble spirit that is destroying them is greed. Please pray for justice in this land, there are a handful of christains scattered among the villages that are constantly being persicuted by fellow villagers, but they are so faithful to God and are sure of the power of his grace. It was so inspirational to see, our God gives life and vision and hope and a future.