Margaret

Post from Father Mark:

I first met Margaret at Life for Living church about 3 months ago. She is volunteering in Cambodia for the Peace Corps. We talked for a few minutes and exchanged phone numbers. I told her I was starting a meat shop and she was very excited about it. She has been living with a host family in a village about 10 kilometers from Kampong Chhnang doing pre- and post-natal care. She’s got 10 months under her belt with 14 months to go and eating only Khmer food. The Peace Corps gives her $100 a month so she really doesn’t have much money to buy any other food than what the host family provides. I know what that is like since I lived at an orphanage south of Phnom Penh from 2009 to 2010. You start to really want Western food after a while. Khmer food is okay but very bland; fish and rice four to six days a week. Fish is cheap and they have so little money (around 1 to 3 dollars a day) to live on.

Two weeks ago I called and told her that I had opened the restaurant; she was so thrilled. Two days later she came and bought a hamburger; one for herself and the other for her partner. She said she couldn’t really afford it but had to taste something from the West. Saturday she came again just to visit and talk some with Westerners. So Saturday I made some cinnamon rolls and she was just amazed. She wanted to make the other half of them so I let her. Then lunchtime came so I fed her spaghetti and bread. She’s 23 years old and it’s like I have a new daughter. If you could have seen her face as she ate, W.O.W. What a blessing to be able to bless others! I asked if Mark could spend a few days in the village with her and she agreed so after he gets settled in teaching English for a few weeks he’ll be heading there to see the real Cambodia. 75% of the people live in the village, it will rock his world. Living here is not the real thing, village life is so different. I thank the Lord that he has opened this door. One thing I really want short-time volunteers to be able to do is get as much experience in different fields as possible. So God can place them just where He wants them and send them back to the States with a larger perspective of missions work. Pray that the Lord uses the things Mark sees, that his experiences go deep into his heart and that he listens to Jesus for his true calling.

One last thing to note, the restaurant did $317 last week and my goal is $300 per week. At this time profit is about 50% before wages and food. My hope for the future of the restaurant is for it to pay all the wages and the electric bill. Pray that the Lord blesses this business and that funds will come in to continue the bacon; as of now that is on hold until the money is there. God Bless all.