CAMBODIA MEETING MINUTES
October 29, 2000

IMPORTANT REMINDER ! ! !
The Cambodia Benefit Concert is this Saturday, November 4, 2000 at 7:30 p.m.
The Missions Committee is sponsoring a Bake Sale and Concessions.  We need
your baked goods packaged to sell individually or whole (cakes perhaps).
Please drop off your baked goods Saturday afternoon, but label if left in
the kitchen.  If you would like to help, plan to arrive around 6:30 p.m.
Thanks a bunch!

Nita reported that Debbie Lawrence has recently signed on to go to Cambodia.
Yeah, Debbie!  She reviewed the finances and said that $3,169 is in our
account.  Our T-shirt sales project will take $3,100 in up-front costs.
Nita says that someone has contacted the church and wants to make a donation
for Cambodia missions, so she will be contacting him.  She mentioned that
Carl Cleveland was the treasurer for the Zimbabwe trip.  It is sometimes
less conspicuous to have one person paying for everything than having 20+
Americans pulling out cash.  That is a lot of cash for one person to hold,
and we have not decided what to do with this yet, although Nita is sure that
she does not want to be the one with the money!  (We suggested the big
guys.)  We may need group funds for the van, gas, food, and perhaps a group
gift to the village.  The hotels we can handle on our own.  We are looking
into sending money up front for our meals onsite.  Apparently they prefer
American dollars to their own currency so we won't need to exchange it.

There is a law called ITAR regarding trafficking in high tech items such as
computers, cameras or video equipment.  Ray said we would probably need a
letter or receipts for equipment we take in or register with customs so we
will not be charged upon departure.  We will need to obtain a list of items
that are banned.  Dale will research this and report back to the group.

Esther reported on hotels in Bangkok and Singapore.  There is a Christian
Prayer Retreat House in Bangkok that serves a nice breakfast.  She has
reserved 8 singles ($20/night) and 9 double rooms ($12 each/night) for the 2
nights we will be there.  Please email Esther and tell her of your rooming
preference.  We did say that snorers should get their own room :-).  Several
people decided to pair up.  The Blues, the Vastens, Nita & Laurie, Joyce &
Andrea, and Dale & Jim.  Send your requests to Esther!  We will need a
missionary ID card with our names and perhaps a letter from the church.  We
will get those made beforehand.

On the way back, we will spend 2 days in Singapore at another hotel owned by
Christians.  This costs $60/night for a single and $32 each/night for the
double rooms.  We will probably schedule tours for one of the days in each
city, then have the other day for exploring on our own, but it is suggested
that the groups generally stay together.  The Vastens will check on renting
vans for 2 days with the travel agent.  We were reminded about strict laws
in Singapore, no chewing gum is allowed, no spitting or littering on the
streets, fines for not flushing toilets, etc.  We will need to be very
careful!

Jim is practicing some songs from some Cambodia tapes he has.  We will also
need to be prepared to sing some of our own songs, so we will be bringing
some sheets or the smaller songbooks so we have the words!  Esther had an
idea to set up a worship service that they could do and we could view it via
satellite at one of our own services.  We don't know if that is possible,
but Ken will look into it.

Rich researched generators and is looking into ways to have Home Depot
donate one they have that has 3,000 watts.  While they don't donate to
churches they are looking into ways to help us out, perhaps an indirect
donation, selling Home Depot gift certificates, or a rebate for cash
register receipts from the congregation.  In the meantime, save your Home
Depot receipts!  More on this to follow.

Joyce showed us a water bottle with a filter system for that is anti-viral
and anti-bacterial.  She purchased it for $45 at REI.  We are continuing to
discuss the best ways to ensure safe drinking water.

We began discussing gifts for the children.  Laurie cautioned us about
doling out gifts.  The people are so needy it is impossible to bring enough
for their needs.  She said that we should do it as a group under Joseph's or
Dalay's direction or we may literally be mobbed and we wouldn't want the
children hurt either.  We do want to bring out gifts but must be very
careful about how this is handled.  Laurie also suggested checking out a
website for the latest news in Cambodia at www.cambodiapost.com (she is not
certain this is how it is addressed.)