What Is Remembered

I have spent countless hours talking to Paul Mok, our Rice Farm Manager. He’s one of the first adults I got to know in Cambodia. I remember, early in 1999, (an ignorant, English-speaking, foreigner) being over-charged by the local mechanics.  I returned to the used car dealer where I’d purchased my vehicle, and asked him, “Is their an honest mechanic in Cambodia?” He laughed. Discouraged, I queried, “Then tell me, who is the best mechanic in Cambodia?” Without hesitation, he shot back, “That would be Taing Sunleng!” I said, “Take me there!”It was the beginning of a long relationship. He’d work on my car, and I would share with him. One day he said, "I read in the Bible that when Saul became a Christian he changed his name to Paul. I want to change my name!” I assured him, “That’s not necessary, Paul only did that because he wanted a new identity.” He paused, “Well, I used to be a very bad man, and I want a new name!’ I said, “Ok! Who do you want to be? He said, “I want to be Paul Mok”.Now, of the hundreds of hours I have spent talking with him, he just told Sonny Weimer, our FCOPI Board President, "There are two things that Pa Thom told me that I will never forget. One is: ‘You can’t keep a bird from taking a dump on your head, but you can keep him from building a nest in your hair,’ and the other is, ‘You can have all the money in the world; you can buy the best food, but you can't buy an appetite; You can buy the company of some of the most beautiful women in the world, but you can’t buy their love; and you can buy the best bed in the world, but you can’t buy a good night’s sleep; and you can buy the best medicine and doctors, but you can’t buy good health. Those things come from God.’ “ It’s strange what people remember![nggallery id=1208]