Cambodia Visit! Day 3

Preah Vihear

I think this was the quietest day of my visit. About mid-morning, I went over to Joel's house, he is the other member of the World Team mission's team in this area. I had placed an order for coconut jewelry and he wanted me to check it out! The coconut jewelry is made by some of the young men in the church. It is made to help supplement their income for freedom to minister.

After visiting with Joel for the morning, Carolyn and I went to the Plas Prai to visit the girls. The Plas Prai is a dorm center set up for young ladies in the surrounding villages to attend school. Most of these families can not afford to send their children to school or if they can the family has to choose which child will go. If a family has to chose between children it is usually the boy that will go. The boys do not have much expected of them. They can do as they please. The girls on the other hand must be responsible. They care for their younger siblings and their home. Therefore in the Cambodian eyes the girls have no need of school. So, a church in Australia has built this dorm facility and pays for the girls to go to school and have tutors. They would not have a chance at school with out this opportunity. When I asked what the girls wanted to study and why, the majority said to be teachers, a couple said doctors and nurses. Their goal is to go back to their villages and help there people. I was able to spend a little time with the girls. It was a fun time. We shared about ourselves, played a few games, and then they attempted to teach me to dance Cambodia style. Lots of laughter and smiles. I became their older sister!

These are the beautiful young ladies. There are about 36 of them total, average age 18-22 and 6 to a room. School age in Cambodia doesn't matter. Most of them start really late, or have to quite for a while. In addition to paying to attend school, one must also pay the teachers to pass you. If there is not enough money sometimes it takes longer to finish school. Notice that most of them are in long sleeves? It was very hot, but they do not want to get any darker. There is a prejudice against the darker skin. It is a sign/symbol or being poor, having to work in the fields, and spending a lot of time in the sun. Satan's deception is so amazing! Never being content with how God made you!It is in every culture!

That afternoon, I was able to sit down with the missionary team that I was visiting. It was a great time of learning and sharing. They taught me about the history of the mission work in the area, their current plans and projects, and future hopes, desires, and dreams. We even talked about how I would fit in to the puzzle. One way would be to work with the Plas Prai girls. They are attending the mission church and some are Christians, but there is no discipleship. I would be mentoring, discipling and sharing the love of Christ with the others. This is just one of the many opportunities for me there and I am excited to see how God leads!

Cambodia Visit! Day 2

Heading up to Preah Vihear!

I was suppose to meet my taxi at the designated pick up spot between 8 - 8:30 am. By 9:30 I am on the phone with the family that I am going to visit. Jim (the Dad) said that Cambodians run on their own time and the the taxi driver no doubt made sure that his car was full of passenger before we left. Unsure of why such a delay happened, Jim called the driver and he was there within 10 mins. The taxi pulled up and was already full of people. It was a Toyota Camry, it had the driver and a passenger in the front and 4 people in the back. Jim assured me that I was ok, that he had reserved 2 seats for me! I felt like a selfish American, but was explained that Westerners are generally a bigger people and have personal space. Unsure of what would happen, I just watched. The man that was sitting in the front, was about my size or bigger, and he stood to the side watching as well. The taxi driver opened the trunk and it was full too. He did quite a bit of rearranging and unpacking of peoples belonging to make it all fit. Now how to make the people fit. Opening the back door, he spoke to 2 young men and they got out of the car. These guys were the usual size, a very thin stick person. One of the thin guys got back in and the man that was waiting squished in the back too. So, it was 4 packed tight in the back. The driver smiled and let me in the front. He slid into the driver's seat to the edge of the seat and the other thin guy sat beside him in the driver's seat. So the taxi driver drove like this almost the whole way. The guy in the driver's sear was dropped off about an hour from the main destination! We arrived to our destination in about 4 1/2 hours with a 30 minute lunch break. It was suppose to take us 5-6 hours! But we did start late, I guess he was just making up time. ;)

I arrived to the home of the amazing Gabriels family!

This is Jim and Carolyn with the fabulous Sam, Meghan, and Jacob!

They welcomed me like a long awaited family member! Their house is a very traditional style house for the northern provinces.

Here you go. The houses are built on stilts because of the rainy season! Also they spend most of their day beneath the house because it is cooler. This where the kitchen is too.

View of the main living area. This is a really open compared to the Cambodians. The cold months are December and January and it gets to 50 at night for the coldest. For the Cambodians this is extremely cold so they have their houses more closed it, but it is crazy hot the rest of the year!

This is Meghan's bedroom! She was gracious to allow me to use her room during my stay. Most every house and sleeping area I saw had mosquito nets. 

This is a hospital across the street from the front of the house. This is the only hospital in the area. It is based on  bribery. When you come in, you will not be allowed to leave until you have paid enough. The doctors do not tell you what is wrong with you. They will just give you unmarked medicines and tell you to take them. If you ask any questions, the doctors will get angry and yell at you and might even tell you to never come back. How dare you question them! They are the ones with the education, the patient is just a poor farmer! It is an extremely sad situation! 

These are some of the family members of the patients at the hospital. As a patient the really is no care for you. If you need something then a family member must do it. If you want to eat, then food must be brought to you! This is where the families spend their time. The Gabriels have had the Cambodians ask if they were scared to live there because people die and what about all the spirits. This opens an amazing opportunity for the Gospel!!

There were more visitors than me for the week. God is so amazingly creative! These ants have glued the leaves together to make their home. I did not test them, but was told that they are extremely protective and aggressive when threatened.

Somehow they can make a chain to reach something and then they will wrench it back to the beginning spot and glue it to make a bridge. Crazy!!

After settling in, it was time for church. An hour before church starts every week, the young people get together and have a time of worship, sharing and games!

The young men lead the worship time!

This is Meghan and Socat. Socat gave her testimony of the Lord Jesus that evening after the worship time!

Some of the young ladies singing!

Time for games! A banana game.

There are two people and one holds the banana. The other is to peel it.

Eat it!

The whole thing, with no hands!

Ready? Set? They look so serious!

Only the boys were serious! Most of the girls would not play. I think that it may be a little awkward for them. In Cambodia, the guys and girls do not really have anything to do with each other, except for Cambodian New Year. This celebration lasts for a few weeks and this is the time that is intended for social intermingle and exchange!

This is church, one room. People sit around the edge of the room and then out of the porch area.

About half of the church a girls from a school dorm in the town. I will explain about these lovely ladies in the next post!

The men leading worship again and the foreigner is Joel Stewart. On this specific team it is just him and the Gabriels family.

This is one of the leaders in training of the church. He, Joel and 2 other men take turns teaching on Sundays!

This concludes the day. It was a good first day of travel and meeting people. 

Cambodia Visit! Day 1

Thanks for all the prayers! The Lord really blessed the trip! I didn't get sick and all details went really smooth!

The purpose of the visit was to meet the World Team Cambodia Mission's Teams. I met most of them! I arrived on Saturday, April 28th, Angela (a World Team member who teaches at a Christian school in Phnom Pehn) picked me up at the airport in Phnom Pehn. Sorry there aren't really any pictures. I guess I was more absorbing the first day. We took a Tuk Tuk (below) to her house.

This is a very easy, normal and cheap form of transportation.

We settled into her home and I emailed home to let them know I had arrived safely and my Father had sent me a blessing for the trip. So grateful for God fearing and loving parents!

The we were off on her moto for the day!

This is about 125 cc. It reminds me of a cross between a dirt bike and a moped. This is the most affordable way to travel, instead of owning a car. I saw at least 4 people on one at one time.

Throughout the day I feel like we toured the whole city. First she took me to the school where she teaches. It is a really nice Christian school. It is mostly for the Khmer (Cambodian people), but some of the missionary children attend as well. The students level of English amazed me. It was strange for my brain to recognize that they were speaking English. From there we went and had lunch at a cafe called Jars of Clay. This is a cafe for women who have been rescued from slavery (human trafficking). They do a fantastic job.

Next was the Russian market. It is an enclosed market that the Russian tourist from back in the day used to visit! It is quite large with very small walkways between the stalls/booths. More shopping and looking around at the shops whose products are all made by people who have aids or were rescued. We ended up at a really cool place called Daughters (but there are a few guys who work there, they were rescued as well. It is becoming more common for guys as well.) Here we had a lime soda and I got a shoulder massage and we both got pedicures. They also sell some pretty cool things. Next was dinner at a Khmer place. Really yummy food with an amazing atmosphere.

This is the outside of the restaurant! 

Our table was perfect! It was on a little island. Gotta love atmosphere.

Beautiful flowers. They were floating in a large ceramic pot.

Love the sound of water!

We met Angela's roommate and friend at the night market. It is very similar to most night markets that I have been to, maybe this one was a little cleaner and more organized.

This is the view when you walk in. It is like a horseshoe shape. This is the side and in the middle back of the horseshoe is a very large stage. They usually have people singing and telling jokes.

 

This is the typical booths in the front! The more touristy stuff. There are also booths with clothes, jewelry, baskets, trinkets, pretty much everything. The rule is bargain, bargain, bargain. 

 This is the dinning area. The food vendors are surrounding them. In Cambodia they always sit on the floor. If someone owns furniture, it says they have saved and sacrificed for it.

 A favorite dish, baked bird.

Enjoying a meal.

When we left here, we walked along the riverfront to get some ice cream. On the way back we passed a convenience store with fish out front.

These are the lovely fish. You sit of the side of the tank and put you feet in there with these fishies. They will nibble off  dead skin while you enjoy a refreshing cool drink. I guess it is a natural pedicure. No, I did not.

This was the end of the day. Thanks for Angela for blessing me!

A Week In My Life! (Monday)

Here is a daily review of what a week of teaching looks like for me. 

Monday!
And this week starts Christmas! YAY!!

The children arrive. We greet the bus!

Next is the welcome session. Here the students receive their books, meet the teachers and learn the guidelines for the camp.

The students start with their Chinese classes! We play with the children  during their 10 minute breaks!
In the library, the children can learn music, read books, play cards, build with blocks, and play puzzles or board games. That is just a little of what happens in this special room!

In the hallway, the students learn new games, like jacks, and hand games. They also play lots of favorites like, running games, toss games and such!

But the students favorite activities is anything with the teachers! Sometimes we just hang out and laugh because neither one of us can understand the other!

The last class before dinner is their first English class. It is evaluations to see where the students are and where our teaching level needs to be! It is their first introduction, for some of them to a foreigner! Sometimes we feel like monkeys in a zoo the way the students stare and watch! Great Fun!!

Simple English work is given, but much help is still needed because this is a new language to them. 

I fell just like them as I am learning Chinese!

More to come! I promise!
The goal is to have each day of my week laid out for you. This gives you a greater perspective of what I am doing and how to pray!

Taiwan Arrival!!

I came to Taiwan not knowing what to expect, but I knew there were others just like me coming too! This is the team of IBLP TESOL Volunteer Teachers. We have all committed to one year to teach in Taiwan. We are spread throughout the whole country. As you pray, most of these are new, first time teachers.

We spent the first weekend in Taiwan together in Taipei. We did some sightseeing, orientation to the work here and just spent time bonding! They are some pretty amazing people I have the privilege to serve with!

I am in Douliou, Yunlin, at a Character English Institute. This is different than what I thought I would be doing! I thought that I was coming to teach in the public schools, but the Lord had other plans. He placed me with the HTC foundation instead. HTC is the Smart phone company and Mr. HT, who happens to be in the above picture in a suit on the front row, he has a passion for bringing Character (by using Character First! material) into the lives of the Taiwanese people. So, the HTC foundation has set up these Institutes camp style. A 4^th grade class comes from a local county school. They spend the whole week here with us. So it is a full on teaching schedule!

The Lord has blessed me with amazing teammates. We instantly felt the Lord’s unity in heart, soul and spirit when meeting for the first time. Since we know that we are in one accord, we will face our share of challenges and oppositions throughout this year. Bring it on! This means God is at work! We have already experienced some of this. Yeah! Please pray for our continued focus and clarity in our mission!

Barbara Sutton, Jo Armentrout, and Susanna Hicks

These are our amazing Taiwanese teachers. They run the camp, take care of the children each night and teach the character classes. They welcomed us with such open arms and love that we already feel like a family. It is a great honor to work with these ladies!

From right to left, they are Yellow, Jenny, Lydia, Joyce, Mandy, Patty, and the two in the back are Penny and Lisa. 

There is a new Character English Institute opening in another county near us, so for this first month of camps we have this team living, training and teaching with us. Then they will move over to their camp and try to establish it. Please pray for them as they are learning and preparing for the new camp.

The names of the English teachers in the back row are Fae, Christiana, Rebekah, and Liesl. 

The Taiwanese teachers are Helen, Mindy, Vivian, Landy, and Rachel.

 The Children that come to these two camps are from the poorest counties in all of Taiwan. They really need your prayers as they come here and learn. Lots of the children come from divorce situations, or the parents just do not have time to take care of the children. They have their basic needs taken care of, but no love displayed or demonstrated. So, by coming here it may be the first time they see loving, caring people. Some have never had a hug or been told I love you. Please pray as we prepare our hearts for these children and the Lord will be glorified and His love given freely.

This blog is for updates and fun, but if you would like the prayer letter please email me or comment with your email.

Australia Photos!

Here you go picasaweb.google.com/servingHimwherecalled. There is your link to my photos. It is kind of a summary of my time here in Aus. So, please enjoy!

Life Down Under!!!

Life is busy and always changing. As you can see i haven't had much time for updating, and I am still trying to figure things out. I am not computer savvy at all!

So, Life down here began for me in the beginning of October. It seems to be one whirlwind after another. I started off helping in the office work, helping with ATI, being a contact between here and HQ for needs, cooking, cleaning, and much more. I have been traveling to spend time with the different ATI families. That has been a time where I have been unbelievably blessed. I have never experienced the love and acceptance that the Aussies so freely bestow. I have become a part of several families, and I have a feeling there will be many more! I was in charge of organizing an Christmas afternoon tea for our neighbors, which is a retirement village. It was fun. I made over 500 cookies and wrapped most of them. God blessed me with some amazing young ladies to help! Without them it would not have happened. We have a family day once a month. This is were the local homeschool families come in for a children's program of the Commands of Christ. Every time you end up helping teach a different part. I have done the Bible verse, leading songs, and small groups. I taught my first class. There were about 40 in attendance. We had families, parents, and students. They seemed to enjoy it. The class was on communication and creating a safe place. We also cooked a traditional Thanksgiving meal for about 60 people. Lots of fun and interesting to watch people eat, and drink the sweet tea!

Over Christmas I traveled to New Zealand and spent about 2 weeks. It rained most of the time, so we did not explore much. The family I stayed with lives on a beef and sheep farm. They had lots of calves and some were still on the cow or the feeder. That was lots of fun to help with. God is so good because I haven't been back to NZ in 5 years, but I was able to catch up with at least 5 families I knew. It was as if no time had passed. I traveled back to Aus Christmas night and off traveling again on Boxing Day. I am in the state of Victoria and most people say that I have seen more of Victoria than they have. Blessed beyond words. That is kind of a recap of the last couple of months.

Looking ahead, we have conference in one week! :0 I am giving part of my testimony during conference and talking about our seminars. At student conference, I am teaching 2 sessions. One is Honor Your Parents and the other is Identity in Christ. I am also leading an photo scavenger hunt.

After conference, during the month February I will be trained to take over the Seminar office. I am becoming the coordinator. I am extremely excited and motivated to start promoting and getting the seminars out there. Please Pray! God is giving a big task with big visions. I will be traveling around Australia to the conferences as a representative. I will be encouraging the Follow-Up Course along with the Commands of Christ!!! So much is going through my head!! We are not in the prisons here, and i am trying to make contact within the military. Ok, I will stop and just say I need pray and clear direction!!!

So, I believe that is my life in a nut shell. Past, current and current future! I love each of you and thank you for your prayers! Only by God's grace, love, and mercy can all this happen. I am so overwhelmed by His love so often! I would love to hear from ya'll as well!

Hawaii!!!!

Just a few random pictures for now, until I can have time to do a real post!