Hey everyone, Cambodia has been fun and full. Here is an update as to how things have been, some things we are doing, and some things to be praying for:
- We originally moved in to a “guesthouse” here (that’s just what they call them here, it’s a little different from a hotel). This guesthouse didn’t have top sheets or blankets, no hot water, no internet, the power went out 3-4 times a day for anywhere from 5 minutes to 3 hours, only one towel per person (so you were out of luck for a while if you wanted your towel washed), intermittent water, and no room cleaning. It was a little rough. All this for $8 a night. We were there for two weeks and decided we needed to move.
- Our new home is the Small Hotel. Its $13 a night here and it’s got hot water, sheets, fresh towels and cleaning each day, air conditioning, wifi, and only two power outages in two weeks. This seems like the ritz in comparison.
- Our schedule:
o Tuesday–Friday mornings the team is split in two; one group goes to Fisherman’s Village to do kids ministry and outreach, the other group goes to KBS(Kompongsom Bible School) to teach. As the lone pastor, Greg has been going to KBS most days (though everyone else has lots of skill at teaching they lack the confidence). Farrell and the kids have been mostly going to the village (Farrell taught at the school a few times and is an amazing teacher).
o Tuesday–Friday evenings the team teaches English at SLM (Samaritan Love Mission) which is run by Reverend Jonah. Greg, Farrell and the girls teach Let’s Begin Two with kids around ages 10-12. Gavin teaches in Let’s Begin One with one of our other teammates.
o Saturday and Sunday mornings are a mish mash including medical care, preaching, singing, drama, food disbursement and other things at local villages (some are up to 2 hours away from here).
o Saturday afternoons we teach the Bible to older students including pastors.
o Sunday afternoons is the youth service at SLM where we run the whole thing, preaching, singing, drama, etc.
o Mondays are our days off, we have spent most of them chilling out and trying to catch up on some things around home. Unfortunately the last couple of Mondays have been very rainy so we haven’t been able to spend time at the beach.
o Greg has been doing a lot of teaching and preaching and saving up his material for when he gets back, the kids have all been involved with dramas, kids ministry, singing, food disbursement, praying, and other things.
o Farrell has been doing an amazing job at preaching, teaching, song leading, mothering, and all kinds of other things, usually simultaneously.
o Gavin planned a drama on the Prodigal Son, he was the prodigal son and the girls were the pigs. Gavin also played the donkey in the Good Samaritan and Abby played the inn keepers daughter.
o We have been on numerous prayer walks around the idols here. We have had visions of the ‘gods’ of this place fleeing.
o We have prayed for nearly everyone we have come in contact with. The sick, the blind, some in comas, mothers giving birth, amputees, babies, grandparents, all kinds of people. We have not yet seen the miracles we trust God is performing, please pray for us to have the opportunity to see some of the miracles first hand. We do trust God is working, it would also be nice to see a blind person receive sight.
o One time Greg and family were stuck halfway home in the rain and Greg commanded the rain to stop and it did. That was pretty cool.
o We have shown the Jesus film several times.
o Three people have come to Christ that we know of, they were in one of our teammates English classes.
o Gelato Italian Ice Cream has been our favourite place so far for lunches. The family can eat for $13.25: two hot dogs(Gavin and Rachel), One Cheeseburger(Abby), and a pizza(Farrell and Greg). We don’t have a kitchen so most of our meals are out. We do eat breakfast at home and sometimes sandwiches there also.
o Kids are all healthy, little sniffles and coughs here and there but nothing big. We have been praying through so many things in the kids lives it is awesome. We are really at a place where we are needing to trust God for everything with the kids.
o Gavin was thinking about how we can help the Cambodian people when we return to Canada. He started making a list of ways we can simplify our lives. Not eating out so much, not buying so many toys, simplifying Christmas, hanging our clothes to dry(he even suggested hand washing our clothes which we are doing now, but mommy and daddy vetoed that one). He wants to take the money we save and send it to Phally. Phally is our Cambodian interpreter, chauffer, personal shopper, teammate, and all around great guy. He is on holidays for the summer and runs a school in a remote village (Buffalo Village) for the rest of the year. He is a missionary to that village and Gavin wants to support him. What a great kid.
That is going to be all for now. Hopefully that catches you up a bit. Farrell will try to get some more pictures up for you all. We have internet but it is sometimes slow, especially in the evenings. And we have some time to blog, but we are finding that the days are tiring. We are happy though. God is giving us some amazing grace as we are here. We have relied on Him and He is seeing us through. To God be the glory!
