Hi,
I need some prayer right now. I have hit a rough spot and I am at the end of my strength which is a good place to be cuz then we have no choice but to lean on the Lord's strength. I really need prayer for:
Wisdom how to deal with different situations, that I would have a good attitude.
That my words would be God honoring and gentle.
That I would die to self and keep God the focus of my thoughts and actions.
God is faithful!!
Psa 96:2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
Psa 96:3 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
Thank you so much for your faithfulness to pray for me, I really appreciate it and of course need it.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
This is the only one that loaded. This is Hanna, Katja's daughterOk. plan B the pics won't load. I will try tomorrow
Hey
I guess I will start off with last Wednesday night, 2 couples came over for dinner. They are both older couples and have basically lived on the mission field for most of their lives. Between both couples if you look at everywhere they have lived, you would probably only have like 10-15 countries that they HAVEN’T lived in. Hearing about the different places they had lived was in itself amazing. Then hearing their stories about living on the mission field, and dealing with stuff like being in a car accident, having at the very least a broken leg, and being transported in the back of a truck for like 6 hours to get to proper medical care without anything for pain was interesting. I had a great time just sitting there listening to all there “back in my day” stories. One of the couples were American and the other Scottish, so there were FUN accents also. Then to top off the night David(Scottish) recited poetry!! I loved it, all we needed was a fire in a fireplace (and cold weather). Ok so I was going to find them online but I can’t find them (the poems), I don’t know what to type to narrow down the google results. Anyway one was about Moses’ grave and the other is The Cobbler both are Christian poems and are really cool but I don’t know who wrote either of them. So if anyone has info on this let me know.
Then on Friday we went swimming and were shocked to see all these white people in the same place. We are talking like 20-25 all different shades of wanna-be-tan. So it was very interesting and we were shocked further because everyone had a bathing suit and so there was lots of blinding skin. Here people for the most part are very modest for cultural reasons. Like, it is not ok for unmarried women to show their shoulders and skirts have to go to the ankles. This does not include everyone because our western ways have somewhat become accepted in some circles just not by the whole community.
Saturday
We had a party for one of the girls next door at our house, she was turning 18. It was very interesting. We had interesting food and dancing mixed with LOUD karaoke. It was quite the experience. I have a couple of videos to show you. The one that you can't really see much is the dancing but you can get a basic feel for it. All you do is walk back and forth while swirling your hands around.
This week it has rained a lot and we have used the tile porch as a slip-n-slide. It was SUPER FUN! I have a video and a picture of Marianne who almost had too much momentum and started to slide right into the house, I did this also. It is a fine art to find out much you have to run and jump. You need enough to get some speed going but slow down enough so you can stop yourself before you start hitting the door. FUN FUN FUN!!
Last night we went to the night market and got fish massages!! Yes I was fish food. First they wash off your feet and then you put your feet in this tub full of little fish, and then the little fish come and suck the dead skin off your feet. It is the weirdest feeling in the world!!! I only did this because I have been accused of hating any and all animals. This not true just because I don’t feel the NEED to touch animals when I come across them doesn’t mean that I HATE (I will admit I HATE CATS)animals. So then everyone decided that I must be afraid of animals and even little fish. So I felt the need to prove that I don’t really care, I just am not compelled to pet dirty animals every time I have the chance, it is an occasional thing. I am not afraid of fish!!(that would be silly). ANYWAY we had a great time and it was a very interesting experience. Here are some pics and videos
Monday, October 13, 2008
FINALLY I CAN LOAD SOME PICTURES YIPPEE!!!A Couple of lake houses, which are part of a floating village
Really young kids get around in and play in their families boats
Marianne's peek-a-boo picture
This is the gorgeous stormy Cambodian scenery
The view from the back of the Barge, those are tree tops
The view from the front of the Barge
I know, I know a picture of feet how random, but I think the rain drops look really cool
We got to fish off the sides of the Barge. Squatting is what people do here, if you're fishing or sewing or eating or just waiting. They are very flexible, I can't do it right but I guess they have a lifetime to practice.
This is the boat we have to get out to the Barge, on the lake. It's name is THE FISH
This is the Barge
The Big Crocs FINALLY!!
I think these things are creepy!
A little update on my geckos, there is a whole family of like 5 here are 2
But Amazing, still creepy though
This is the 600 pounder, talk about huge-mungous
It looks to me like there isn't enough room for the driver?? HMMMM
The Pigs are drunk!! 
I am serious! They feed them rice wine so that they don't move.These little piggys are going to the market
OK so I don't know how to turn the sound off on my camera and so I will try to explain what you hear during the movie. First it is of one of our fellow missionaries, and he was telling us a story about a show that he saw in Thailand where a girl put her head in the Crocs open mouth and posed for pictures. The rest is just chatting that you can't really hear and then at the end I was going to have a picture of Marianne, Bo and Betsy but as you can tell Betsy did a disappearing act. It ends with a picture of Marianne and Bo with me laughing in the background cuz the thought popped into my head as I was wondering where Betsy had gone. Betsy is so the type that would jump down in the pit with the Crocs and perform the story mentioned above. So then I was laughing so hard I had to turn off the camera and look for Betsy. Sorry it so jumpy, I was a little more concerned with where I was putting my foot than what was happening with the video.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Saturday
I had some real cultural experiences. To start off the day I got a hair cut which I kinda felt forced into by the fact that here your hair is always crazy cuz you are always sweaty and dusty, and it tangles very easily. I had just got my hair cut in June. Normally I could have waited till Dec but it did work out that way. You can try and imagine my fear in letting someone I don’t know cut my hair, in a foreign country that doesn’t regulate things such as who is allowed to wield scissors. I have a very choppy hair cut that is popular with the Koreans, not bad just a little different. You have to really look at my hair to tell the difference. After that Lara picked me up(on the moto J) and then we went to the house and all(Naritas and I) piled into the car and off we went to a birthday party. The birthday party was for a very cute little 1yr old girl who of course, was very shy with all the people around. They had a church service and then they dedicated the birthday girl to the Lord. They had three pillars of balloons around the cake table and on the table was this big tiger balloon/thing and then the had the cake cutting ceremony where every one gathers around the table and claps and sings happy birthday while they cut the cake. Then everyone brings their gift to the cake table, and dinner is served. I guess it is the thing to make curry for gatherings, and what we had is kinda like curry but I forgot what it was called. It had meat, carrots, potatoes and leafy something. It was good! There were some other missionaries there and we were all joking around that the meat was dog meat, so we talked to one of the ladies who came along to give us more bread and joked with her a little. When she said "oh I like dog meat its good" and then she told us how she had hit a dog while driving and wondered if they should bring it but she said no they didn’t do that. I guess that is another sign that you have adjusted, when you joke about something like that and it is super funny but could also be true. The conversation then turned to whether we would get sick from eating this and then they told me that every time you go to a wedding here you always get sick. We all know how challenging it is to make food in mass amounts and then you add the conditions that people have to cook in and no fridge access and it can be stomach risky.
Monday
After school Neang, Sarah, Lara and I went to coffee at Caltex(gas station). They have a coffee plus store inside and it is yummy. While we were there, Katja came in and joined us. She was meeting her husband there so when Erik got there he joined us also. It is the hang out place kinda like in Modesto you can go to O’Brian’s Starbucks or Costco and see like ten people you know. Well here we see each other at Caltex(for COFFEE) or Common Grounds(for COFFEE) or the Lucky grocery store(coffee also available if you really need it). We are also known for having each other over to whoever’s house for Coffee. I have come to the conclusion that Coffee brings people together from all around the world and bonds them in a special way. Like at our little Coffee gathering we had, several different countries and states were represented. There was Neang who is from Cambodia, Katja who is from Germany, Erik who is from Holland, Lara from Hawaii, Sarah from Delaware and me from California. OK so maybe we are just fueling each other's addictions, but you have to admit that going out to Coffee with friends is great. I have learned the importance of this since I am living in a house of non-coffee drinkers. When I came I brought the first/only coffee maker(Thanks Paul) into the house. ANYWAY
We had a great time, after picking up Neang’s kids from school. We(Sarah, Neang and I) went to Elly’s house for Karaoke. This was interesting. We sang Bye Bye Love, Under The Boardwalk, Hard Day’s Night, Wait a Minute Mr. Postman, Downtown and Can’t Buy Me Love. I was introduced to Love Potion no9 which in my opinion is a lame and terrible song, and also some very interesting Cambodian songs.
Tuesday
We had a great day in school and Spanish was my favorite thing today, also history is fun cuz we are read aloud to and so the youngest and I color princess color pages. After that we went out to Happy Ranch and the girls had their first horseback riding lesson. I had a great time chillaxin in a big wood chair with my ipod and watching the horses, and I must admit I STARED at the grass. We are talking like a yard FULL of grass so nice and green, you just don’t see that here. Then tonight as I write this the Truexs are playing Apples to Apples card game, It is super funny cuz they play that when you put a card down you can explain why your card should win. This is funny like when Scott (the Dad) tries to explain why bubbles are nice. His reason is because when a baby is around 6-8 months and you blow bubbles for them it makes them happy and make cute noises and that is NICE. Nice was the Adjective and you have nouns and noun phrases in your hand that you choose from that go along or explain the Adjective( you can look it up online if you have never heard of it and this is confusing).
Prayer
A couple of people are a little sick this week so pray for healing or endurance.
For Sarah, Elly and Neang that they would come to know the Lord.
That I would be Christ like in my actions and words.
That I would not fight against the refining process that the Lord is allowing me to go through.
For the people of this country who are struggling to survive on the very little if any money that they make.
For the Christians who are/feel forced to marry a non-Christian spouse, and the young people who come to know the Lord and are afraid to tell their parents for fear of rejection.
Thanks :) P.S more pictures to come soon!
I had some real cultural experiences. To start off the day I got a hair cut which I kinda felt forced into by the fact that here your hair is always crazy cuz you are always sweaty and dusty, and it tangles very easily. I had just got my hair cut in June. Normally I could have waited till Dec but it did work out that way. You can try and imagine my fear in letting someone I don’t know cut my hair, in a foreign country that doesn’t regulate things such as who is allowed to wield scissors. I have a very choppy hair cut that is popular with the Koreans, not bad just a little different. You have to really look at my hair to tell the difference. After that Lara picked me up(on the moto J) and then we went to the house and all(Naritas and I) piled into the car and off we went to a birthday party. The birthday party was for a very cute little 1yr old girl who of course, was very shy with all the people around. They had a church service and then they dedicated the birthday girl to the Lord. They had three pillars of balloons around the cake table and on the table was this big tiger balloon/thing and then the had the cake cutting ceremony where every one gathers around the table and claps and sings happy birthday while they cut the cake. Then everyone brings their gift to the cake table, and dinner is served. I guess it is the thing to make curry for gatherings, and what we had is kinda like curry but I forgot what it was called. It had meat, carrots, potatoes and leafy something. It was good! There were some other missionaries there and we were all joking around that the meat was dog meat, so we talked to one of the ladies who came along to give us more bread and joked with her a little. When she said "oh I like dog meat its good" and then she told us how she had hit a dog while driving and wondered if they should bring it but she said no they didn’t do that. I guess that is another sign that you have adjusted, when you joke about something like that and it is super funny but could also be true. The conversation then turned to whether we would get sick from eating this and then they told me that every time you go to a wedding here you always get sick. We all know how challenging it is to make food in mass amounts and then you add the conditions that people have to cook in and no fridge access and it can be stomach risky.
Monday
After school Neang, Sarah, Lara and I went to coffee at Caltex(gas station). They have a coffee plus store inside and it is yummy. While we were there, Katja came in and joined us. She was meeting her husband there so when Erik got there he joined us also. It is the hang out place kinda like in Modesto you can go to O’Brian’s Starbucks or Costco and see like ten people you know. Well here we see each other at Caltex(for COFFEE) or Common Grounds(for COFFEE) or the Lucky grocery store(coffee also available if you really need it). We are also known for having each other over to whoever’s house for Coffee. I have come to the conclusion that Coffee brings people together from all around the world and bonds them in a special way. Like at our little Coffee gathering we had, several different countries and states were represented. There was Neang who is from Cambodia, Katja who is from Germany, Erik who is from Holland, Lara from Hawaii, Sarah from Delaware and me from California. OK so maybe we are just fueling each other's addictions, but you have to admit that going out to Coffee with friends is great. I have learned the importance of this since I am living in a house of non-coffee drinkers. When I came I brought the first/only coffee maker(Thanks Paul) into the house. ANYWAY
We had a great time, after picking up Neang’s kids from school. We(Sarah, Neang and I) went to Elly’s house for Karaoke. This was interesting. We sang Bye Bye Love, Under The Boardwalk, Hard Day’s Night, Wait a Minute Mr. Postman, Downtown and Can’t Buy Me Love. I was introduced to Love Potion no9 which in my opinion is a lame and terrible song, and also some very interesting Cambodian songs.
Tuesday
We had a great day in school and Spanish was my favorite thing today, also history is fun cuz we are read aloud to and so the youngest and I color princess color pages. After that we went out to Happy Ranch and the girls had their first horseback riding lesson. I had a great time chillaxin in a big wood chair with my ipod and watching the horses, and I must admit I STARED at the grass. We are talking like a yard FULL of grass so nice and green, you just don’t see that here. Then tonight as I write this the Truexs are playing Apples to Apples card game, It is super funny cuz they play that when you put a card down you can explain why your card should win. This is funny like when Scott (the Dad) tries to explain why bubbles are nice. His reason is because when a baby is around 6-8 months and you blow bubbles for them it makes them happy and make cute noises and that is NICE. Nice was the Adjective and you have nouns and noun phrases in your hand that you choose from that go along or explain the Adjective( you can look it up online if you have never heard of it and this is confusing).
Prayer
A couple of people are a little sick this week so pray for healing or endurance.
For Sarah, Elly and Neang that they would come to know the Lord.
That I would be Christ like in my actions and words.
That I would not fight against the refining process that the Lord is allowing me to go through.
For the people of this country who are struggling to survive on the very little if any money that they make.
For the Christians who are/feel forced to marry a non-Christian spouse, and the young people who come to know the Lord and are afraid to tell their parents for fear of rejection.
Thanks :) P.S more pictures to come soon!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Hi everyone!!!
Sorry it has taken so long for an update. SSSSSooooooooooooooo where should I start. Last Saturday we had a Crocodile Feed, we had grilled Croc and Croc Curry. They were both pretty good, but the Curry was my favorite.
Sunday we went out to a floating village and they had a dedication of the Barge(a floating basketball court) they will be using it as part of the ministry to the people nearby. It was kinda funny cuz the kids said that after they are on the barge and have played for awhile their backs and legs start to hurt cuz they are so use to having to crouch down and squat in their boats and don’t get to stretch often. It was funny, they were talking about how big our calves are and how the guy who is working with us is also getting big legs cuz he is on land often.
Monday
I had the day off and went to the Naritas and we went swimming which is always fun, The boys had a blast and Baby Kai loves the water. One of the funny things that happened was that Ben decided that it would be cool if he used the strings from his swim shorts to tie himself to the ladder in the pool as we were getting ready to leave, he was able to get it untied and figured he needed a bigger challenge. So this time the knot was so good that Lara had to work on it for a couple of minutes, this is one of those situations that you are dying laughing but you don’t want to encourage them so you are tying not to smile or laugh out loud. Then that just makes you laugh harder and it is this sputtering laugh that you cant cover up, Aww good times good times.
Tuesday
We took another day off , for Pechunben ( I don’t think I spelled that right) it is kind of like the Cambodian Halloween. The people believe that they have to make food sacrifices at seven different temples in their areas so that their dead ancestor don’t starve. This is a time of year when everyone goes back to their families village/town. That is how I understand it, so it is a national holiday and we got it off so that we could hang out with friends.
We went out to the Baray (man made lake), it is where all the wealthy Cambodians go. I don’t think I have told you all about Jon, he is a guy from Michigan who is here for a year, he is a civil engineer and hopes to do more with his degree but is ok with teaching English in a Christian school for now. We met at church, he is one of the few people who is near my age, and lots of fun. Sarah is a girl who got here about 3 weeks ago and is teaching English through a NGO called JWOC for the next 8 months. She is just out of high school, we met through Neang, who’s husband is friends with Sarah’s grandfather. She is not a Christian but has said that she is interested, she was so excited when she found out that I was a Christian and has a lot of questions she went to a youth group in the states but wants to wrap her mind around some stuff before she actually makes a commitment to Christ. So we all went out to the Baray along with the Family I am living with. It was SO MUCH FUN we got in the water about 10:00 and swam out to where it was cold and deep and floated around all hanging on a tube and talking and learning that people from Michigan are called Michiganders and other odd facts about Michigan. One of the kids is doing a report and story board on Michigan so it was very helpful info. All us kids played and talked out there and when we finally came in it was 1:00 so we had to go cuz we only rented the shade shack for half a day. We came home and ate good homemade tacos and then us kids washed the dishes and made brownies and all took turns eating the leftover batter and talking about how we all say things like Collage, Nascar and many others, it was hours of entertainment as we started to feel our sunburns a little. We even watched a little bit of a comedy act (Brian Regan) that I have on my computer. After all of that, my stomach was sore from all the laughing the whole next day.
Wednesday
We started to get back into the routine of school. That afternoon I went to coffee with Sarah, we rode bikes and this time I was the tour guide. Bike riding has been very nice since I found a bike that is tall enough for me and pumped up tires. Coffee was fun and we are getting to know each other better and what a better way than over a lovely cup of Coffee.
Thursday
After school Ellen and Marianne took me to get a manicure as girl bonding time. It was fun and the place we went to was very very clean. After that Scott Ellen and another couple went out to dinner and I kept all 9 kids it was a lot of fun and felt so much more normal for me.
Friday
We got school done early and went swimming after that Sarah and I went out to dinner at Burger with no Boarders it was amazing!!!!!!!!!1 like better than a lot of burgers in the states but so worth it and now we are watching a movie and chillaxin on the couch which I must say is very nice.
I am sure that you can see the people who I would ask prayer for and pray that the Lord would just give me wisdom and the right words to say and that what I do would point people toward the Lord. Thank you for all the prayers keep them going it is such a blessing.
Sorry it has taken so long for an update. SSSSSooooooooooooooo where should I start. Last Saturday we had a Crocodile Feed, we had grilled Croc and Croc Curry. They were both pretty good, but the Curry was my favorite.
Sunday we went out to a floating village and they had a dedication of the Barge(a floating basketball court) they will be using it as part of the ministry to the people nearby. It was kinda funny cuz the kids said that after they are on the barge and have played for awhile their backs and legs start to hurt cuz they are so use to having to crouch down and squat in their boats and don’t get to stretch often. It was funny, they were talking about how big our calves are and how the guy who is working with us is also getting big legs cuz he is on land often.
Monday
I had the day off and went to the Naritas and we went swimming which is always fun, The boys had a blast and Baby Kai loves the water. One of the funny things that happened was that Ben decided that it would be cool if he used the strings from his swim shorts to tie himself to the ladder in the pool as we were getting ready to leave, he was able to get it untied and figured he needed a bigger challenge. So this time the knot was so good that Lara had to work on it for a couple of minutes, this is one of those situations that you are dying laughing but you don’t want to encourage them so you are tying not to smile or laugh out loud. Then that just makes you laugh harder and it is this sputtering laugh that you cant cover up, Aww good times good times.
Tuesday
We took another day off , for Pechunben ( I don’t think I spelled that right) it is kind of like the Cambodian Halloween. The people believe that they have to make food sacrifices at seven different temples in their areas so that their dead ancestor don’t starve. This is a time of year when everyone goes back to their families village/town. That is how I understand it, so it is a national holiday and we got it off so that we could hang out with friends.
We went out to the Baray (man made lake), it is where all the wealthy Cambodians go. I don’t think I have told you all about Jon, he is a guy from Michigan who is here for a year, he is a civil engineer and hopes to do more with his degree but is ok with teaching English in a Christian school for now. We met at church, he is one of the few people who is near my age, and lots of fun. Sarah is a girl who got here about 3 weeks ago and is teaching English through a NGO called JWOC for the next 8 months. She is just out of high school, we met through Neang, who’s husband is friends with Sarah’s grandfather. She is not a Christian but has said that she is interested, she was so excited when she found out that I was a Christian and has a lot of questions she went to a youth group in the states but wants to wrap her mind around some stuff before she actually makes a commitment to Christ. So we all went out to the Baray along with the Family I am living with. It was SO MUCH FUN we got in the water about 10:00 and swam out to where it was cold and deep and floated around all hanging on a tube and talking and learning that people from Michigan are called Michiganders and other odd facts about Michigan. One of the kids is doing a report and story board on Michigan so it was very helpful info. All us kids played and talked out there and when we finally came in it was 1:00 so we had to go cuz we only rented the shade shack for half a day. We came home and ate good homemade tacos and then us kids washed the dishes and made brownies and all took turns eating the leftover batter and talking about how we all say things like Collage, Nascar and many others, it was hours of entertainment as we started to feel our sunburns a little. We even watched a little bit of a comedy act (Brian Regan) that I have on my computer. After all of that, my stomach was sore from all the laughing the whole next day.
Wednesday
We started to get back into the routine of school. That afternoon I went to coffee with Sarah, we rode bikes and this time I was the tour guide. Bike riding has been very nice since I found a bike that is tall enough for me and pumped up tires. Coffee was fun and we are getting to know each other better and what a better way than over a lovely cup of Coffee.
Thursday
After school Ellen and Marianne took me to get a manicure as girl bonding time. It was fun and the place we went to was very very clean. After that Scott Ellen and another couple went out to dinner and I kept all 9 kids it was a lot of fun and felt so much more normal for me.
Friday
We got school done early and went swimming after that Sarah and I went out to dinner at Burger with no Boarders it was amazing!!!!!!!!!1 like better than a lot of burgers in the states but so worth it and now we are watching a movie and chillaxin on the couch which I must say is very nice.
I am sure that you can see the people who I would ask prayer for and pray that the Lord would just give me wisdom and the right words to say and that what I do would point people toward the Lord. Thank you for all the prayers keep them going it is such a blessing.
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