Tuesday 24 November 2015

#83 - Stalling on mini hill, ants infestation, giggling fits and no phone!

Vol.# 83

Stalling on mini hill, ants infestation, giggling fits and no phone!

So there I was in the tuk tuk on my way to church! As we were going up the rocky incline, the motor stalled!

And just like in Cambodia, moto drivers behind us, tuk tuks and cars, everyone was shouting advice and yes, getting off their motos to help push the tuk tuk with me in it onto the main street!

That is one of the many reasons I love the Khmer. 
They do not know my driver but they are ready to help! Well, we stayed in the hot sun for about 8 minutes or so until Mr. Phat, my driver, hailed a passing tuk tuk and I was handed over to be taken to church! I did pray for him and for the moto to get started, but God had other plans as I left him working on the engine!

I got to sit next to my former students, who now wait to see where I sit (usually in the same place!), and they sit with me and worship our Lord. I took my headphones off for the last 5 minutes of the service to test my listening and comprehension! I wish I could tell you that I understood everything, but no. They, being the kids they are, kept trying to tell me to stand when I shouldn’t during the service, when Pastor Jesse gave instructions on who needed prayer for certain issues! Good to see them being so relaxed even at my expense!

My joyful spirit is being sorely tested with an infestation of ants! They are everywhere, even on my bed, and no, I am NOT eating in bed! When I leave a loaf of bread for 20 minutes on the table, I come back to see the ants having a feast! The cleaner bought a half-kilo of rice for me, left in a bag on the counter, and yes, when I opened it, ants were swimming in it! So the Khmer way is to take it and put it in the sun so we did, and eventually the ants left! But I walk into the kitchen and they are on the floor and even as I write this, I am squirming cause ants are all around me!
So if any one of you has any ideas on how to get rid of them without using chemicals I am all ears!

School: Thank you for your prayers last week. Unfortunately, I had a giggling fit that spread to three of the students and I was snorting and crying! I lost it especially when one of the students, a normally quiet and staid man had tears in his eyes because he could not stop laughing! It was all due to one of the students who kept changing his name! We were so confused that when I was asked my name, (in Khmer of course), I responded that my name was not ____, which made my partner go off into giggles. Then her husband looks at us and says, “and there we go, downhill…”.
I felt so bad about giggling that I went down and apologized in Khmer to the poor teacher who did not know how to handle 6 giggling students! 

But God gave me wisdom over my learning. Some of you had prayed that I would get creative or that God would show me how to learn. I listened to the other students and found out that they either had a tutor in addition to being in the classroom or that they lived with a Khmer family so they got to practise the pronunciation! I asked the co-principals at Gateway school if it would be possible to have one of their teachers to be my tutor for phonics twice a week, at least just until I am able to move my mouth and tongue and recognize the different consonant and vowel sounds! I think I am the first to ask for a tutor from the school, so they agreed that starting next week, (this week is a holiday, Buddhist water festival for one week!) I can do Tuesdays and Thursdays for one hour! I will pay the tutor the hourly rate of six dollars.

Funny, but in my Bible reading I was reading about going back to the fundamentals of our faith, and that affirmed that I should make sure I know the fundamentals of Khmer! I love it when Jesus confirms my next step! At same time, I will ask one of my Khmer friends, who needs the money, to spend one hour with me doing conversational Khmer. We are learning the formal way of speaking for when we write but we need the informal because that really is the heart language! 
So thank you for your prayers!

Phone: My charger died which meant my phone died! It is amazing how much a phone is needed here! I could not call a moto or tuk tuk driver to come and take me to the phone store, could not message anyone, so thankfully I had my laptop so I could send an email or Skype with someone else! I went out and got the wife of the moto driver who takes me to school; she speaks no English and I made the mistake of saying a couple of words in Khmer and she rapidly spoke to me in Khmer for the next 5 minutes while I smiled and nodded!
Anyway she understood “Sovanna Mall”, which is where I had to go to get a new charger! Unfortunately, they did not have anything in stock but I got the rep there to come out and give instructions on how to get to another store! We started going (and let me tell you I prayed all the way, I saw trucks, other motos and tuk tuks coming my way while my driver was oblivious to the mayhem she was causing and she was totally ignoring everyone!) and then she stopped when she realized we had to go on the main street. She was not wearing a helmet (I was) and the police could charge her for not obeying the helmet law. So there we were at a corner with other moto drivers, and one of the men just reaches over and lends her his helmet! 
Again, you have to love the generosity of my Khmer family!

However the good will ended there when I got to the second store! They had the worst customer service ever, they could not tell me where other stores were; they only had knowledge of their store! Let me be real here, I just looked at them and said “Wow, have a nice day!’ but it was not in a nice tone of voice! I felt convicted by our Lord when I got back on the moto; I was frustrated, but that is the test, on how we respond to others in our frustration. I failed that one!

But God in His mercy allowed one friend to come, and he got me a tuk tuk driver, who for three hours today, took me everywhere I needed to go! He was the slowest driver I ever had. I had the urge to drive the moto but he was so caring! He made sure he opened the gate for me with the keys and waited until I locked the gate before leaving!

Prayer requests:
-That God would lead me to that one person to have conversation with each day. I felt led to ask one so waiting on the answer before going to option of 2!

-Former students: All of them want to get together. I need to find a Khmer place so we can all eat together and just have fun sharing our lives. They usually want to go for pizza but their way is far too expensive! I need to teach them the value of just liming (to you non-Trinis, that means hanging out!).

Praise God: I felt He had me do something for two couples for whom I tithed towards financially and prayerfully, and thank God I did what He told me to do. It was needed!

Please keep on sharing your lives with me. I love seeing the pictures of your Christmas trees and décor! I am now searching for a Christmas tree here! I do not have a dining room table or chairs yet but I do need a tree! I have asked for a Cross to be made so I could put it up by my prayer area, so people would know to whom I pray and worship, Jesus Christ!

I now have to go and rescue my books from the ants!

For those who would still like to come along and be my dance partner, I am at ninety percent of my monthly support! (Email me on how you can join!).

Thank you and Praise God!

Love, 
His Warrior and Disciple, submitting to be His dance partner here in Cambodia,


Your servant, Vidya

Thursday 19 November 2015

#82 - Meet and Greet!

Vol.# 82
Praise God!
After I sent my last email, I remember coming home after class and I could not wait to do my homework! Yes, am I still having trouble differentiating certain sounds? Yes, but now instead of getting all stressed out, patience is coming in and I am asking for creative ways to hear and remember the sounds!

Last Sunday in church, 20 former students from Rescue greeted me! They came to church, so it was chaos as they were exiting from the first service and I was going in! I was being grabbed, hugged and lifted up! 
Yes, amazingly some of my students got taller and I stayed the same! Lol :)
We had a visiting ministry couple who preached on marriage and it was focused on how to have and keep your marriage healthy in a God way! 
Curiously enough I was able to practise the vocabulary that I had learned that day: "I am not married, I do not have a boyfriend, I am not engaged," etc.! 
Hilarious! 
So if you all know me, I was practising that on unsuspecting persons in the 5 min. meet-and-greet during the service! Then they asked for those who are single to put their hands up! Again, I did not just put my hands up, I was waving them!  

My students who came to the second service were laughing and saying, “Cher, so glad to see you! “

I saw Marie (Makyeay) for the first time at church and we hugged and then the church service began! Her son-in-law Blaine is here with some of the Directors from Rescue and others, so it was good to see them all even if for a couple of minutes!

Prayer Requests:
-Continuous for my health; presently on antibiotics; I have a cough.

-For my language studies!

Please continue to share what is going on in your life as well! 

Going in with Him in anticipation of what He is going to do today!

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, submitting to be His dance partner here in Cambodia,

Your servant, Vidya

**(If anyone is led to come on board to 'dance' with me, I am at 70 percent of my monthly support! )

Saturday 14 November 2015

#81 - Sounds and Health

Vol.# 81

I am on my balcony, reading His Word, and I look at the building across from me and see students with their teachers in class! 
I did not know what the building was; I thought it was an ex-pats apartment building; but now I saw only Khmer and movable blackboards and the desks and chairs! 
It dawns on me that education is so prized here, yet it is so expensive and for many, not an option! 
I am reading from Titus 2 on teaching sound doctrine and I look at the students and again I am excited by the possibilities for the Khmer!
I need to buckle down and study and learn the heart language so that I can be part of that plan of God to teach ‘sound doctrine’! I’ve had to decide on getting a helper here; Dane was working at Lois’ place when I stayed there last year, she is in her 20’s.
My homework!
You know how you are told NOT to write on the walls? Well this is how Khmer do it! This is my blackboard! I can write on tiled wall and then rub it off!

Yes, that is why I need to get my place ready for living this week, so I can be fully into my studies! I know that at the end of the day I will be exhausted but I have to carefully plan out meals and times of rest. 
I need to reconfigure my plans for the living/dining room area that will be my study area as well! 
Do I buy more fans or start to save to put aside money for a/c? 
For those not living here that may seem to be a luxury but I am being wiser and planning for the long run and need to conserve my energy and my body as much as possible! 
It is only cool late at night or very early in the morning. Mosquitoes are loving me at night time out on the balcony and right now I am sweating! 
Am I going to be “Khmer” and just have a mat with cushions as my eating area? Not sure yet!

AHH! A soft breeze is now blowing!

Prayer requests:

-Learning sounds: I covet your prayers for the third hour of study that begins at 11. That is the phonics time and I am beginning to dread it (being real with you). I need my ears to hear the slight differences in sound so that I can look at how the words are spelt and then use it when I am reading! I realize the foundation bricks, which I am building, is very important and I do not want to do more sounds until I understand how to say /form my mouth and tongue to say the sounds!

-Health: I finally had to go to clinic. The coughing and running nose was not getting any better. I had to see the doctor who was only there between 11 and 12, so I went to the first ¾ part of class and then literally sped to the doctor (I had to miss the phonics part of the class session!).

-Language classes: Everyone thought it was a tough one yesterday. We learnt numbers but there is a formal way of speaking (that is what is used when writing) and an informal way, which is how you would speak on everyday basis! So you shorten the words. Pray that I would learn the informal way faster please! I have begun to speak in Khmer to the young man who looks after the motos at the school, just to practise, and I also chat with the Khmer receptionist. Pray that I would find favour with them as well as other foreign students who are in the higher levels, that I would be brave to speak in Khmer with them. What I love about this school is that the students from higher levels all speak in Khmer during the break time with the staff! That is so cool!
Thank you for allowing me to be part of your lives. Please keep sending me your prayer requests and telling me about your lives!

Love,
His Warrior and Disciple, submitting to be His dance partner here in Cambodia,

Your servant, Vidya

 (P.S. I am at 70 percent of my monthly support, would you consider becoming one of my dance partners? Please email me to show you how!)

Friday 6 November 2015

#80 - Sounds and Spray Paint!

Vol.# 80
Thank you for your prayers this week.

For the first two days of classes I had to wear a mask to class because I was coughing so much, but God answered your prayers in that HE gave me enough strength throughout the morning so that by the time I went home, I just rested! 

And today, which is Friday, my third day of classes, my head cleared! Unfortunately, learning the Khmer consonants and vowels  (33 of them) was a fog! I could not distinguish the sounds of ‘k’ (there are 4 different sounds!). So this weekend I have to work on that! I am picking up the sentences and practising on all and sundry!

Last week I bought a couch and my prayer chair for the balcony and had to pray for the workers, who, with ropes like pulleys pulled the chair up to the 3rd floor! That was not an easy task! They had to go out on the roof on the 2nd floor to pull up the chair from street level while avoiding the electrical lines overhead! Then they scraped one of the chairs so came back to ‘fix it up’ which meant spray-painting it!
My couch!

My Prayer Chair!
Can you guess what happened?

Yes, spray paint all over the floor on the balcony and yes on the wall (black paint). I had to breathe in and out before telling the guys who just kept smiling and saying “som doh’’ (sorry in English) to clean it up! I actually went back to the place to let the lady know and she was glad I came to tell her. 

So for now, no dining room table or chairs, just a wide couch! I got curtains that are being made right now, so I will put them up on the weekend! I also got another bamboo wardrobe for my clothes so I can start to take them out of the suitcase! Yay! Channak and Jonny, in exchange for a meal, put up my curtain rods (bamboo rods again) and a place to hang my towels! SO now instead of dripping everywhere looking for my towels, I can actually just reach out and grab them!

I still need to put up my mosquito net. Since I was sick, I could not use my a/c, and the mosquitoes love me so I spent most of my night trying to huddle under the sheets!

I thank God for all of you.

I have been spending my time listening to Pastor Sunder’s messages and going into the different links by C. Yuan and others, educating myself on the topics being spoken of. Here in Cambodia, there is such an abuse of God-ordained sex within God-ordained marriages; you have to have His wisdom and grace when you are confronted with the distortions by man here!

Prayer request: continued prayer requests as I battle consonants and vowel sounds! I need to hear the sounds so that I can say the words correctly. I want to have the correct foundation for the language. One surprise here is that I am not only learning how to speak the language, but also how to write the script! So however God leads you to pray creatively for me, I do so welcome your prayers!

I went with Dong, one of my ‘brothers’ here, to the Post Office to open a P.O. Box! Khmer do not have mailboxes, so I had to go to the central post office in Phnom Penh! Please email me to get the P.O. Box address! At least I have a P.O. Box for the year and paid only $15.00 US!

It is raining again, and the mosquitoes are coming in so I have to rush off to close the windows! Please continue to let me know how we can dance together in His partnership in life!

Love,
His Warrior and Disciple, submitting to be His dance partner here in Cambodia,
Your servant, Vidya



(P.S. I am at 70 percent of my monthly support, would you consider becoming one of my dance partners?)

Website: www.tgcfcanada.org 
Designation: VIDYA CAMBODIA (reference # 451)

My needs: $2000 / month (**70% has come in)

20 donors who pledge $100 per month


40 donors who pledge $50 per month

80 donors who pledge $25 per month
(Founded in 2002, The Great Commission Foundation is a registered public foundation with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), established to promote Christian & relief of poverty in Canada and around the world. Please note: donors need to request a receipt for donations of less than $50/ year.)