#165 - Urgent Prayer Requests for Final Project

Vol.# 165

Greetings from my balcony here in Phnom Penh where I am surrounded by hundreds of rain flies! 
Seriously, they are everywhere now but that is not what the prayer request is all about. 

I have one final big project here: doing research and creating 3 situations with 5 leading questions that would garner info on the subject: Comfort.  

Yes, and it has to be all in Khmer. I have to interview at least 8 to 10 Khmer people and from their responses, choose one situation from the 3 that I have created and have questioned them about, and focus on that one for my big final presentation. 
This includes PowerPoint slides, a vocabulary list with new expressions or new vocab for the class, an exercise comprehension lesson that I would give out to the class, and a role play that I would do with my supervising tutor. 

Prayer Requests: 

Pray that the situations I have created will be clearly explained by me in Khmer to the interviewees. 

Pray that they will be able to express themselves freely (I will be taping them). 

Pray for my ears to be open to listen and then to respond. You never know who I might be ‘comforting’ as I do my research!

Pray for help here with PowerPoint slides (Yikes!). 


Pray that as I practise, that my pronunciation will not deter interviewees from understanding the questions.


Pray that I will be able to ask ‘prompting’ questions, for wisdom and words to do that in Khmer. 


{Add anything else you can think of!}


Thank you so much for your prayers for and with me. 
It is a COMFORT to know you are dancing with me! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya 

#164 - Prison Fellowship Options and the Loveseat sofa!

Vol.#164

Thank you for your prayers over my meeting at Prison Fellowship.

The first thing that Director Sirivuth said was, "Your hair is pink!"
Then he said, "Oh, Happy New Year, sister!"

For the first hour we discussed possible areas of my involvement:

1) IT support: PFC needs someone who can help make and edit video clips from different staff around Cambodia. Those of you who know me are probably rolling on the floor with laughter as you read this. I told the Director that I did not even know how to use my phone properly! He nodded and quickly moved on to... 

2) Teaching English: PFC wants teachers from the government so that they are accountable for certification for those learning English. They want the government to recognize any certification given to the prisoners. 

3) Foreign Prisoners Visit Project: PFC needs a volunteer coordinator to facilitate with volunteers who visit the expat prisoners. 

4) Teaching English in the community: PFC has a plan to establish English classes in churches in outlying areas, where the expat will go in once every 5 days to help with the curriculum and class setup. 

5) Church relations: PFC needs a Khmer-speaking volunteer to coordinate with church partners teaching the Bible in 28 prisons across the country. And finally... 

6) Monday Monthly Preaching: PFC needs a volunteer pastor/teacher to preach to the PFC staff in Phnom Penh once a month on a Monday to encourage and disciple staff to grow spiritually in Christ. 

Promptly after our meeting we went into the other meeting in progress, where 6 of the staff were already singing a Khmer chorus. Then the Director said, "Now we will have Sister Vidya to share a message." 
I was thrown by the fact that they all had pencil and paper in hand to write down things I was going to say! Because you all had prayed for me, I shared about our identity in Christ and reaffirmed His blessings upon each one of them, asking them to write down the date of their birthday and then looking at each one and affirming that on that day GOD the Father meant for them to be born because HE had a plan for each of them. I reminded them of the importance of keeping close to Him through reading His Word daily and setting aside time to pray each day. I am sure I said other things but it is a blur right now! I even forgot to take a picture of us all! But I got an email from the Director thanking me for sharing and giving me the above points to pray over.

One of the things I wanted to do on my list of things for this New Year was to initiate ‘outings’ for myself. I needed to start doing things on my own. So I decided to go to the movies here on my own one Saturday night. 
So I got my tuk tuk and off I went! I bought my ticket and went up to the ‘theatre’ number to wait for movie to start. I was wondering why the other 6 people were looking at me and smiling until I looked up and saw that it said ‘Couple Hall 05'. Still, it did not register until I reread the sign and went back to the counter where I purchased the ticket and she said the movie was only showing at that particular hall. When I went in there were ‘loveseat sofas'!

I started to giggle and thought, "Oh yeah, this could only happen to me!" This is the first time going to movie on my own and I end up in a ‘couples hall’! 
But, hey, for $3 and from the pic you can see it was a very comfortable seat! 
Now I understood why I had only a few choices of seats cause I had one of the 5 ‘single’ seats in the theatre! 

I also wanted to be more intentional with the relationships God has given to me with my former students. So as of 2 weeks ago, I started meeting with each one after church. What surprised me with the second student was that we were eating in a public restaurant, and I asked about prayer requests that I would pray over when I got home, and this particular student said, "Oh Bong Srey, Holy Spirit Sister (What can I tell you, that is another nickname I was given!), I want you to pray NOW!" 
We were sitting in a booth and he came over to sit next to my side and closed his eyes as I prayed. He thanked me afterwards and said, "Oh, our meeting was not as bad as he thought it was going to be!" 
Apparently he had talked to the first student I had met with and he thought I was going to ask him the same questions. But I said, "No, I pray usually before meeting with each of you, and sometimes it will be different, so do not try to compare notes!" 
LOL! 

And today, when my friend, Annette, who used to teach at Rescue met with one of our former translators and students from there, we were just beaming because of the growth we have seen in him. He offered to buy lunch for the two of us, even though his salary is lower, but that is what he wanted to do, so we said yes. Then what a delight it was to sit and listen as he talked about the upcoming birth of his first child and his work, asking us for advice, and then allowing us to speak into his life. 
What a blessing that was! 

But I need to go now even though I am on the rooftop. It is windy, mosquitoes are out to feast on me, and my housemate is having a ball with the mosquito racket downstairs swiping as they come! 

Prayer Request: 
Pray that I continue to have a hunger for my Khmer lessons. It is an exhausting schedule for the next 10 weeks as I finish up my last formal level of language studies. My day begins at 7 and finishes around 5 when either my housemate or I would cook dinner, but then afterwards there is homework and study time. 

I just finished the first week of this new ‘season’ and it is exhausting but also exhilarating! I have a LONG way to go in listening and then responding, but it is a lifelong learning experience. 

Prayer Request: 
Please pray for my parents back home; for a suitable place for them, either at a residence for the elderly or a more suitable place for them to live! 

Please continue to send your stories and requests! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya 

#163 - A New's Year's Tale of a Pink Flamingo?

Vol.# 163

Mmm... I seem to be hearing the chirping of birds as my ex-students and their girlfriends, my housemate’s family and co-workers, all come to the house to celebrate Christmas! 

Where are the birds? 
Then I remember. Last week I went to my favourite ‘salon’ to give Christmas gifts of doughnuts to the girls who work there (some are from Hagar’s House), and to Jeri, who owns the salon. I have been building relationships with them for over 2 years now, and when I dropped by, they said they wanted to give me a gift. 
It would be a hair colour since that is the most expensive thing to be done there. I was overwhelmed, so I said, "Okay, let us put red colour on a few strands, just a little bit, not too much!" 
They said, No problem, big sister! Just close your eyes and relax and we will also give you a head massage!" 
Yay! 
However when I opened my eyes I was again overwhelmed, but for a different reason! 
It was PINK, not just any pink, but a kind of FUCHSIA PINK, and not a few strands but CLUMPS! 

As I looked at my hair and the obvious joy of everyone else in the salon, with the girls repeating, "Oh Bong Srey (older sister), we love it and we did it strong so that it would not wash out easily." 

... All I could think about was, "What hats do I have to wear and I guess wearing red to church the following Sunday for Christmas was out of the question!"

Then again I looked at the faces of Jeri and the girls, and their obvious joy of giving me this gift of ‘colour’, and this time I just laughed and hugged and thanked them! 
Hence the sounds of birds...because my ex-students think I look like a bird! 

One of them changed the words to the song ‘Mary Did You Know’ to ‘Vidya, did you know that your hair looks like a parrot or a flamingo?’ 
Oy vey and sweet mama!
We were all just cracking up! 

The pink clumps-side view

The pink clumps-front view

I also had an early Christmas breakfast with a pal who is an introvert and was wearing a hat when we met. I had to explain the reason for the hat because my pal does not like to attract attention. When I took off the hat, the waiters/waitresses (all Khmer) were like, "Bong, we love your hair!" 

After an hour my pal said, "You know, your hair colour is growing on me, it does not look that bad!" Then we giggled because I showed a pic of me wearing a cap and you can still see the pink because of the strands of hair falling in front of my face! 

Even the hat or cap could not hide the pink flamingo

On the 26th was the Christmas celebration with ex-students, their girlfriends, my housemate and his family and co-workers, and mutual friends from my church here. The highlights were the girls in my room wrapping up the gifts for the guys, and then my ‘couple’ friends from church in my room then wrapping up gifts for the girls. Then my housemate had a game in which you had to recount the birth of Jesus giving as much details as possible from the Bible within a certain time limit. His brother, who is a pastor, was the ‘judge’ to see who would win the prize. I was amazed that 6 of the guys put their hands up to play the game immediately (having a prize was an incentive I am sure!), and then the fun began! 
It is amazing how 2 minutes can either be too long or too short to narrate a story! It was all done in Khmer, so it was fun for me to see how much I could understand from the narration. I think that was a great way to combine the heart of why we celebrate Christmas, and the get-together with others (The reason for the season.). 

I had talked about being more strategic about get-togethers here at the house and this was a perfect example! 


My housemate Channak and I also got an opportunity to present a gift basket to the landlady and her family, putting in a Khmer Bible Christmas story with stickers for the kids, and scarves and goodies for everyone else. We had presented the gifts in a basket, and two days after the basket was at my door, but this time filled with mangoes as her present to us. 

The Bible Institute here published these books with stickers for the ‘kids’, and I got 3 extra ones for my usual tuk tuk driver and my house helper who has a 5 year old. I again wanted to give a little gift to pave the way to talk about the big gift of Jesus to you and to me. 

2 Guys and 1 Gal on a moto on the way to Christmas party at Rescue

Blessed and Happy New Year! 

As I write from my rooftop area, it is actually breezy and yes, a bit chilly but not as cold as the temperatures you all have been experiencing in Canada! 
As I look back on 2017 and look forward to 2018, I continue to be grateful for the support of my parents and siblings, and my RAC family and friends, as He continues to use me to be part of His plan of hope, redemption, and reconciliation here in my heart land of Cambodia. 

Reflection: 
I have had to change my thinking and expectations about celebrating Christmas here. My tradition has been to go to church on Christmas Eve; to help Mom with the baking and cooking on Christmas Eve; to actually sit down and eat together on the 25th; and to open presents and just have fun together as a family. 
Here it was business as usual on the 25th. 
Work and school continued, and many of my expat friends with their respective families and organizations celebrated together, or went back to their birth country or just went away on holiday! 
I had to recreate Christmas on my own, but then I got a great surprise, because after the Christmas Eve service, which was fantastic, we had a party and dancing in the courtyard of the church which borders the mall! And of course, the 26th was set aside to celebrate with my ‘second’ family of ex-students and friends here.  
Yes, the 25th is the date set aside, but I had to remember why we set this day apart and to celebrate the reason for the season. As I watched the fireworks and spent time with Him, I had to rethink about friendships and healthy boundaries; which relationships HE wanted me to focus on, and which ones regrettably I had to release. As I was praying about my last level of language studies which begins on Jan.8th and continues for 10 intense weeks, I asked God to open up my ears, but this time to not only hear the Khmer language, but also the ‘heart’ of those He has given to me: the unspoken language of needs and how I can be His servant and prayer warrior for those He has given to me and will give to me in 2018. 


I have switched from being on the information desk at church as a volunteer to the connect team which basically is: you stand at the front of the church and pray with someone, then you go into another room to do follow up. We have little snacks in there, and we just continue the conversation with those who come up to ask for prayer. 
The first time I hesitated to go up, but was urged by one of the leaders to come up and pray with this young woman. She understood English and was actually speaking in English to me. She said, I never had a father, I do not know who I am even though she was in her early twenties and unlike girls of her age who asked for a boyfriend or a husband, she asked for a job where she can earn a proper living for her siblings.  “A Father’s Blessing’ was so needed for her. I remember when Pastor Sunder did a sermon on this, and how many people came forward to receive a father’s blessings, something they had strived for even though some of congregants who went up for prayer were in their 40s, 50s and 60s! I was able to pray God the Father’s blessings on this young woman, and I am thankful that God has used this to motivate me even more to learn and speak Khmer. 


As I dance into the New Year, can I ask you to continue to ‘dance’ with me in financial support and prayer? 
I thank you for your sacrifices on my behalf here in Cambodia! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya