#178 - Esther, a Wedding, and a Countdown!

Vol.# 178

“Bong, I was thinking of you as I wiped my baby’s bottom!” 

That was the beginning of a conversation with Bopha, my Khmer sister here, with whom I have been helping with English using our daily reading from the Bible. So I was not sure how that sentence was going to finish! 

So wisely, not guessing her meaning, I asked, “Ahh, why were you thinking of me, Oune Srey (younger sister)?” 

She responded, “I was thinking of how you said that reading the Bible can be fun, and it is the voice of God, and I found out that I can ‘hear’ the Bible through my Ipad! I can do my work and listen to the Bible at the same time!” 

So I said to her, “My skin is not as soft as the baby’s bum?” 

She said, “What?” 

Yes, sometimes jokes cannot be explained, so we moved on to more spiritual talk! 

But oh, how happy I was to hear her say this. We had just finished reading Esther and she was so excited that we read the whole story in one sitting. I had picked through some verses to give her the background. Esther, like her, had lost her parents and she came from a disadvantaged background but she was not lost to God. God had a plan for Esther but she had to obey her uncle Mordecai’s instructions. Bopha was so happy to read the story in Khmer first and then in English. She noted that Esther had to prepare for ONE year before she even went in to see the king! So Bopha said to me, “Esther was young yet she was brave. and even if we are young God can still use us, use me, and guess what, Bong Srey? In Timothy God also talks about not despising the youth!”  

Wow! I had ‘goose bumps’ all over my arm! 

And to think I might have said yes to teaching one other class from 5:30 to 6:30 in the evenings (my other class finishes at 5) because there was a need, but I knew that teaching that particular class was not in my gifts, and I would have been just ‘filling’ in and not teaching it with joy and worship to Our God! 

Yesterday, one of the other workers from the coffee bar at the church (Yes, I used bar and church together!) came and sat and listened to us as he pretended to play on his phone! This particular young man does not speak much. Something is wrong with his vocal chords so his voice is high and soft at the same time, but as I shared some food with him two days ago, he seems to have ‘warmed’ up to me! OR, it could be because I was dancing at a wedding to Khmer songs last weekend! 

Wedding Prep With Bopha and Srey Luch

Bopha and I at Wedding

 Meychen, a beautiful woman leader got married to her Sokheang, an amazing Christian leader as well. It has been my honor to get to know Meychen as I volunteered at the church, and later when I began to teach English classes, I got to know Sokheang! Last weekend we celebrated their wedding and I had tears of joy as I witnessed how they washed each other’s feet as a sign of serving and humbling themselves with each other, and then consecutively washing his parents’ feet and then her parents’ feet, saying thank you to both for their sacrifices on their behalf. The wedding was in Khmer so I am sure I missed out a lot in the vows but my pastor’s wife was in tears and laughter as well as her husband, Pastor Jesse! Since the wedding a lot of the staff have come up to me randomly to say, “’Bong’, we enjoyed you dancing with us and having fun with us at the wedding!” People who had never talked to me before have been approaching me just to say, “Bong, so glad you came to the wedding and dressed up too!” 

Prayer Requests:

- Pray that all of the little details will get done before I leave.

     - We have the upcoming ASEAN Christian Conference from 13-16th of September. The theme is ‘Unshakeable”, so I ask for prayer for safe travels for all of the pastors and congregation coming in from all parts of Cambodia and also the speakers who will be travelling to Cambodia; and for the Word to sink in and to grow the faith of all of us there!

     - Pray for energy and wisdom as I am on the Info/Welcome team. My shift is from 6:30 to 12 noon with breaks in between. Then I am on the English-speaking prayer team for altar call/ prayer needs in the evening when the third session ends. Pray for discernment and wisdom as I wait to hear the Holy Spirit’s leading before praying with someone.

Two days ago, David and Janice Haskell came here, and I had the privilege of having Janice as my ‘guest’ teacher in my class. Janice responded to one of my student’s questions on life advice and talked about negative and positive influences. I asked each student to stand and say one positive thing about themselves, and as each stood and spoke I wrote the attribute on the board and I was touched to hear why they thought they had that particular attribute. For example, one said back in her village her community there told her mother that she should stop her daughter (my student) from going to school, that she would not do well, but her mother encouraged her to pursue her studies, and now this student not only goes to university in the evenings, but she also has a day job! So perseverancewas one of her attributes! 

SO blessed to spend time with my sister Janice and bro David! It was a short time as they returned two days after! 

Janice in Class - Freestyle :)

Janice in Class - Normal!

SO LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN TO TOUCHDOWN TO TORONTO on September 18th, NOT the 14th as I had previously stated. I pray that I will get a chance to meet all of you! We can set up ‘date’ times together, and I want to hear ALL about you and how I can rejoice, pray and just ‘be’ with you all!  

As I leave you I am playing …not your typical worship songs, but the one and the only Miss Aretha Franklin in the background, ‘I Say A Little Prayer For You’ followed up by ‘RESPECT’. I am playing all her songs and dancing as I remember Miss Aretha and the wonderful memories dating back to my childhood in Trinidad! I miss not having those familiar with her music here, so I cannot wait to sing and dance some AF songs when I return with you all! YES, YOU! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya 

#177 - The Khmer journey in learning and teaching continues

Vol.# 177

Elections are over and there was calm in the city. Many had gone to their hometown to vote, so for once there was no traffic jam in Phnom Penh! As I sit here in my living room listening to the sounds of construction and the businesses nearby, I am grateful for your prayers for my heart country. 

As I mentioned before in my last update, I am teaching an ‘open’ English class, meaning the literacy levels of the students vary from a beginner to intermediate level of understanding. I may have new students who drop in for a class if they are free, so there is a ‘revolving’ door of students. 

However, in the midst of this, I have a core group of 12 students who come regularly to class, so I am able to build relationships with this core group. They come early just to chat because most have to rush off to university classes after, or to the next class located in the church but they need to eat before the next class! 

I spoke of a young girl who works at the information desk in the afternoons but cannot go to English class so I decided to help her after my class at 5. I asked her to pick one verse from her Bible reading that she would have read in Khmer, and I would pick one Bible verse from my daily reading that would have been in English. When we got together, I would read my verse in Khmer from the Khmer Bible on my IPad and she would read her one verse in English. I would then write my verse in Khmer, and she would write hers in English, and then we respectively read it to each other and then tried to explain the verse in the language we are learning! 

I thought she would have forgotten that we had decided to do this since we made the plans before the 3-day break, but she was ready with her verse. It was so cool that she wanted to read at least 4 more verses in English and then discuss what it meant, and how sometimes in Khmer translation, the meaning of the verse is not always the same as in the English Bible! 

Bopha and the Khmer teacher I am helping

I was asked to come in at 12 to meet with another Khmer teacher to act as his ‘resource’ in helping him to understand some of the phrases and content of the comprehension exercises he is preparing for his class. I have said yes to help and he has also been helping me to translate into Khmer some of the grammar instructions. Meanwhile, I am still meeting with my Khmer tutor early in the mornings for about an hour to hour and a half. 

Praise: 
Thank you for praying for tutor #1 (Teacher Keriya) who had surgery. I had spoken to her the day after on the phone and she was recuperating well. I will go to visit her with tutor #2 (Teacher Rady) when she is able to have visitors.
 
Prayer Requests: 
- Please continue to pray for Bopha whom I am helping after my classes, that she would not get discouraged by her lack of time to learn English, but that she would be surprised by how God is opening up her ears and eyes and mind to learn English! (Using Prov. 20:12 to show her that God gives us eyes and ears to hear not only English but His voice.) 


- Please pray for a new place for my parents in Toronto! Still looking for better place for them to live! 

Praise: 
I have had the same tuk tuk driver consecutively 3 times 
to take me from teaching to home, and the conversation is always in Khmer! It is funny because driver is talking away, facing forward, so his voice is lost in the sounds of the traffic and I have to always bend forward to catch what he is saying or asking! But I am glad to have this ‘extra’ time of listening, even though I probably hear and understand 40 percent!


I am looking forward  to seeing you all in person from September 14th! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya