#192 - Critical Prayers Needed for New Place and Unbearable Heat

Vol.# 192

Here I am squirrelled away in a corner at the coffee shop! It is around 10 in the morning and at 7:30 this morning the power went. The government has instituted rotating power outages throughout the province and usually we have no power either from 7:30 to 12 or from 12:30 to 6. For the past week the power has been going in the afternoons, so I was surprised midweek when they changed the schedule. 

We are heading into the hottest season and month, April. Temperatures are already hitting the 90’s here. This morning when I went up to the rooftop to get some relief, the sun was so strong and already so hot that I decided to grab a tuk tuk and head to a coffee shop. When I got here it was so packed with no room to sit and then I heard my name! It was my former tutor.  She invited me to share her booth and I knew this was a gift from God! It was wonderful to chat with her in Khmer and English and when she left, two other strangers asked to share my booth. Of course I said yes!

WITH TUTOR AND NEW FRIEND AT COFFEE SHOP

My heart is full with what God has been doing in the past few weeks! We had a group from Oshawa and together we held a friendship camp for 2 days. I was blessed to be asked to lead in the prayer time on the second day, and even more blessed to see those who did not know about Jesus, accept Him when Pastor Pisit issued the invitation on the first night.  We had 13 out of the 20 students who gave their lives to the Lord that night. 

At the dinner table before the talk, I sat next to one student who did not know how to tell her parents about her interest in Christ. I told her, why not show them? I told her something that Pastor Sam had shared one day at youth group. Before he became a Christian, he never used to wash the dishes, but after he received Jesus into his heart, he began to help and wash the dishes. So I suggested that she ‘live’ out her desire to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and reveal the changes in her own life.  At the service that night she was one of those who made a commitment to follow Jesus. 

I noticed another young man listening intently to Pastor Pisit when he shared about the Bible, its origin and the need to read and to get to know more about Jesus. In the same way they would learn about a person they liked on FB, by following them and reading about them, they could learn about Jesus by reading about Him in the Bible. At the end Pastor Pisit gave out the Book of John in Khmer.  The next morning I noticed this same young man as he sat waiting for his team at breakfast reading the book of John. When others were standing in line talking he was still reading it, absorbed in the words! I was moved to tears as I watched him hungrily reading His Word and I prayed in my heart that I would have the same hunger to read His Word each day. 

 

PONLOK WHO LOVES TO READ THE BOOK OF JOHN

What set apart this group from Oshawa for me (besides the fact that there were 2 Guyanese Canadians on the team!) was the word spoken by their pastor, Pastor Frank of Oshawa Community church. He reminded the Khmer that to live here in Phnom Penh was an honor since the city was being recognized as the new Singapore of the ASEAN countries! Many investors were looking to Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville as the two cities to invest and live in. He noted that as Khmer they should be sharing the wisdom from Acts 3:6, ...silver or gold I have none. But I can give you what I have in the name of Jesus Christ...’. So many times we think we have to give money or gifts to share the message of the Cross, and yes, in some circumstances that can be a bridge to the reason we are giving the gift, because of the heart of Jesus Christ. Yet we shy away from sharing about the significance of the Cross, of the real precious gift that He has given to us.  I appreciated hearing that, rather than the usual ‘prosperity’ messages that some preachers impart to nations who are poor. Yes, it was an honor being a part of this team, and also exhausting with the team chants and games and staying up for most of the night chatting away! 

OSHAWA FRIENDSHIP CAMP: CAN YOU FIND ME?

 

When I got home, there was no power, so no air conditioner or fan. I had just been in a tuk tuk for over 25 minutes in the heat, with no wind, so when my landlady asked me to ‘contribute’ to the water pump machine/generator, I confess that my reaction was not good! She could tell from my expression that I was not pleased because I was thinking this is something that should be taken care of by the landlord. They should have foreseen this may happen as it often does each year and precautions should have been taken! So as I was grumbling in my mind about my tenant rights, I decided to pray and open up my reading the next morning. Well, lo and behold, in Deuteronomy 2:5-6 it says ...do not contend with them...you are to pay them in money for food and water to drink. Yikes!  Who says the Word is not relevant and His voice is not current to our needs? It really was not the answer I was looking for, but God reminded me as I read the Lenten reading Pastor Sunder sent. Jesus gave up His rights, can I, Vidya, give up my ‘rights’ as well?  So I went downstairs and I met the landlady and her son and I showed them the verse from the Bible, and her son read it out loud in Khmer; then the grandmother came and the grandkids and they heard the verses read aloud again. I wanted them to know that I had changed my view, not because housemate Channak had talked to me (she had called him afterwards), but because of what Jesus said in the Bible! I had asked God what sum of money I should contribute and I gave it to her this time without grumbling.

Prayer Request: 

Tomorrow, which is Friday, there will be no power ALL DAY, so I pray for His energy and fresh ideas on how to keep cool! 

Prayer Request: 

Please pray for a new place. I know now, in spite of the landlady being so nice, that it is time to move. As I go up to the rooftop in the morning to pray north, south, east and west (those of you who know me know that I have no sense of direction, so it is right, left, front and back!) I ask God to show me the new location of my next home! 

Praise: 

I met with my teaching team and so happy to hear of the positive changes in the set up! I have my new schedule which would be teaching at 7 in the morning to 10:30 from Monday to Thursday. The afternoons will be for one-to-one interactions and I will still be volunteering at the info desk twice a month on Sundays.

PLANNING TEACHING SCHEDULE

Praise: 
I am thankful for the new connections made at Friendship camp and the discipling that is going to happen.

In this heat still dancing with Him! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya 

#191 - A Birthday Overflowing With Blessings

Vol.# 191

Wearing an official Cambodian football shirt while holding Canadian maple syrup

Sights and sounds assail my senses as I sit in my kitchen with bright sunlight streaming through; sounds of the birds singing mixed in with the sounds of the landlady washing her dishes in the outside pipe downstairs; the traffic on the street below and sounds of monks chanting from a street service somewhere in the neighbourhood. I am so thankful to Jesus the Christ who gave His life for me so that I can have eternal life!

As I woke up on my birthday morning (Mar.13) and was thinking of what I wanted to do, which was to find quiet time with Him so that I can prayerfully redo my personal mission and vision purpose, something I do every year on my birthday, my phone began to ‘ting’ with messages, and then calls from my parents, siblings and friends from far and near! I knew that finding that block of retreat time on that morning was not going to be possible as I thought ahead of the things I wanted to do. As I prayed, I sensed God asking, “My daughter, what is your birthday desire?” My immediate response before I had time to think was, “Child-like faith, Lord!” 

I think as the years go by, faith can become dependent on visible circumstances and not on invisible reality and the truth of Who God is, so for me, that became my ‘mantra’ or oft repeated phrase throughout the day! I still have to find that time away to really sit and redefine my personal vision and mission statements, and one of the ‘gifts’ I received from my mentor/sister/brother couple in Toronto was a day or 2 at a hotel here in Phnom Penh away from the hustle and bustle. So prayerfully that would be done soon!

In Toronto, my birthdate was usually celebrated with calls to Ramona S and Prem (who just got married to the amazing Michelle) whose birthdays are on the 13th as well. Here in Phnom Penh there were 4 others in my circle of influence whose birthdates were on the 13th as well. So with my housemate’s help, I was able to do a drive-by birthday cake delivery! This was the first year that I bought not just one but 3 birthday cakes for myself!  On each cake was “Happy Birthday to US!” LOL! 

The first cake was to my younger Khmer brother, Kimreach, who was very surprised when he received his cake on the night of the 12^th. I enlisted covert aid from Teacher Pov who is his cell group leader to present the cake to him.

With Kimreach before his baptism last year

The next cake was to the owner of the salon, Jheri, who employs my wonderful Khmer younger sisters from at-risk backgrounds. My housemate Channak took me on the moto to pick up another cake I had ordered to deliver to Jheri. The ironic thing was that Jheri had JUST left to go to the airport so we had a ‘stand-in’ for Jheri as I spoke to him on the phone and we sang Happy Birthday to each other!

  

Then Channak, who gave me the gift of his time and moto, took me to Pastor Pisit’s house that evening for dumplings and yes, another cake I had ordered for us! This time I actually ate a slice of it and it was a blessing to be with Krong and Liep (Krong is Pastor of church planting and Discipleship in the provinces) who were already there, to see Pisit and Seyha’s newest baby and 2 other children, and to see their new home! 

I wanted to go for ice cream, but Channak was like ‘no, it is kind of late’, and Liep, who had wanted to go, suddenly changed his mind and said, ‘yes, maybe another night!’ I got home and my housemate yelled out Happy Birthday for the last time and I went into my kitchen, and just as I was about to open the door to the TV room, it opened up and out streamed some of my former Rescue students with their girlfriends with a cake! They had been waiting for over 2 hours at my house! Channak had given the keys to the landlady who then passed it to them. So there we were on the rooftop celebrating again!

My former students surprising me! 

And yes, the celebration still went on the next morning with L and her husband D and J who form my core community group here. L, D and J were my former classmates at my language school, and D and L cooked breakfast while J and I ate and ate! The gift of time and good food are my top languages of love, and as I looked at my three friends, who blessed me with prayer and their words of affirmation, my heart was filled to overflowing. Being prayed over is such a honor that I feel doubly blessed! 

I also dropped by my school where Wyn and his wife Nisay operate the coffee cart business. Channak had called him to say I was going to pop in, so I got my free iced coffee with cake, and got a chance to say hi to some of the teachers too.

Prayer request: 

I am still praying over a house move. Most places, especially those rented by expats, are way over my budget. Please pray for His wisdom.

Prayer request: 

Next weekend a team from Oshawa is coming to do a ‘friendship camp’ with students and teachers from New Life Skills Centre, and I (the only expat teacher from here) was asked to participate. Pray for bonding and God-led conversations for that weekend.

Praise: 

I had been asking for a change in scheduling in teaching. I prefer the early mornings as the traffic is lighter, and there is less pollution to inhale. So from next semester which is in a couple of weeks, the head of the English program is designing a conversation/office skill class for me that will be a ‘closed’ class, so numbers will be at 12. I can go deeper with these students, which is easier than with an open class of 25-35 students.

Praise: 

We now have an English worship service at 3 on Sundays at my church. I remember praying early on at our Ratanak meetings back in Toronto from 2009 for God to raise up Khmer workers to go internationally to talk about Jesus. The Khmer have an opportunity here to learn and listen in English in a Christian context so that they can go share with English speaking counterparts. I still volunteer at the second worship Khmer service so I can serve my Khmer family there, and I have been asked to be part of the prayer English speaking team for the third service. Last week 2 Khmer women came up to be prayed over. They spoke in English, and ironically, as I was praying I was saying certain phrases in Khmer! LOL!

Many many heartfelt thanks to you all on ‘our’ dance here in my heart country of Cambodia!

**If you feel led by God to financially contribute to His work here, please message me for instructions and thank you for your prayer coverage.** 

I am under your spiritual umbrella of prayer and your prayers propel my dance here. Keep sending my your stories please! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya