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
