#200 - Classes and Global Leadership Summit 2020 Planning

Vol.# 200

I have hit the ground running, so to speak, since coming back a couple of weeks ago. 

I am teaching a ‘closed’ Pre-Intermediate English class of 11 students. We had to turn away some students because this is a Certificate class, and there was not only a deadline for entrance for the class but also an English literacy test to determine if they can be in the class! We just did our first major test, and my next class, which is the pronunciation-conversation class, an ‘open’ class, turned out to be the smaller in size because of the timing of the other classes. I am being pushed to be the ‘best’ that I can be, by not only studying my lessons, but also in translating certain phrases and grammar definitions into Khmer to make sure the students understand the basics of English grammar. My fellow Khmer teachers challenge me by their push for excellence and dedication to being creative in the classes. 

GETTING PUMPED TO TEACH WITH THE HEAD OF THE SKILLS CTR, TEACHER POV, WHO STARTED AS A STUDENT

MY CLOSED CLASS

Last weekend I had a one and a half day planning session for the Global Leadership Summit conference that we will host in February. This involved listening to the various speakers who spoke at the Summit during the summer and then choosing which ones would be pivotal in Khmer culture to teach about leadership! My role is a supporting one in marketing. For example, I will connect with other church organizations and non-Christian businesses to tell them about these leadership classes. We are also reaching out into the government sectors to invite leaders there to send their employees to learn how to be the best leaders possible. At the same time we want to show them that this is God-ordained, Jesus being not only a servant leader, but also One who showed us value and dignity in the work place! 

PLANNING RETREAT--GLOBAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT 2020

ALL WOMEN PLANNING MEETING FOR GLS 2020

This coincides with the ‘soft skills’ business class I taught last semester. It has been wonderful to reconnect with past students and now to have new students in my classes. One of the objectives that has been inserted into the curriculum is a specific lesson on evangelism in the final week of the month. We can use whatever tools we want to talk about Jesus! I shared a bit about my testimony and God’s unconditional love in my first class, and in my second class I used the photo from my family’s reunion with hometown friends to talk about influence and the impact of one person (my Mom who came to know Jesus first) and the legacy of that decision to become a Christian! 

2 FORMER STUDENTS AND HOUSEMOM FROM PLACE OF RESCUE

2 MORE FORMER STUDENTS FROM PLACE OF RESCUE

And, yes, I am still serving at the information desk twice a month on a Sunday, learning from my Khmer counterparts on how to better serve our community here. I am connecting with the newcomers and showing them how to access our translating services. It is good to reconnect and to meet up with my former students from Rescue as well! 

One particular thing happened to me this past week. I had gone to a mall and was looking for a Pass App tuk tuk (like Uber, you access from your phone), but as it was raining I could not get one. Then I saw the ‘normal’ tuk tuk driver waiting to get a passenger, so I negotiated a price and off we went! We have seen a big change in transportation over the past 2 years here. The tuk tuk is being phased out for the Pass App. It is cheaper and easier to go on the App and book it and it comes to you. You know the price and there is no haggling! But you feel for these drivers who cannot afford to get the new tuk tuks, pay for the licence etc. Anyway this driver made sure we never got stuck in traffic, so if he saw that a street was blocked he would go down a side street or turn to go a different route. On the way I felt God saying, Vidya, you need to give the driver this amount of money, which was way over the negotiated amount! Then I began a conversation between Jesus and myself over the amount! I kept saying,well, I have to do this and that later on in the day, and I have yet still to tithe… etc.  As I was in the midst of the ‘why not to’ with Him, I suddenly realized, ‘wait, am I negotiating with Jesus over WHAT HE has given to me through you all? Then I realized that I was acting with a spirit of entitlement! ALL that I have, financial resources, skills and giftings, are ALL from HIM, and here I am telling the Creator how they should be allocated! 

When I got to the house, I gave the driver the amount that Jesus said I should, and in Khmer I told him that this was from Jesus the Christ, and not from me the foreigner. The driver kept saying, ‘You do want change?’ He did not understand at first, and when he did, he kept saying thank you from him and from his family! I left with tears falling down my face not from his gratitude, but from my own feeling of entitlement and haggling with Jesus! They were tears of shame rather than delight at that point! I was shaking my head apologizing to Jesus for not obeying Him immediately and trying to negotiate for my own selfish ends! Yup, you are never too old to learn, which brings me to my prayer requests. 

Prayer Request: 

Please pray that I would be open to His voice at all times, because it is a privilege to serve a GOD who speaks and hears and welcomes my involvement in His plan! Oh to not become nonchalant about my relationship with Jesus the Christ! 

Prayer Request:

We are entering a season of holidays here. Next week we are off for a week for Pchum Ben where my Khmer brothers and sisters go back to their hometown, go to the pagoda to make sacrifices to their ancestors. I have already talked to my students about the ONE sacrifice made by Jesus the Christ for us all, but I pray for their safety and for HIS voice to be heard in their hearts as they return to their hometown. With these holidays occurring, our schedule at school is even tighter. We have a certain amount of the curriculum to be taught within the closed classes so I need His wisdom to pick and choose the lessons that are relevant and practical! 

Praise: for reconnecting with the staff at New Life church! Who knew I would be missed! Two of the staff motioned for me to come over to their desk a couple of days ago just to tease me about the colour of my hair! They would never do that with a ‘foreigner’, so it was hilarious to be part of the jokes and to see that they are comfortable with me to do that! 

Praise: for the leadership and prayer times with those at the top level. We are going through a change in organizational structure. The old one has been entrenched for over a decade and this new one is Khmer-driven rather than ex-pat led. 

Please do continue to send in your requests and sharing of your stories as well! Thank you for your continued sacrifice of finances and time in my ‘dance’ with Jesus here in my heart country! 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya