#80 - Sounds and Spray Paint!

Vol.# 80

Thank you for your prayers this week.

For the first two days of classes I had to wear a mask to class because I was coughing so much, but God answered your prayers in that HE gave me enough strength throughout the morning so that by the time I went home, I just rested! 

And today, which is Friday, my third day of classes, my head cleared! Unfortunately, learning the Khmer consonants and vowels  (33 of them) was a fog! I could not distinguish the sounds of ‘k’ (there are 4 different sounds!). So this weekend I have to work on that! I am picking up the sentences and practising on all and sundry!

Last week I bought a couch and my prayer chair for the balcony and had to pray for the workers, who, with ropes like pulleys pulled the chair up to the 3^rd floor! That was not an easy task! They had to go out on the roof on the 2nd floor to pull up the chair from street level while avoiding the electrical lines overhead! Then they scraped one of the chairs so came back to ‘fix it up’ which meant spray-painting it!

My couch!

My Prayer Chair!

Can you guess what happened?

Yes, spray paint all over the floor on the balcony and yes on the wall (black paint). I had to breathe in and out before telling the guys who just kept smiling and saying “som doh’’ (sorry in English) to clean it up! I actually went back to the place to let the lady know and she was glad I came to tell her. 

So for now, no dining room table or chairs, just a wide couch! I got curtains that are being made right now, so I will put them up on the weekend! I also got another bamboo wardrobe for my clothes so I can start to take them out of the suitcase! Yay! Channak and Jonny, in exchange for a meal, put up my curtain rods (bamboo rods again) and a place to hang my towels! SO now instead of dripping everywhere looking for my towels, I can actually just reach out and grab them!

I still need to put up my mosquito net. Since I was sick, I could not use my a/c, and the mosquitoes love me so I spent most of my night trying to huddle under the sheets!

I thank God for all of you.

I have been spending my time listening to Pastor Sunder’s messages and going into the different links by C. Yuan and others, educating myself on the topics being spoken of. Here in Cambodia, there is such an abuse of God-ordained sex within God-ordained marriages; you have to have His wisdom and grace when you are confronted with the distortions by man here!

Prayer request: continued prayer requests as I battle consonants and vowel sounds! I need to hear the sounds so that I can say the words correctly. I want to have the correct foundation for the language. One surprise here is that I am not only learning how to speak the language, but also how to write the script! So however God leads you to pray creatively for me, I do so welcome your prayers!

I went with Dong, one of my ‘brothers’ here, to the Post Office to open a P.O. Box! Khmer do not have mailboxes, so I had to go to the central post office in Phnom Penh! Please email me to get the P.O. Box address! At least I have a P.O. Box for the year and paid only $15.00 US!

It is raining again, and the mosquitoes are coming in so I have to rush off to close the windows! Please continue to let me know how we can dance together in His partnership in life!

Love,

His Warrior and Disciple, submitting to be His dance partner here in Cambodia,

Your servant, Vidya

(P.S. I am at 70 percent of my monthly support, would you consider becoming one of my dance partners?)

Website: www.tgcfcanada.org 

Designation: VIDYA CAMBODIA (reference # 451)

My needs: $2000 / month (**70% has come in)

20 donors who pledge $100 per month


40 donors who pledge $50 per month

80 donors who pledge $25 per month
(Founded in 2002, The Great Commission Foundation is a registered public foundation with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), established to promote Christian & relief of poverty in Canada and around the world. Please note: donors need to request a receipt for donations of less than $50/ year.)

#79 - Laundry Tings and Curtain Call!

Vol.# 79

Hi Everyone!

The process of getting settled here can be unsettling! 

I was told that the repairman would come on the weekend to fix the lighting and that the Wi-Fi guy would come at a certain time, BUT, suddenly I got a call that plans were changed so I had to be home to get everything done! So there I was scrambling to re-schedule my day to accommodate the new arrangements!

The washing machine was installed, but before I could use it I had to go out to buy the laundry hanger ting a ming jing! (Not sure what you call it!) 

So with the help of Channak's sister, Shuling, off we went on the moto! I apparently did not think this through, because there I was carrying 2 of the laundry tings (that word tings is so handy now!) on the moto!

Me on moto carrying laundry ting!

Laundry ting!

 When we first started, with me holding the 'tings' and making sure I stayed on the moto, it was all good! Then the wind shifted and then it was as if I was the sail on a boat! Maybe I should have gotten a tuk tuk?

Then we had to bring it up the narrow stairs, which we did laughing as we got hooked into the overhanging wires! 

Then I needed curtains in the living room for some semblance of privacy, but the width of the doorway is quite wide and to buy curtain rods that long was going to be expensive, so as I prayed, my eyes spied the very long broom used to clean the cobwebs off the ceiling and I thought, Mmm, why not just use that as a curtain rod and take off the brush part! 

Shuling said okay, so off again we went into the hot sun to buy one. 

Now bringing that back was slightly dangerous! If you held it vertically you might just hit the overhanging electrical wires as I went through the side streets to my place and if you held it horizontally at my side you might hit moto/car either in front or the back of us! By the grace of God we got it home!

Later Channak and Jonny came over with drill tools and we put up my curtains! My curtains were a gift from Marcia Bergman and Peter V from their visit to Place of Rescue when they surprised me by redecorating my room for me! I had kept them in storage at friend's place here for past 7 months!

Jonny and Channak

So now I could use my washing machine that is set up in the washroom!

But no, it would not work so I had to call Shuling or had to call the store to get the workman to come in! Of course, speaking no English and with my limited Khmer that was tricky! The first thing he checked was to see if I had plugged in the machine! Really? Of course I did!

Then Channak called to ask if I had plugged in the machine! Really?  

Well, it worked, and I finally was able to do laundry completely forgetting that the hose for the water to go out was just left on the bathroom floor so I stepped into the water when I went to check on the machine! All of this is a learning curve!

Sunday morning: As the lights dimmed before we started the worship service, I felt a tug on my arm; it was one of my former students from Rescue! Then another, and another, until my row was filled with all of them! Then as we sang and danced I saw this girl come up to me and she just grabbed me and literally lifted me off the floor! Yes, it was one of my former students I used to pray for and she had seen me across the room and could not believe her eyes that it was me. (After squeezing me she says, you got fat! Lol!) 

I wish now I had taken a pic of all of us after the service, but my tuk tuk driver was waiting, so I am trying to see if I can get together with all of them on Saturday which is their free day!

The message centred on fighting for our faith, and being a church that is a sending church!

Praise God: for all that He has accomplished. I went to register for school and had a great time reconnecting with Lois, my former flatmate. She is one of the founding members of Gateway to Khmer I saw one foreigner come in and he spoke to the Khmer teacher there on his break. He spoke like a Khmer! He was in Module 5 and that gave me such a boost and I cannot wait to start school next week! I also spoke with one of the main worship foreign leaders at New Life and she was so encouraging to me. She leads in Khmer and is fluent after being here for 11 years, but she said she wished she had been able to go full time like I am doing now!

Prayer requests:

-I will be connecting with Prison Fellowship. Pray that I will be able to go and see them this week before school starts please! I know it is not in the city so I need to work out the proper time to go out and to see where I can best fit in and serve them!

-For the moto driver who will take me to school every day. Please pray that God will give me one that lives on my street. I would prefer a younger person who is going to school and needs the money to help in their education, but I leave that in His hands! I would have to leave early (school starts at 7:30am but there is such a bottle neck of traffic to exit on to the main street that I need to be able to time myself. Life starts at 6am, so everyone is on the road from 6 to 8 going in to school or work!

-Physical health. I have not started any workouts, yet climbing 3 flights of stairs each time feels like one, and when anyone comes I have to go down to open the gate and troop back up! But I need to be intentional in keeping my body, His temple, in best possible shape so please pray as I look into continuing my swimming lessons (and yes, I cannot swim!) and my kick boxing classes! Lois told me of one place which is not too far from the school.

Thank you for sending me your prayer requests. I have been praying through them! I started setting up my balcony area for prayer time! I have no living room furniture still but that will happen later on!

Love,

His Warrior and Disciple, submitting to be 

His dance partner here in Cambodia,

Your servant, Vidya

(P.S. I am at 70 percent of my monthly support, would you consider becoming one of my dance partners? See the end of this post for contact and donor information).

#78 - Transportation and Health

Vol.# 78

Scene from my balcony

Thank you for praying as I settle into different rhythms here! Thank you also for forwarding your requests. What a delight to partner with you as we dance with Him in life!

Praise: I have good rapport with my landlord, his wife and parents (all live here). I will learn a couple of Khmer words each day with the wife, and she will learn English!

Prayer requests:

-It is very hot here and I am praying for wisdom as to which mode of transportation to use: tuk tuk, which has a covering, or Moto! Moto is definitely cheaper!

-So on that track, praying for that specific driver (tuk tuk or Moto) who will take me to school and bring me back home! Last year He gave me 2 specific drivers, one for the city and one for the village! I would prefer someone local to my area. In that way I would provide income for someone/family on my street! Trust me, 'my story' would then filter out to others who live here and act as a building block for relationship!

-Health, as my body adjusts to taste of water and milk that I would remain healthy. Yesterday I had stomach problems so I laid low!!!

Thank you my brothers and sisters.

Dancing with Jesus

Love, Sister Vidya

#77 - Moving In

Vol.# 77

Today is official moving in day!

Yesterday, 2 tuk tuks followed me, one with 3 of my suitcases which I brought over, and another one which went to pick up my hockey bag and another suitcase filled with clothes and stuff from year before (was being stored at friend's house!).

My friend, Shuling, who has been graciously helping me, went and got the finished curtains, and with Channak's help, we put up the curtains! After numerous visits to places looking at prices to buy curtain rods and fixtures for installations, and after talking with Shuling, we decided to go the simple route! Shuling got big screws and a cord and Channak came and drilled the screws in, and we put up the curtains!

And get this, since the doors were so wide (320 x 166), we had to go and look at material, and I paid $1.00 a metre! Then right at the same market place, we got a lady to sew the curtains for $5.00! But the process was long and 3 hours later, as sweat rolled down my back, and Shuling explained repeatedly what and how we wanted the curtains to be sewn, and as the lights were going off in the market place, I prayed for the seamstress to understand. Yes, finally she did! (It took me that long to realize, oh yeah, I have a weapon at hand, prayer! So I prayed for understanding for her!)

Things are never simple here. So we finally got things to the house but could not go through the landlord's place since he had put all extra furniture on his staircase! One hour later, after going into the streets to get a guy to come and help move things up the outside stairs, we carried up the bed and wardrobe that had to be dismantled first!

Prayer today: In half an hour I will be moving in officially. I will need to go to buy the everyday things like pots and pans, dishes, groceries, broom/mop. Pray for His wisdom where to get everything. I am learning sometimes it is better to buy things in one place rather than run around town on moto for hours! Bigger items like the appliances were necessary to run around to get the best prices but today the heat is intense!

Pray for my relationship with Shuling, she has such a giving spirit and it so happens she is between jobs! So I am blessed to have her with me.

Praise God: I got to connect with Pastor Jesse from my church at New Life. His eyes brightened when I said I wanted to be more active in the church! Yesterday I felt an urgency to go to the first service at 7:30 in morning (I usually go to the 10). I’m not sure why! I was the only foreigner. Usually foreigners go to the second or third service. The reception from the headphones for the translation of the message was pretty bad. You are wondering where is the praise, right? But the words that came through were identity and warrior!

Pastor Jesse was preaching about Gideon and that he was a warrior and what that meant and he spoke of our identity in Christ! Well isn't that what God gave to me prior to coming? That knowing who you are in Christ was lacking here in the lives of some of the people I was meeting, and a reminder that I am His warrior! I need to always go to Him: go to my 'war room' as in the movie!

I thank God for you all. Please send me your requests!

Dancing with Jesus

Love, Sister Vidya