#169 - Christ Is Risen!

“Were you there when they crucified my Lord? ...Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?.... Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?....Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? ... “ 

As we stood and watched the congregant walk down the middle aisle carrying the wooden cross with the nails protruding from it, and the worship soloist sang "Were You There", tears poured down over my face. As part of the service after we took communion, we were invited to go and kneel at the Cross, to touch it, and then to sit and pray.  

Even now, hours later as I write this, tears flow as I remember the price our Lord paid on the Cross for me and for you. This outpouring of tears was partly rooted in the fact that here in my heart country, with the Khmer New Year approaching, the focus is on celebrating the New Year. The country essentially shuts down for about 5 days or so as families return to home provinces and schools and businesses are closed. The focus is not on the most important tenet of the Christian faith, the most painful death that Jesus chose, His suffering, and yes, the power of His resurrection so that we can have eternal life. 

So when I was invited to go to a Good Friday service at another church, I went there so I could sit and worship and yes, amidst the tears, I celebrated our Lord Jesus Christ with fellow believers! Just 2 days previously I was volunteering at my church here while we had visiting guest speakers do a series of seminars on building a strong church. Many from the provinces came to be discipled as well as anyone who was involved in church planting. I was humbled by the many older men and women, poor, yet rich in His Spirit, who were singing and taking notes to study to take back to the province where they could then put into practice what they were learning about building a strong church. 

I was also chatting with the youth volunteers around the info desk. I had been attempting to read my Bible in Khmer on my phone, but unfortunately, I could not have the English translation simultaneously on the screen so I could not hazard guesses on the meaning of many words, so I reached out to the Khmer youth around me for help! This led to discussions on ... Khmer New Year for them, and Good Friday and Easter for me! Embarrassingly, I have to say, tears were coming to my eyes as I was explaining my confusion as to why even SOME (not all) Christian Khmer were focusing on the holidays, and not Easter! 

Surprisingly one of the worship youth leaders came up to ask me about the significance of the Easter egg! He was trying to understand why, when he read most of the news from abroad, they talked about the Easter egg and chocolates! I quickly tried to think of how to explain this in a simple way. Non-believers in Jesus Christ focus on Santa Claus and family holidays for Christmas; non-believers also focus on the rabbit and eggs and chocolates for Easter! Believers focus on the reason why we celebrate Christmas. We focus on the birth of Jesus Christ, and for Easter, the focus is on the Cross, the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. However, we do incorporate Santa Claus and Easter eggs in both events, and having eggs painted and hidden so the kids can go find them can all be part of telling the Easter story with the prize at the end being told the FACTS (not story) of Jesus’ sacrifice for all of us! This led to more questions and ultimately we finished up by singing the new worship songs that were on display for sale (written and produced by my worship team at New Life Church!), singing in Khmer and English, and me trying to sing acapella with them! 

It was wonderful and the same youth leader was sharing a song he was writing and was teaching me to teach the lyrics from there! As we celebrate with family and friends the wonder of Easter, I say to you ...Christ is Risen!, to which you respond...HE is Risen Indeed! 
Yay! 

Let us be bold to say why we are celebrating and let us dance and worship Him! 

As I write this, my soul sister Linda G sent me a link to the article about the French soldier who risked his life to save another and how the soldier’s widow attributed his bravery to his belief in Jesus Christ. Here is the link:
http://nationalpost.com/opinion/np-view-once-again-a-man-dies-so-that-others-can-be-saved
Thanks Linda G!

Graduation from the language school is on April 6th, so I will send pictures after!

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya 

#168 - Birthday and Wedding Celebrations!

Vol.# 168

It is sweltering! 

As April draws closer it will get hotter as this is the hottest time of the year.

 

Celebrating birthday with Jeri owner of salon where he employs girls from difficult backgrounds

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes, and messages on FB, FaceTime calls and phone calls! My day started with Jesus, and then I had my tutoring session at a coffee shop instead of at home, and was able to bless my tutor with breakfast.

 As we were sitting at one booth, I noticed 3 Khmer men sitting together and talking, then 4 more joined them and then 2 foreigners as well, and then an older Khmer man came in with a Bible and some books. I realized that these men were meeting for a fellowship time. 

My mind went back to the first time I had started to pray for Cambodia over ten years ago, and the prayer at that time was for God to raise up godly Khmer men who would take up their rightful place in society and lead with Godly influence! And here now in a public setting, these men of various ages were sharing and talking about how having a relationship with Jesus Christ changed their lives! 

YUP, I was eavesdropping and at same time asking my tutor to translate words/phrases I did not understand because the men were speaking too fast, but then they changed to English as the foreigners came to sit with them. And God reminded me that His timing for everything is perfect, and that HE is faithful to answer our prayers! 

Of course, you all know that I had to go over to their table to say something (I did ponder for one minute if this was a good idea or not but …). So I just said it was my birthday, to which they all responded HAPPY BIRTHDAY!, and I also told them that back in Canada we had two prayer groups that faithfully prayed for Cambodia, and that I had prayed to see men grow and become leaders in Jesus Christ, and that this would permeate in all levels of society! (Thank you, Ratanak International Organization, for sowing this seed within me and being burden bearers for my heart country.) As a parting shot, I said, “And don’t forget your relationship with Jesus comes first but then your family comes after, and not the ‘ministry”! They all said together, “Of course, Bong Srey” (older sister in Khmer).

My housemate took me out for a birthday dinner while the ‘kids’ were at a different place waiting for me to sing Happy Birthday! 

We had all been together just the day before for another ex-student’s wedding in the countryside. We had gone on motorbikes, and my blue jeans were brown jeans one hour later when we got to our destination due to the dust and dirt along the way. The groom’s name was Socheat who was one of the young men who lived at the orphanage, but he was never one of my students. I got to know him here in the city, and had the honor of being not only the sole foreigner there,  but I think I was also the only former leader/teacher from Rescue who was invited. My housemate is like a mentor to  him, and the other former students are all part of a sports group, so it was natural for them to be included in the invitation. 

When I was invited, I wanted to make sure it was not an imposition on them to have to worry about taking care of the ‘foreigner’, so I met with Socheat, the future groom, and also one of leaders of the sports group along with his fiancée at my house where the three of them proceeded to choose which dresses in my closet were appropriate to wear at the wedding (seriously!!!!). Then the leader’s fiancée, whose family lives next to the groom, invited me to stay at her house! I was truly humbled because I was enquiring about a guest house in the vicinity where I could stay for the 2 nights, but they insisted that it was going to be okay. Then I asked if I could pray for the future groom since I knew it would be very busy time when we went to the wedding place, and that the ceremony was going to be in different religion as well. So there in our kitchen, I got to put my hands on his shoulder, and the other student had his hand on my shoulder as well around his fiancée, and as I prayed the prayer was translated into Khmer (I began to pray in Khmer, but as the words flowed I switched back to English), and the four of us bowed our heads together as I blessed and prayed over all of them. 

Very sweet time! 

I got to sleep on the mom’s mattress. The family from the house went to another house to sleep so that we all, about 12 of us, could sleep on mats on the floor and share one huge barrel of water which was cool and refreshing! The guys were cooking ‘duck’ around midnight on the fireside and it was really good. It brought back memories of Trinidad, especially in the morning with the cock crowing and the sounds of the dogs barking! 

With Bride and Groom

Prayer request: 

Please pray that the bonds that were developed with the girlfriends of the boys would grow deeper. There was some drama with one of the couples over a third person, so I reminded them all that if they were going to have more than one girlfriend, they should  expect drama!!!!! (Yes! I gave a mini lecture on respect and not being a ‘player’. I could not resist doing that!) 

I spent birthday time at a training seminar sponsored by Prison Fellowship Ministry with a Canadian team teaching us about the Celebrate Recovery Programme. This is just like Alcoholics Anonymous, but with Jesus being the centre of it all, and going over spiritual freedom aspects of the programme. We got to not only be trained, but also to role-play the groups in which we introduced ourselves and then stated what was the issue in our lives. I received my certificate at the end of it all.

 .

Praise: 

I got to spend time with Khmer female workers from Prison Fellowship as well as from other churches and was blessed to hear testimonies from three former prisoners who have now become leaders in their community. I also got to reconnect with Elizabeth Bauer who has worked here in Cambodia for a long time with her husband; they have relocated back to Canada, but she comes back frequently to train Cambodians on how to run and maintain the Celebrate Recovery programme here. 

Praise: 

I was having problems on how to share one particular Bible topic, but after receiving advice from Pastor Sunder which echoed a suggestion from one of my former classmates here, and after listening to the testimonies of the former prisoners, I am more confident now on how to ‘segue’ into Saul’s conversion from the book of Acts! 

Prayer: 

I still do not feel ‘rested’, so I am looking forward to getting away for five days with 2 former expat teachers from Rescue, who are currently now working in PP, for the Khmer New Year in April. Everything shuts down here and most people go back to their hometowns or to the beaches here. I have learnt from experience to not go to the beaches around that time since it is crowded, and the 5 to 7 hour bus ride can be frustrating and prices increase dramatically over food and accommodations! So I am praying for restoration of body and mind! 

I love the celebrations that happen in the villages, and the dances, and to see everyone eating together and just having fun throwing water and baby powder on each other as part of the Khmer New Year tradition. 

I am grateful to all of you who have continued to pray and to sacrificially give towards my support here. 

Please continue to share your prayer requests with me and your life stories as well!

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya 

(P.S. I am waiting for the formal graduation ceremony form language school: when I hear from the school I will share with you all!) 

#167 - It is Finished! Grateful!

Vol.# 167

As I climb up the stairs to the rooftop, I can hear the sounds of the birds and the walking group as they talk and go for their early exercise walk. 
It is 5:30 in the morning and I woke up with the idea that I wanted to see the sun rise with Jesus this morning: a new day!

There are 2 songs playing from my phone: “What A Beautiful Name” by Hillsong; and ‘Still’ by Hillsong. So with the headphones on my ears so as NOT to wake up the neighbourhood, I am just rejoicing and yes, dancing (really, how can you sit when you hear ‘what can separate us ... Jesus brought heaven down...nothing compares to the name of Jesus ...”. Yes, even though the song is ‘Still’, I cannot help but move to the words and raise my hand and dance with Him! 

Thank you so much for your prayers and timely words of encouragement, calls and messages via WhatsApp, email, FaceTime and FB Messenger. I am so blessed to have access to all of these.

Yesterday was exam day (excuse me as I jump and shout ‘You have no rival no equal...(words from “What a Beautiful Name). I was up at 5 yesterday morning to review my ‘talk’ and grammar. I got into school one hour early and proceeded to have ‘butterflies’ in my stomach! One classmate, who not only speaks Khmer fluently, but is also contemplating teaching a Nursing class at university level here in KHMER,  was ‘nervous’. I said to her that I was so glad to hear that even she was nervous! Yes, I know I missed an opportunity to encourage her, but I was just so glad to hear that she was nervous! Then another classmate walked in and said that she could not have any coffee in case she threw up! Who knew that these ‘gifted’ mates would be so nervous as well? 

OH the sun is rising! 

Coincidentally, "Behold" is playing through my headphones and the words “Then sings my soul, behold the Lord our God’’ play just as His masterpiece of colours just lights up the sky! 

It is now time to enter the class after an unusually long wait, and as I enter the classroom with three teachers waiting there, I get a flashback to the first exam from Level One, and it is the same two teachers who were there from the start who were my examining teachers now. I asked for the ‘speaking part’ to be done first (I have to speak on a prepared topic and answer questions from the teacher), and then ‘listen’ to a story and answer questions which are written in Khmer afterwards. I know my ‘weaker’ skill is listening and responding, so I like to do that last. 

Praise:
In the feedback after, the teacher said that I answered all the questions correctly and when the teacher asked me questions, I was able to answer his questions. Pronunciation is what I need to work on, but my fluency and understanding got good and very good! There were no ‘poor’ or ‘okay’ ticks in the teachers assessment. In tears I thank you all for your prayers! 

Then I walked into the exam room where my other classmates had already been for the hour and half of writing. There was complete silence as pens and pencils were busy answering questions. At first I was blank, but then I got into a ‘groove’ and started to write and answer questions. I know for certain that 3 grammatical questions out of 25 were probably wrong. Then there was only me writing the exam since everyone else’s time was up. 
Then...FINISHED!
 

I walked to the local restaurant, and when I walked in the door my classmates were already there and they started to clap as I walked up to the table! What a wonderful way to end the formal part of my education there! 

Final Lunch With Classmates

As I think back, God ‘chose’ these classmates for me to end the formal part of my education there. For ‘such a time as this’ (book of Esther), HE wanted me to be part of such a wonderful group, and if my former classmates David and Lauren had been there with me, then I would say that would have been my ‘Olympic team'!  

I am humbled by Him and by your prayers for me. I will know my grades next week, so I will let you know. 

Today is Valentine’s Day and so it is my ‘drive-by-and-give-gifts’ in His Name! I have talked about the salon I go to and last week the girls showed me a pic from last year when I got them a ‘Valentine’s Day’ cake, the first cake or gift given to most of them on Valentine’s Day. So I will go and drop a gift for them, and then to the school to give them a cake I had ordered yesterday from the local bakery here. I had them write ‘Dance’ and ‘Love from Auntie Vidya’ in Khmer! 

Coincidentally as l end this,10 000 Reasons and Rooftops are playing! My 2 songs from when I first came to Cambodia! 

SWEET! 

So I have to end this so I can sing and dance to my song, ‘I AM YOURS, HERE I AM STANDING WITH ARMS WIDE OPEN TO THE ONE, THE SON, THE EVERLASTING GOD...'!

Oh, now to pray for a ‘retreat' place!  

Grateful.

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya  

#166 - The Presentation: the snags and praises!

Vol. #166

So there I was rushing off for the big project. 
I had been up since 5am to practise my presentation. For the past 2 weeks I had been in presentation mode, my housemate had been up with me for the previous couple of nights to do the Power Point presentation, and right up to the time I was hustling off in the tuk to tuk to class yesterday, we had been on the phone making corrections to the Power Point slides! 

As I got to the school and met with the teacher, who had not yet downloaded my presentation or the accompanying homework assignments and work list I had created, I realized that I had forgotten the cue cards I had made for the presentation! 
I thought I had them with me, so I made a call to tuk tuk driver who said yes, that he would come in 10 minutes! I was so happy because I had written down my transitional sentences for each of the Power Point slides, and had written down the correct way to pronounce some of the Khmer words. 
Alas, when he came he said that he did not have them! 
By this time my teacher is trying to download the Power Point and print my list of words and we hit a snag. So my classmate who was supposed to go after me did her presentation first and then I just breathed and went up and did it! 

Role Playing Comfort (And no, I did not make her cry, not that I know of!)

Praise:  
Answer to prayer re: Power Point. My housemate Channak graciously stayed up until 1 for about 3 nights to help me, and really, to do the entire Power Point on his computer! Thanks C! 


Praise: 
You prayed that I would have clarity and there were 3 times when I suddenly thought, ‘this does not flow’, or 'this is information that should not be in the presentation because it did not directly relate to the topic'. And you were correct! One of the supervising teachers came up to me after and said, "Bong Srey (older sister in Khmer), you gave good information on the topic and you answered the question I asked you ‘what phrase should someone use if giving ‘comfort’ or ‘sympathy’ to someone who has died (my topic for presentation) on Face Book (since most Khmer use this medium as main form of communication).


Praise: 
I had forgotten something important which God reminded me of when I was getting stressed: the process and preparation ‘is an act of worship to me Vidya!’ So I had to stop and just worship Him and with a new perspective, His perspective, I finished my preparation! Yesterday my classmate, who had also presented, told me that she remembered that statement when we were in discussion a couple of days ago, and it helped her as well as she prepared and did her presentation. 


Praise: 
Many of you who wrote/called did so right at crucial times when I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I thank you for following the leading of the Holy Spirit! 

Prayer Requests: 
The presentation was a big part of the final exam, but I do have the written part (one and a half hours), and a listening and speaking part with two teachers (one hour) on the 13th. Can I again ask for your prayers as I prepare and focus in the next few days on those areas in my Khmer studies? I want to finish ‘well’; my ‘well’ is to the best of my ability here. I realized that most of my classmates are able to speak Khmer much more fluently, and my level of understanding is not at their level, but God says to give our best, our ‘5 loaves and 2 fishes’, and He will multiply it. 
I pray that I finish ‘well’ with the teachers and staff there, and even though I will be still doing Christian Studies one evening a week there, that the day staff and I would have friendships which have been forged by His Holy Spirit.

The day teachers are already asking, "Bong, are we going to have a party to celebrate at your place?"
My response: "I think we should see how I do in the listening, written and oral part of the exam, don’t you think?" 


With a grateful heart to you all, especially my family who have been praying over me (special shout out to my Dad and Mom!). 

Love, His Warrior and Disciple, 

Submitting to be His Dance partner here in Cambodia, 

Your sister, Vidya