Saturday, 30 August 2014

#46 - Community and Coming Home

Vol. 46


Community:

As I take a breather from the first ever Rescue Amazing Academics Race (RAAR! Yes, I invented that!), I look at the kids as they are shouting and scrambling over each other trying to win prizes! And I smile! 
The older kids aged 15 and up have gone to Youth Camp so the grades 1 to 6 are here at Rescue. So we have combined classes and adjusted how we teach the little ones.

I muse over the fact that I have asked you to pray for community, and God has sent community in the forms of English camp teams who have come over from Western Canada to teach here over the past two months! 
It has been my privilege to travel with them on the bus and to get to know them; to see their passion not only for the kids but also for the God Whom they serve. 

It has been a hug and a kiss from God to me to have them here, to speak English with them, to pray, to laugh, to sing in the tuk tuk and to see the tuk tuk drivers clap and dance with us as we travel and to share our own stories of God’s work in our lives! I have learnt a lot from these precious gems from God!

Recently the wife of one of the pastors at New Life church where I worship came up to me and gave me her card and asked if we could have coffee together! We have yet to get a date, but again, this is an answer to your prayers to community!

It is the last day of RAAR! 
Samnang, who is one of my former students and now on staff as the Crafts/Dance Instructor, designed the games today. We had students playing hopscotch, running around poles, trying to toss different coloured balls in a bucket, making words 5 letters and longer, blowing balloons and then sitting on them to burst them, and, of course, water melon eating contests with hands behind their backs! 
Instructions were given in English (and then translated into Khmer for the younger ones) and the team that performed the above in the fastest time won!

Needless to say, with it being so hot here, filling the balloons with water (for older kids) was the most anticipated one (next to eating the watermelon!). Each kid had to fill the balloon with water they drank from a cup and then had to put into the balloon! Then we had musical chairs which somehow always ends up a bit violent with chairs being pulled away as a kid was just about to sit on it and end up on the floor or a kid would be elbowed away! 
In the background to all of this is Christian hip-hop music in English! 
The kids loved it!

I was in stitches because some of the kids could not burst the balloons when they sat on them so we had to lift them up and drop them on the balloon! Then the younger ones got so frazzled (love that word!) that they could not remember the colour of the balls that they had to say out loud in English before tossing them into the bucket. So a few of them were saying all the colours they knew hoping to eventually say the right one! And of course the day ended with me being thoroughly soaked! 
Water is a precious commodity here at Rescue and we did not have running water so without my knowing it, the kids got buckets of water from the small pool and I got drenched! The other 2 supervisors fled the scene so they were dry!


And speaking of community I am excited to see you all again! My arrival date back to Toronto is November 5th! I look forward to reconnecting with you all yet at the same time anticipating my return here to Cambodia.

Prayer requests:
For my next step here: in these last couple of months pray that I would have my eyes opened to where He would have me.
My parents: they are trying to sell our home in Trinidad and Tobago. Pray that God would send the right buyer and that all the details would be sorted out to alleviate any anxiety for my parents.

Thank you for continuing to dance with me! See you soon!


Dancing with Him,


Love, Sister Vidya

Thursday, 31 July 2014

#45 - World Cup and Community

Vol. 45

First, many apologies for the delay in writing!

World Cup was taking precedence! 

For a time I was underneath my mosquito net at 1 or 3 in the morning trying to see if I can access the playoff games. Then for the final game, I was on the riverfront with over 300 people, Khmer and expats, in front of a gigantic TV screen watching the game from 2 to 5 in the morning.

But as it gets hotter here, your prayers have been answered re: creativity in the classroom.
I was teaching the kids some songs and one day in the library as I was quietly (Vidya?) trying to prep for my four classes, I had the words to God is Able on the wall, with the projector on, just ensuring I had enough bulb life for the day, and the next thing I knew, there was a soft humming which began to grow louder and then full out singing of God is Able. I just stopped and looked at the kids as they were doing crafts; all of them were singing!
I got to see the fruit of weeks of teaching the words and song just then!
IT was an unexpected gift from the Lord!
But I thought I would get into trouble with the librarian because the kids were supposed to be focused on their tasks!
No worries! She was singing as well! 

Since I have last written to you, two teachers finished their 3-month term here and another began hers but felt she had to quit after a month. The working and living conditions here are not for everyone. But as sweat pours down my back, and the fans here are not alleviating the heat, I can hear the sound of the rain coming down which is my signal to go out and enjoy being in the rain with the kids! 

But before I go, I want to thank you for persevering and dancing along with me on this journey-dance tour! 

Praise:
I got permission to speak with the older kids in the city who go there to do grade 12 and university. Ironically four of them got kicked out for 3 months for breaking the rules, but God has used that for me to have talks with them, to encourage and to remind them that He is a God that never fails! These 4 young men and women were from the group of 8 in whom I had invested extra time last year. So it was good to reconnect! 

Praise:
My community here in the city: One of the pastors' wives at my church I attend here gave me her card so that we can connect over coffee later on in the week when I come into the city. I have met people from England, Australia, and the USA who in a short time have bonded with me. This weekend I am off on a road trip with these guys to say goodbye. They were my football posse! 

Prayer:
For my next steps: My stint here at Rescue will finish near the end of October. Please pray as I listen to His voice to His leading to where in Cambodia I will be working for Him. 

Prayer:
I am the only English teacher left here (foreigner i.e.) so teaching double classes at times takes extra creativity. Please pray for that and my bonding with the translators so that we have a heavenly rhythm as we teach His and my students! 

I love you all! Looking forward to connecting. Keep sending your prayer requests! Will send pics soon!

Dancing with Him,


Love, Sister Vidya

Monday, 2 June 2014

#44 - Please Pray...

Vol. 44

Prayer requests:


Meng, the student who fell and was in hospital, is responding, sitting up and eating. Unsure yet what or if any brain damage there is. Thank you all for praying.

Tooth: I am still having problems; I will be seeing the dentist again this week:

Relationships:  Pray for His wisdom and words.

Health: It is so very, very hot. Difficulty in sleeping plus I teach between the hottest hours, 12 to 3! Pray for His strength and grace! 

Thank you!  I am writing this quickly from a cafe!


Dancing with Him,

Love, Sister Vidya

Wednesday, 21 May 2014

#43 - Dancing in the rain! - Prayers and Praise.

Vol. 43

Sweat is flowing down my back.

Flies and mosquitoes are attempting to feast on me and it is only 8 in the morning here at Bek Chan, a house 15 minutes away from the orphanage! 

Power has gone, so there is no fan, and no breeze! I am using water from the bucket that provides a marvellously cool shower! 

It has been a very hot day.  I just finished teaching two classes, and there is the sound of thunder but no rain; and then, yes, there is rain!

Excuse me as I join the kids running, playing and dancing in the rain!

So much fun, I am soaked to the bone!

Thankfully I have a change of clothes here in the staff room! The kids are sliding on the concrete floor, which is slippery, and the area where I am standing on the volleyball courts is curiously warm! I hope no one has peed where I am standing!

But as I kick the water in the air, the kids are shouting, “Mr. Bean, look!” (For those of you who do not know, I am Mr. Bean!)

I look up in the direction to where the kids are pointing and I see not one, but two rainbows! So beautiful! Then the rain stops and I have to go and change!

I prayed as I watched these kids so innocently having fun in the rain, shampooing their hair and soaping up as the rain came down. I pray that they would always know about a God who loves them, a God they can go to talk to at any time.

I just got word that one of my students, Meng, who is 11 years old, fell on his head from a tree. He is in critical condition at the hospital, they do not know if he is going to live or not.

Meng
Prayer requests

Meng: I attempted to go and see Meng. However, at this particular hospital, foreigners are not allowed or you need special dispensation to go in. Please pray that I would be allowed to go and pray for Meng. He had an operation to relieve swelling in the brain but is still unconscious.

My tooth: I had a temporary filling put in as I wait for a crown to be put in. I had the crown put in yesterday but today still very sensitive; cannot eat on the right side. I am  trying to get another appointment for Saturday. I have already taken 2 days off at separate times to go into the city to see the dentist.

His strength: So hot and dusty. I feel drained by the time I get to Rescue; even the 15-minute ride by tuk tuk is getting bumpier! Pray that I am renewed so that I can give the best to my students!

Place in the city: I have not found one yet.

Praise

Praise God: I went to the hometown of one of my older students. I got the permission to accompany one of the expat teachers who used to work here. It was a blessing to be able to pray and thank the family (uncle, aunt, etc.) of one of my former translators!

Praise God: I got to spend 4 days with family in Thailand. They blessed me with a ticket and it was good to reconnect. 
Becky, my nephew's daughter

Amazing Sunday sermon where God reminded me how important it is to not strive, but to sit and wait at His feet!

Thank you for your continued support.
How can I support you from here? Any prayer requests?

Dancing with Him,


Love, Sister Vidya