Here is a retrospective of some of the things we have done this past year

We have shown these pics at our presentation at the church but some of you may be interested in seeing them.

Click to see many pics outside of our "real" job at Logos School

Just a couple of other notes:

We have had a real help to our new school building with a person from Manitoba donating ($18,000) to help pay for part of the costs of covering our basketball court with a metal roof. This is a big help and an answer to prayer.

Also, we are starting to see some of the funds coming in for Sureyah and many people have committed to helping Sureyah for the full time he is in Canada. I know Sureyah is so surprised, thankful, and amazed that he is getting a chance to go to TWU! Keep praying for this situation as it seems to be that he may be living on campus with Micah Peters (former MEI student and YWAMer and Great guy) as his roommate. As some of you have wanted to know how to donate to him I will post some more information. Thanks.

This is from an email from Darlene Heriot, a TWU staff member helping Sureyah (She also works for/with Inga Warnock (terrific lady in her own right).
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• 
  The best way to forward your donation to TWU from France is through a Bank Wire. Instructions are listed below. If you are sending US funds please ensure they are deposited to TWU Account #406-730-2. Please fax a signed copy of the attached Instructions to Donors along with the copy of the Bank Wire receipt to TWU as noted below.
  
  Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. I will follow up and let you know when I am in receipt of the funds.
  Bank Wire
  
  Request a bank wire be sent to:
  Royal Bank of Canada
  19888 Willowbrook Drive
  Langley, BC, V2Y 1K9
  
  Routing/Swift Code:
  For American Funds: # 021-000021
  For International Funds: # ROYCCAT2
  Bank Transit #02880-003
  
  For Canadian funds:
  Deposit to TWU Account #100-759-0
  
  For US funds:
  Deposit to TWU Account #406-730-2
  
  * In order for TWU to trace the payment please be sure to fax a copy of the bank wire receipt to TWU: 604.513.2096, Attn. Office of the Registrar and enclose student's name and student number, and the description of the item you are paying to the University.
  
  

Some pics of our ever changing neighborhood.

Buildings and construction continue to be built at a staggering speed here in Cambodia and in Phnom Penh. Our landlord, who has his own construction company, says that business has slowed down alot. He has even said that there are a few companies that will not pay him for completed work because they say the economy is bad. Many of you ask for pics so I will show you a couple of the random pics around our ever changing neighborhood.

Click to see pics of our ever changing neighborhood

We're.......back!

Hooray! Lesley here with a quick update on our arrival in Phnom Penh. We've been "home" now since Saturday night (sure feels like home!). The flights with Korean Air were excellent, a bit more turbulence that I've experienced before, but we all slept a bit, watched movies, so an 11 hour flight with a quick run through the Seoul airport to connect to another 5 hour flight, went rather quickly. All our luggage arrived without problems, to our amazement, as the connection was such a quick one. We've suffered mildly from jetlag, still dealing with that a bit. We're super tired late afternoon, want to go to sleep then, or at least early evening, but then wake up really early morning and can't fall back asleep. I hope this will be it tonight!

Dean's been back at work right away, while I've been unpacking and getting the house organized. It was in lovely shape coming home (ie; shelves were dust covered, there was a nice plate of fruit waiting for us.) and it was really great to see our landlords, Kim Srean and Mony again, and Sokhom our helper. I missed them and it was a nice warm return. It's taken a little while to get all our borrowed out things back. My moto, my phone, Dean's moto needed some tune up to work properly, and our car didn't start, as was expected. So, some battery upgrade may be in the future, but other than a few minor glitches, non of the repairs are anything more than normal maintenance, so it's no problem. Besides work for Dean, which has involved meeting new teachers and running orientation with them, in the last 2 days he has single handedly secured our internet connection, ordered cable and purchased a TV! We are now the proud owners of a Sony "Vega" which came wrapped in cellophane, the "Sony" label is actually on the tv, but the "Vega" label was written on the cellophane in felt marker! haha. Well, it's no flat screen, and the connection is a bit grainy so far, but we are really excited to have a bit more connection to the outside world this year!

The school is running great, and within the next week, we will head out to see the new school site, which is apparently so well underway, and looks great! we'll show some photos when we get to see it. Nice to meet new staff. Just today, I spent the afternoon back out at Marie Ens's Rescue orphanage, as a bunch of the new teachers and summer staff were going to visit. Never get tired of that place--always great to see the kids!

So much thanks has to be mentioned to all our friend and family who "hosted" us, if you will, during our stay in Canada. From manitoba, across the prairies, to the West Coast, we were shown incomparable amounts of generosity and interest and support! It was really a blessing for us, and thanks to any and all of you who sent e-mails, said hello, fed us, gave us a roof over our head or simply said a prayer on our behalf. We are excedingly grateful and intend to "pay it forward" the generosity we experienced in Canada, back here in Cambodia! A very special thank you to Tim and Sylvia Smith who not only let us crash (almost literally) in their whole basement for over two weeks, but also fed us a ton of food, let us use their "facilities" (which included a pool, trampoline and hot tub!) AND drove us to the airport, with the odious task of having to drop off our van at the designated long term parking spot when all was said and done. If that wasn't enough, they even said we could do it all again next year, if we needed! Are they crazy? Nope, they're just some of the best people on the planet, so Tim and Sly, thanks for ALL you did! You were a huge gift to us!!!! Same same, but WAY different!!!

Before I leave you with a few prayer requests, I would like to tell you how God answers prayers and gives us little gifts and blessings. Forever and a day, the kids have been asking us for a dog, just like all kids do. "Sure, maybe one day, maybe in PP, maybe back in Abbotsford"--they keep getting these wishy-washy answers from us! haha. Very non-committal. Well, we gets home from the airport late Sat. night, like almost midnight. We don't want to wake everybody or scare Buddy, the landlord's dog that we hope remembers us so he doesn't freak out. So we sneak in the gate, the kids are excited to be back, Buddy's wagging his tale, and what do we see in the dark around Buddy's feet--is it a rat? A kitten? Nope, a darling little puppy, not 6 weeks old yet. Her name is "Lilly" and she is probably the most adorable thing I have ever seen! She is tiny as anything, and the whole next day, Sunday, our landlords were away so they asked if it was Ok if the girls "took care" of the puppy! They were out of their minds to do so! They fed her, carried her. She keeps sneaking into the house when the door is open, it's so CUTE! (Cuz I don't care if she pees or poohs on the tile floor!) I'm ranting about this little Cambodian mutt, but really, a picture shall soon explain this level of cuteness. Anyways, God is good, cuz our kids are experiencing a puppy in the best way possible--it's not really ours, but it lives with us!!! I don't even know if they ever prayed and asked for one, but they've got one now! How sweet is that?

Man, it's good to be back, get out driving again! (My first drive resulted in a police pull over, but hey, that's par for the course out here!) We've shopped and got groceries, Sokhom has treated us to some of our fav cambodian dishes, and the kids are starting to hook up with some friends. We're back to practicing our Khmer again--I'm pretty rusty!

Ok, if you're the praying type, I have a couple things for you.
-Lesley's grandmother had surgery this past Monday in Winnipeg, pray for a strong recovery and so far so good, she's doing well.
-New staff, returning staff and our family to have a good start to the Logos year
-Sokhom has a stomach problem that based on the medication she showed me, sounds like an ulcer. You can pray for her to heal.
-Praise: We're so thankful to have travelled safely. Praise God!
-The new school: for it's last months of successful construction
-Our family adjusting back to the heat and the culture.
-We get our NGO visa's. We had all the paperwork at the airport coming back into the country, but the guy said we didn't need it (as our last year's visa hadn't expired yet) so we got in, but turns out we did need this visa, and apparently we can't just go back and get it??? Not sure what's going on here, I would hope it should be a quick fix, but may not be.

I guess I could write a list very long, but those are some of the current things. Those of you who have been following the Sureyah story or have shown an interest in homestay possibilities, what I know to date is that it looks like plan A is to have him stay in residence, and there may be donors in the wings for this, and plan B is to have him in a homestay, where some interest has been shown. We left Canada with very strong and promising leads, so it's looking closer and better for him all the time. Hopefully we can give you an absolute positive update shortly, and keep praying for him and this awesome opportunity!

Ok, signing out and will post some pictures of Lilly soon! Mony is so kind to share her with us!!!
L

Sureyah Touch needs a homestay

Hi All,
Many of you are aware that Sureyah Touch, an Orphan from our Christian school in Cambodia, is very close to coming to Trinity Western University and experiencing Canada for this upcoming school year (it would be a wonderful miracle for this terrific student). Below is his story.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Greetings!

My name is TidSureyah Tach. I was born on July 9^th, 1990. I have been studying at Logos International School, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and have recently graduated. In the moment, I am still staying in an orphanage that I used to live. At the same time, I am applying for Trinity Western University hoping to get a doctor degree when I come back to Cambodia.

Before tell my background story, I would like to say that this story is about God’s love and His grace has shown me. By the mercy of God, I was born to an average Cambodian family. I had three brothers and a sister (and later I had two more brothers from my second mother). My father used to be an employee with the United Nation in Cambodia, and my mother was a seller at a town market. When I was very young, my mother passed away. The neighbor told me my mother had high blood pressure. However, I think she had more than high blood pressure. I believe she had a heavy heart because my father had secretly found another wife.

During my mother’s funeral, I cried the entire time. I could not understand why she left me so early. I still needed her, and I thought from there on I would live in a cold, cruel world. Soon after the funeral, my father took me to his new wife’s village, which is in another province. He brought his new wife into our family. In Cambodian society step-mothers are usually viewed as bad people. My brothers and sister were very afraid of her.

While we were living together, things did not go well and my brothers and sister did not trust our new mother. We call her “Aunt.” One of my brothers went to live in an orphanage since my stepmother had two sons living with us already. My father was always having disputes and quarreling with his new wife and his mother-in-law.

About six years after my mother’s death, my father became very ill. My stepmother tried hard to help him. At the same time, our living conditions were getting worse and worse. Since my father looked like nothing more than a skeleton because of his lung disease, and my father decided to sell almost everything we possessed for money for medical care. At the end of our hope, we sold even our home. However, that did not change my dad’s situation. The night we had hope because we had the money from the sale of the house, my dad passed away. That event became my turning point.

After my dad’s funeral, I moved to an orphanage, along with my brother. Living in the orphanage changed my whole perspective about life. I became a Christian when I was thirteen. At the same time, I was privileged to attend Logos for a good education. Everything began to brighten, and I have to admit, that everything that happened to me was because of Christ. He brought me through all these events. Now I have finished 12 grades, and stand at a crossroads. I hope to become a doctor and help my people. I hope everything I do will benefit my country and those around me, especially the broken Cambodians who have been through the same situation or worse than mine. My main goal in life is to serve Christ; and in that serving, His name be lifted up by those who are touched.

Thank you for this opportunity to share my story.

Sincerely,

Sureyah

+++++++++++++++++

The Trinity Western University Church Matching grant looks like it may/will be honored by Seven Oaks Alliance Church (Head Pastor Errol Rempel). We are following up some leads in regards to finding Sureyah a home who will donate their homestay to him but it is in God's hands.


Please contact me if you have anything I can update this section with. Please keep Sureyah in your prayers.
++++++++++++++++

Total Expenses	Exp. $$	TWU Receiptable Expenses	TWU FA/Scholarships	Sch. $	$ Confirmed
Tuition - 09/10	$17,000	$17,000	Church Matching grant (anticipated)	$2,000
Books	$1,500	$1,500	TWU church match (anticipated)	$2,000
Fees	$300	$300	TWU Dean's scholarship	$2,500	$ 2,500
Housing/Homestay (#2)	$7,000		TWU Rempel Int. Sch	$7,000	$ 7,000
Flight (#4)	$1,200		Donations to TWU/SAF(england)	$2,000
BC Medical Ins	$700		Donations to TWU/SAF(france)	$2,000
Misc. (personal - $75x12months) (#5)	$900		Campus work	$1,500
			CLA donation (anticipated)	$2,000
			Amy Alexander - donations to SAF	?
TOTAL	$28,600	$18,800	TOTAL	$21,000	$ 9,500
NOTES:
1 IW to meet with Steve Nickel re Christian Life Assc - missions budget donation - $2000
2. DWeiss - working on homestay
3 IW to meet with potential donor to SAF - $3,000
4 DWeiss - flight cost, anticipated covered thru donation
5 Anticipated Misc. can not be covered through scholarship funding

Donor Instructions

Sureyah Tach ID#339560__has qualified for Student Assistance Fund (SAF) for the 2009/2010 academic year. In order to provide a donation to SAF and nominate _ Sureyah Tach to receive the bursary:

1) Confirm that you are not related to the student and that there is charitable intent – as outlined in point #4 below.

__________________________________________

Donor signature

Name: ____________________________________

Address:___________________________________________________________________________

Tel:_______________________________________

2) Forward cheque(s) payable to Trinity Western University, attention: Darlene Heriot. In the details section of the cheque, indicate “Student Assistance Fund.” Please do not include the student’s name on the cheque. Kindly enclose a copy of this form with your donation.

3) Address: Trinity Western University

Attn: Darlene Heriot

Development Department

7600 Glover Road

Langley BC V2Y 1Y1

A donation receipt will be mailed once the donation is received. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Darlene Heriot at 604.513.2121 x 3370 or email darlene.heriot@twu.ca.

Student Assistance Fund #1558

Through Student Assistance Fund, individuals can give a donation and nominate qualified students to receive an award to cover all, or a portion, of their tuition costs and on-campus room and board at Trinity Western University.

To qualify for Student Assistance Fund (SAF):

§ The student must attend TWU full time

§ The student must meet TWU minimum GPA requirements.

§ Financial need as determined by the Financial Aid Department.

§ The student cannot be related to the individual who nominates the student and donates to SAF (a spouse, grandchild, sibling, child, or relative can not benefit now or in the future from a donation – there must be charitable intent on behalf of the individual, and no benefit can accrue to the individual as determined by Canada Revenue Agency).

Announcements and Requests

Hi everyone. I have three things to let you know in these last week we are in Canada.

SPEAKING AT SEVEN OAKS ALLIANCE

The Weiss family will be speaking at our home church on Sunday, July 19, 9:15 am, before the regular service, in the gym. That is Seven Oaks Alliance in Abbotsford. We are planning to show some pictures, and just talk about our year, the events, and what it was like for us. We certainly have a great base of support from SOA, and are looking forward to this morning. If you do not attend SOA but are interested at all in hearing or seeing some picts, you are very welcome to attend!
XSTREAMERS--I sure hope many of you can be there. We really want to thank you publicly for all your awesome support and help for us. Please try to get there if you can, as I hope it would be interesting for you.

BAND INSTRUMENTS

Lesley is still looking for any band instruments that she could possibly take back with her to Cambodia. If you have something, maybe old, but still working or just not being used and would like to donate it or sell it for a reasonable price, please let me know! I am very hopeful to get a bit of a program going, and have alot of books and some instruments already. So, it's worth asking if there's anything sitting around, that you're looking to pass along...

SUREYAH

This is the name of an absolutely wonderful young man that Graduated from Logos this year, that we are trying to help. Making a long story very short, he is very close to getting a full scholarship from Trinity Western University here in the lower mainland. He is an orphan and has absolutely no resources to get any post secondary education, but the administration at Logos (Dan and Dean) have really worked hard to attempt to get him into this excellent Christian university in Canada. Things are coming together financially in ways that we can hardly believe, and KNOW that God's hand must be in this, but things are not totally secured yet. Basically, the major request is for a ...

HOMESTAY

for Sureyah. If you know of anyone who has it on their heart to bless an international student in need, with a gift of a homestay for a year, PLEASE let us know. (Or possibly the funds for residency???) Maybe it's you? You never know. What we do know is that Dean and Lesley would recommend this young man without a single reservation. He is a young person of incredible Christian character, he is very mature, loves God with all his heart, and would work very hard his year at Trinity. We are so hopeful that this is the opportunity for him that God really wants, and it will come to pass!
Anyways, we must put it out there and ask. Ask, seek and knock are all action verbs, and we are more than invested in seeing these plans play out for Sureyah. Please pray for him and this opportunity.

Ok, that's it, but hopefully many of you will read this and know of someone who wants to come to SOA on July 19th, or has a band instrument, or who can help out Sureyah. Either way, we hope all you readers are well. We're starting to pack up, weigh our containers, and collect the last things we want to take back. We're still visiting and have had so many really great visit with people that we are thankful to see and connect with this summer. We depart on the 24th of July. Please pray my renewed BC Driver's licence arrives before we go! :)

Take care and God Bless!

We are in Abbotsford!

Well we have had a blessed time seeing so many people as we have travelled in Winnipeg and across the prairies. We have made it to Abbotsford and we are staying with friends from MEI school as they have allowed us to hunker-down and stay in their basement suite as we do our visiting from there.

There are many aspects of our trip that have been interesting for us. For example, right when we first landed in Canada for a few hours in Vancouver for a short layover, we quickly went to see my Aunt in Richmond. We had a nice fast visit at midnight Vancouver time as we waited for our 7am flight to Winnipeg. As we were getting ready for a quick few hours of rest we noticed a weigh scale. This was the first time we could weigh ourselves since we left. I realized that I had lost 25 lbs in my first year in Cambodia. Well that was then, this is now. With all the rich foods and quantity of meat and cheese available for the eating, in the first month back in Canada, I have gained 15 lbs back! I am eating like a bear about to go into hibernation!

Another interesting thing is getting use to the cold weather. Winnipeg was very cold when we landed, about 10C. For the first couple of weeks, all of my joints were aching and a bit sore. After a couple of days I decided to wear shorts like other people and just try and get use to it again. We first stayed with my Mom in Winterpeg. She was not making any sense with keeping the house warm. First when the sun came out and the temperature turned to 15C, she opened all the doors and windows! I said, "why do you want to let the inside air (around 20C) leave the house and let the house get cooler?" Mom just said she wanted fresh air. FRESH?? She means FREEZING! In the third week of June, the weather turned very nice- around 25-30C each day. Then Mom kept all the doors of the house closed and turned on the airconditioner! No fresh air needed anymore. I have forgotten that 20C is the ideal temperature inside the Canadian home for summer.

The next interesting aspect is grappling with the idea of "home". Where is "home", especially when you have sold your home? Anyways thats for another day!

We are busy trying to see as many people as we can while we are in Abbotsford for the next two weeks before we get to Cambodia!