News, the Blues, Reviews...

Sihanoukville

Hey, y'all, as some of our "deep south" American's say. (They do actually say that, you know!) How is everyone?

We are very well. Lots going on. Lots to say. Will try to be brief.

Spent last weekend, a long weekend holiday, at the beach in Sihanoukville. It didn't rain much, and was extremely pleasant. Enjoyed the sand, the ocean, the nice pool at the guesthouse, and time with some of our staff and friends who all went out together. You can have a BBQ supper, say meat and veggies on a skewer, plus rice or potatoes or salad, all for $3, just down from the hotel. Yummy and a nice break.

This past week, Dean and I were on the staff retreat, Wed to Friday,(more Cambodian holiday's where we're not allowed to run school.) This meant the girls spent 3 days and two nights with our friend's, the Friedbergs, where the mom and dad, Casey and Matt, were extremely generous to host our girls for that time. The kids were pumped and were still enjoying the company of Micah and Jordan when I picked them up to leave on Friday, so we stayed and ate pizza! I was not the least bit concerned about how everyone would do or be, but the main stress is just that Matt and Casey still had their own jobs to maintain during those weekdays, so adding 3 more children to the mix is not necessarily easy, but all did go very well, and we're thankful for their love and generosity. We couldn't have both gone without them--all the other staff were expected to go, so that pretty much uses up all our other babysitting options. So, things ended up quite fine.

The retreat itself, for which Dean had alot of organizing to do, was very good. We had to drive in the school vans at leat 4.5 hours on a questionable highway, to arrive in the province of Koh Kong, which is just at the Thai border. Half the highway is fine, the second half is full of potholes (I swear, the highway is made of about 2 inches thick of ashphalt--no wonder it just breaks up), so there was lots of swerving, and braking to avoid 1 foot deep sudden plunges. It wasn't fun, especially for the drivers. At the very end of our van's trip (there were 3 vans total), it was dark and started to rain. I'm telling you, we could see nothing, including the signs to get to Koh Kong, so glad that didn't last longer than the last 15 minutes. Things can always be worse out here, that's for sure. We are protected in so many ways, even when it doesn't feel like it.

So, we had worship, bible study times, workshops on love languages, stress (including skits) and good food and fellowship. It was a good bonding time, and a bit of a break from the routine. I realized how much I rely on my children for companionship, when all of a sudden they're not there, and I have to socialize on my own. May sound bad, but it was just different for me. The kids are always around, and they're easy to talk to...

God has realized how much rain we've missed out on at the beginning of the school year, so he's making up for lost time. Especially in Koh Kong, where it's right beside the ocean so it rains more there. What downpours, they're just hard to explain. If you stand out in that kind of rain for a total of 10 seconds, you would be completely all soaked through everywhere. I always say, you may as well throw a bucket of water on someone, cuz that's what's coming down. I had to bicycle to a place after one of the torential rains, and the street I was on was flooded. Every pedal I made plunged my foot into the water, slosh, slosh. And as I've mentioned before, it's not just water, but it's some sort of mixture of every type of filth that is on the street and in the gutters and sewers, so ya. You get home and scrub your feet with soap--that kind of water!

School is going very well for everyone. Stephanie is very self sufficient at school, able to complete homework independently and very well. She enjoys writing and is quite strong in anything written, so she's blessed that way. math is more of a challenge, but she's doing ok in Gr 9 math, even though she's in Gr 8.

Julia just has the perfect teacher for her this year. His name is Bob Bridell, he's from St. Paul, Minnesota and is here with his beautiful Khmer wife Tearey, who is a TA on staff. They are of a very young grandparent age. ANyways, Mr. Bridell could not have a better personality for a student like Julia--he's very easy going, understands the kids well, and really enjoys them. He can relate to her in a very positive way and sees alot of her positive characteristics, and helps her with her weaknesses. His homework is very creative, (as I need to check that she's done what she's supposed to alot,) so I get to enjoy his dry, but funny, humor. Talk about a lesson right up Julia's alley: the last day of school this week, all the Gr 6's were out walking around the school yard first thing in the morning, to catch and study insects. I think Julia thought she was in heaven. Of course, Julia doesn't just find an insect, she finds a FROG, that then becomes part of a practical joke on another teacher's shoulder (something I have to admit, Julia did NOT instigate, but was drawn in to, by another teacher!) Anyways, sure made for some good stories. But, it's things like that, that keep Julia hanging in there for school.

Maya, praise God, is liking and doing well in Kindergarten. Everyday after school, I get "good news" or "bad news" from her. "Good news" means she didn't do anything bad, or have to "pull a ticket", a type of consequence system in the classroom. "Bad news" always ends up with a comment like, "we had to put our heads down!" Funny. Apparently, she had a hilarious cute kid quip, when she was in the bathroom (a one room bathroom attached to the classroom--the kids don't have to go out in the hallways for washrooms). She suddenly yells out to the teacher, "Miss Thiessen! The toilet paper fell into the toilet!" Yes, we only have rolls sitting on the toilet tank, so this is an easy problem to occur. She was, although, very concerned about getting in trouble. And when the teacher ran to the rescue, Maya said, "It was an accidental!" Good laughs all around. Dean and I have both noticed more similarities to Steph than Julia, with Maya, when it comes to an interest in reading, doing written work, coloring, drawing, and just overall academics in general. Whew, we are both breathing a tremendous sigh of relief over that! :)

I, Lesley, am currently starting to plan for the move of the old library into the new library. We are moving from such a small squishy place, into a huge new facility, and I'm determined to set it up correctly, even if I don't quite know. I'm trying to get input and feedback from others here and in canada, who have the know how. Last thing I want to do is start things off incorrectly, so that is the big challenge right now, in getting the layout successful and workable. Can be done, just have to ask for lots of help. Also, any of you out there who collect children's magazines, please try to save then, as we have a serious shortage of that in our library. Don't know how we'll get them here yet, but instead of recycling, hang on to them for a while and we'll see what transpires in the way of transportation.

Couple points of interest. Did you know that canadian country singer Paul Brandt is hosting a contest, to bring someone with him to Cambodia in November? It's all in association with Marie Ens' orphanage, and if you all check out his website, www.paulbrandt.com you can get all the details. Believe you me, it would be the coolest is someone we knew, won the contest! We could see you out here, too! Food for thought, so check it out.

We were able to pick up Ang Booey last weekend, and get her safely to her YWAM centre here in PP. She looked good, was a feeling things were a little surreal, as we have felt too, but it was great to see her and send her off. We will plan to hang as much as possible, as she'll have some free time.

We have the most exciting announcement to make! I'm sure hoping it's Ok to put on our blog, cuz I think the cat is safely out of the bag, but Dean and I are going to be an Aunty and Uncle again, thanks to Dean's little sister Tracy and her husband Adam! Yay! They are expecting a baby for April, so we are thrilled beyond belief for them, and can't wait to talk to them and Mom Weiss about it. (Some are more elusive to get ahold of than others by phone.) But Tracy, believe us, we're praying for you, we are so excited for you guys and MOm, we can't imagine how tickled you are! Thanks for bringing us all joy already, and like I said, we are praying for the best for everyone! We are very excited on this side of the world, let me tell you!

Then, that brings us to summer plans. We still have no clear idea on our length of stay here in cambodia, although staying for another year, or longer is still a very viable option for us. So, while we are planning to come to canada this summer, regardless if it's a visit or to move back to stay, we will probably arriving in Vancouver, and going only as far as Edmonton/Calgary, to see the new niece/nephew. At this point, this is our plan. We will not be travelling as far as manitoba this summer, so anyone really interested in seeing us, will have to make plans to come out west. Hopefully we can meet in the middle in Alberta, or enjoy time together in BC, but just a heads up, that this is what we're thinking so far.

I was also able to take advantage of a very amazing seat sale with AirAsia, so we have also booked some airline tickets for our family to go to Australia in June. This is a trip of a lifetime, that we used some of our house money to take, but right now, we are planning around june 5-23 to fly into Melbourne, travel up the coast, through Sydney and hopefully see Dean's cousin Tom Weiss and family who live close to Sydney, and depart out of Brisbane on the Gold Coast. Those of you who know anything about Australia, I think this is winter time, or cooler temps at this time of year, right? So far we have booked these flights in and out of Kuala Lumpur, malaysia, so we still have to get from PP to KL, but right now, the 5 round trip tickets were considerably less than just one return ticket from Canada to Australia, so it is just an opportunity that we did not want to miss! I'm very excited about it, but it's along way away, and things happen in life, so hopefully, this is something we will be able to enjoy as part of our summer vacation next year. That would mean we would come to Canada at the end of June, sometime.

Also of interest, we were just at church this morning, and saw that our CMA missionary friend Ilana's mom was sitting with her. This lady lives in canada, but is a retired missionary who served in Vietnam for alot of her life. So, I spoke to her after the service only to find out that she is booked, along with Reg Reimer (from Seven oaks) and Gordon Smith(former interim pastor at SOA) , to have meetings this Oct 1 in Vietnam with the government about really important issues regarding education and theological libraries in Vietnam. This sounds so exciting as a window of opportunity for Vietnam. Isn't it a small world, really??? That I would actually know(of) the two other people this lady will be negotiating with? Vietnam is so close to us, and to be able to pray for this meeting and for positive growth for Vietnam. I am very excited this and really want to uphold them.

Finally, I spend one of the evenings at retreat this past week, asking the Lord to return the same joy and intense peace that I felt for most of last year. I am still in a funk, personally, feeling that things are "different" this year, more like a job, real life, less of a "mission." I've definitely had more "just get me out of here!" thoughts this year than last. These things are all Ok, it's not that I mind it, and I am aware that "feelings" are not necessarily the best indicator of what is really going on. However it would just be nice to sense that same level of satisfaction again. Anyways, I did sense God telling me not to go backwards, not to want something that was in the past, but rather to Move Forwards, with him leading and me Following. I don't really think I've been doing this. ANyone else been sensing this lately? have any words for me? Then Marie's newsletter that I read, encouraged readers to Fall in love with Jesus more and more. Move Forward, Follow His Leadership, Fall in love more and more... I just want to trust him solely--don't we all? Surrendering to this I'm finding hard this year.

Well, although there's been lots of illness amongst our staff and students (typoid, dengue, respiratory tract infection, to name a few) so far we have been untouched. I was sick earlier in the year, but have fully recovered, except for needing to wear a mask more often, to protect my lungs and vocal chords. I'm home with Julia not feeling great this sunday afternoon, so not sure if it's our turn now, but I hope not. Thankfully, things go much better when health is optimum. Hope you guys are all well there in Canada and other parts of the world.

We miss hearing from you all, so don't hesitate to drop a line if you're feeling so inclined. Always try to reply to e-mails. Love you's all. Thanks for listening...

Burdens, Broken things, and the Loatian/American Story (?)

Hi all. Before I say anything, please make sure you scroll down to the post before this one, as Dean put up some pictures of Sureyah and the termite riddled textbooks. You may have missed it before. Happy for Sureyah, Sad for books.

Well, we've had a heavy week in many ways, although it's hard to explain sometimes. Just that there's been alot going on in the area of students with difficulties in our school, from family troubles, to personal issues, to suspected problems, to spiritual issues. We (teachers or staff) are only given so much information in light of privacy issues, so often times there's alot of guess work going on, alot of misinformation, and alot of grey area. ALOT of grey area. Nothing is just cut and dried, or easy or simple or defined. I guess when it comes to relationships, that just how things go. I don't need to tell specifics here, they are not what's important. Things, issues, problems come up: teachers, parents, students try to figure out how to deal with them. There are phone calls, meetings, prayer requests, and it's all in the name of safety, growth and protection for many involved. When my red flags go up, then it is very important to act on them out here. There is no where else to go in Cambodia--no social services, no child and family welfare, no police or government agency looking out for these kids. Basically, Logos is the bottom line for some of these kids and we need to be here to help and guide. It's been a toughy anyways, but some meetings and information have proved to be very valuable and helpful for me, and it's good to ask questions and seek out information and help when it seems it is necessary.

And then, things break down. And it all seems to happen at the same time.
If I were to list all the things that I am currently working with that are not working, I wonder if you could relate: (or would you just get annoyed). I'll do it quick
1. 2 facemasks on kid's helmets (dropped and broke)
2. 2 of 4 new adapter chords for school keyboards (both 3 weeks old, but were replaced)
3. 7 Logos Keyboards: 2 were originally not working at the end of last year. 2 were working, but I soon found out that they were "mistuned" to put it politely, with the rest of the band. (Like, out by semitones! Unuseable.) Of the 3 that are now working, one has just stopped. That makes 2 working elec. keyboards, for 3 students. Working on repair of one.
4. Car battery wires got fixed, then the light on the door would not go off. (That prob seems to have disappeared.)
5. 2 flutes need new pads.
6. Photocopier gives me shocks when I'm not wearing shoes (so, wear shoes!)
7. Found more termites in another library cupboard. Will be checking them ALL this week.
8. 2 of the 3 fans we had repaired just before leaving this summer, currently not working.
9. Fridge is leaking water out the front door.
10. Fry pan is fried. I don't usually cry because making pancakes is difficult...
11. Ants have gotten into all my tupperware containers because Sokhom does not know how to close them properly. That means throw out everything. I will show her how to do that tomorrow.
12. Rolling Clothes hanger apparatus: the wheel broke off. Left Sokhom a note and money to either get it repaired (this things rolls in and out of the house on a regular basis and is imperative part of our laundry facilites--it's basically our dryer!). She returned the next day with a non-wheeled clothes hanger. I said it was the wrong kind, could she please exchange it for a wheeled one. She returned the next day with the the old rolling one sort of fixed, but the new non-wheeled one is still here. Not sure what exactly cost $20. Will also deal with that tomorrow.
13. Moto stopped with bad gas last week.
14. Trying to purchase $1.50 worth of gas, invariable ends up giving me 1.5 litres of gas, and costs me $1.41. Why can't I just get $1.5 worth of gas???????
15. the power keeps going out in the library building, for short times. The breaker is going. However, it keeps shutting down the computer, and then have to start all over again... Sigh

Anyways, trying to get stuff to work out here, on a reliable basis, is tricky.

So, this past weekend, Steph had a scavenger hunt all over Phnom Penh in tuk tuks, with all the Gr. 8's. I should get her to write about it because it made for some funny stories. Last weekend, Julia slept over at her friend Sarikah's place, who is Singaporean/indian. That made for some great indian food (Julia's favorite) that she ate with her hands (cultural!) and had hot dogs with chili sauce and hot chocolate for breakfast. (!) I should get her to write about that too! haha.

We have started playing volleyball again with a few friends and family at Logos on Sunday afternoons. It is usually a good time of a bit of competition and exercise. Dean had his first ball hockey match this past THursday night, so finally, THE BIG BAG OF BULKY HOCKEY GEAR IS OUT OF MY LIVING ROOM! Hooray for small miracles.

Maya is writing and actually reading words! Hooray for more small miracles!!!

We have only a 4 day week coming up, then we are off to the beach for what you canadians would call our "sept long weekend." Out here it's Pchum Ben, a buddhist holiday where the khmer people must visit 7 wats, or temples, and pray to their dead ancestors for among other things, to come back. It's a spiritually dark holiday, and many Christians here at this time feel the oppression. Our friend and co-worker Tess Scholtz was sick all week, with fevers off and on. She has typhoid. Do you know how one gets typhoid? It's only from contracting the disease from food or drink that has been contaminated by in infected person's FECES. Now that's gross. She's on meds and is on the mend.

So, that's our life lately. Here's the final story of my post. We just had our CMA friends over for coffee, our neighbors just down the street, Bill and Ilana Lobbezoo. They are friends with David and Patti and we met through them. They had an interesting story to tell me, but I have to back up the story a bit.

Recently at our church, ICA, there's been a warning notice in the bulliten, about a loatian/american man who is a known con artist, for members to be aware of him. I read this on returning to PP this summer, and immediately knew who they were talking about. In the last weeks of school, I was walking up the street by the school, when I was approached by this man who openly told me he was a loatian american. He had good english, and was looking for a specific mission organization that was supposed to be on this street, which had a particular type of sign. He asked if I knew where it was. I did not. He showed me a phone number of the person who sent him and I phoned this person to ask where it was, they were not sure. it was all fairly confusing, and he had been at the Logos office asking for this place earlier in the morning, as well. He never asked me for money, but talked alot about his problem in finding this place, the contacts, as he needed help getting his passport renewed, or something of the sort. I think I even offered to get him a motodop to drive around to look, as he had walked apparently hours to get here. ANwyays, I ended up leaving him on the street, unable to help him. So, when I saw this warning in the bulliten a few months later, I knew it was this guy.

So, just this evening, Bill and Ilana tell me about reading the bulliten and said they knew this guy. Here's the deal: One or two days after we left for Canada, this guy apparently shows up at the front gate of our house. Sokhom is here, and he says he knows us Canadians, but we weren't there, so Sokhom sends him a few doors down to the Lobezoos! (She knows them and that they're canadian too.) Well, Bill and Ilana deal with him and actually help him out a bit. He needed a taxi to the loatian border? I don't know, something like that.

So, when they're telling me this, I'm in shock cuz as far as I knew, I never told this guy my name and certainly not my home address. I said the only way he would have known where I lived was to have followed me home! Ilana says no. Apparently he went back to Logos, and described me to the front office staff, either told them I was a friend, or something, so they told him where I lived. Nice, eh? Anyways, I guess I'll ask about that, too, tomorrow, when I get to school. Good thing we weren't home, and the notices in the bulliten have gone away, so I wonder if he has too. Weird and creepy.

Thanks to all who read. We're expecting Angela Booey (sp?) out here by next Sunday. Hopefully we'll spend some time with her before she settles in at the YWAM location. Sureyah's finished his first week, so I'm anxious to know how he's doing. Many of the Logos grads are now into full swing of post secondary school, so wishing them all the best. Jo Lam, if you're reading this, how's Boston????

Best run. Thanks for reading and God Bless.

Some pics and some follow up with Sureyah

Well I thought I would give you a few pics of what has been happening around here lately.

Saying goodbye to Sureyah at the airport with Martin (Orphanage director), Dan Hein, myselfl

not scared but apprehensive l

school

The actual student visa! Yahoo!l

excited about the Student Visa

Saying goodbye to the rest of the kids from the orphanagel

Electrical and othe wires just blocking our road one morning. The solution, just tie it higher!

So sad, books that MEI helped deliver eaten over the summer by Termitesl

Out of the 35 books only 10 could be saved. Very frustating!l

Termites love the soft paper!

From school

From school

From school

From school

Sureyah's Going to Trinity!!!

Hi all. Thought I would post the e-mail the Logos staff received just today, from our principal Dan. It's regarding the Logos grad named "Sureyah" whom Dan, Dean and MANY others have been working hard on getting to University in Canada:

Dear all,
I thought I would share some exciting news with you.

Sureyah just got his (Canadian) visa and is heading to the Bangkok airport to grab a flight back to Phnom Penh (arrives at 7pm tonight) as I write. He then has 38 hours before he has to be at the airport to check in for his flight to Vancouver Canada. He flies out on Friday morning at 10:50am via Taipei. He arrives in Vancouver on Friday Night at 7:20pm and then starts orientation the next day at Trinity.

It was a long 9 days for him, but he ended up getting the visa without even having an interview.

Praise the Lord

Do pray for him as he attempts to have some closure on this side of the globe and moves on to his next chapter on that side of the globe. It is going to be a bit of a tough go for him, but God has been very evident in this whole "project" so far, and will continue to be with him I have no doubt.

Blessings to you all,

Dan

*****

ASIDE FROM DEAN

I just thought I would give my two bits of thanks to the many of you that prayed for Sureyah. When it all looked like it might not happen in time we got a Skype chat from Sureyah saying the Embassy took his Passport today. (We told Sureyah for the last number of days to hang around the Embassy just to let them know he was still very much around). Then the people at the Bangkok Embassy told Sureyah to come back around 1:30 in the afternoon. Sureyah didn't ask "why"? However, he and we suspected good things. If he did get his visa, what was his timing to get back to PP in time to pack, say good bye, and leave for his Friday morning flight to Canada.
Sureyah was telling us that the next available bus from Bangkok to Phnom Penh was at 2 am on Thursday morning and that would get him into PP at around 6 pm later that day (a 16 hour bus ride). That would have left him with only a few hours to pack for Canada because his flight leaves the next morning. So rather than make the timeline even tighter, Dan got our secretary to book a flight for Sureyah from Bangkok to PP (his first flight ever) to arrive tonight at 6 pm Wednesday. This gives Sureyah a full day tomorrow to say good-bye and pack for Canada.
You know Sureyah was alone in Thailand for that whole time and he was starting to doubt whether this was meant to be. I have to say that in my own weakness, I kept thinking we could get his visa in our own power and by our own means and praying as an important step but a secondary one. When honestly last night I just prayed, "God, who am I kidding, you have been in control this whole time. It really has nothing to do with us. I can't worry about it, I give it all to you. You have opened doors that should be closed, you have made things happen that can only be through your grace and mercy, and although the Embassy looks closed at this point, if Sureyah is going to get to Canada for his Friday flight, you can open the door tomorrow if it is time for Sureyah to go."

Praise be to the Lord. He answered those prayers with a "yes". The Embassy gave him his visa and didn't even ask for an interview. Why don't I think "I give it all to you " sooner? I wish I did that more often. I hope I am learning here!

Honestly, it is great to see how God works. His timing really lets us appreciate his help and direction so much more. I do love seeing it in action.

Sureyah is sure appreciative of everything and he is excited to come back to PP for the extra day. We will see him off at the airport on Friday morning. Awesome!!!
Thanks again to many of you that have shown interest and prayed for Sureyah. He will need more prayer as he adjusts to a Canadian culture that is very different than the one he knows. But, the Lord will guide him.
We just keep telling Sureyah he is going to freeze!!! :)

thanks,
Dean