Refocus...
So many things happen all the time here, so fast it seems, it is hard to explain. Since I last wrote you, the following has taken place in a matter of 6 days.
When I was actually clicking on “post” for the very last blog, I thought I’d better head downstairs to see what was up, as I could hear what sounded like mourning and wailing! Thought maybe Julia was just in trouble for something.
I got downstairs to see both Julia and Steph in tears, and Maya comforting them. Our landlord’s dog Rosie, had just been killed. Rosie was the adorable little puppy we met upon arriving back from Canada this summer, and the girls, especially Julia, had grown so fond of her. We have written about the dogs often here, and there is Lilly as well. Lilly is not the brightest dog in the bunch, but Rosie was very smart, cuter, and since we’ve spent so much time caring for the dogs (they share our yard) they really feel in many ways like ours.
Anyways, the story is fishy, but it’s something like this. Lilly is in heat, so there’s been packs of male dogs hanging out around our gate almost all the time. When Lilly gets out, when we’re opening the gates for cars, etc, quite frankly, it’s a free for all. The girls are getting quite an education. They are certain that puppies are on the way. So, that night, Mr. Dara the land lord opened the gate to go out, and it all happened so fast. The male dogs got Rosie, Lilly was around but we’re not too sure on the details of her involvement, but one bite to the jugular, and Rosie was gone. The girls were informed of the horrific event by a teary eyed Mony, and they saw the carcass in the back of the truck. They were going to bury her at the farm.
It was tough sledding that night. Everyone was verifiably upset at the uselessness of her death, the violence of the attack, (this is not the first dog on the street that’s been killed by that gang.) It just wasn’t fair, agreed, but such is life out here, I’m afraid. People aren’t always treated much better. So, it was a late night, but the next day, everyone was settled a bit more.
This of course was Friday, the day Dean and I were leaving for Singapore. We had no idea if the teacher that was planning to stay with the girls would be OK—she was very sick the day before, so we were making some bleak “B” plans, but Erin did show up to school and was up for the challenge. It was such a super things for the kids—we found out after just what a great time they had, with sleepovers, hanging out with friends, visiting, a soccer tournament, and church with Pho afterwards — just all around a fun time for them. Erin, we love you and thank you so much for loving our kids. They were fully content to spend time with you and they honestly had a blast.
So, Singapore. .. What a beautiful city. What a cherished time apart. I really had no idea how much either Dean and I needed this weekend, or just how much it would mean to us. I think the timing was something amazing, cuz we’d just prior had the marriage enrichment weekend, so this following weekend was in many ways a follow up to that, or a proper debrief. Call it what you want, it was lovely. We walked for 2 days, enjoyed food the kids probably wouldn’t have. (We could never afford to take them all to Singapore—to expensive!) We went to Sentosa island, beached it for a couple hours, saw the harbor, did a bit of shopping (You need to mall it when the heat is as extreme as it is—just to cool off!) Even though it was really only 2 days, with travel til late Friday night, and starting back Monday morning, it was still so great. The city was such a change from Cambodia—neat, clean, orderly. You just remember what it is like to live in the first world again.
A chance to refocus. What is really important in life?
We came back Monday night to preparations for the MEI missions team that we were supposed to meet up with on Tuesday! Can’t wait, it’s always such a treat to have people from back home come and see this world. We hooked up with them by late morning at a Khmer Christian school (New Life) as they did some singing there, then lunched with them, and headed off for an afternoon ministry in the “slum.”
OK, I have lived now in PP for 1 ½ years, and what I saw that afternoon, was something that is well hidden from the public/tourist eye, it is something I’ve never seen, but to be honest, it’s something I’ve not wanted to look for either. Turn a blind eye? In a way, yes.
It was a small strip of shanty houses, backed onto a magnificent brand new apartment –type building, just a long, narrow, muddy lane of poverty. The connection was with New Life church, who Maryanne Quirring, one of the team leaders, had connected with previous on one of her past trips. (PS, Although I’ve e-mailed Maryanne and connected with her, I’ve never actually met her formally until now! What a special woman, and I look forward to sharing our hearts for Cambodia in the future, as her story is so unique in her desire to be here and share God’s love! Really cool to hear.) A Khmer team led the MEI team into the area, as they have been ministering there often with food, medical help for people, often pregnant women in need, and with the Love of Christ.
Basically, the people who live here, half of which seemed to be small children, have nothing, they can’t/don’t work, many of the men there were obviously drunk and were gambling, while the women sat around, some were gambling, playing cards, passing the time just keeping house in what was flat, broken up boards with ripped up tarpoline, cardboard and whatever they could find over them. The poop, the pee, the garbage, the dog and cat feces, the bathwater—everything went to the ground, the same ground the kids played on, everybody walked around in, and lived over. Simply unbelievable. You know those World Vision ads you see on TV, with extremely poor people in Africa, kids with distended bellies, white edged hair from lack of nutrition, head lice, little to no clothing—you know that type of TV drama? Well, here it played out for us in real life.
Do you know how weird it is to just walk, this big group of foreigners, into an area like this? This is where people live, it’s their homes, and we walk in there like there’s something to see. It’s hard to take pictures, because of the sensationalism of saying, “wow, look how poor these people are!” It’s personally disgusting, yet at the same time, absolutely necessary that people go in there, see the disadvantage, tell the story and then get off their pampered keisters to get up and do something about it.!
The best way in is of course, for Khmer people to minister. We walked around, talked what little we could with the people. And played with the kids. They are so beautiful, big brown eyes. Some are so happy, just playing with pieces of garbage they could find, and running, ignoring the discipline of the adults, laughing and talking with us. Some, on the other hand, don’t smile. They shy away, look the other direction, cry a lot, or just look forlorn. One tiny baby we found all alone on a large flat chair, just sucking on a water bottle, sitting of course in his own urine. Someone eventually showed up to do something in the house. Steph noted that no one was taking care of him, at an age in North America, where you rarely leave your child out of sight, let alone unattended. One toddler was just crying loud and long, as 4 women sat beside her and played cards, completely ignoring her. Hey, I remember ignoring my kids sometimes when the crying was for ridiculous reasons. This too could have been the case. Or not.
So, the girls got an eye full that afternoon. Maya was stuck like glue to one of the MEI boys (she always picks a favorite and won’t let them go!), Julia kept saying she wanted to get out of there (it was hot, very hot, and one of the MEI girls was not feeling well and had to be attended to.) Steph held some babies and could talk a bit. Dean and Joel Reimer, Henry and some of the New Life Khmer people talked with the people. Basically, what more could we do? Finally, the MEI team put out a brand new tarp, kids from everywhere came out to watch them sing and do a drime (A play to music without words to share the gosopel) and it was complete chaos! I laughed thinking of how these priveledged MEI kids had probably practiced this drime many times over in the comfortable, spacious settings of a gym or large classroom, with the sound systems of the future—here, Henry was prantically trying to get batteries that wouldn’t drain out after one song before we got to the slum. The tarp that was set out, was probably supposed to be for the team to act on, but as soon as something that clean and nice was set up, whoa, the kids flocked to it, and then you couldn’t get them off if you tried. The kids doing the acting were squeezed into this tiny little muddy lane, maybe 2 metres wide, nothing but filth to bend their knee too. It was certainly surreal, that’s for sure. Couple that with wailing children, the khmer team leader yelling over a mega phone, people trying to get around the crowd, walking in and out of houses, mothers showing up with their babies (they would get a small food bag if they watched the show) and even one woman coming to make collections for who knows what, striking off a name and an amount as one lady paid up.
All I could think of was the scripture about God is not a God of chaos , but of peace, order, sanity. Insanity was what this little visit felt like. Truly, it was a step in time that is comparable to very little. I’d never experienced anything like it. We left after about an hour in the heat, saying goodbye to little kids running after us. Back out onto the nice street, into our air coned vans, and headed to Logos for a tour.
It was a great day, really. The MEI kids were able to jump into our pool at school, I headed home first to make some small preparations, as Sokhom had cooked for the better part of the day to feed all the kids, her famour chicken/pork curry! Henry and Joel got a tour of our great new facility and both were considerably impressed. Seriously, the new Logos is not something you see everyday in PP. We again, are so thankful to have it and be a part of it there.
Supper came and went. The kids were very thirsty and we really enjoyed some great time getting to know them. Dean had only taught one of the kids, so it was a new crop for us. The team was 10 kids, 2 leaders, them we had Joel and his coworker Candy, and another Khmer friend. All in all, the whole group thankfully polished off 16 ripe, juicy mangos! Tis the Season.
After supper, we worshiped. What better thing to do? Joel and Dean played some guitar, and it was such a blessing to sing along, send these beautiful sounds up to heaven, out our doors, hopefully through the gates and around to the people close by. It was truly spirit filled, and wouldn’t you know, in the middle of worship, we hear something outside—starting soft, then louder and heavy: RAIN! The heavens opened up in the middle of our worship time! We haven’t seen rain, significant rain like that, in months! What a miracle it felt like. Some of the kids ran outside, it was so warm. We just couldn’t believe what it felt like, seriously, like a cool down, a bit of manna from heaven.
What a time to refocus on our purpose out here in Cambodia. I get way to easily caught up in the planning for the next school break, deciding what we’re going to do on the weekend, you know , those day to day things, the immediacy of life. This was good for me, very good, to reflect on the days events, be thankful for food and a clean house and a floor and a roof, and to remember the cry for the heart of the nations.
Wed, we rested a bit and regrouped a bit from the intensity of the past days. The lost dog, the trip, the babysitting, the team visit, the slum. And the list doesn’t end there. When we saw Sokhom on Tuesday morning, she was telling us of a huge fire close to her house, that had consumed many houses that past night, and that she was so afraid her house would get caught on fire too! Can you imagine that kind of fear?
We investigated further. Something like 150 homes (if you want to call them that, the wood, shack-like homes along the railroad, the kind we see off our roof, behind our house) burned to the ground, leaving many homeless, just the night before. This area is very close to Sokhom’s house, in our area of the city but not close to us. I haven’t been to the sight, but other friends of ours have. They went the day after to hand out waters, and it’s complete devastation.
There is more news on that though. Our friends who speak Khmer and have been here for years, say it was most likely in intentionally set fire, to clear the squatters off the land to be developed. Nobody died in the fire, meaning everyone knew it was coming. They’d probably been told to get out and hadn’t moved yet . and apparently the fire started in the head area guy’s house, meaning he’d been bought off to let his fire get out of control. It’s so sad. Not a decent thing seems to happen here sometimes. So, they’ve set up camp where they can, those who lost homes. There’s been fencing put up already to clear the land, and we’ll see what starts to go up. The city has also closed up on of the only optional ways out of Toul Kork to the rest of PP, but putting up a median, so now there are only 2 ways out of our section of the city to the rest of the city, (think Vancouver and 2 bridges!) and the traffic is UNBELIEVABLEY bad. It’s honestly a good thing we’re not still at the old Logos, cuz it’s quite close to the main traffic circle that gets backed up. Parents would have even a harder time coming in and out now. Just crazy stuff.
Finally, we head back to school today, Thursday. Back to the priviledged kids, yet Cambodian kids all the same. Similar faces to what we saw in the slum, but these kids are clean, well fed, getting an education. The exact opposite of the sadness over there. Time to refocus again. Reflect and remember what the purpose of all this is.
Tomorrow is Friday! I checked the long term weather for PP, and for the next 2 weeks, the highs in the afternoon are varying from 38 to 40 celcius, with lows in the evening anywhere from 24 to 28. And yes, we might get more rain! Otherwise, hot and sunny!
Well, I’d better run, but hope to post a few picts soon. Please keep us in your prayers, but keep Cambodia in your prayers, and pray for the poor, the lost, the destitute. There are so many people here living like that. God have mercy.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Hot Season with a vengence...
Hello love ones.
Just a very short hello here from Lesley. We are doing well and hope the rest of you are well also.
Hot season has arrived here, without much to speak of for a cool season, so it sure is going to be interesting. Regular highs are hitting 37 already, and that's in the shade at the heat of the day. In the sun, at the peak of the afternoon, I tell ya, this whole country just literally bakes! Thankful that we do not have to work out in the direct sun, as many, many do. Monday at school, we ended up losing power, which not only means no occassional air con, but also no computers and NO FANS! That's the worst part. Anyways, Tuesday was OK, but often we're still losing it frequently at the late part of the day when it's hottest, and people are using alot of energy. You can pray for us and our school, as the kids are hot and it's hard to be energetic in those circumstances. Also, we are expecting (have ordered) a transformer which is going to bring more power into the school, but the ETA for that is end of March.
However, it's heating up now. Thanks for the swimming pool that can cool us down after school, or just head home to a long shower, sit in front of a fan, and maybe pump the air con for a few minutes. Whatever it takes to cool off.
Last weekend, Dean and I were priviledged to attend a marriage enrichment weekend (actually one overnight) through ICA church. 8 or so couples attended, and it was a really nice getaway, where we had a rare chance to refocus on the things that are important. We watched a Christian film called "Fireproof" which is about a couple whose marriage was failing, and the sessions revolved around the issues that arose. It was just the right thing for us, not too heavy, we got to go with some other friends we know, and just enjoyed a bit of a change. Very positive, and the kids were well cared for, S & M sleeping over at our friends the Friedbergs, and Julia had a birthday party sleepoever.
Today is Thursday for us, and here's the plan for the weekend: Dean and I are going to Singapore, a seat sale we booked months ago, that is arriving this weekend. We're leaving Friday and will be back monday. VERY excited, as times away are very much appreciated. We're planning for a teacher friend Miss Erin to spend the weekend with the girls, but she's gone home sick today (very sick) so we may have to change plans at the last minute, but we hope she will just be better soon.We'll leave right after school Friday.
Then, Tuesday and Wed we have no school. This is perfect timing, as we will be hosting the MEI Missions team on Tuesday. We're going to hang out with their ministry at a khmer school in PP, and then tour them at our school, and have supper. This is such a big deal for us, as we always look forward to them coming! Yay! They are spending the rest of their time with Joel in Poipet so big hello's will be passed on to him.
Wed, the girls have a morning soccer practice for their game the next day, and otherwise, we'll just regroup and get ready for the 2 day week! It sure is nice to have a bit of a break.
We've got another couple weeks ahead. I'm preparing for some concerts at the end of April, Dean is busy with Dan hiring for next year, and again, we keep dealing with the day in and day out of the considerations of working in this country. The girls are really well, running and playing soccer (in this heat--yikes!) Maya has been doing alot of testing for the next upcoming report card, and she is really doing a good job at reading. It's so much fun to see her moving ahead and learning like she is.
We enjoyed as much of the olympics as South East Asia could offer us. Dean can download specific events off the internet, so just last night (I know, a few days late, but who really cares?) a bunch of us sat around and watched the gold medal hockey game. (Yes, even me!--It was very entertaining!!!!) Half of us canadians, have americans (or half married to americans!) It was fun. Just the day before, the two of us watched the opening ceremonies that Dean downloaded, and it was awesome! Can't wait to see the closing. We will soon, I hope.
Thanks to so many of you that sent links, updates and information in e-mail.
Finally, Happy 85th Birthday to my Grandma, Gladys Papson. My mom sent me pictures of her and their celebrations. They were just so lovely--she's such a beautiful woman, still and always. We all wish her the best.
Love to all, and would always love to hear a word via e-mail. Take care and God Bless!
Just a very short hello here from Lesley. We are doing well and hope the rest of you are well also.
Hot season has arrived here, without much to speak of for a cool season, so it sure is going to be interesting. Regular highs are hitting 37 already, and that's in the shade at the heat of the day. In the sun, at the peak of the afternoon, I tell ya, this whole country just literally bakes! Thankful that we do not have to work out in the direct sun, as many, many do. Monday at school, we ended up losing power, which not only means no occassional air con, but also no computers and NO FANS! That's the worst part. Anyways, Tuesday was OK, but often we're still losing it frequently at the late part of the day when it's hottest, and people are using alot of energy. You can pray for us and our school, as the kids are hot and it's hard to be energetic in those circumstances. Also, we are expecting (have ordered) a transformer which is going to bring more power into the school, but the ETA for that is end of March.
However, it's heating up now. Thanks for the swimming pool that can cool us down after school, or just head home to a long shower, sit in front of a fan, and maybe pump the air con for a few minutes. Whatever it takes to cool off.
Last weekend, Dean and I were priviledged to attend a marriage enrichment weekend (actually one overnight) through ICA church. 8 or so couples attended, and it was a really nice getaway, where we had a rare chance to refocus on the things that are important. We watched a Christian film called "Fireproof" which is about a couple whose marriage was failing, and the sessions revolved around the issues that arose. It was just the right thing for us, not too heavy, we got to go with some other friends we know, and just enjoyed a bit of a change. Very positive, and the kids were well cared for, S & M sleeping over at our friends the Friedbergs, and Julia had a birthday party sleepoever.
Today is Thursday for us, and here's the plan for the weekend: Dean and I are going to Singapore, a seat sale we booked months ago, that is arriving this weekend. We're leaving Friday and will be back monday. VERY excited, as times away are very much appreciated. We're planning for a teacher friend Miss Erin to spend the weekend with the girls, but she's gone home sick today (very sick) so we may have to change plans at the last minute, but we hope she will just be better soon.We'll leave right after school Friday.
Then, Tuesday and Wed we have no school. This is perfect timing, as we will be hosting the MEI Missions team on Tuesday. We're going to hang out with their ministry at a khmer school in PP, and then tour them at our school, and have supper. This is such a big deal for us, as we always look forward to them coming! Yay! They are spending the rest of their time with Joel in Poipet so big hello's will be passed on to him.
Wed, the girls have a morning soccer practice for their game the next day, and otherwise, we'll just regroup and get ready for the 2 day week! It sure is nice to have a bit of a break.
We've got another couple weeks ahead. I'm preparing for some concerts at the end of April, Dean is busy with Dan hiring for next year, and again, we keep dealing with the day in and day out of the considerations of working in this country. The girls are really well, running and playing soccer (in this heat--yikes!) Maya has been doing alot of testing for the next upcoming report card, and she is really doing a good job at reading. It's so much fun to see her moving ahead and learning like she is.
We enjoyed as much of the olympics as South East Asia could offer us. Dean can download specific events off the internet, so just last night (I know, a few days late, but who really cares?) a bunch of us sat around and watched the gold medal hockey game. (Yes, even me!--It was very entertaining!!!!) Half of us canadians, have americans (or half married to americans!) It was fun. Just the day before, the two of us watched the opening ceremonies that Dean downloaded, and it was awesome! Can't wait to see the closing. We will soon, I hope.
Thanks to so many of you that sent links, updates and information in e-mail.
Finally, Happy 85th Birthday to my Grandma, Gladys Papson. My mom sent me pictures of her and their celebrations. They were just so lovely--she's such a beautiful woman, still and always. We all wish her the best.
Love to all, and would always love to hear a word via e-mail. Take care and God Bless!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Carnival, Bible Camp, Exploding Wieners and Jog-a-thon, Falling off my Moto
Greetings to all of you. Wow, this last little while has been a very busy stretch. It’s been fun but it’s been busy. In the last 2 weeks we have had the Big School Carnival, I have gone to Bible Camp for the week, hosted Jim and Carrie Williams at our house for a quick visit, and ended it all off with the big school fundraiser “Jog-a-thon”.
It all started off a couple of weekends ago with the local school Carnival. The carnival is a great event for the school community where all the classroom students in their respective grades design games or events for Logos and community kids to play or participate in. Some of the games are as simple as a bean bag throw or a face painting station. Some other grades create games that involve sheriff stations and placing people in jail or games like ”Are you smarter than a 7th grader?”. At any rate, Dan Hein and I were BBQing hotdogs for the crowd – the REAL fan favorite! Ok maybe not, but we actually used a real North American bbq grill that someone brought into the country and borrowed to us for the event.
The bottom of the bbq is missing so all the drippings land on the propane tank. So noticing the front door of the bbq was broken, I placed that on top of the tank and protected the tank. Anyways we had a fun time with that event. The girls had fun playing and participating at the event. Julia’s grade 6ers made mango blended drinks, and Steph’s grade 8s had a wet sponge station. Les helped out putting tattoos on kids at the tattoo station. (You know, the great Canadian dollar store kind that don't exist out here!) The whole carnival was a great success!
At the carnival I actually had no voice and I could not talk. Do I hear an AMEN from the crowd! This has never happened to me before (although has been wished upon me numerous times I am sure). The day before I got some sort of frog in the throat and by the next day I had no voice at all. Les made me a sign tag to pin to the front of my shirt that said, “Sorry I have lost my voice and I can’t talk”. This tag really did help, however, there were many people who thought it was some sort of “silent game” at the carnival. When they realized that I was not joking – they were a bit more understanding and I appreciated not having to try to explain my situation. My real concern was that I was suppose to go to Bible camp in a couple of days and lead and speak at the first session for the camp. I had a couple of people pray for me the next day at church and my voice was restored later that day- although I didn’t really try to use it until I needed it. Praise God!
So on the Monday I was off for the week to the Cambodian Jungle for the High School Bible Camp along with 8 other teachers and all the high school students. We all travel about 5 hours north of Phnom Penh to a very rustic camp area.
At the camp we try to scare the students about the malaria, tigers, cobras and other poisonous snakes in the area but it is more to keep them close to the camp rather than any real danger. Everyone had a great time going through many of the challenging small and large group activities and also taking part in the learning sessions each morning and evening. This year’s camp theme was “Service and Sacrifice” and was based out of the Bible’s Mark 10:43-45.
“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:43-45 (New Living Translation)
I think what I really liked about this year’s camp is the opportunity to place the above scripture into action by sending out a group of students and teachers each morning into some of the poorest areas of Cambodia. Each morning a group of students built 5 latrines and as a school we completed 15 latrines for families in the area. For many of the students this was an opportunity to serve and sacrifice for those less fortunate in a very real, practical and physically exhausting way. One of our Cambodian staff members, Mr. Sokcha, was amazed at how poor some families in Cambodia live and he estimated that these families live on approximately $100 USD annually. Yet even with such poverty, these families are so appreciative of our help that they offer to climb up their trees to give us fresh coconut milk from their trees. I really appreciated and needed the coconut milk myself because my water bottle had some bad water in it and I couldn’t drink all morning- so I was hot and very thirsty and very ready to drink what I could.
A new thing that was added to the camp this year was a compass walk. This was a bit of an orienteering aspect to the scheduled activities at the camp. I really liked it but it meant going through some of the thinned out jungle area. The premise of the walk is to navigate to a number of key points and once locating the particular marker that has a certain picture on it, draw the picture on a sheet of paper before moving to the next point. The first team to complete the walk in the fastest time wins the event. It was great. There was one point in the walk when one of the markers was to be located in a bomb crater! After really thinking about that, there were many bomb craters around that area. As I was walking I was also thinking things like “I sure hope there are no landmines in the area” and thoughts like, “I sure don’t want me or anyone else to lose their legs today”. Not really valid positive thoughts, but it made for an interesting compass walk.
At the end of the camp and during our last teaching session, the staff challenged the students to live a life that serves others and to be a living sacrifice to the Lord. And more importantly, to do this service with a heart of Love, just as Christ loved us and sacrificed His life for us out of a heart of love.
I returned on Friday and the next day Jim Williams and his lovely new bride Carrie came to visit us for a few days on the last leg of their holidays. It was great to talk and have visitors with us – we really enjoyed their company. Wish they could have stayed longer but they were off to the Cambodian beach for a couple of days and then back to China. Les and I did have a chance to show the two of them around the new school. They were both surprised at the quality of the new school and called it an “Oasis in the Desert”. I thought that the comment seemed very appropriate for the setting. Well the visit was short and sweet and they took off on Thursday morning.
During this past week we have been preparing for the school fund raiser, “Jog-a-thon” that ran this past Friday. This is a chance for our school to raise funds to help get our playground in a bit better shape. However, the real immediate need is that our school does not have enough electricity and so we need to buy a transformer. (Something we did not anticipate). We have been told that the price is $40,000 and heading into the hot season with no power will be very difficult. The school raised $12,000 with most of the money coming from North American sources. This is a good help but we still need some help getting that transformer.
The jog-a-thon ran well and we had the older kids ran outside around the community while the young kids ran inside the school grounds. We ran the whole thing first thing in the morning before it gets too hot for everyone. As part of the fun we also agreed to give all the students in the school free hot dogs. Well for some reason I agreed to get the hotdog wieners at one of the expat type stores. What I really didn’t think about was the fact that, in my mind, I thought I was getting a few hotdog wieners like I did for the carnival (around 200), but in actuality, I was buying almost 700 wieners for the whole school! This enlightenment didn’t really hit me until I got to the closest thing we have to a grocery store and started to pile in all the wieners in a cart.
What made this whole idea challenging was that I had purchased them all and now realized that I had to somehow bring them back to the school (some 6 km away)- on my moto- through busy traffic! Well, I thought I was up for the challenge. (I have seen all sorts of Cambodians take absurd things on a moto, [3 large pigs, 50 live chickens, 6 people] so I thought I could do a few wieners.) After taking nearly 10 minutes to figure out how to pack these packages of wieners in every possible place; I had wieners under my motoseat, hanging off my mirrors, in my bag, pockets. However, I had most of them secured against my left leg piled in front of my lap. I was ready and I set off for Logos. Needless to say, I was getting some stares from some people. Some large white guy with a whole lot of bags piled everywhere is not a sight you see every day here.
I got about 1 km away when I suddenly realized I forgot my Helmet. The idea of going back almost made me say I should forget about it and I could buy another helmet. However, if I continued on towards the school, the likelihood that I would get stopped by one of the many cops along the route made me quickly reconsider. So I slowly meandered back to my starting point. My helmet was on a guard’s side table waiting for me. The Cambodian guard chuckled at the sight of me with those wieners everywhere. He gave me my helmet and I quickly left the mocking area.
So off I tried again, I got about half way through all the hot busy traffic when I suddenly felt one of the bags resting on my left leg was slipping. I quickly went to the side of the road to try and pull up the bag. When I stopped, I looked down and noticed the bag upside down. I quickly grabbed the bag and noticed only one package of wieners in the grocery bag. I had a bad feeling as I notice the top of the grocery bag had ripped. I looked back into traffic to see if maybe I had lost some of the wieners and sure enough, saw two packages (20 wieners each) laying in the traffic. One package was already squished and wieners were everywhere. As I watched the other package still intact, I was trying to figure out how I could turn around to save them. As I was trying to maneuver the moto around against the raging traffic, a car ran over the package and wieners went everywhere. In the mad scramble and chaos, Cambodians were trying to go into traffic and pick up some of the squished wieners. I left the area in utter disappointment.
I drove slowly to school and was exhausted, hot, and disappointed. I got to the school and one of the Khmer teacher assistants, who saw all the stuff hanging from my moto, said “wow, you are as good as a Cambodian woman!” She was referring to my ability to get all that stuff packed on my moto. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I lost 2 packages- something a Cambodian woman would never have let happen.
Take care and I hope you are having as much fun as we are!
Dean
P.S. Just to let you all know I had a spill on my moto this past week too. While Dan and I were running around trying to figure out the route for the middle and high school jog-a-thon I ended up hitting a patch of soft road. Well with Dan Hein on the back of my moto, I took a tumble off the moto and onto the road. Don’t worry, Dan and the moto landed on me – so they were all safe. Thankfully we were not going very fast, so outside of some road rash and bruises I am OK. Dan had a bit of skin loss too but seemed OK. Actually, my pride was hurt more than anything else.
When we got back to the school one of the guards saw me all dusted up, bloody and with ripped pants and shirt. His eyes were big with questions and I tried to tell him I got hit by a cow on my moto. It seemed like a good answer at the time and certainly a better reason than hitting a depression of soft dirt. He seemed to really like my answer and his reaction was very accepting- like “getting hit by cows on motos” happens every day. I only let that answer stay for a moment and then I told him the truth- he looked at me with disappointment. Like I said, my pride hurt more than anything else. Sorry no pics of that. Below is a list of lots of different pics from the events I talked about.
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| From carnival2010 |
It all started off a couple of weekends ago with the local school Carnival. The carnival is a great event for the school community where all the classroom students in their respective grades design games or events for Logos and community kids to play or participate in. Some of the games are as simple as a bean bag throw or a face painting station. Some other grades create games that involve sheriff stations and placing people in jail or games like ”Are you smarter than a 7th grader?”. At any rate, Dan Hein and I were BBQing hotdogs for the crowd – the REAL fan favorite! Ok maybe not, but we actually used a real North American bbq grill that someone brought into the country and borrowed to us for the event.
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| From Carnival2010 |
The bottom of the bbq is missing so all the drippings land on the propane tank. So noticing the front door of the bbq was broken, I placed that on top of the tank and protected the tank. Anyways we had a fun time with that event. The girls had fun playing and participating at the event. Julia’s grade 6ers made mango blended drinks, and Steph’s grade 8s had a wet sponge station. Les helped out putting tattoos on kids at the tattoo station. (You know, the great Canadian dollar store kind that don't exist out here!) The whole carnival was a great success!
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| From Carnival2010 |
At the carnival I actually had no voice and I could not talk. Do I hear an AMEN from the crowd! This has never happened to me before (although has been wished upon me numerous times I am sure). The day before I got some sort of frog in the throat and by the next day I had no voice at all. Les made me a sign tag to pin to the front of my shirt that said, “Sorry I have lost my voice and I can’t talk”. This tag really did help, however, there were many people who thought it was some sort of “silent game” at the carnival. When they realized that I was not joking – they were a bit more understanding and I appreciated not having to try to explain my situation. My real concern was that I was suppose to go to Bible camp in a couple of days and lead and speak at the first session for the camp. I had a couple of people pray for me the next day at church and my voice was restored later that day- although I didn’t really try to use it until I needed it. Praise God!
So on the Monday I was off for the week to the Cambodian Jungle for the High School Bible Camp along with 8 other teachers and all the high school students. We all travel about 5 hours north of Phnom Penh to a very rustic camp area.
At the camp we try to scare the students about the malaria, tigers, cobras and other poisonous snakes in the area but it is more to keep them close to the camp rather than any real danger. Everyone had a great time going through many of the challenging small and large group activities and also taking part in the learning sessions each morning and evening. This year’s camp theme was “Service and Sacrifice” and was based out of the Bible’s Mark 10:43-45.“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:43-45 (New Living Translation)
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| From bible camp |
I think what I really liked about this year’s camp is the opportunity to place the above scripture into action by sending out a group of students and teachers each morning into some of the poorest areas of Cambodia. Each morning a group of students built 5 latrines and as a school we completed 15 latrines for families in the area. For many of the students this was an opportunity to serve and sacrifice for those less fortunate in a very real, practical and physically exhausting way. One of our Cambodian staff members, Mr. Sokcha, was amazed at how poor some families in Cambodia live and he estimated that these families live on approximately $100 USD annually. Yet even with such poverty, these families are so appreciative of our help that they offer to climb up their trees to give us fresh coconut milk from their trees. I really appreciated and needed the coconut milk myself because my water bottle had some bad water in it and I couldn’t drink all morning- so I was hot and very thirsty and very ready to drink what I could.
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| From bible camp |
A new thing that was added to the camp this year was a compass walk. This was a bit of an orienteering aspect to the scheduled activities at the camp. I really liked it but it meant going through some of the thinned out jungle area. The premise of the walk is to navigate to a number of key points and once locating the particular marker that has a certain picture on it, draw the picture on a sheet of paper before moving to the next point. The first team to complete the walk in the fastest time wins the event. It was great. There was one point in the walk when one of the markers was to be located in a bomb crater! After really thinking about that, there were many bomb craters around that area. As I was walking I was also thinking things like “I sure hope there are no landmines in the area” and thoughts like, “I sure don’t want me or anyone else to lose their legs today”. Not really valid positive thoughts, but it made for an interesting compass walk.
At the end of the camp and during our last teaching session, the staff challenged the students to live a life that serves others and to be a living sacrifice to the Lord. And more importantly, to do this service with a heart of Love, just as Christ loved us and sacrificed His life for us out of a heart of love.
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| Jim and Carrie come to visit |
I returned on Friday and the next day Jim Williams and his lovely new bride Carrie came to visit us for a few days on the last leg of their holidays. It was great to talk and have visitors with us – we really enjoyed their company. Wish they could have stayed longer but they were off to the Cambodian beach for a couple of days and then back to China. Les and I did have a chance to show the two of them around the new school. They were both surprised at the quality of the new school and called it an “Oasis in the Desert”. I thought that the comment seemed very appropriate for the setting. Well the visit was short and sweet and they took off on Thursday morning.
During this past week we have been preparing for the school fund raiser, “Jog-a-thon” that ran this past Friday. This is a chance for our school to raise funds to help get our playground in a bit better shape. However, the real immediate need is that our school does not have enough electricity and so we need to buy a transformer. (Something we did not anticipate). We have been told that the price is $40,000 and heading into the hot season with no power will be very difficult. The school raised $12,000 with most of the money coming from North American sources. This is a good help but we still need some help getting that transformer.
The jog-a-thon ran well and we had the older kids ran outside around the community while the young kids ran inside the school grounds. We ran the whole thing first thing in the morning before it gets too hot for everyone. As part of the fun we also agreed to give all the students in the school free hot dogs. Well for some reason I agreed to get the hotdog wieners at one of the expat type stores. What I really didn’t think about was the fact that, in my mind, I thought I was getting a few hotdog wieners like I did for the carnival (around 200), but in actuality, I was buying almost 700 wieners for the whole school! This enlightenment didn’t really hit me until I got to the closest thing we have to a grocery store and started to pile in all the wieners in a cart.
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| From Maya Running Hard at Jog-a-thon |
What made this whole idea challenging was that I had purchased them all and now realized that I had to somehow bring them back to the school (some 6 km away)- on my moto- through busy traffic! Well, I thought I was up for the challenge. (I have seen all sorts of Cambodians take absurd things on a moto, [3 large pigs, 50 live chickens, 6 people] so I thought I could do a few wieners.) After taking nearly 10 minutes to figure out how to pack these packages of wieners in every possible place; I had wieners under my motoseat, hanging off my mirrors, in my bag, pockets. However, I had most of them secured against my left leg piled in front of my lap. I was ready and I set off for Logos. Needless to say, I was getting some stares from some people. Some large white guy with a whole lot of bags piled everywhere is not a sight you see every day here.
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| From Grade winners for Jog-a-thon Race |
I got about 1 km away when I suddenly realized I forgot my Helmet. The idea of going back almost made me say I should forget about it and I could buy another helmet. However, if I continued on towards the school, the likelihood that I would get stopped by one of the many cops along the route made me quickly reconsider. So I slowly meandered back to my starting point. My helmet was on a guard’s side table waiting for me. The Cambodian guard chuckled at the sight of me with those wieners everywhere. He gave me my helmet and I quickly left the mocking area.
So off I tried again, I got about half way through all the hot busy traffic when I suddenly felt one of the bags resting on my left leg was slipping. I quickly went to the side of the road to try and pull up the bag. When I stopped, I looked down and noticed the bag upside down. I quickly grabbed the bag and noticed only one package of wieners in the grocery bag. I had a bad feeling as I notice the top of the grocery bag had ripped. I looked back into traffic to see if maybe I had lost some of the wieners and sure enough, saw two packages (20 wieners each) laying in the traffic. One package was already squished and wieners were everywhere. As I watched the other package still intact, I was trying to figure out how I could turn around to save them. As I was trying to maneuver the moto around against the raging traffic, a car ran over the package and wieners went everywhere. In the mad scramble and chaos, Cambodians were trying to go into traffic and pick up some of the squished wieners. I left the area in utter disappointment.
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| From Jog-a-thon2010 |
I drove slowly to school and was exhausted, hot, and disappointed. I got to the school and one of the Khmer teacher assistants, who saw all the stuff hanging from my moto, said “wow, you are as good as a Cambodian woman!” She was referring to my ability to get all that stuff packed on my moto. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I lost 2 packages- something a Cambodian woman would never have let happen.
Take care and I hope you are having as much fun as we are!
Dean
P.S. Just to let you all know I had a spill on my moto this past week too. While Dan and I were running around trying to figure out the route for the middle and high school jog-a-thon I ended up hitting a patch of soft road. Well with Dan Hein on the back of my moto, I took a tumble off the moto and onto the road. Don’t worry, Dan and the moto landed on me – so they were all safe. Thankfully we were not going very fast, so outside of some road rash and bruises I am OK. Dan had a bit of skin loss too but seemed OK. Actually, my pride was hurt more than anything else.
When we got back to the school one of the guards saw me all dusted up, bloody and with ripped pants and shirt. His eyes were big with questions and I tried to tell him I got hit by a cow on my moto. It seemed like a good answer at the time and certainly a better reason than hitting a depression of soft dirt. He seemed to really like my answer and his reaction was very accepting- like “getting hit by cows on motos” happens every day. I only let that answer stay for a moment and then I told him the truth- he looked at me with disappointment. Like I said, my pride hurt more than anything else. Sorry no pics of that. Below is a list of lots of different pics from the events I talked about.
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| Jog-a-thon2010 |
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| bible camp |
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| carnival2010 |
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| pieinface |
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| jogathon2010-our family pics |
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| Carnival2010-our pics |
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Scylla and Charybdis
HI all. Well, I'm going to get all "heady" on you. I had to look up the title of this blog on google, as I had no idea what it meant, but wanted to use it. Here's what I found out, they are the names of Sea Monsters from greek mythology:
"The myth has Charybdis, lying on one side of a blue, narrow channel of water. On the other side of the strait was Scylla, another sea-monster. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's range of each other, so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis will pass too close to Scylla and vice versa. The phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean being in a state where one is between two dangers and moving away from one will cause you to come closer to the other. "Between Scylla and Charybdis" is the origin of the phrase "between the rock and the whirlpool" (the rock upon which Scylla dwelt and the whirlpool of Charybdis) and may also be the genesis of the phrase "between a rock and a hard place."
All that just to quote Elisabeth Elliot from a book of hers that I read recently, that I could NOT put down, "The Savage, My Kinsman," where she tells the story of going into the jungle, her and her 3 year old daughter, to live alongside the Auca people, the very same who murdered her husband and 4 other men, 3 years prior. Just a fasciniting read, I recommend it.
However, in her epilogue, she comments on the writing of the book, and of telling her missionary (or any) missionary story:
"We must recognize the treacherous Scylla and Charybdis of missionary reporting--not telling enough of the story, and telling altogether too much. The first temptation is to minimize what is great. The second is to magnify what is trivial."
Hmm.
I haven't written for a little while, and when I read that I thought, maybe I haven't written because there's been nothing trivial to magnify? Things have been just going along lately, without anything too sensational to write about! I certainly have been guilty of that error on this blog at times. Or, perhaps, I am simply minimizing the astonishing greatness of our Father, by not writing enough about who He is and what I see of Him here! When I think of it, It's a tough situation to be in really. So, I apologize for the extremes. When I write, I know there are trivial things I want to say, but I hope I can tell enough of the story, that God gets the Glory.
If you want trivial details, there are certainly many to share. We have been well. Dean is sick right now with a nice bout of laringitis, but he's feeling Ok. As nice as that may sound for US, that he doesn't have his voice, (haha) he still continues to try to whisper and communicate with actions, so it's actually worse than when he's talking too much!
Dean and many other staff members and all the high school students are headed off to camp this week, so he needs to get better quick. Dean went as a supervisor last year, and it's an adventure camp, so they have alot of fun, great teaching times, and I know he's looking forward to it.
That leaves Monday to Friday as "girls" week for the rest of us. (Who am I kidding--it's always "girls week" around here! haha) Anyways, we'll try to get to school on time without him, which should be interesting.
Steph's had alot of homework and was pretty choked about things earlier this week. When it slowed down a bit, that helped, but it sort of feels like nothing has been "fun" lately at school--just getting down to the nitty gritty of class after class, assignment after test, and although this is normal for this time of year, it can get wearisome for a kid who cares and wants to do well at things.
So, we solved the lack of "fun" problem this Saturday, as it was the Logos Carnival, where the school puts on a fun fair, complete with food, games, tickets, prizes, tables with sales, face painting--did I mentions food?--hot dogs, drinks, Korean food, indian food. and all the grades put on games where kids can win prizes. Alot of school and non-Logos kids show up for this and it was really a fun day for everyone. Maya's arms are covered in transfer tattoos, Julia got soaked in the "Throw a water balloon at your favorite Gr. 6er" game, and Steph hung out with friends, put a few people in "jail" (that was one of the games--a highlight, as you apy to get someone "Arrested" then they have to get bailed out! Quite a hoot.) and Steph also watched Ally Hein a bit, for some babysitting. All in all, a really fun day. What made it even more enjoyable, is that when all was said and done (it went from 10-2 Saturday) we took our swim suits and jumped into the pool and cooled off. Lovely.
Yes, the Logos pool is really lovely, pretty much exclusively designed by Dean, so he's pleased as punch with it. It's a full size, 25m laps pool, saltwater, so it's really, really nice. There is a small kid pool for little ones, that you can see easily from the main pool. So, I now have found probably my perfect exercise regime for cambodia! Getting up at 5 am to run when it's not hot and still have people staring at you was difficult. Running any other time of the day, and where--was always an issue. Walking is ok, but there's no park close by to do so and still people stare (I could just get over that, but when you're trying to get some exercise, it's a good excuse to avoid going out!) So now, After a long, hot day at school, when most of the kids are gone home, I can jump into the pool, do a few laps, let Maya and any of the other kids swim too, (I can watch Maya in the small pool WHILE exercising, now that's a miracle) AND it's lovely, refreshing, the water is a perfectly warm enough temp that I'm never cold, and my goodness, doesn't that sound nice for those of you who are freezing cold in Canada right now? I'm sorry, not bragging, but boy am I enjoying the swimming, and making the most of a win win situation. It is good and I'm thankful.
I guess we did have a little fun also the Friday before carnival, as it was High school/middle school chapel, and the Gr. 12's did a pie in the face ufndraiser. Dean was of course, on the list, along with a number of other favorite teachers, and he paid his dues. Unfortunately for me, another staff member grabbed our camera while Dean was covered in whip cream, and Dean planted a big ol' kiss on my face, so I had whipping cream up my nose for the rest of the day! Gross. However, the kids enjoyed the bidding, and boy, if Julia only had remembered to bring money!!! She was so into it. Too bad there's not alot of forethought in all that enthusiasm!
Weekends lately have been filled with trying to rest. Been so tired, it seems. The power coming into the school building is still not enough for half of the classrooms to run even one aircon for part of the day, so we are always blowing the system, and shutting off breakers. What this means is that while we are technically still in "cool" season (I prefer to call it "Not roasting hot season,") we are teaching in some very warm classrooms, and it is a fair amount tougher than I thought it would be. You just eventually overheat, and it tires you out.
Last Sunday, on the invite of Bill Lobezoo our neighbor and CMA missionary, we went to church at David and Patti's TNT, Khmer church on the other side of the city. Any gals from my old missions team, you were there, and maybe some of you SOAers know that they are currently building a new building on the same property, and we wanted to see how it was going. In a word, unbelievable! It is HUGE, gorgeous, and really like David said, Taj Mahal--ish! Really, we took pictures and hopefully they will be up for you to see. What a blessing for this community. Alot of the money has been fundraised from the West (which is a good and bad thing, because dependency on the rich West is such a struggle Cambodia in general out here) but it is really a nice space and the people are very happy.
Name dropping time. We heard from Ange Booy in an e-mail last week, that she was in and out of town within about 12 hours total, coming from Siem Riep and on to India, where she will be doing the rest of her YWAM. I think she comes back for a few days in March, then home, so we will see her then. But, this is the culmination of her time out here, to head to India, so be praying for her. And the big news is that she has done something to her back, and was on complete bedrest for like 3 weeks in Siem Riep. She was hoping to get some medical attention on that short stay here, and has been very immobile. Not able to do stuff with her team, and it's been good and bad in many ways. Making her spend time with God. So, I dont' know how much we're going to get to hear from her while in india, but that's the scoop on her. Please pray!
Next, we're going to host Jim Williams next weekend, while he's doing some touring of SE Asia on his school break. He'll be here with his significant other (I'm sorry, I've forgotten her name) and they'll stay with us a few days over valentines day.) looking very much forward to some COMPANY! Stew and Sue McKercher with Ratanak (some of you know them) are out again, and we've invited them to see our new school. (We're always trying to give tours!) Hopefully that will take place next week. And finally, the MEI missions team, headed by Henry Zukowski and Maryanne Quiring will be showing up on our doorstep for supper March 8th, around there, as they get in that weekend. (Due to the Olympics, everyone has different spring break schedules in BC? IS this true?? Sounds interesting.) So, we hope to spend some time with their ministry on the Tuesday at New Life school, and then we can sup together and they can tour our new school. Looking forward to all of this.
So, Olympic news?? We hear none of it. Someone fill us in. All I've heard is from a few e-mails about the snow transfers, the bills running up--anyone with insider info can write us and let us know how things are turning. We're very interested, but this side of the world doesn't know anything about winter or olympics, so we're not getting much!
Well, that's the "trivial" list. The "great" list? God is always good. We had a student run away from home a few weeks ago and he was prayed for so much by the school. He has returned safely and I cannot comment on his current home life, but sure hope and keep praying that things will improve. Our staff continues to meet each morning for devotions, and you know, I look forward to these mornings all the time. It's sometimes a challenge to get there early enough, but each morning, we hear God's word together, pray for our students and whatever needs arise. It is good to be part of a staff like this, very good. Comforting when you're the one who is down and need the prayer, and to have people cover you like that.
The House of Smiles kids were able to come to Carnival! We gave them everything free, and I think they had a great time--what a jolt out of their quiet reality, of day after day, in their house, having school and the basic structure that they have, to getting such a noisy, unusual outing! They seemed to enjoy themselves, and the workers did, so that was nice.
And, it's staffing, recruiting and hiring time for Logos. Teachers have to decide (if their contracts are finished) if they're staying or going. Dan spends alot of time answering e-mails, phone calls and other inquiries about working at Logos. There are usually alot of unanswered questions beginning at this time of year, but in every year, Dan will really attest to how God has filled the gaps, brought the right people out for the jobs, and it's been really an amazing testament to his Will for this school, to watch how things have fallen into place over the years. However, there is still much footwork to be done, and now is the time of year when it starts to get busy.
Our own thankfully great news. We were waiting to hear back from Action, that they would agree to extend our 2 year short term missionary status to 3 years, and they did! We heard that this past week, and are very excited about officially planning to come back to Logos for a third year. Unfortunately, that news came back to back with hearing news of difficult health issues with some of our close relatives. It's so tough, some of these situations. I just keep praying...
Thank you for your continued following of our blog, despite the trivialization of the important, or the magnification of the mundane! Thanks and blessing to those of you who support us in the ways you can, prayer, funding, love, reading the blog. We appreciate you.
God Bless. I shall leave you with one last comment/story just cuz if I write about it, it gives me some clarity on what to do. Hope to hear from some of you soon.
A comment about the dogs, then I go. Julia loves dogs. All the girls love dogs! The dogs out here are quite frankly, gross. Dogs are not taken care of here, they are treated very low and frankly, when so many people are poor and hungry in this nation, why does anyone have a dog and have to feed it? Oh, no one really buys dog food, they just feed them scraps, or they scavenge on their own for food, but really, they are awful looking creatures, they are loaded with ticks, worms, scabies, no one cleans them. Regardless, Julia loves the dogs, especially our landlord's dogs Lilly and Rosy. Lilly has always been Julia's favorite, however, Lilly is not a smart dog, and with no training, she's learned some horrible habits. She tears at Rosy, the younger (and nicer and smarter)when they are fed, and fights for her food too. She barks and chases at motos when she's let out of the gate. Currenly, our landlords are building another home somewhere out of town, so they are RARELY home, which means if it wasn't for us (well, Julia) taking care of these poor creatures, they'd almost never get fed. It's so annoying. Anyways, long story short, Lilly's been really nipping at Julia, she seems to have crossed some play boundary to a point where I don't feel it's safe for Julia to have interaction with her. I really want her to back off with her contact with this dog, but it lives in our yard and it's really hard to do cuz Julia's so attached. This is all quite hard for Jubes, and I hope things can be resolved soon. The landlords keep talking about taking Lilly out to this "farm" (their new house) and leaving her there, and I sure wish they would, cuz I can't stand having this animal around much longer. She licks us non stop the second we get out the door, they try to get into our house, I keep kicking her to stop her from coming close and again, I'm concerned about this biting issue. Anyways, I'll let you know what comes of this, but it's quite an irritating situation right now. Poor Jubes, all she wants is a nice dog for a pet. Maybe one day.
"The myth has Charybdis, lying on one side of a blue, narrow channel of water. On the other side of the strait was Scylla, another sea-monster. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's range of each other, so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis will pass too close to Scylla and vice versa. The phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean being in a state where one is between two dangers and moving away from one will cause you to come closer to the other. "Between Scylla and Charybdis" is the origin of the phrase "between the rock and the whirlpool" (the rock upon which Scylla dwelt and the whirlpool of Charybdis) and may also be the genesis of the phrase "between a rock and a hard place."
All that just to quote Elisabeth Elliot from a book of hers that I read recently, that I could NOT put down, "The Savage, My Kinsman," where she tells the story of going into the jungle, her and her 3 year old daughter, to live alongside the Auca people, the very same who murdered her husband and 4 other men, 3 years prior. Just a fasciniting read, I recommend it.
However, in her epilogue, she comments on the writing of the book, and of telling her missionary (or any) missionary story:
"We must recognize the treacherous Scylla and Charybdis of missionary reporting--not telling enough of the story, and telling altogether too much. The first temptation is to minimize what is great. The second is to magnify what is trivial."
Hmm.
I haven't written for a little while, and when I read that I thought, maybe I haven't written because there's been nothing trivial to magnify? Things have been just going along lately, without anything too sensational to write about! I certainly have been guilty of that error on this blog at times. Or, perhaps, I am simply minimizing the astonishing greatness of our Father, by not writing enough about who He is and what I see of Him here! When I think of it, It's a tough situation to be in really. So, I apologize for the extremes. When I write, I know there are trivial things I want to say, but I hope I can tell enough of the story, that God gets the Glory.
If you want trivial details, there are certainly many to share. We have been well. Dean is sick right now with a nice bout of laringitis, but he's feeling Ok. As nice as that may sound for US, that he doesn't have his voice, (haha) he still continues to try to whisper and communicate with actions, so it's actually worse than when he's talking too much!
Dean and many other staff members and all the high school students are headed off to camp this week, so he needs to get better quick. Dean went as a supervisor last year, and it's an adventure camp, so they have alot of fun, great teaching times, and I know he's looking forward to it.
That leaves Monday to Friday as "girls" week for the rest of us. (Who am I kidding--it's always "girls week" around here! haha) Anyways, we'll try to get to school on time without him, which should be interesting.
Steph's had alot of homework and was pretty choked about things earlier this week. When it slowed down a bit, that helped, but it sort of feels like nothing has been "fun" lately at school--just getting down to the nitty gritty of class after class, assignment after test, and although this is normal for this time of year, it can get wearisome for a kid who cares and wants to do well at things.
So, we solved the lack of "fun" problem this Saturday, as it was the Logos Carnival, where the school puts on a fun fair, complete with food, games, tickets, prizes, tables with sales, face painting--did I mentions food?--hot dogs, drinks, Korean food, indian food. and all the grades put on games where kids can win prizes. Alot of school and non-Logos kids show up for this and it was really a fun day for everyone. Maya's arms are covered in transfer tattoos, Julia got soaked in the "Throw a water balloon at your favorite Gr. 6er" game, and Steph hung out with friends, put a few people in "jail" (that was one of the games--a highlight, as you apy to get someone "Arrested" then they have to get bailed out! Quite a hoot.) and Steph also watched Ally Hein a bit, for some babysitting. All in all, a really fun day. What made it even more enjoyable, is that when all was said and done (it went from 10-2 Saturday) we took our swim suits and jumped into the pool and cooled off. Lovely.
Yes, the Logos pool is really lovely, pretty much exclusively designed by Dean, so he's pleased as punch with it. It's a full size, 25m laps pool, saltwater, so it's really, really nice. There is a small kid pool for little ones, that you can see easily from the main pool. So, I now have found probably my perfect exercise regime for cambodia! Getting up at 5 am to run when it's not hot and still have people staring at you was difficult. Running any other time of the day, and where--was always an issue. Walking is ok, but there's no park close by to do so and still people stare (I could just get over that, but when you're trying to get some exercise, it's a good excuse to avoid going out!) So now, After a long, hot day at school, when most of the kids are gone home, I can jump into the pool, do a few laps, let Maya and any of the other kids swim too, (I can watch Maya in the small pool WHILE exercising, now that's a miracle) AND it's lovely, refreshing, the water is a perfectly warm enough temp that I'm never cold, and my goodness, doesn't that sound nice for those of you who are freezing cold in Canada right now? I'm sorry, not bragging, but boy am I enjoying the swimming, and making the most of a win win situation. It is good and I'm thankful.
I guess we did have a little fun also the Friday before carnival, as it was High school/middle school chapel, and the Gr. 12's did a pie in the face ufndraiser. Dean was of course, on the list, along with a number of other favorite teachers, and he paid his dues. Unfortunately for me, another staff member grabbed our camera while Dean was covered in whip cream, and Dean planted a big ol' kiss on my face, so I had whipping cream up my nose for the rest of the day! Gross. However, the kids enjoyed the bidding, and boy, if Julia only had remembered to bring money!!! She was so into it. Too bad there's not alot of forethought in all that enthusiasm!
Weekends lately have been filled with trying to rest. Been so tired, it seems. The power coming into the school building is still not enough for half of the classrooms to run even one aircon for part of the day, so we are always blowing the system, and shutting off breakers. What this means is that while we are technically still in "cool" season (I prefer to call it "Not roasting hot season,") we are teaching in some very warm classrooms, and it is a fair amount tougher than I thought it would be. You just eventually overheat, and it tires you out.
Last Sunday, on the invite of Bill Lobezoo our neighbor and CMA missionary, we went to church at David and Patti's TNT, Khmer church on the other side of the city. Any gals from my old missions team, you were there, and maybe some of you SOAers know that they are currently building a new building on the same property, and we wanted to see how it was going. In a word, unbelievable! It is HUGE, gorgeous, and really like David said, Taj Mahal--ish! Really, we took pictures and hopefully they will be up for you to see. What a blessing for this community. Alot of the money has been fundraised from the West (which is a good and bad thing, because dependency on the rich West is such a struggle Cambodia in general out here) but it is really a nice space and the people are very happy.
Name dropping time. We heard from Ange Booy in an e-mail last week, that she was in and out of town within about 12 hours total, coming from Siem Riep and on to India, where she will be doing the rest of her YWAM. I think she comes back for a few days in March, then home, so we will see her then. But, this is the culmination of her time out here, to head to India, so be praying for her. And the big news is that she has done something to her back, and was on complete bedrest for like 3 weeks in Siem Riep. She was hoping to get some medical attention on that short stay here, and has been very immobile. Not able to do stuff with her team, and it's been good and bad in many ways. Making her spend time with God. So, I dont' know how much we're going to get to hear from her while in india, but that's the scoop on her. Please pray!
Next, we're going to host Jim Williams next weekend, while he's doing some touring of SE Asia on his school break. He'll be here with his significant other (I'm sorry, I've forgotten her name) and they'll stay with us a few days over valentines day.) looking very much forward to some COMPANY! Stew and Sue McKercher with Ratanak (some of you know them) are out again, and we've invited them to see our new school. (We're always trying to give tours!) Hopefully that will take place next week. And finally, the MEI missions team, headed by Henry Zukowski and Maryanne Quiring will be showing up on our doorstep for supper March 8th, around there, as they get in that weekend. (Due to the Olympics, everyone has different spring break schedules in BC? IS this true?? Sounds interesting.) So, we hope to spend some time with their ministry on the Tuesday at New Life school, and then we can sup together and they can tour our new school. Looking forward to all of this.
So, Olympic news?? We hear none of it. Someone fill us in. All I've heard is from a few e-mails about the snow transfers, the bills running up--anyone with insider info can write us and let us know how things are turning. We're very interested, but this side of the world doesn't know anything about winter or olympics, so we're not getting much!
Well, that's the "trivial" list. The "great" list? God is always good. We had a student run away from home a few weeks ago and he was prayed for so much by the school. He has returned safely and I cannot comment on his current home life, but sure hope and keep praying that things will improve. Our staff continues to meet each morning for devotions, and you know, I look forward to these mornings all the time. It's sometimes a challenge to get there early enough, but each morning, we hear God's word together, pray for our students and whatever needs arise. It is good to be part of a staff like this, very good. Comforting when you're the one who is down and need the prayer, and to have people cover you like that.
The House of Smiles kids were able to come to Carnival! We gave them everything free, and I think they had a great time--what a jolt out of their quiet reality, of day after day, in their house, having school and the basic structure that they have, to getting such a noisy, unusual outing! They seemed to enjoy themselves, and the workers did, so that was nice.
And, it's staffing, recruiting and hiring time for Logos. Teachers have to decide (if their contracts are finished) if they're staying or going. Dan spends alot of time answering e-mails, phone calls and other inquiries about working at Logos. There are usually alot of unanswered questions beginning at this time of year, but in every year, Dan will really attest to how God has filled the gaps, brought the right people out for the jobs, and it's been really an amazing testament to his Will for this school, to watch how things have fallen into place over the years. However, there is still much footwork to be done, and now is the time of year when it starts to get busy.
Our own thankfully great news. We were waiting to hear back from Action, that they would agree to extend our 2 year short term missionary status to 3 years, and they did! We heard that this past week, and are very excited about officially planning to come back to Logos for a third year. Unfortunately, that news came back to back with hearing news of difficult health issues with some of our close relatives. It's so tough, some of these situations. I just keep praying...
Thank you for your continued following of our blog, despite the trivialization of the important, or the magnification of the mundane! Thanks and blessing to those of you who support us in the ways you can, prayer, funding, love, reading the blog. We appreciate you.
God Bless. I shall leave you with one last comment/story just cuz if I write about it, it gives me some clarity on what to do. Hope to hear from some of you soon.
A comment about the dogs, then I go. Julia loves dogs. All the girls love dogs! The dogs out here are quite frankly, gross. Dogs are not taken care of here, they are treated very low and frankly, when so many people are poor and hungry in this nation, why does anyone have a dog and have to feed it? Oh, no one really buys dog food, they just feed them scraps, or they scavenge on their own for food, but really, they are awful looking creatures, they are loaded with ticks, worms, scabies, no one cleans them. Regardless, Julia loves the dogs, especially our landlord's dogs Lilly and Rosy. Lilly has always been Julia's favorite, however, Lilly is not a smart dog, and with no training, she's learned some horrible habits. She tears at Rosy, the younger (and nicer and smarter)when they are fed, and fights for her food too. She barks and chases at motos when she's let out of the gate. Currenly, our landlords are building another home somewhere out of town, so they are RARELY home, which means if it wasn't for us (well, Julia) taking care of these poor creatures, they'd almost never get fed. It's so annoying. Anyways, long story short, Lilly's been really nipping at Julia, she seems to have crossed some play boundary to a point where I don't feel it's safe for Julia to have interaction with her. I really want her to back off with her contact with this dog, but it lives in our yard and it's really hard to do cuz Julia's so attached. This is all quite hard for Jubes, and I hope things can be resolved soon. The landlords keep talking about taking Lilly out to this "farm" (their new house) and leaving her there, and I sure wish they would, cuz I can't stand having this animal around much longer. She licks us non stop the second we get out the door, they try to get into our house, I keep kicking her to stop her from coming close and again, I'm concerned about this biting issue. Anyways, I'll let you know what comes of this, but it's quite an irritating situation right now. Poor Jubes, all she wants is a nice dog for a pet. Maybe one day.
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