Happy Merry Christmas!

Cambodians are so sweet when they wish you not just a merry Christmas, but a happy one in English. =) In Khmer, we say “Suess Die Bon No-ile!” which means “Hello Christmas!” The KEC (Khmer Evangelical Church) churches in the area each have their own Christmas program on a different day in December. The program includes lots of singing (the children and youth also sing songs with hand actions) and there is usually a skit and a sermon. It is also used as an opportunity to invite people in the area to visit the church. After the program, lunch is served, which is usually curry with bread and noodles or soup with rice. I was able to attend four of the church programs this month. This past Sunday was the Christmas program at Bethlehem church in Battambang and it was really nice. Here is a picture of me and my teammates.



I am in Phnom Penh this week and it is so different from Battambang town. In Phnom Penh, Christmas has been commercialized. I have heard stores playing Christmas songs and saw a shop along the road selling Santa hats and outfits and Christmas decorations next to a stall selling fresh coconuts. I heard there was even a Santa at the local mall and you could go and sit on his lap (no elves though). The city is adopting western Christmas without even knowing what Christmas is about, or what it should be about.

Moringa Video

Check out this video on You Tube about moringa.

Moringa - The Miracle Tree
www.youtube.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDSksjGNCA&feature=player_embedded

Redemption in a fertilizer?

Two weeks ago we made compost at the middle school where I teach. The students loved being outside and chopping banana stalks, building the compost bin walls, and hoeing the soil into beds (although, I can't say they necessarily loved the hoeing part =). The week before, we asked the students to bring materials from their house for the compost, so, since most of them ride bikes to school, they each brought tiny plastic bags of cow manure, rice husk ashes, banana stalks, and rice straw. With 300 students, it does add up. =) My translator also brought some bags of sugarcane bagasse (the stalks after juice is pressed out) since that isn't available in the students' village, and some extra bags of cow manure and rise ashes. Compost is a good topic to lead into talking about redemption, because we are using materials that are dead but will bring life to many plants in our garden.

This week I taught about soil composition and texture and had some posters and experiements to keep the kids interested. We talked about how soil is made up of mineral particles, organic matter, water and air. Then we focused on the mineral particles (sand, silt and clay) and what a sandy soil is like and so on. We put some soil in a clear glass with water and shook it up and let the different particles settle. I also had 3 soil samples and showed them how you can try to shape the soil into different shapes to see what the composition and texure of the soil is. The soil in our garden can be shaped into a ring with no cracks, so it is most definitely clay! Adding compost to sandy or clayey soil improves the structure, so I made sure to bring compost into the lesson again. =) Soil is so important for them to understand as it is the foundation of any garden.

Last week, we didn't have class since there was a program for World AIDS Day on Tuesday that my teaching helpers went to. But Wednesday, we did go out to the school because they were planning to harvest their rice field! I was excited to finally get to harvest rice in Cambodia! And I did for about 10 minutes, because the students were almost finished harvesting when we arrived. =) It turned out fine though, because Dara and Roeth and I sloshed through rice paddies to go visit a farmer's vegetable garden we saw from the school. He is producing yardlong beans, mustard greens, and luffa and is slowly using more and more natural fertilizer (like compost). It was great to sit in the bamboo hut next to the field and ask him all kinds of questions about his garden and his growing methods. His garden is a definite field trip opportunity!

On December 10th, this Thursday, there is a program for youth at the church in Sisophon, which is the closest KEC church to the school in Batrang village. We invited twelve of our 9th grade students from the middle school to come (someone is covering their food cost). I am excited for them to go and hang out with Christian young people and be exposed more to the gospel. If they like it, hopefully more of them will come next year! I am also going and will ride up in a van with some of the AIDS patients from Battambang.

Laura, a friend that I met when support raising in the States, came to visit me in Cambodia for about 10 days at the end of November. It was fun to show her around and bring her to the school with me. We even got to spend a bit of time at Angkor Wat!

The moringa business is expanding and we ask for prayers as we look for land to grow moringa trees and also produce moringa powder on a larger scale (right now the hub is in the Strong's house). There is some land available next to the orchard we rent. If this is the Lord's will, we are praying the seller will lower the price.

Thank you for your prayers regarding my language acquisition! I have found it difficult to get into a regular study time here in Battambang, but have found my time with my co-teachers really helpful. And I get to ask a lot of questions on our hour ride back and forth to the school. =) Please continue to pray that my speaking and pronunication will improve along with my comprehension. Blessings!

The Miracles of God's Creation

I am always so encouraged when I am around my teammates and they are sharing about their ministries! Yesterday, I went out to breakfast with the Strongs, Sharon, and the vice president of finance from CAMA Services who is here visiting. We shared about our ministries over noodle soup and ice coffee. Sharon shared about the AIDS homecare ministry that is run by volunteers from the churches in Battambang. Then we got to talking about moringa powder and she explained that they started with giving a few AIDS patients moringa powder for a year. After seeing so many improvements in their health, all the patients started receiving the powder. They get 7 little sachets of powder a week and take one day, mixed with warm water. One of the ladies with AIDS had a swollen abdomen because of water retention and she had lost all her hair. Well, Sharon didn't know it at the time, but moringa is a diuretic, so after the lady took moringa for a few weeks, the swelling went down, and her hair is growing back! She is coming to church now (I met her a few weeks ago). Sharon said one of the greatest impacts the AIDS ministry has had is that it is helping diminish the stigma people in the church have against those with AIDS and has created a ministry of visiting, encouraging, and strengthening people in the community. In addition to visiting people living with AIDS, the volunteers help the patients get on the ARV drug that is available free through the government clinics. The PLWAs (People Living With AIDS) also get a little parcel each month with a few things like rice and soap from the AIDS ministry. We continued to talk about how moringa is not a drug, but a food, and it's usefulness is in that fact that it not only has so many nutrients and all the essential amino acids, but it has high quantities of these nutrients. Praise God!

Me, Sharon and Sombok selling moringa products at a Chab Dai fair in Phnom Penh. Sombok works fulltime for the moringa business and he collects and processes almost all of the moringa leaf powder and moringa seed oil at David and Doris' house. In case you were wondering, we also sell the spiffy moringa t-shirts!

David Strong showing Vietnamese guests the finished moringa powder.

All in a Day's Work!

Yesterday, a group of us left at 6:30am to go out to Battrang village to work on the fence at the school. We don't have enough time with the kids during the week to finish everything and we had some extra Khmer friends available to help, so we brought barbed wire to put on the fence posts and planned to buy material for gates and compost bins. On the way, we stopped for breakfast and ice coffee, which was good because we had a long day ahead of us!

Dara, Sombok, Sarom, Chris and Saroeth worked on hammering the barbed wire on the fence (except Chris had strick orders not to work a lot since he is still recovering from dengue fever). Thankfully the Khmer guys had put up fences before, so I decided while they were doing that I would take a swing at breaking up some of the soil in the area where we will have vegetable beds. It was like trying to chip at rock. I had to throw the hoe over my head and slam it into the ground 3-4 times in order to get a bit turned over. It took me 3 hours to hoe up the perimeter! Thankfully, after 2 hours, one of my female students, Nary, came over with a hoe to watch me (notice she didn't use the hoe) and she suggested I pour water on the ground and let it soak in so it would be easier to turn. She got some water and it worked! I was afraid of working the soil wet because it can destroy the structure of clay soil, but it was just enough water to loosen things up and give my back a break. My bruised, blistered hands were not so happy that evening.

After lunch at the usual spot in Sisophon, we bought wood, wire, bamboo, a few tools, nails, etc. and headed back to the school. Dara and Sarom worked on the gates and I helped Sombok and Saroeth with digging holes for the compost bin posts and cutting the 5m bamboo poles we bought. We worked until there was no more light (we accidently installed the 2nd gate on the wrong side of the fence, so it took a little time to fix that).

On the way back, Dara told stories and everyone was laughing. I didn't understand what he was saying because he was speaking fast and slurred, but every now and then he would tell a story in English for Chris and I. I especially liked the one he told about the first time he used an elevator! All in all, it was a good, productive day!

What happened to October? =)

An eventful month! Here's a snapshot:

Sept. 28th: I moved into my new house, which was a God thing because the woman that lived there previously was moving down to Phnom Penh the same day that I arrived in Battambang and her organization gave me first dibs on the house! It is a little house just the right size for me. The landlord lives in a house behind mine, so we share the same gate and it feels safer having them on the same property. It took me a few days to get everything clean like I wanted before I started putting things away, but now it is starting to feel like home.

Oct 1st: Opening day at Battrang Middle School. We left early in the morning to attend the opening ceremony at the middle school. They had a ceremony around the flag pole and then the students with good grades from last year received gifts. After the ceremony we met with the staff from the school to talk about the agriculture class. The first day of classes was the 5th, but our class didn't start until the 13th. We wanted to give them time to get organized.

Oct 7th: Chris and I headed to the middle school while David was in Sisophon for the men's regional church meeting. We bought four big posts and placed them in the ground at the four corners of the land for the garden. The beginning of our garden! Some students helped, but most stood in the shade and watched us. =)

Oct 9th: Met briefly with a short-term team from the States. They came to visit different ministries and they also went out with Sharon to learn more about the HIV/AIDS homecare project. David and Doris shared about the moringa business with the group and Chris and I shared about the education project in Battrang. Afterwards, they prayed for us and it was such a blessing!

Oct 13th: First day of teaching at Battrang! For the first class we introduced ourselves and did a fun evaluation to learn more about the kids. There are 4 teachers, Chris, me, Dara (our translator), and a teacher assistant from the school. We stood in each corner of the room and when Dara read a question, we held up colored sheets of paper with answers on them and told the students to go to the corner with the answer that applied to them. Some of the questions were, "Does you family have a vegetable garden?" "What is compost" "Where do you get your drinking water?" etc. So, we learned a little about their situations as well as their knowledge about some agricultural things. At the end we took them out to the garden area and showed them "our" garden and talked about how we need to work together to take care of it. It was a good first day and we did the same thing the next day on Wednesday.


We teach every Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday, we leave around 7:30am and our classes are at 9am, 10am, 3pm and 4pm, which leaves a large break in the middle for working on projects in the garden. We usually eat in Sisophon at the same restaurant and then pick up supplies in town if we need them. After the last class we head back to Battambang. It takes about an hour and 15min to drive out to the village from Battambang, so we don't get home until after dark (6:30pm). Wednesday, we leave Battambang at 11:30am and our classes are back to back at 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. We have figured out that we really only have about 45 min with each class, so we have to keep things moving since we do some teaching in the class and then some work in the garden with each class. We have four 7th grade classes, two 8th grade classes, and two 9th grade classes. The first day, most of our 10am class didn't show up because they had already gone home for lunch. =) I am still learning the classroom etiquette in Cambodia. When the teacher enters the classroom, all the students stand up until the teachers tells them to sit down. When students raise their hands to answer a question, they stand up and recite a short, polite phrase to the teacher before giving their answer and they don't sit down until they are told. Students here learn by memorization, so thinking for themselves is usually not encouraged.

Most of October!: Working on schedule, lesson ideas, lesson plans, etc. with Chris and at home on my computer.

Oct 20th: 2nd week of teaching, this time we introduced family vegetable gardens and then took the students outside to work on digging holes and laying the posts for the fence.


Oct 24th: Women's regional retreat at Jerusalem church. A Khmer lady shared a message from the word and Sharon shared about Hepatitis A and B.

Oct 26th: Met with CAMA teammates. We usually share about our different ministries, look at schedules for the coming month and then pray for each other.

Oct 27th: Class canceled because Chris sick. Turns out later that he had dengue fever.

Oct. 28th: Went out to school with Dara and Roeth, a girl that works with the HIV/AIDS homecare and who came since Chris was sick. Taught about preparing the soil for a family vegetable garden. Continued work on fence and weeded garden area.

Oct 30th: David and Doris helped me prepare moringa products for Chab Dai fair in Phnom Penh on November 5th. I will go down to sell moringa powder, moringa powder in capsules, moringa seed oil, moringa seeds, and t-shirts with the Moringa for Health logo on them. Sombok will go as well to help with the table since the Chab Dai meeting will be attended by half Khmer and half foreigners.

Doris and I went out to the moringa orchard to see how guys were doing who removed the grass from the moringa beds. The moringa trees in the orchard were not growing very well, so we decided to try removing the grass from the raised beds in case the grass was stealing nutrients from the moringa trees. The grass looked nice and it kept the weeds down, but may have been causing problems for the trees. Because of the raining season, there is also lots of water in the soil, so hopefully now that it is getting near the end of the rains the soil will dry out some and the trees will grow better. We also propped up some papayas tree that fell over and picked okra and cowpeas.

Oct. 1-3: The Water Festival is well under way in Phnom Penh, with some crazy millions of people gathering in the capital to watch the boat races. Even the King sits down by the river in his little throne thing to watch the races. I personally have not seen the boat races yet, and don't really have any desire to be in crowds of millions of people. I do leave for Phnom Penh Wednesday the 4th to go down for the fair, hopefully after the crowds have already left!

Gardens and Grandmas

Chris and I spent time going through different material and topics for the agriculture education project at Batrang Middle School. Friday we started plugging topics into the schdedule for the year. It is challenging as we have many things to consider, including the garden we will start at the school and how that corresponds with the lessons we teach, the school's schedule, and the best order and priority for the lessons. Right now we have lots of resources and ideas and need God's wisdom to know how to pick and arrange the topics. I tested the soil from the school and it is going to take some major work and input of organic materials to get things to grow in that soil! The soil around the school is from 6 meters under a rice paddy, so not a lot of nutrition in it. We are praying for a miracle from the Lord!

Friday afternoon, I went with Doris and Julee and some ladies from the Bethlehem church to visit a baby that was recently born and then to visit a grandma (everyone is family here, so because she is in her 70s, she is called grandma or "yay"). The young lady who had the baby is the daughter of one of the KEC (Khmer Evangelical Church) pastors and the whole family planted moringa trees on their land and they faithfully eat the powder every day.

Anyway, everyone was rejoicing about this baby because the girl's first baby died during delivery. The new mother was beaming from ear to ear and the husband looked so proud! We prayed over the little, tiny baby girl as she lay sleeping and then chatted about the Cambodian customs during pregnancy and after birth. The women usually wear ski caps and long sleeves and lay over hot coals because they believe it is healthy for the woman to sweat a lot after giving brith. The baby also has lots of layers of clothing (and a hat and mittens), and, in the hot humid weather, it is is sweltering! Doris and Julee were encouraging the woman that some of these practices can be harmful to the health of the mother and the baby (such as if the mother sweats too much and doesn't drink water, her milk production will decrease). It was interesting to learn about their practices and to think about things that we do in the States that are tradition that we may not have a good reason for doing other than that's we were taught to do. It is also good to remember that some traditions, both in Cambodia and the States, are not harmful, just different, and are important to the culture.

After the baby visit we went to another village and prayed with the "yay" because she is older and needed encouragement. She told us about her fear of some of the people in her village who didn't like her and so the Khmer women encouraged her that because she is a child of God, those people can't hurt her. She has a pretty amazing conversion story and has come out of some demonic spiritual practices, so she is quite sensitive to spiritual things. This weekend is also a religious holiday in Cambodia called "Pchum Ben" where it is believed that spirits of dead relatives are released from hell for a couple days and they roam the earth. If people don't bring food and rice to 7 different temples for the spirits, then the spirits will curse them and do bad things to them. All of these things gave me a deeper sense of the need to pray for Cambodians to know Christ and to be released from this fear and worship of evil. Please join me in prayer for the Khmer people!

I have the blessing this coming week of attending the ECHO Asia Agriculture conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I hope to learn some new ideas and techniques to bring back to the work in Cambodia and also to network with other people working in development in Asia.

I will try to start taking more pictures (of people, I have lots of rice fields and moringa trees)! =)

A new home and a new chapter!

Saturday I rode up to Battambang with the rest of my stuff and a missionary from Poipet. I am staying with my teammates, Chris and Julee Bellar, and their two little boys. They live across the street from David and Doris and Matthew Strong and caddy corner from Sharon! I am staying with the Bellars until I move into my own little house on the 28th. It is a small, 2 bedroom house one street over from my teammates and the same street as Corey, my NMSI teammate. The landlord lives in a house behind it on the same property. A single missionary woman lived in this house for the past 8 years, up until Saturday, and she had excellent things to say about the landlords. I am excited to have found a good place so soon. God is good at taking care of his kids! =)

Already within 3 days I have done quite a bit! Sunday I went to church with the Strongs and Julee, and then I had lunch with the Strongs. In the afternoon I rested, and then went out with the Strongs to the moringa orchard in the evening to look at the trees and give the farmer a bag of natural fertilizer for the rice field. The leaves on the moringa trees were turning yellow from too much water so we decided to go back in the morning to cut some the trees so we could process the leaves before they all turn yellow.

Monday morning, I went with David and Julee to look at the house for rent. We discussed with the landlady about the house and I decided to rent it. They are painting it now and will buy a few pieces of furniture. Then I went out to the orchard with Sombok and David. We couldn't cut all the trees because there isn't enough space to dry that many leaves, so we cut the tallest trees and then snapped the stems off the branches and loaded them in the truck. Sombok and I wash the leaves in water at the Strong's house and then after lunch I helped Sombok and Chris strip the leaves off the stems. I also got to help them process moringa seeds for oil. The Strongs got a oil seed press and are processing the moringa seeds for oil because it has excellent topical benefits for arthritis and helping the skin. We all tasted the seedcake, which is the stuff that comes out the after the oil is squeezed out of the seed, and it was extremely bitter but also sickeningly sweet. It took a few hours to get the taste out of my mouth! I need to do some research on if we can use the seedcake for something.

This morning, Chris, Dara and I went up to Battrang middle school to meet with the staff about the agriculture class. We saw some students leaving as we came into the school yard and found out today was one of the registration days. We had a good meeting with the principal, vice principal and several teachers, and got some answers for questions about the schedule, classes, land, orientation day, etc. Then we went out and got some soil samples from the areas we might plant gardens and the male teachers joined in on that too. We also got the ok to talk about God in the classroom!!! Please pray this opens doors for opportunties to share with the teachers as well about why we are there. On the way back to Battambang, we stopped at 2 places that had moringa trees loaded with mature seed pods and asked the owners if we could collect the seed pods. Both people said yes and now we have more seeds for oil. It seems moringa trees are everywhere here, yet so many people don't know about the nutrition in the leaves and the other benefits of the tree.

This afternoon, Chris, Julee and I broke open the seeds pods and got the seeds out. I have enjoyed getting to spend time with Aiden and Kailen, Chris and Julee's little boys. Aiden is 2 years old and Kailen is 3 months and they are both super cute! Life in Battambang is not as fast paced as Phnom Penh, so I am looking forward to getting to know my neighbors. Thank you for your prayers!

My last week in Phnom Penh

These 3 months I have had to focus on language have been such a blessing! I have a good foundation for continuing to build on my vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc. and I made some good friends in the process! My last week in Phnom Penh begins today and I wanted to write a few interesting things about my time in the bustling capital.

Wildlife: The fact that I live right next door to several food stalls that serve dog meat is always exciting (and kind of weird), but that is not the wildlife I am thinking of. For the past 3 weeks, there has been a rather large gecko living above where my gate opens and closes. It is not one of those cute little things that eats mosquitos and is scared of people. This thing is as big as my hand, makes really obnoxious noises, and if prompted, will bite something and not let go. Still, the first time I saw it I thought, "Oh that's cute." It's blue with red spots and is called a "duck-gka", which is also the noise it makes. Then there are the neighborhood rats, which are as big as cats, and thankfully like to stay outside and not in my apartment!









Traffic: Much like any place, people talk about traffic, but in Phnom Penh, the traffic is always a popular discussion topic as most of us escape death several times a day and can't wait to share about our experiences. Actually, I've gotten use to driving here and sometimes actually enjoy driving my motorbike. Every once in a while, though, I would like to tell other people how to drive and I have to refrain from screaming things like, "Your light is red and mine is green!", because it would cause a scene, and the people already know their light is red and mine is green. As it turns out, I am the one who needs to adjust, not everyone else. =)

Construction: Buildings keep going up and other ones are remodeled, so it seems like any time of the day you can hear a saw or hammer or drill or some piece of machinery. Dodging piles of sand and dirt on the road is also common as construction takes place anywhere and everywhere.

The River: Living in Phnom Penh has it's advantages, like relatively consistent electricity, nice restaurants with air conditioning, museums, shops, large supermarkets with a variety of Western items, and so on. But one of the things I have enjoyed while being here is the Tonle Sap River, where you can walk along the riverside, look at fishing boats, buy popcorn or fried insects or pummelo, and feel like you are somewhere besides in a busy capital city. Though honestly, I usually pass up the fried insects!

The Stadium: One of my other favorite places to go is the Olympic Stadium, or the Stat Olympic in Khmer, and jog on the track. I also like to watch people because tons of Khmer people can be found there in the early morning and late afternoon, walking and running on the cement bleachers, sitting and chatting with friends, doing group aerobics, playing soccer in bare feet, or enjoying fried meat, popcorn, or other food cart delicacies.

The Markets: From markets targeted to tourists to markets packed with Khmer people, the local markets are an adventure and a half! The other day I was looking for towels in one of the larger markets and I wandered around all 3 floors in both buildings and finally found a few stalls that sold towels scattered in amongst clothing and domestic goods shops. One shop had the large towels I wanted but no hand towels in the same brand, so I asked at a few other shops before I found them. And just as the shops were beginning to close for the day, I made my selection, bargained for a lower price, paid, and was on my way. I was also the only white person (that I know of) in the entire market so I hear a few interesting comments from people on seeing a "barang" in their market! Probably made it more obvious since I had no idea where I was going, but sometimes when you get lost you learn a lot more than if you had known exactly where to go.

Odd and ends: The government has been cracking down on motorbike drivers not wearing helmets and motorbikes with no mirrors, so it is good to see more helmets on the street.

I will miss Phnom Penh and my friends, but I am excited to live in Battambang! The slower pace and quiet will be nice and there is even a small river in Battambang too. =) I move on Saturday the 12th. Praise God that I have transportation for my stuff! Thank you for your prayers for me and for the ministry I am joining.

Ministry Update

Praise God that it rained today!!! (see previous post)

I wanted to catch you all up on my upcoming transition to Battambang and the exciting things that are in store! I recently took a break from language classes and went up to Battambang to visit my team. When I arrived, the Strongs and Sombok, the Khmer guy who works full-time with the moringa business, were busy making moringa powder and I got to help crank the new grinder which crushes the leaves finer than pounding them in a mortar and pestle. The moringa business has successfully created jobs for Cambodians like Sombok, and some of the local pastors who help support their families by growing moringa trees and selling the leaves to CAMA. Many people buy the powder because they have experienced improved health from the nutrition in the leaves; from AIDS patients to expats! Our whole team met together for the first time and we brainstormed about the next steps for the moringa business, how to market the product and also how to keep it locally owned. Lots of good ideas were thrown out and the consensus was to continue slowly. David and Doris started a moringa orchard to supplement the leaves coming from the pastors and other trees in the community. One of my projects will be to help with the care of the orchard and the SRI (improved way of growing rice) field.

Thursday morning, David, Chris, Dara and I drove out to Battrang village, which is an hour from Battambang city and only an hour or so from the Thai border. Samaritan’s Purse, a relief and development organization, built a middle school in this village and they wanted another group to do follow-up work in the community. This particular community has no church presence. After a survey, Samaritan’s Purse found that one of the community’s needs is agriculture and SP approached CAMA Services about working in Battrang. David and Dara visited the village for the first time in November last year, so this was the second visit out to talk with the school staff and village leader. CAMA suggested starting an agriculture course at the middle school and everyone seems positive about it. Our main objective is that the students will take what they learn (knowledge and improved techniques) and practice these things at their house with their families. Many young people want to gets jobs in the city or go to Thailand for work, so we also want to encourage the students that farming is important and a respectable occupation. We plan to teach about subjects such as composting, SRI, nutrition, sanitation, etc., so we will cover a variety of topics. Because this is a government school, we can’t talk openly about Jesus, but we can talk about loving our neighbors and other things that a “wise man” said. Although this is a different approach from going in and planting a church, we see this ministry as the beginning of church planting, planting seeds in people’s hearts of hope, of life, of Christ, and praying that they will ask more about it and praying for opportunities to share our faith. We plan to have a parent’s day so they can see what their children are learning, and maybe even a Christmas program (outside of school hours) put on by a church from Sisophon, the nearest city. Chris and I will be heading up the school project, though we will likely be inviting others to come and teach on subjects that we don’t have expertise in. Chris’ area of interest and training is community development. Dara is a Cambodian and has a long relationship with CAMA. He is very knowledgeable about agriculture and will help us with translating and teaching, and will be a good source of advice.

There are around 500 students that attend the school, which is 7th to 9th grade, and they are split into 9 classes. Right now we plan to teach all 9 classes for one hour a week, so we will travel out to the village a day and half every week. Cambodian schools have changing schedules, so this is what we know right know and we are prepared that it will probably change. =) We begin teaching October 13th, so please keep this in your prayers as there is so much to do before then!

I am planning to move up to Battambang on September 12th and I looked around for housing while I was there but not much is available right now. I may stay with my teammates, the Bellars, until I find a place to live. So, with less than a month left of language study before I move and less than 2 months before the class starts, there is lots to do! Please pray that I can continue to move ahead with language and grasp more words and concepts each day. Please pray that we can prepare well for this class in Battrang village and develop good rapport with the school staff and village. Thank you for your prayers!!!

Pray for Rain!

A blog update is in the works about my upcoming move to Battambang, but I wanted to send out a quick note! Things are going well. I have a language evaluation next week and am getting over a cold. Last night, I rode a bike with one kid balanced on the front between me and the handle bars and one balanced on the back with her hands around my waist. I was pretty proud of myself and they had a blast!

Please pray for rain as the livelihood of many Cambodians is dependent on it for their rice crop. Since it is the planting season, lots of the rice seedlings are dying.

My first week and a half back in Cambodia...

Cambodians in Phnom Penh often sit outside their apartments in the late afternoon/early evening. This evening, I ventured out onto the street with my roommate and, after we walked up and down the street a few times, we sat down to chat with some people at the food stalls next to our house. We then spent time playing with the kids that live on our street since their parents were busy serving customers. The kids had a long string of connected rubber bands and they had come up with all sorts of games using this “rope” and they were trying to teach us. Each game started with a serious game of rock, scissors, paper, and the losers would hold the string for the others to jump over. Yeah, so imagine me trying to jump up in the air and catch my ankle on a rope of rubber bands that are about chest high. It wasn’t pretty. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who got to hold the rope next. =) There was also the one where you twist and untwist your leg around the rubber band strand while saying the days of the week (language practice!) and then skillfully untwist yourself at the end by jumping and spinning around (I never quite figured out which direction to spin =). While we were playing, a few of the kids took a break to buy and eat a bowl of noodles from one of the ladies who walks up and down the streets with food and dishes balanced on a bamboo pole on her shoulders.

This week I started actively language learning. I meet with a wonderful lady at the CAMA office every day for 2 hours and she graciously plays the language activities I bring her to help me with comprehension. She is also good at correcting my pronunciation and helping me differentiate between words that sound almost the same but have very different meanings. She has saved me from some potentially embarrassing situations! My other language helper I have found to be very patient, which is a blessing when I find it hard to be patient with myself (how many times have I seen and heard this vowel and still can’t remember which sound goes with it?! At least 5 times! Fortunately, my helper knows it’s going to take a lot more times!).

This week I started reviewing and relearning the Khmer consonants and vowels and am concentrating on the first series, which includes 23 vowels and 15 consonants, before I move on to the second series with 23 other vowels and 18 consonants. Then, there are the subscripts for all the consonants (called joong, meaning foot, since they are written beneath the consonants), plus all the other ins and outs of reading and writing Khmer. Thankfully, I have learned some of this before and am already able to read some short words! =)

It is wonderful to see friends again and reconnect with people here. My former coworker and good friend, Sopeat, is heading to Hong Kong in August for a year and a half to get her Masters degree in International Development. She and her mom have already fed me several times and I have enjoyed spending time with them again. Sopeat told me I speak and understand Khmer better than when I left, which doesn’t make much sense since I didn’t speak Khmer with anyone, except myself, when I was in the States. I told her maybe my brain needed a rest and she said after I study Khmer again, I should go back to America and then come back to Cambodia again!

It has been really hot here since I have been back, which is normal for here, but it doesn’t stop Khmer people or myself from commenting, “Tgni knee kadao na!” which means, “It’s really hot today!” Praise God that I have been in good spirits even though it is hot, that I am over jetlag, that I have a nice place to live, and that there are so many people here I can learn from.

My internet time is limited and not so consistent, so I apologize for late replies to e-mails. Thank you all for your prayers and continued support!

Going Back!

My support climbed up to 95 % only 2 weeks ago and, shortly after, I was able to buy a plane ticket! I leave today (I guess I am getting better at packing =), June 1st, for 2 more years serving in Cambodia. If you start thinking this has anything to do with me, let me tell you that God has been so faithful to provide! Friends and family have stood beside me, prayed for me, and spread the word about the work in Cambodia. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your love, prayers, encouragement and financial gifts! Most of all, thank you to God for His intense desire for all people to be saved, and that he called me to this work and is continually equipping me. Thank you for your prayers on my long flight and my readjustment in Cambodia. Love you all!!!

"They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn - for he has done it." Psalm 22:31

God at work!

Thank you for your prayers about the Spring Fling fundraiser! It was a great success and people had a great time dancing. Around 100 people came and almost $900 was raised, Praise God! I am now at 85% support and just need $350 more a month to be fully funded in order to return to Cambodia.

A recent testimony from Cambodia:

The Cambodian woman in the photo on the right is 27 years-old and married with three children. After her latest daughter was born, she and her husband were very sick. They sold everything they had to buy medicine to get well, but they finally gave up hope.

Fortunately, they met a staff member from Hope (the project I worked with at the church teaching about moringa and nutrition) and the couple was advised to go for a HIV/AIDS blood test. With no choice, they decided to get the HIV/AIDS blood test and the results were positive. The couple was upset, but they found encouragement through the Hope staff and other HIV/AIDS cell group members in the community.

Now the woman is on the ARV drug and is involved with the cell group program in her community. Her whole family has become Christians. They look healthy and are stronger from eating the moringa powder and they have also shared about the moringa with other community members. Even her one-legged father has already planted 10 moringa trees!

Spring Fling Swing!

This Saturday, my friends and I are hosting a fundraiser for Cambodia in downtown Omaha. It is a swing dance/fundraiser and so there will be some east coast swing lessons, some country swing dancing, and refreshments, and then I will be sharing about the work in Cambodia and inviting people to join in on what God is doing there. Please pray about this opportunity, that it will be a blessing to the people who come and that God will open people's hearts to help me get back to Cambodia!! Please come if you are in the area!!!

God's Provision!

Praise God that I am 80% funded to go back to Cambodia! I just need $500 more a month, which is 10 people giving $50 a month! When I am at 95% I can purchase a plane ticket, so I pray that within the next 3-4 weeks I can be packing to leave for Cambodia. Please continue to pray that God will bring the remaining supporters needed. Thank you!

One of the sacrifices of being a missionary is missing out on my nieces and nephews growing up, so this time is really precious to me as I have been able to babysit and spend time with them. My newest nephew is 5 weeks old and a joy to hold!

I am currently living with my parents in Omaha, NE, and I think it is interesting that even though I grew up in Omaha, this is probably the longest time I have lived here in 10 years. Attending church, small groups and the downtown single's ministry with my twin sister is really encouraging and I am so thankful for these avenues to stay connected to the body.

Blessings!

A few thoughts on...What does planting have to do with the church?

Is the idea of using agriculture and development as a platform for sharing the gospel scriptural? When I was the senior intern at ECHO, we spent a few weeks looking at all the parables and stories that Jesus taught with that incorporated some aspect of agriculture. There are dozens! And the people he was talking to could relate to the spiritual application because they understood the physical one.

James 2:16 says, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If you one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Matthew 25:40, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Have any of you ever been really hungry? I think it’s interesting to note that Jesus didn’t say, “For when I was hungry, you preached to me.” The gospel is not just words but deeds as well. Isaiah 58:6-7, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked to clothe him?”

Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” which is sometimes translated, “My people perish for lack of vision.” Poverty often is due to a lack of knowledge, but God has given us all sufficiency in Christ. 2 Corinthians 9:8-10, “…so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” A farming method developed in Africa (from God’s pattern) called Farming God’s Way, involves the training of the rural poor of Africa, equipping them to realize the God given potential of the land. The Word of God is coupled with agricultural skills to bring about the Harvest in righteousness & faithful stewardship.

NO technology will be able to break the curse of poverty – both Word and deed
Acknowledge God - 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Bring in the Tithes and Offerings - Malachi 3 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me, in your tithes & offerings.”
Sowing bountifully with joy - 2 Corinthians 9:6 “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

God works through the weak things of this world. “A 70 year-old widow in Malawi took the sowing and reaping principle to heart and put it into practice. She was very poor, couldn’t afford fertilizer and didn’t have animals for manure, so she went and dug the soil from the anthills (termite mounds) and placed that in the bottom of the planting holes. She did very well from her small garden and was very proud of her achievements. She was only able to sow a little but she nevertheless sowed and God was faithful to her according to His promise and she received the increase. Compared to her neighbouring farmers, who sowed nothing, they got absolutely nothing. I stand amazed at how much God cares for the sparrows.”

Check out the Farming God's Way link on the right to read more.

The God Who Knows Us By Name

My time in Colorado during the debriefing and renewal program was definitely one of renewal. I felt like I met with God there and heard him speak his love over me. I think the fact that I had to slow down and just be, opened me up to his voice, which is ever inviting me to be with him. One of the things that became impressed on my heart during the week is when I felt God whisper to me, "I have loved you with an everlasting love", something a lover would say to his beloved. I couldn't remember where the verse was, so I was planning to look it up but didn't have a concordance. The next morning during devotional, the facilitator read Isaiah 31:3, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." It was like God was reaffirming what I heard the day before, and I was drawn to him more and more as the week progressed. I have been overwhelmed by the pressure to raise support and the idea that I have to be worthy of people supporting me; I totally missed the fact that he takes pleasure in me. One of the ladies I talked with encouraged me to think about any illusions or distorted concepts I have of God and to ask him to bring truth to those places; truth about himself, truth about me, truth about others. The debriefing process was powerful, but the time I spent with the Lord was what I needed more than anything. There is a lot of transformation that needs to take place in my heart and I don't want to leave that place of wanting transformation. Please pray with me that I will surrender all to Him!

Mission work: Processing required

March 1-6 I attended the Debriefing and Renewal program at MTI (Mission Training International). DAR is a one-week program designed to help missionaries and families debrief their past experiences and adjust to the next transition, whether that is furlough or moving back to the States. For me it was a time to process what I experienced the past 2 years in Cambodia so I can go back to Cambodia with a refreshed perspective. I was also able to process some of the re-entry shock of being back in the United States! The program took place at a Christian retreat Center in the Black Forest, so it was beautiful and really a place that I felt I could relax and be refreshed. I took walks on the trails and had some good conversations with the Lord. At first, it was really hard for me to relax and have free time, but it turned out to be just what I needed.

Our facilitators had all been missionaries overseas full-time, so they could understand a lot of what we all are going through. There were 23 adults in the program and we were split into 2 smaller groups for the week. During the morning sessions, we talked about life on the mission field, including where we are right now, the stresses (I didn't realize how much stress I had until we started listing everything, from little things like unreliable electricity to theft to death of a family member), the transition bridge of going from settled to unsettled to chaos to resettled to settled and what happens during each of those stages, and then soul care (seeking balance and rhythm in life).

One of the main themes during the week was the idea of paradox which are seemingly contradictory statements, both of which are true (like, the pain of what it cost and the joy of seeing God work!).

In the afternoon we each had a one-on-one meeting with one of the facilitators for 45 min to talk about personal experiences and issues. The rest of the afternoon was free, so that was my reading/walk time. I met some AMAZING people, even another former ECHO intern who has been working with moringa in Burkina Faso! Altogether, the program was really beneficial and I feel ready for the next step. If you know of any missionaries returning from the field, I would highly recommend they go through this program!

Down in Florida...

In between missionary programs in Colorado, I was able to spend a week down in Ft. Myers studying at ECHO and spending time with supporters. I also briefly stopped in at my mission agency, NMSI. This was most likely my last time to FL before I go back to Cambodia.

The nursery manager at ECHO graciously did some avocado grafting with me (we collected scion, or budwood, and then grafted them onto small seedlings) so I could get more experience. I also joined the interns one afternoon during their training about how to teach about vegetable gardening, which was interesting after being overseas and doing just that! I also spent time studying in the library (ECHO has lots of great resources) about cover crops and other topics. Another former intern, Rachel Cohen, who has been working in Peru for the past 2 years, was also at ECHO, so we were both able to share with the staff and volunteers during lunch one day about our work overseas. What a blessing to share with the ECHO family! I didn't have to explain about what moringa is because they all know. =) It's always good to go back to ECHO even though it is always changing.

I got to catch up with lots of friends and supporters and it was a huge blessing. My body enjoyed the warmer weather, too! Then it was back to Colorado for the Debriefing and Renewal (DAR) program at MTI...

It's a matter of the heart, the ears and the mouth...

I had the opportunity to attend PILAT (Program In Language Acquisition Techniques) Feb 9-20, which is a two-week pre-departure program designed to help cross-cultural workers develop the skills, methods, techniques and attitudes necessary to learn another language (http://www.mti.org/pilat.htm). It made a huge impact on how I approach language learning and I am excited to return to Cambodia with a plan and a new attitude!

Upon arriving at MTI, I joined 12 other families from different organizations who also depart soon for fields all over the world (China, Afghanistan, Angola, India, Peru, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, etc.). It was fun to hang out with other missionaries and share what God is doing in our lives. We spent the 2 weeks in phonetic drills (exercises for the mouth and tongue!) to get use to hearing and making sounds that are not in the English sound system. Laterals, trills, unaspirated consonants, fricatives, glided vowels, nasal consonants, etc.! It was interesting coming from being on the field for 2 years and already having a base of the Khmer language. I learned about sounds that I had heard in Khmer but didn't know how to make; now I do! We were also given lots of great activities and tools for language learning, and as part of the training we got to try these out with a Russian language helper. Khmer is hard but I am kind of glad I am not learning Russian! =) I developed my own language plan that the staff helped me refine. I found the 2 weeks at PILAT to be really helpful and foundational for going back to Cambodia and learning the language better in order to..."become all things to all men so that by all means I might possibly save some." 1 Cor 9:22

Lydia and I hung out as we were the only "single" ladies.

She and her parents are headed to Peru.

Note: On my way out of CO Springs, I got a message from my oldest sister saying that my youngest sister was in labor! She wasn't due until March 9th, so the baby was 3 weeks early, but babies don't care about due dates, right? =) So, around 7pm on Feb 20, Wesley Flynn Tandy entered the world! And they are all doing great (mom, dad, and baby).

Because of Christ

I know in my head God doesn’t need me to accomplish any of his work. I think some of the most difficult but important things he asks of us are to show up and to empty ourselves. The e-mails I have gotten over the past several months from Cambodia asking for help with agriculture problems and for prayers tempt me to sinfully think, “Wow, they really need me” or "God really needs me", when God is really just asking, “Who will I send and who will go?”, not because he doesn't know who will go but because he wants us to respond. And just like Isaiah was unclean, I can only say, “Here am I, send me” because of the coal from the alter, because of Christ's cleansing blood. It has nothing to do with me or what I can offer.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyse; fear the Lord and shun evil." Proverbs 3:5-7

Can a day worry?

I was trying to sleep last night and worrying about what will happen with this or that and I remembered the verse that says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for each day has enough trouble of its own." I thought about that and I think it is true. With global warming, atheism, wars, disease, poverty, materalism, etc., each day does have a lot of worries and why should I add to them by worrying about things that could happen? It doesn't help and it isn't pleasing to the Lord. I am continually placing these things in God's hands. Are you anxious today? God is ready to lighten your load!

The First Post =)

I am in Nebraska doing support/fundraising, all with the goal of returning to Cambodia in March 09. Thank you to those who supported me the last 2 years, those who just started and those who will! I spent 2 years in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, teaching and training students about sustainable agriculture and nutrition. God invited me to work with him in Cambodia and I will forever be changed by the beautiful people, the cultural climate and the reality of life. Praise the Lord for he is doing a new thing in the lives of these people!