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.