December Crazyness

KC IHOP Team

The day after Thanksgiving we were blessed by a team from Kansas City IHOP (International House of Prayer).  They were here serving with us for a little over three weeks.  In that time we had a princess birthday party for Madi, did all sorts of Christmas preparations, they painted two murals, and taught Hosanna how to communicate and teach our kids with autism and CP.  They did many things while they were here but despite that their new energy alone was enough to give us all a boost.  This Christmas season would have been much much harder had they not been here to push us forward.  It got me to thinking about the many mission trips I have been on and lead.  There are some trips that we came home feeling great and knowing that we had done the Lord’s work and really impacted lives.  On the other hand, there are some trips that we came home wondering why we ever left in the first place.  I remember one trip to Mexico, it was one of those where nothing was going right (as far as my plans anyway.)  Then Pastor Lee got up to preach.  He spoke to his congregation for a while in Spanish and we just sat and listened.  I was sitting there thinking to my self of what a disaster that trip had been.  Then he started speaking to us.  He told us that no matter what we were thinking or how we thought things were going, God had us there for a reason.  He told us how much of a blessing we were to him and his congregation just for being there.  In that moment I realized it was never my mission trip and it was never my plans.  It was all God’s!  The team that just left here the week before Christmas was a huge blessing to us just because they were here.  The first day they were here they asked “How can we bless you?”  They were here to help, to give us a break, to let us go on a date night, to breathe fresh air on weary missionaries.  Now, I know that Micah and I have only been here six months but that is enough time to need a breath.  So, next time you are on a mission trip, know that you are there for a reason.  God sent you there to not only do whatever you are going to do but also to be a blessing to the missionaries you are serving with.  If you go for nothing else than to refresh those that are out there in the field 24/7 know that you are going for a wonderful reason and that you are doing the Lord’s work because He is the one that sent you.

Haircuts

One of the fun things about having a one-room school is the freedom that comes with it.  We are able to drop everything sometimes and just have some fun.  A few weeks ago school was going as normal (except Micah was in bed sick) but for some reason everyone was dragging a little that day.  We got through the first hour of our morning and Bee went back to ask Mom (Rhonda) for some money for a haircut.  She said “No, Ms. Kelsi is going to cut your hair.”  Before I knew it everyone was wanting a haircut!  So we stopped school for the day and had a haircut day.  All the boys wanted a “Mr. Micah haircut.”  In the two hours left of school I cut six BYKOTA kids hair, three Benz’s, and a Bergen.  That is 10 heads of hair!!!  You should have seen the pile on the floor!!!  This is just one of the many random things we get to do here in Cambodia. J

Swimming

As incentive to finish PACE books on time we told the school kids that if they finished 190 PACE books we would go swimming.  We made poster with an empty swimming pool and slowly started filling it up one pace book at a time.  They met their goal right before we went on Christmas break!  Micah and Tisha (a team member from IHOP) took the school kids swimming at a nearby pool.  Micah took the opportunity to give some of the kids swimming lessons.  Srey Heng was really excited about her progress!  It was a bit breezy that day--it only got up to mid eighties, so the kids were freezing when they got out of the pool.  Only in Cambodia do they kids freeze at 80 degrees! (Okay probably other places too, but it still baffles me.) 

School Christmas Parties

We wrapped up our school year with some pretty awesome Christmas parties! 

The Kindergarten played games, sang songs, and ate Christmas cookies.  We did a nativity in the two weeks leading up to the party called “What God wants for Christmas.”  Each day they opened a box showing a new character for the nativity story and learned a new part to the story.  In my video, you will see what God really does want for Christmas.  We ended their party by decorating the girls house for Christmas.

The middle kids also played games and sang songs.  We ended their party by decorating the boys house for Christmas.

Micah took the older boys to play soccer for their Christmas party.  When they came back, they played Face the Cookie (shown in the video) and also sang some Christmas carols.

BYKOTA Christmas

When we were preparing to come to Cambodia Rhonda told me that I would be helping with Christmas preparations.  At that time I had no clue what all that entailed.  We have been preparing for Christmas everyday since the day after Thanksgiving!  Buying gifts, wrapping gifts, making cookies, making ornaments, wrapping more gifts, baking goodies, wrapping more gifts, decorating, and so on.    Whew! I am tired just remembering it all!  It was all a lot of fun, though.  I loved almost every minute of it.  Including the day that we left at 8:00 to go shopping and didn’t get back until 4:00!  (that was a long day in a tuk tuk)  I think my favorite part, though, was caroling at Children of Hope.  We were blessed by some of our supporters with a ton of stuffed animals.  We had so many that we were able to bless another children’s home.  The kids all helped in wrapping 31 stuffed animals, yes, there were still leftovers!  They also practiced Christmas carols for two weeks for this!  It was such a blessing to be able to bless others.  I really think that this was good for our kids to be able to give to others and learn how it feels to give rather than always to receive. 

Every year BYKOTA has their Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve.  We celebrated by eating fried chicken (khmer style), rice, cucumbers and carrots, and fruit.  We played some games, sang our carols one last time and finally opened their gifts!  They normally get three gifts apiece but this year in the last minute they each had four gifts to open as well as their big Christmas in July gifts!  We all had so much fun!  I loved watching the excitement on their faces as they waited to open their gifts and as they did their own gift exchange.  A lot of you were a big part of this Christmas celebration, and I thank you so much for your involvement!

Our Christmas

Wow!  I have to say that Christmas as a parent is the best thing ever!  I think this was the best Christmas of my life.  The only thing that could have made it better would be our families.  We do miss you all a lot especially at this time of year.  But, like I was saying I loved experiencing Christmas with my girls this year.  Cambodians don’t celebrate Christmas so this was their first.  I am not sure if they have even gotten a wrapped gift before.  At first we didn’t think we would be able to get a Christmas tree so we helped decorate the Benz’s tree.  A few days later we found a very affordable Christmas tree and were able to have our own.  Abby jumped up and down with excitement as we decorated it.  I kept all of their presents hidden until Christmas just for the extra surprise but I did have to put their doll house from my mom and dad out because it was too big to hide.  The girls were funny because it didn’t even faze them.  It was something else pretty by the tree and since they couldn’t touch the tree they figured they couldn’t touch that either.  Once they saw everyone opening these pretty things under the tree they started to get the idea of what they actually were.  Abby went to bed that night so excited after we told her there would be more in the morning.  She woke up Christmas morning saying “I want to open Christmas!”  Lily on the other hand was a little overwhelmed.  She would have been happy opening one or two gifts and then left alone to play with them.  She actually cried twice when we asked her to open more gifts! Not bad though for a first Christmas as a family. J

Preschool Teacher Needed!

We are in desperate need of a preschool teacher!!!  We have 5 preschool aged children here right now. Two Bergens, two Benz kids, and a BYKOTA kid.  Right now we have Khmer preschool in the mornings (good for all but the Benz’s) taught by Hosanna.  This takes care of the morning hours.  In the afternoon it is very hard for Micah and me to teach school and watch our two girls at the same time. It is also very hard for Mark and Rhonda to home school and finish their college classes while having two preschool kids running around.  Also, Khmer preschool is great for little Lisa (BYKOTA kid) but she is never going to learn English and be ready for kindergarten without an English preschool teacher.  Now, don’t brush this opportunity off just because you don’t have the “right” credentials.  All we require is that you love Jesus and can handle and love children.  Let us know if you are interested or know someone who is!!!  We are always looking for help over here.  If preschool isn’t your thing we can still use you!  Come server the Lord with us!

Family Matters - November 14th, 2012

Khmer Phrases and Video of the Girls:

Hello Everyone!
The last post was very old... I have to admit that I wrote it a while back, just couldn't post it, due to internet problems. I wanted to give you a fresh update on what is happening here in Phnom Penh. This won't be a long post--simply some brief updates, mostly about our family. This post is going to be for those who are really curious about how things are going with the two new additions to our family.
It has been almost two months since we officially announced the girls arrival into our family. We have been pursuing adoption for a while now, and we are seeing God's hand working out awesome details. Everyone involved has been very gracious. But those are just technical details that God is in control of and will work out, so I will move on to more interesting stories and leave you with the simple update of "Paper work and such is moving smoothly. Praise God!"
ABIGAIL
Let me tell you a little bit about Abby first, because she is the oldest. Firstly, I do not believe that I have given the news that we found out the birth dates of the girls. Abigail Roat Bergen was born on February 14th, 2009. She is named Abigail, because it means "Father's Joy" and she certainly is my joy. She is extremely smart--picking up on English so fast you only have to tell her once or twice what something is and she is already repeating it. Some of my favorite moments with Abby have been during play time when she does something (like knocking her own tower of blocks over) and then looks up at you with this shocked but also anticipating face, and then she cracks up! I also love when you ask her a question that you know she won't be able to answer and she looks at you, puts her hands up, and says, "I don't know." I also love that when it is nap time, Kels asks her who she wants to sit with, and she almost always says, "daddy." I could not leave out that when she asks to watch tv, it always comes out as "my butt's hairy." Abby loves to color, and if you ask her what she wants to do at any moment, it is usually, "cawlor." These are just a few moments of Abby. She is the average three year old, with all the tantrums and language barriers--well extra language barriers... and the tantrums have gotten easier the longer she has been with us--and since we started using an alarm timer to signal when time out is over: who knew how well that would work! She also is blind in one eye, but I always forget that, until she covers up her good eye and says "I can't see!" or "I see you!" All in all, she is a joy to be around, and I love hearing her say, "Hey Daddy, look!"
LILY
Lily is the baby, and she knows it. She was born on January 20th, 2011. If you were wondering, all of our Birthdays fall between the months of December and February--and that is December 31st to February 14th... No swim parties for us...Anyways, Lily means innocence, purity, and beauty. Lily is a cutie. She has been the baby for so long, it is slightly difficult to help her understand that she is not entitled to everything she wants... or allowed to bite her sister and take her stuff... There are a few things that I love about Lily. She always wakes up happy... ok, maybe not always, but she generally pops up and smiles at you and blabs something in gibberish and smiles again. Some of my favorite moments with Lily have been when she gets really excited and hops until she falls flat on her butt. She also has a puppy dog towel thing that she carries with her everywhere. When she is drifting off to sleep, she takes its paw and touches it to her mouth, and then she falls asleep holding its hand. I also love the way that she waddles and toddles when she walks. Something else about Lily that is adorable is her love for the pets in the house. She is so gentle with them, and if one of them walks in the room she is all over it. Snap, one of the guard dogs in the courtyard always winces and closes his eyes, whenever she comes to pet him, but it is just because she sometimes pokes him in the eyes... on accident of course. She has also learned the phrase, "Muggy, no!" but is comes out all as one word and kind of like a drunk man--all slurred. She is also picking up words like crazy. Her most recent has been "no!" and "down" and "drink." She is also breaking in three new teeth this week, so she is eating ice like an animal that eats ice or one of the boats that cut through glaciers (not the Titanic)... insert some clever anecdote about Lily's love for ice and win a prize: "She is eating ice like a ___________" She is still sleeping like an angel though... just kind of whinny during the day, but I totally understand, because I have cut in one of my wisdom teeth--remember during our flight over here. IT HURTS! That is Lily, our little baby girl.
Now I will give you my deep wisdom and insight about being a dad... HAHAHAHAHAHAH! I am learning, and it is a blast. I always knew that I wanted to be a dad, but I never knew it would be this awesome. even with the lost sleep in days, and the tantrums, and not being able to go out on a whim anymore, being a dad is the greatest joy I have found--second to the joy of knowing Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. When the girls first came, and I held Lily for the first time, and met the shy Abby that it is no where to be found anymore, I felt this burning in my heart like I had never felt before. I now understand that this was God planting them deep in my heart. At first it so odd to have them in our house, and it seemed like Kels and I were simply playing family, but now I can't imagine life without them, and I can't remember what it was like to not have them. They make life mean something, and they push me even more to be the man that God has called me to be. I love them more than I love my own life, and I would do anything for them. That is all.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported our journey here, and who continue to support us. I find it funny that God had planned all along to shut all the doors to South America, so Kels and I would come here instead, and then He would bring two blessings into our lives to change our family forever. We could not have been here without you guys, and we could not have made it this far without your love and support both in finances and prayer. Thank you all!
BecauseHeLives,
Micah and Kelsi.

Visit, Siem Reap, and School Craziness!

Hey Everyone!

I just want to apologize for not giving an update for many weeks now. We have had one of those months where everything happens all at the same time, and it seems like you don't even have time to breath... on top of that, my computer got some crazy Chinese virus that would not allow me to get on the internet--note to self, do not leave computer on all night long, apparently that is how I got the virus. That being said, I do have lots to tell you about.We had Kelsi’s parents come for a visit (Which now feels like ages ago), started a new school system, took a three day trip to Siem Reap, and have just generally been having really full days!

Visit

Like I said, we had Kelsi’s parents come for a visit, which was really awesome and just the right cure for homesickness. Skype is nice and I can’t imagine how homesick we would be without it, but it is nice to have flesh and blood sitting at the dinner table and speaking face to face. They arrived on Tuesday the 9^th and stayed through until the next Saturday (the 20^th). It was really nice having them here for tons of reasons—including help with projects that David’s handy man skills accomplished, and Kerri’s extra hands with big shopping trips with Kelsi… not to mention, I didn’t have to do dishes basically the entire time they were here… one word: Awesome. It was also nice to have them around, because Kelsi and I got to do some tourist things that we had not taken the opportunity to do since we arrived in Phnom Penh. It is funny the way things work, when you are going to be somewhere for a long time—you tell yourself, “the next time I am at Toul Tom Pong I will take pictures of the meat and stores” but then next time comes and you forget, and eventually, it is the norm… why would I take a picture of the grocery store? With Kerri, David, and their camera, we got pictures of all the things that we have wanted pictures of and, at the end of their stay, go to one of the seventh ancient wonders of the world (more on that next). Something else that is nice about Grandparents coming to visit was the extra help with the girls. Although I would like to say that Kels and I are perfect parents and need no help, we are new with parenting, and have two daughters—one of which is an ornery three year old. The help was amazing. I mentioned that David helped out with things around the house, so I want to brag on him for a minute. While here, he put three shelves in—one in our kitchen above our kitchen counter and doubled our counter space (THANK YOU!), and the other two in the Benz’s kitchen. He also helped me carry the girls’ new bed to the house (that was down four flights of stairs, and then back up five flights of stairs, and then back down one). On the note of carrying things, he helped me carry a sofa from the bottom level of the house to Kels and I’s living room (I am sitting on it now, and it is oh so much more comfy than the wicker one we had). Also, I think that I need to add that we had to take the door off to get the couch into the living room… this is a note to anyone who ever wants to get it out, because it is impossible to get it in the door without doing so… I mentioned the girls’ bed, so I should add that Kerri spray painted it pink and added bows and lights to it to make it awesomely cute. Also while David was here, he mounted a fan in our kitchen because the one we had was hugely intrusive—he mentioned that it was in the way and immediately came up with the solution. I joked at one point that the work that they did was what most college students do on short term missions trips, and college students would have taken time to sight see also, so this was really a short term mission trip. In reality, that is just how Kerri and David are—always wanting to pitch in and do work even while on “vacation.” We did do something very vacationy while they were here, however.

Siem Reap

Siem Reap: The home of one of the seventh ancient wonders of the world… Khmer temples… the most famous of all, Angkor Wat. Because I have been teaching the kids Khmer history, I knew a little of the background of these temples. We only had one day to visit, so we hit three temples of interest: Angkor Wat (of course), Bayon, and Ta Prohm. Highlights of Angkor Wat: palm juice, hundreds of feet of murals, and swimming pool. As we approached the temple, there were guys selling palm juice… if you ever visit, drink the juice and let me know what you think, because David and I both tasted a burnt, smoky flavor… mmmm. I love for my juice to taste like it has been taken out of a smoker. What I was amazed by the most was not how big the temple was, because anyone can make something really big, it was the detail of everything. The walls all had murals from the ground to the ceiling—not paintings, carved into the stone. I thought I caught a pattern of one of them that was recreated, but then there was enough difference that I couldn’t convince myself that it was duplicated over and over again, like a copy past job… I guess you couldn’t copy and paste into stone… it was pretty magnificent. And then there was the two swimming pools in the temple… I’m not exactly sure if they were swimming pools, but Abby and Lily were both convinced that they were, because they really wanted to jump in, even with no water. In one word, I will describe the highlight of Bayon: Elephant Ride… ok that was two words, but we road elephants around the temple. The guy steering the elephant had a place on the back of his shirt that read “TIPS” and had a five dollar bill sticking out of it. The last temple, I did not have a good look at, because I am now a father, and my daughter Abby had to “Chinome” or in English: Potty. I ran out of the temple looking for a bathroom. We made it back to the van and I asked one of the store owners where the bathroom was… they pointed to the woods behind the stores J My thought, “THERE WERE WOODS WHERE I CAME FROM!” The reason we stopped at that temple was because I had said that I wanted to see the old trees that grew through the temples… apparently they were awesome… the people in my group obviously didn’t know the rules about when someone misses something, because they all came back like, “That was the best temple of all. After you left we turned a corner and everything was more awesome than anything we have ever seen… oh but we couldn’t take any pictures, because they said that anybody not willing to come to see it was too lame to see it in it’s pure awesomeness.”  Ok. The last part was made up, but the first two sentences actually came out of my wife’s mouth! On a side note, I love being a dad, and I would trade any Hindu temple with trees growing through it for my daughter any day. Also, the fact that a temple dedicated to a Hindu god was completely desecrated by our God’s creation is totally great. That is the last thing that I want to add about the temples. While we were there, they had little places to burn incense and bow down and pray to a golden image of someone, maybe Budda (but that would be weird, since they are Hindu temples). I have been reading the old testament lately, specifically in the history books (1 and 2 Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles). All the kings of Israel that were evil in God’s eyes were the ones who erected temples to other gods. I don’t think that these structures are “wonders” in God’s eyes. I think that He would love nothing better than to see them torn down. I had a hard time being in awe of them for this reason, but I did have a nice anecdote to add to my Bible study with the boys about hating sin like God does in an attempt to live holier lives… Although the architecture was magnificent, what these temples stand for is the breaking of the first and second of ten great commandments that God has given us. If you say, “No, they are just buildings now,” you are wrong… I watched countless people bowing down in these temples to worship something that is not our one true God. (Soap box returned). We also took a boat ride, while in Siem Reap, that was awesome! Houses in the water up on poles. The people living there on the water just like a neighborhood, and everyone getting in boats to go from one place to another... really neat.

School Changes

Lastly, I will discuss the new school system. If you would like to hear more about the history of the kids schooling, you can visit Rhonda’s blog and read about it. I will simply state that the kids have begun Khmer school—not just the three boys you knew about form previous blogs, but all of them. The thing about Khmer school is that it is in the morning one month and then switches to the afternoon the next… so, we have one group of kids in the morning and a different set in the afternoon. This actually is better, because we have even less students and can work better with the fewer numbers at a time. Also, with the less students, Kelsi has been able to take on the kindergarten and get the students prepared for PACE books. It worked out really well, because her kindergarten students are on the same schedule as my older boys, who are easier to keep on task. I have been able to start a reading group with the older boys, and try to really improve their English skills. This is the reason for being more busy, though. Our new schedule takes us from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon with a two hour break from eleven to one to get Abby and Lily fed and put down for naps. I also have Bible study at four still… which directly afterwards is preparation for dinner, followed by bath time, and an hour to thirty minutes before baby bed time… whew, it is very tiring, but we are not here on vacation. We are here to work, and I have never liked people who complain about how much they have to do: Jesus took His rest time to pray, and even then was pulled away to His ministry. The thing that is difficult is that I used to get the blog ready in the afternoons while watching the school room with kids on computer programs like typing and Microsoft, which are student directed mostly, and I am not needed as much as with PACE books. I want to keep everyone updated, but it is definitely something that has to be worked on now. There I go complaining. I will keep the updates coming and you guys keep praying for us as we continue the work. I was reading my Bible today and a verse came up, “Do not grow weary in well doing” I don’t remember where it is found, but that is the aim. Refreshment through time in God’s word and prayer, and we will keep on keeping on.

At this point I would like to explain some financial things that have come up. With all the kids going to Khmer school, there is a new monthly cost added to the Benz’s already tight budget. The boys and I did the math the other day, and it is around $220 every month, just to give the kids the bare essentials. Also, with Kelsi doing the kindergarten, there is an additional cost of $20 a month towards daily snacks… oh kindergartener’s and their snacks. If you feel compelled to help with these financial needs, let me know and I can get you the information you need. I know how things are right now in the States with the election and poor economic times, so I pray that God will lead the giving. That it will not be compulsive, but that it will be obedience. All I ask is that you pray about it, and see what God would have you do. Thanks!

Here are some pictures of us at Siem Reap and of the girls in their new bed :)

    

Mundane... never! Khmer Phrases :)

Well Hello Friends!

We have had one of those weeks in which I ask myself, “Should I blog or wait until something totally awesomerific happens?” Well you know what… Every day in God’s will is awesomerific, and I am gonna write about the things that have been happening here in PP (don’t giggle, because you just read out loud or in your head “Pee Pee”).

Firstly, I want to tell you about what it is like to become the parent of two little girls (and also suddenly become outnumbered in a household that was once a majority of boys—Me and Muggy). We have found great joy and also some challenges. The joys first: I have always dreamed about telling my kids Bible stories to put them to sleep. Part of my fascination with the Old Testament was due to this fact. I have told Kelsi that I do not want to have Bible story telling books in our house (other books are already in our house and the girls love reading them, but I don't want Bible story books), because I really want to be able to do the stories with all the details form memory. I can just picture one day, the girls saying, “Tell us about Joseph!” or “Tell the story about Baalam!” I want to be able to just pull all the major stories right out at anytime, and tell them in such an interesting way, that there is no need for pictures. Also, during the last few days, it has been revealed to me the amazing wife that I have married. I always thought that Kelsi would be a good mom, but I am every day amazed at how naturally she fits into the role of being mommy. I have seen a drastic change in my daily routine. It is really neat to say, “We wake up at the same time everyday regardless of weekend or not, eat breakfast, have school or Saturday/Sunday time, eat lunch, the girls go down for their nap, when they wake up I am either in computer class or shortly heading that way, at four I have Bible study with the guys, after that we eat dinner, bathe the girls and have family time for about an hour or two, then the girls go to bed, Kelsi and I gather ourselves from the day and have “us” time and then go to bed. The funny thing is, even doing the same thing day after day, it seems like such newness each day. Abby Roat has spoken her first words. They are, “one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! Good job!” and “Daddy Chakuat!” (which means Daddy Crazy). She is also working on Mema, Papa, Grandpa, Grandma J She can also say some colors, and “Muggy no!” and other variations on Muggy ______! We have been training Muggy to come, sit, and stay during our family time. I have already seen improvement in him. It used to be that I had to catch him to bring him to put him on the leash for the night or get him out from under the couch, but now I just have to bend down, put my closed hand out, and say “Muggy Come.” He comes right to me, even when I yelled it at him the other day. Anyway, Lily is adorable and makes the cutest face—basically this emoticon in real life :o She has learned some words too: “help” is the most used. Kels and I have been trying to break the girls of whining when they need help. When they are having trouble with something, the first thing they do is hold it up to you and pouty face and whimper. We have been saying, “Don’t whine, just say help.” This is a nice transition into troubles we have been having. Abby is definitely a healthy three-year old… and all that entails. We have dealt with explosive tantrums (both in private and public) and crying to get her way. I know from my classes at MSSU that she is merely testing the boundaries, and deep down, she wants to find that we will not back down on our boundaries. We are trying to be consistent and stern (but we also love her so much it hurts!). I told Kelsi that I wanted to make a shirt for her to wear that says “Crying is temporary: Spoiled is forever” as a play on the t-shirts that the weight lifters wear: “Pain is temporary: Glory is Forever.” We love her lots, and we are probably spoiling the girls a little, but it is hard not to, since they are beautiful. Lily has a big problem of screaming in a high-pitch scream whenever she is uncomfortable or mad: so instantaneous and loud, it is shocking. The good far out ways the whining and screaming, though, and I think any parent would agree. Now that the girls are in my life, I cannot imagine my life without them… it must have been boring and dull, and I definitely did not know the meaning of unconditional love that you learn when being in full care of babies. On a last note, Abby’s bad dreams have gotten better. Kelsi and I, under the advice of Rhonda, have been praying with her every night that God would protect her thoughts and wipe her memory clean of her father. The other night we had her in bed with us and she began to thrash and scream and kick. I tried to console her, but she just hit me and pushed me away and screamed all the louder. Then the next night, a more pleasant awakening: she sat up, pulled my arm so I would turn towards her and said random gibberish before laughing and falling backwards sound asleep again. Kels and I could not help but crack up. I could tell a hundred more stories about the girls, but you guys could do that with your kids too ;)

On another topic:

Kelsi’s parents are coming to visit! As I write this, Kelsi is on her way to pick them up at the air port. We have plenty for them to do while they are here. We have a garden on the roof that needs to be built, a shelf in the kitchen, a play set for Christmas for BYKOTA House, and plenty to do in the school room… but don’t tell them (it is their “vacation” ;) Just kidding, they know what they are getting into, and we will be taking some time off school to go to Seim Reap to visit one of the seventh wonders of the ancient world… that just screams vacation. I know Kelsi is excited to see them, and I am too.

Lastly, I would like to prove that I am in fact an old man. Kels and I wrote in our last blog about how we took the kids to the park. The older boys that are in my Bible study were supposed to be able to play soccer also, but it didn’t work out. I felt bad, so I told them we could play the following Monday. It turned into ten guys (some from the neighborhood) going to a field and renting it for two hours. We played soccer for two hours straight. I held my own for the first hour or so, made some goals, made some assists, and tore every muscle that exists in my legs. I knew it was bad, because I was sore that day—legs are supposedly a slow hurting muscle, meaning they hurt the worst the second day… um. Yes. I literally had to push my legs out of bed to get up, and then the four flights of stairs in our house were not pleasant. As much as I hurt, I am not stupid. I could see that this was a blatant evangelistic opportunity. My Bible study and neighborhood boys who have never heard the gospel, and a chance to hang out with them… we have to keep that up. So I told the boys that once a week or however much we can afford on our budget, we would play and invite the guys. Building some relationships, and getting some exercise for the glory of God! We played again today, but only for an hour… I blocked the ball at one point from five feet away, and it rolled my heel with such force I got a rug burn on the top of my foot… man that hurt! I also pulled some mysterious muscle in my buttocks region, but it is all just suffering for Jesus! My prayer and earnest desire is that these neighborhood boys learn the truth of the Gospel through the young men in my Bible study. I will tell it to them with my actions and words if necessary, but I would love to see someone get saved because God opens the door for one of these guys to share!  Pray for us, and also consider maybe taking this on as your financial sponsorship, if your desire matches this need. To rent the field is $6/h. If we play every week for an hour, the cost would be $24/month. I am not sure if we have the money right now to keep that up, especially with the addition of the girls, but if someone were to take that and tell me they are, I would most definitely use it for that purpose.

Ok. That is all for now. I hope that this has not been too mundane or day to day for ya. I think that some get the idea that missionaries are somehow special and don’t have routines and daily drudgery. I am simply reminded daily that my day to day stuff is all for God, because I am in a different country, but everything you do day to day is also with the main purpose to glorify God (or should be), and you have the same opportunity to do everything that you do for the glory of God that I do. Live today as if you believe that. Go out to your mission field, and if nothing else, pray for us here in Phnom Penh. Thanks everybody for your prayer and support, and we will keep you updated, even if it doesn’t seem like exciting things have been happening—because anything that God is in, is exciting!

BecauseHeLives,

Micah and Kelsi.

WHAT IS IT!? Episode Three

In this weeks edition of WHAT IS IT!? we will be introduced to Mekerah :)
The options are:
a. Chocolate
b. Blood
c. Cambodian Butter
d. Cambodian Jelly

Enjoy :)

Purity Retreat and Sewing Class

Hey Everybody!

Life goes on here in Cambodia. We have two things that we would like to share with you that happened recently. The first has to do with my Bible study and the second with Kelsi’s sewing class. This blog will most likely have nothing in it about the school, so if you are searching for school related things, you will not find them in this post. What you will read about is what Kelsi and I do with the kids of BYKOTA House, when we are not feeding their brains with education. 

Bible Study: Purity Retreat.

This past weekend, Mark and I took the young men of BYKOTA House on a retreat weekend to Kingdom Resort (which is basically a hotel with a cool pool and a restaurant). Our goal was to teach them about sexual purity. This topic is not a super comfortable one for teenage boys, so we wanted to make it fun as well as work. The program we used was an audio led series of five sessions with physical pictures of the concepts contained in activities that Mark and I did with the boys. The first session was about simply introducing the topic and goal of the retreat. I was very surprised at the topics covered, but I was also glad for the sake of the boys, because I feel that it was thorough enough as to not leave any questions in their minds. Our first project was entitled “Puzzled” and in it we broke the six boys into two groups. The group to complete the puzzle first would get a prize. One group had the puzzle in a plastic bag. The other group had the puzzle, the lid with the picture, and I helped them (I am kind of a puzzle expert, since our family usually had a puzzle on the table during the winter season). Although Mark explained to the other group what to do, he did not physically intervene. I on the other hand was all over that puzzle. The end result was that my group finished their puzzle first (of course). The picture of it was a good one: life is difficult (especially puberty), you need three things to get you through it. One, the word of God: the puzzle is much easier, if you have a clear picture of what it is supposed to look like. Two, someone with more experience than you: the puzzle is easier, if you have someone who has gone through it getting involved in your life and helping you. The boys that were on Mark’s team were a great picture of this, because he told them what to do, but they did not do it. On the other hand, when my team allowed me to get involved and help them, they were successful. Third, you need brothers in Christ: the battle for purity is especially difficult for loners. God never intended for us to fight it alone. We need the encouragement and accountability of our brothers in Christ. The second project was polluted water. We discussed the importance of good friends and peer pressure. In this project there was a jug of water and six glasses of water. Three were filled with water colored with food coloring and the other three were plain water. When you have friends with the same values as you, the things that they pour into your life are fine and only fill you more—aka help your walk with God. But when you hang out with people who are opposed to the truth of the Bible, they pollute your thoughts, heart, and attitude. The third project was after we got into sexual purity, and it was to show the importance of waiting until your wedding night to have sex. We discussed purity the whole weekend as a gift for our future spouses and a protection for our sisters in Christ. In the third project we took matches and had each boy light the match and immediately blow it out. We then asked them to try to light the match again. We explained that this was a symbol of their virginity. You can only give away your virginity one time to one person. We then placed a match in the water for a minute. When I took it out it was saturated with water. When I tried to light it with another match, it would not light at first. I told the boys that if they would saturate their hearts in God’s word and saturate their minds with Christ, their virginity would be better protected. As I held the lit match near the wet one, the wet match lit as usual, however. I explained that no matter how much you saturate yourself in God’s word, if you place yourself in bad situations long enough, you will fall—just as 1 Corinthians 10:12 says. We had finished the discussion on the subject of the importance of virginity, and I felt like God wanted me to mention if virginity had already been lost. I do not like to assume anything about anyone, and I stated that to the guys. I give them the benefit of the doubt, but I also will not automatically assume that since they grew up in a Christian Children’s home that they had not possibly already given away their virginity. I would have never thought to mention it, so I think that God had special plans for the words that were spoken. The next section was on boundaries. We were moving into the phase of the purity retreat in which we were going to discuss relationships. Boundaries are important to have in mind before you begin any relationship, because the decisions you make in the “heat of the moment” are always to give up boundaries. The boys listed out everything from holding hands to sexual intercourse in order of safest boundary to least safe. They had a hard time with this, until we told them to think of a progression. I said, “If you had a girlfriend, what would be the first thing you would do?” And then the next, and then the next, until we reached sexual intercourse. They then drew a line of the furthest they would go. At first, some did not understand this and drew the line at sexual intercourse… So I asked, “So do you think that it is safe to undress with someone?” They quickly said “NO!” I kept asking the next thing until they finally said that it was ok. We then used project number four, which was the leaky balloon. Basically, the balloon is full of your purity, and as you make little decisions about how far you will go, you poke holes in it. I thought it was pretty cool, because as we were discussing how one thing leads to another and it is very difficult to hold boundaries as far as kissing and hugging passionately, I accidentally poked the balloon not on the tape, and it burst all over the floor. After I got over being shocked, I coolly said, “And then before you know it all you purity is gone…” The last session was on the importance of waiting to date until you are prepared to be looking for a wife. It discussed how we can get so attached to another person that we lose all of our other friends and end up having to have that one person in our life. I thought it was good, because the boys needed to understand that a relationship with a girl too early can easily break all friendship with your brothers in Christ who are supposed to be growing with you through life. I heard a speaker at a getaway event about purity once say, “If you roll over in the morning and see your wife, and she is your best friend, you have it really good. If you roll over in the morning and see your wife, and she is your only friend, you have a problem.” I wanted the boys to hear something to that effect this weekend, and it was said. It is an aspect of early relationships that I think most people don’t see. The damage that it has on relationships with your brother’s in Christ. The project for this illustrated the damage with two pieces of construction paper. They were glued together, and then when the boys tried to tear them apart, they left pieces of themselves behind. I thought that this was a fantastic picture of sexual relationships, also. The Bible says that when you have sex with someone, the two of you become one flesh. If someone continues in casual sexual relationships, they slowly lose themselves to other people. I think that it showed the seriousness that God talks about with sexual purity. Most people think that it is just in then out and nothing more… but Biblically, you lose part of yourself each time you connect to someone and then leave them for another casual sex partner. Other than learning a great deal about purity, we had a blast. We swam during our break time, and played mafia until eleven o’clock at night. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us, and especially to our sponsors for providing the funds so short notice for the retreat—it made it more special to get away with the boys, than if we had just stayed at home. I know God did some great work over the weekend.   

Hand over the eyes...

"Hey Savorn, why did you cover your eyes?" "It so bright." "Ok. Keep your eyes open this time" FLASH! Immediately after the picture is taken, "Ah!" 

"Savorn, have you ever eaten a burger before?" "No." "I'm gonna take a picture of you eating your first burger!" "Wait... I mean, have you ever in your life eaten a burger?" "Oh. Yes." "So you meant that this was your first burger here." "Yes." Lame...

The boys were not a fan of the air conditioning... At one point, I turned  the air conditioning to the lowest degrees and turned on the overhead fan... IT WAS HILARIOUS! 

You can't burn down Cambodian hotels with just one match, because they are coated with tile and there are no carpets! :)

And we're chilin at the pool :)

This is what happens when you ask the waitress if the burger has tomatoes and lettuce, she says no and you ask for tomatoes... you find out that the burger does in fact have tomatoes and lettuce, AAANNNNNDDDDD they bring you an entire plate of tomatoes... Which I thought was hilarious, considering the plate the burger came on had tomatoes on it...

  

Sewing Class:

Kelsi said that she really just wanted to post some pictures of the end product of the sewing class renovation, and the girls working on their masterpieces. Here are some pictures. Again, thank you to everyone who gave especially for this project, the girls enjoy it so much, and just today Mekerah was talking about how she was so excited to make headbands—one of her friends from Singapore wanted one as well. 

P.S. We survived our first week as parents of two children... we are pretty blessed, they are the greatest. Abigail Roat (Abby) is already answering to Abby, and Lily Niet has warmed up to Kelsi. Lily was very attached to me, and would not go to Kelsi without crying, but since I was gone over night and most of Saturday, she got some mommy daughter time, and now Lily cries if I take her from Kels! God is mending this family together. Please pray for Abby, though. Coming from an abusive father, she wakes up in the middle of the night screaming. If I try to console her, she gets even more scared, so Kelsi has to wake up with her every time. Pray that God would cleanse her mind of all the bad memories of her past, and that He would fill it with His light and love. I love the family that God has given me, and my wife rocks my socks off with how awesome a mother she is to the girls. I am blessed beyond words. That's all. We love you guys!

BecauseHeLives,

Micah and Kelsi. 

Big News, Big God

Hey Everyone,

          This is a very special update. It may come as a surprise, and it was to us also. About two months back, we had a new addition to BYKOTA House—Srey Roat and Srey Niet. Their mother left them at BYKOTA House in an attempt to protect them from an abusive father/husband. The mother’s plan was to get a job in Korea and raise money to support the girls. After meeting the girls, Kels and I knew that there was something special with them. We love all the kids of BYKOTA House, but these two just seemed to burden our hearts a little more and plague my thoughts at night (haven’t been sleeping well, lately). It was burdening our hearts enough that we began to pray about what God might have us do for the girls—possibly He wanted us to sponsor them or raise support for Roat’s eye surgery—we didn’t know. As the days went on, Kelsi and I began to remember a conversation we had while we were dating about how many kids we wanted to have. The conversation went something like this: Me: “Kelsi, how many kids do you want to have?” Kelsi: “I want to adopt two children and have two children.” I obviously already had a response ready, when I asked the question, and it just happened to be the exact same thing. I don’t know when it happened for me, but I just remember distinctly thinking that I wanted to adopt two kids and have two kids. The conversation was simply curbed, because we were informed before we came to Cambodia that adoptions from Cambodia were closed. One night, we decided to just ask about it, because we knew that Mark and Rhonda had adopted children, and Cambodia has been closed to adoptions for quite some time. When we discussed it with them, they explained that adoptions were closed for foreigners trying to adopt from Cambodia into the United States, from the United States, but that adoptions within Cambodia were open. What they had done with their recent adoptions was a process in which the child is adopted in Cambodia, they have legal residence with the parents for two years, and then they are available to receive visas for America and apply for American passports: basically, you can adopt children within Cambodia and stay if you want, but the process to go back to America is a two year process (approximately). When Kelsi and I heard that we were cautiously excited. We contacted our parents and asked them to begin to pray for us. It was shocking news. We began to make contact with the mom of the girls, and found out that she is a great godly woman. We tried to help her into a ministry that helped mothers and their children, but she wasn’t sure that would work for her. We wanted to find out what her intentions were, so Rhonda had a meeting with her and asked what her plans were with the girls. The mother explained that she was going to go to Korea and work to support the girls. When Rhonda explained that since BYKOTA House is a children’s home, they might be adopted, the mother became overjoyed and cried. In Cambodia, it is greatly thought that the best thing that can happen for your children is that they get adopted by a “wealthy white family”. It is a broken country with broken families, and Cambodia needs a lot of prayer that God would bring it back from Pol Pot’s terror and that the family unit would be restored as it once was. After the mom’s response, Kelsi and I began to pray about God’s will for us in this situation. We wanted to adopt, but we always felt that it would happen after we had settled down and had our two children first. As we continued to pray about it, we met with the mother to explain our hearts and ask her what she thought about it. The first meeting went really well, the mother has such a beautiful heart and loves God very much. She explained that she wanted to spend some time praying about if we were the right family for the girls. About a week later, she came back for our second meeting. Rhonda had prayed beforehand felt like God had laid the word PEACE on her heart. She decided that if the mother did not use the word peace in the meeting, she would know that we were moving too fast or the mother was only doing it out of pressure—not out of God’s leading. The mother sat down and said, “I have been praying the past couple days, and I feel such peace in my heart that God has brought you into my girls lives to take care of them. God gives authority to parents over their children, and I would like to give it to you. I know that you are a godly family, and I want Roat and Niet to grow up knowing God.” After the mother giving approval and God giving all of us peace in our hearts, we became the parents of Abigail Roat (three years old) and Lily Niet (eighteen months old). We are pursuing the adoption of these girls currently (Cambodian) and will be seeking American visas and citizenship in two years (Don’t count two years from now, because in Cambodia dates are not perfect). I would like to share something the mother said: “Each day I prayed to God that He would provide for my girls a better future than abusive fathers and alcoholism. I prayed that God would send someone who would love both of my daughters and take care of them.” It seems odd, but the mother believed that after Roat’s eye accident, she would never be adopted. Basically, it was the end of hope for the mother, because, in Cambodia, children with disabilities are discarded and not wanted. When Niet was born, she believed that someone would adopt just her and leave Roat behind. She earnestly prayed that God would bring a family who would love and “not see” Roat’s injured right eye. Roat is a joy (which is why we are calling her Abigail—Father’s Joy). I can’t imagine ever not loving her, because her right eye is blind. When I think about how God works, I am amazed. When Roat was born is about the same time that Kelsi and I had the conversation about how many children we wanted to have in our family: Two. As Srey Ron (the girls’ mother) began to pray for Roat, God had already placed it in our hearts to adopt. We have brought Roat and Niet into our little home away from home and we will continue to pursue with God’s direction adopting them. If you are wondering why this is the first you are hearing about this, I would like to explain that this is not something in our personal lives, that we were trying to hide. When we began seeking and knocking about adoption, we were warned to guard our hearts. Even now, there are many hurdles to overcome. At any moment, everything could be over, and we did not want to start spreading the news, until we were sure that God was saying, “yes.” I understand that this comes as a shock. We are here to serve with the Benz family, and that has not changed. Although having two children comes with more responsibility, we are still committed to our service—just as people who have their children continue to serve in their local church. Our ministry description has only changed to include the care of two beautiful blessings. I have been warned that by extending our time in Cambodia and adopting two children we may bring on judgment from some, but God is the ultimate Judge, and when He has planned something, it will happen—and His plans are wonderful plans. At this point in the update, I would like to give the summary of information that you have just read:

          We are pursuing the adoption of Abigail Roat (three years old) and Lily Niet (eighteen months old), with the blessing of their mother (Srey Ron). They have moved in with us and in our minds and hearts, though not legally, they are our daughters. There are many hurdles to overcome, and it could be that the adoption does not end with us having the girls: please pray for God’s will. For the adoption process, we must stay at least two years, beginning on the day that we obtain legal guardianship of the girls.

          What this means for you. Firstly, if you do not feel comfortable supporting us financially anymore, we understand—but please continue to pray for us as we continue seeking God’s will. Also, the expenses of the girls will not increase our monthly budget a whole bunch (maybe $200-$300), but our sponsors agreed to fund us only through March (nine months was our original time frame). We are beginning to seek out more sponsors for this longer period of service. I would ask that you pray about possibly becoming a financial sponsor. I know that God will provide. Please pray for God’s hand in all of this, and we will keep you well informed on everything that God is doing in Cambodia, just as we have been.

          We are very excited about what God has in store for the next couple of years. It is going to be a long hard journey, but God will be with us every step of the way. We are so grateful for all of your support, and we could not be doing anything here without you. Please feel free to ask any questions you would like about the adoption or anything else for that matter. We love you guys!

          BecauseHeLives,

          Micah and Kelsi.  

Meet Abigail Roat Bergen and Lily Niet Bergen: