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!
