How Much Money Is This - Tickets!

So here is how this game works:

Take a guess at how much money is in the two bags. Abby and Lily have been saving for their trip home for over two years now, but it still amounts to less than $100. The square that is the correct answer is still open, so keep guessing. To guess, simply follow the instruction here and fill in the number which you believe is the amount in the bags. Then email us at micah.kelsi@gmail.com and let us know that you gave and guessed. The winner will receive a gift from Cambodia delivered by us when we come in two weeks!!!!

Here is the chart, again:

Here is the video!

Thank you so much to everyone who has already given towards this :) We are very excited to see everyone, and Abby and Lily pray each night and thank God for working all this out so that they can go see snow :)

BecauseHeLives,

Micah. 

Road Construction In Cambodia

In Cambodia, they do things a little differently than in the States. I have noticed that with construction projects, Cambodia seems to be much quicker, even though they have fewer resources available. This week, somebody in the Cambodian government decided that our road finally needed to be paved... well, in Cambodia, they don't pave things. Instead, they put up blockers and lay down a layer of concrete. I took a video of the guys working today. In the video, you will see a boy that could not be older than twelve helping to push the cart. Don't be too quick to judge this, because today is a Cambodian holiday, so he might just be tagging along to help; however, there is no age limitation on who can work in which fields--that I know of, at least. I hope you enjoy this look into our life here in Phnom Penh, Cambodia! We are very excited to be getting a new road :)

We are also glad that we already renegotiated our lease for next year (preemptively, because we wanted to have some security when we get back, and also because we need to know how much extra per month we will need) Our landlord is only increasing our rent to $250/month--it was $230. We are blessed that God has given us favor in her eyes. Hopefully, if we need to, we can keep renting this house for a long time.

Here is the video:

BecauseHeLives,

The Bergens.

100th Post - Our Visa Adventure

This will be our 100th post on Mission Cambodia... And it is fitting that this post is the 100th, because it is the conclusion to a very large chapter in our lives and the beginning of a new one: Abby and Lily Go to America. The next chapters go something like this: Micah and Kelsi Pursue Full and Finalized Adoptions... but we will get there when we get back in February (spoilers).

This post is about the adventure that Abby, Lily, and I went on today.

It all started at 5:00 AM this morning. I woke up to the sound of my alarm, and it was quite alarming. I did not expect to sleep at all, but I hit my pillow like a lump and was in dream land before I knew the difference between it and reality. I guess I just had a peace that everything was going to be fine. The girls were up at five thirty and in a daze. We were in a Tuk Tuk by six. Our appointment was at seven, but it is a half hour drive to the Embassy and we did not want to be late... we were not. We stood in line outside the Embassy for a half an hour. After we got into the Embassy, we waited some more. After about thirty minutes (which, if you know anything about the U.S. Embassy, is a very short time), we were called to the window. I handed in our paperwork, and the employee looked at it for a moment and said, "These pictures are unacceptable. Please take this sheet with you, get new ones, and return before nine. Then you can continue the interview process." We ran to the closest photo shop (there are literally a bajillion in Cambodia), and had Abby and Lily pose for a new photos that were the correct size and positioning. After that, we rushed back to the Embassy. By this time, it was about eight thirty, and the girls were getting restless. We waited and waited and waited, until at last at ten thirty, we were called to the window for our interview. He asked for the forms again, and asked if I was the legal guardian of the girls, which I proudly answered, "Yes, we have foster care through the Ministry of Social Affairs," and it felt so good to say it. He asked about our relationship with the girls mother, and whether she knew we were taking them on this trip, to which I replied, "Yes, she actually helped us get the passports :)" He asked about our intentions to adopt, and I told him that we would love to adopt, if it ever became an option. Then he walked away for a while to make some copies and look over our forms. When he came back he asked about our plans in America. I told him, and he asked to see some kind of documentation of our roots in Cambodia, so I gave him our work contracts and a letter of recommendation from our director. And after waiting all morning, this thirty minute interview ended with him saying, "Well, everything looks great. I just need to make some copies and you will be all set." When he came back, he handed me a slip of blue paper and said, "You can pick up your visas on Thursday." And our adventure of the last five months ends with Abby, Lily, and I dancing outside the U.S. Embassy and screaming, "We're going to America!!!"

Celebratory Ice Cream :)

Obviously, some of you may be wondering about our plane tickets. It seems as though we have not been too worried about them at all, and there is a reason. Kelsi's parents offered to pay the difference after we tried to raise the money. A couple days ago, when I made the visa appointment, we went ahead and began to book our flights through a ministry that allows you to do early booking without cash in hand immediately. Today, along with visas, we also got our e-tickets for our trip home. We will be departing on November 12th, earlier than even Kelsi hoped for initially.

We decided to go with one way tickets (don't get excited, we are coming back to Cambodia), so that we can raise funds for our trip back while we are in the states. Please consider donating towards this. There are instructions on our post here:
http://missioncambodia-bergen.blogspot.com/2014/09/plane-tickets-and-game.html

Kelsi's family has been way generous to us (I hope they don't mind me saying it), and we would love to take more of this burden off their shoulders. They are such a blessing to us, and we could in no way repay them, and I don't think that they would ever ask us to.

So, I guess I will be seeing all of you sometime between the months of November and February, with all my girls by my side. Speaking of my girls, they are awesome. Abby and Lily handled a five hour wait at the Embassy like pros--no melt downs, obedient as all get out, and with great attitudes the whole time. They are great :) You guys will love meeting them! Pray for our flight!

BecauseHeLives,
Micah.

Foster Care, Passports, and Visas Oh My!

I am in complete astonishment. Can I just tell you about our amazing God!? Months ago, Kelsi said that she was praying and just felt like God told her that we would get to go home for Christmas this year, and I said, "Awesome. We got a lot to do, but if it is God's will, we will get it done." As I said this, I was thinking, "I hope she doesn't get her hopes up too much..." We have had so many things that we got excited about and then didn't happen, and I just didn't want Kelsi to get burned again. Really, I was questioning whether Kelsi actually heard from God or not, because I didn't have that sense... But I also know that my wife is an amazing, godly, wise women, and so I trusted her. At this time, we had no foster care, and we had not even started to work on it. I began to pray this simple prayer over and over again: "God, I believe, please help my unbelief."  Kelsi went to America for a month, and I got busy on the paperwork... two months later, we got foster care, but it was getting close to those dates Kelsi had said. We immediately applied for travel permissions and passports, and within the month, got both. With passports in hand, we had just to apply for visas. I had mentioned that October 20th was our appointment date, and it was killing me that I had to wait until then, because it is so hard to get prepared to go with that little bit of uncertainty. I prayed like crazy, "God, I know that it doesn't really matter, but can we please go in for our interview sooner than that?" I sent an email to the Embassy with questions about various paper work things and included a query about possibly moving our appointment up, even though we didn't really have a good reason. I got a response that said if I had technical difficulties, I could call the helpline for help... I decided to let it rest, because I didn't really have a reason to move the appointment to an earlier date, other than just wanting to get it done as soon as possible! I prayed again, "God, I can wait. I know that you will work it out in Your timing. I'm not worried about it, please help me to be patient." About an hour later, I check my email again, and there is a new email from the Embassy stating that there are openings for appointments tomorrow... I just shook my head and muttered under my breath, "Nice one, God." I am so blessed to be here... by here, I mean in the midst of God's will. Since Kels and I have been in Cambodia, it has been hard, but I just continue to say... Our God is faithful! He is trustworthy! Even in the pain and difficulties, He shows Himself good! Why do we doubt, brothers and sisters, when He constantly proves Himself to be a great and good God?

Please pray for us for tomorrow. Our interview is scheduled for 7:00 AM, but most of the time it takes all day of waiting for your turn, so I don't know exactly when we will have our interview--by "we" and "our" I am referring to Abby, Lily, and I. If you would like to be on your knees at the right time, we are twelve hours ahead, so on Monday night at 7:00 PM, just pray for us. Pray for favor and wisdom, and that the girls are able to wait patiently for the interview, since we are not aloud to bring anything in other than paperwork for the interview. Even pray that we do not have to wait for very long for our interview. And most of all, remember to thank God for His goodness, thus far.

I was telling Abby the other night, during our prayer time, that she needed to pray for passports, and she said, "But we already have passports," and I said, "So we need to thank God for them." Don't be too distracted by new needs or the enjoyment of the blessing to remember and praise God for what He has already done! All glory to God!

BecauseHeLives,
Micah.

Bible Study Corner: Commandments

Last week we had a Khmer holiday. Because of this, half of our students were away at province. We decided for this week to do a combined class of elementary and youth, and then have the afternoon off. Because we had been doing different Bible studies for these two groups (the youth are going verse by verse through Mark and the Elementary are going through the whole Bible as a story overview), we decided to do a topical study for this week on God's commandments. We have been doing a back to the basics focus on Tuesday night small group (using the verses from the Navigator's Topical Memory Verse System and teaching our way through them), and we just finished John 14:22 and Romans 12:1. Both these verses speak on being obedient to God. We focused on the first verse (John 14:22), and spent five days on it. Here is how our days worked out:

Day 1: Why does God have commandments?
We discussed the purpose of God's laws. I started by talking about why I have rules in our classroom. I asked, "Why do we raise our hands to speak?" and the kids came up with great answers. I had them all tell me their favorite colors at the same time, and then asked Varee if she could tell me what Linda said... no. Of course, because they both spoke at the same time. We have the rules for a purpose so that everyone feels heard and so that we can show respect to one another. I also asked why we had the rule of not going to the internet cafe, and they all know that it is for their protection. That is why God has laws and commandments, so that we know how to live in unity with each other and so that we can stay away from those things that bring us harm.

Day 2: What does it mean to love God?
On this day we discussed what it means to love God. Jesus said that if we loved Him then we would obey Him. This seems obvious to me, because for me to say that I love my mom but then to be rebellious is to speak with my words love and speak hate with my actions. So that is what we talked about: loving God with our actions and obedience. To love God is more than to just simply have good feelings towards God. To love God is to follow Him and do what He says, and not out of some robotic response, but out of trust in Him as our Father. He knows what is best for us, and we trust that He does what He says, and does everything in our best interest, and that is why we obey Him.

Day 3: How do we obey God's Commandments?
On this day, we talked about the importance of Jesus' work on the cross to free us from the bondage of sin, and the necessity of the Holy Spirit indwelling us and leading us in holiness. I gave the analogy of being locked in prison. You can not get your chains off or escape by yourself, and you aren't even really sure you want to. Jesus comes and opens the door to your cell and unlocks your chains. You are free to leave, but you still have to make the choice to leave. When you decide to leave, you find that you are completely lost in the prison. There are so many halls and doors, but the Holy Spirit comes and leads you step by step through it all, until you finally reach the exit. In this picture, Jesus has done the work on the cross so that we are no longer trapped by sin in our life. We are able to leave it behind. The Holy Spirit teaches us to walk according to God's ways, and He will continue to work in our lives showing us sin that needs to be dealt with, until that glorious day we see God face to face, and we will finally be made perfect, but we must continue to walk with Him, listening to His guidance, or else we may stop in another cell and decide to stay, because of the luxuries in that place. We must continue to follow until we finally exit this wretched prison of our own wills and flesh and are given new bodies of immortal glory. Ultimately, the answer to the question is that we can not obey God's commandments on our own. It is only by the Holy Spirit and through Jesus' work on the cross that we are able to obey God.

Day 4: How do we learn/know God's Commandments?
On this day, we talked about the importance of being in God's word. We believe that God's word is the instructional manual for our lives, and so to learn to have life to the fullest, we need to be studying it daily, and memorizing it. But not only reading God's word, asking Him to reveal to us areas in which we fall short and allowing it to change our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. We learn God's commandments by reading His word and also listening to the Holy Spirit's still small voice in our daily lives. Obedience to God starts with knowing what He expects of us.

Day 5: What happens when we disobey God's Commandments?
I decided to use an analogy on this day that I have used before but, this time, I added something to it. Here is the analogy, and I know that it is not perfect, but I hope that it is helpful:
Pretend that you have just received a brand new toy. It is fantastic. It has movable parts. It lights up and flashes, and walks across the room without you having to touch it. The person who gave you this toy also gave you three rules: 1. Do not touch the button on the back of the toy, because it will shock you. 2. Keep this toy dry. 3. Keep this toy away from small children. So the first thing you do is turn the toy around and push the button on the back, right? I mean come on... "It will shock me"? That just doesn't make any sense. And BUZZ!! You get shocked. The next day, all your friends are going to the pool, and you really wanna go, but you also don't want to leave your new favorite toy behind, so you decide to put it in a plastic bag... that will keep it safe. But inevitably, the bag breaks and the toy is ruined. All the lights stop working. It doesn't move on its own anymore. But at least it still has the cool pieces that come off and on, so you still think it is fun to play with. The next day, you decide to let your little sister play with the toy. She picks up one of the small pieces, eats it, and chokes to death.
So what happens when we disobey God's commandments?
1. We get hurt.
2. We ruin things that God gave to us for our enjoyment.
3. We hurt others.
Why do we disobey God's commandments? Or How do not take God's commandments seriously?
1. Because we do not trust that the consequences are real or that we will face judgement
(Just as Eve believed the lie of the serpent when he told her that she would not surely die).
2. We decide that if we are careful that we can get as close to sinning as possible and still not feel the consequences. We think, "Just one time won't hurt" or "I will be careful" and then everything is ruined and we are trapped in habitual sin.
3. We just simply do not care about others. If something does not effect me, then I do not care if hurts someone else. This is the core of our selfish nature that God is trying to root out of us. The truth is that no sin is contained to just myself. This is why there is evil in the world, and why God allows it (we have the choice to obey or disobey Him--so that we can have genuine love--and when we disobey, our sin hurts others around us).

So that is what we have been studying at School of the Nations. I'm not sure if this is at all interesting for anyone to read, but I hope that it helps all you Bible teachers out there. I appreciate all the prayer for our kids and for myself. It gets difficult sometimes to teach the Bible every single day, but God is good and He is always providing great lessons not just for the kids but also for me. Please continue to pray for us, as we teach. Pray that God would speak through us, and that His word would penetrate the hearts of the kids. Pray that we would not just teach with our lips, but also with our lives. Pray that the kids would not just be hearers of His word, but also doers of it. Thanks in advance for those prayers!

BecauseHeLives,
Micah.