Cooking Friday

Hey everyone, something interesting that happens every Friday during School of the Nations classes is a cooking class with Kelsi. I decided to take some pictures for you of today's lesson. I did not get the in progress, so you will have to imagine the piles of onions, peppers, and pork loin. The kids made omelets in plastic bags. They put all the ingredients into the bag and then put the bags into a pot of boiling water: end result, bag of omelet. Super easy and super fun!

Yummy!

How Much Money is This!?

Kelsi was working on the budget tonight, and I thought of a great blog video idea. Yet again, Kelsi's lovely face is missing from the video... Hope you guys enjoy, and remember to email me with your answer for a chance to win a prize from Cambodia!

Updated February 8, 2013:

I am adding a picture of the pile of money, with a hint.

This is a stack of 100 and 500 Riels. Cambodian currency is LESS valuable than United States currency.

But how much less, is the question.... :) Happy guessing. I will not wait much longer before revealing the prize. Take a guess... You could win a prize! 

Pictures from the Zoo and Baby Gates

So I said that I would post these pictures of the zoo and of Wendell working on the baby gates with the older boys... here they are:

After this, Kelsi made some cloth covers to pull over the top, and they work like a charm. Keep Lily from climbing the stairs, while I am teaching, and keep the dogs from free roaming up the stairs as they please.

In Cambodia, you can never find exactly what you need. We had to improvise with this bottom piece. Drills were involved, and we weren't hurt!

The boys with Wendell, and the final product.

Proud of their accomplishment. Also, we worked out the math. It cost us around nine dollars to make these--plus a few hours of labor. We could easily sell these for thirty bucks. All of the foreigner families in Cambodia would jump at a baby  gate, because of all the stairs! Thinking of a small business idea for the boys to manage. 

Now for pictures of the zoo!

All of these pictures were taken, before we realized that you actually walked with the deer through the zoo...

And this little guy snuck up on me... I about punched him in the face. Good thing I was holding Abby... not sure I would have won that battle, even with his lack of antlers.

Lily looking at the birds... really big birds.

Do you see the crocodile? It is the green thing next to the water!--I said this to Abby like ten times, and she just kept saying, "no. I don't see it. Maybe later." I couldn't believe how hard it was for her to see it, until Kels mentioned that she didn't really know what she was looking for...

And it is a white squirrel... Cambodians are amazed by squirrels, because they aren't everywhere, like in Missouri. 

This is Lily looking at some crocodiles... or a turtle. I don'r remember exactly... 

Rhonda does not like the fact that the deer invade your personal space.

"Hey Abby! Look over here for a picture with the squirrel thing!" Abby's face is so unenthusiastic. 

Docile deer... they walk up to you!!

Grandpa time, the night the Teagardens left Cambodia.

The boys built the last baby gate by themselves... and they did an amazing job! (sorry this picture is at the bottom. Sometimes, the trouble of making it perfect is not worth it)

Electrician Day

Mark had noticed that we had some electrical things needing done around the house, so he called our handy man. But he also thought that this was the perfect opportunity for the boys to learn some useful skills. So they have been helping him with the projects since two o'clock. They are fixing three lamps that needed re-wiring, fixing a light in the office that was broken (I don't know why), and installing an electrical outlet box on the roof, so Kels and I can have a fan next to our table up there. It is really nice to sit and relax on the roof, while the girls play, and having air movement is even better! Here are some pictures of the project.

Some things that I love about Cambodia :)

The following are some pictures that I have taken this week of things that I found to be interesting in Cambodia.

This is on a package of cookies brought from America. I find the first instructions to be very difficult in Cambodia: "Keep cool and dry place" :) yeah right! When I find that place, I will ask to be placed there, and there will be no room for cookies :)

At restaurants, they serve with your tea a cup of liquid sugar. It stirs into your drink much easier than dry, and you don't have to tear open all those stupid little packages. Kudos to Cambodia for using a more superior sugar system than America!

I just recently bought a guitar (with my Christmas money :) It was a Yamaha Acoustic electric, with built in tuner, and a plug for XLR and quarter inch plug. Great sound! I bought two replacement tuning keys (just in case) and a strap with real leather ends, and a back up set of strings... total cost: $160. This beautiful Gibson Les Paul was hanging in the window, and I just was curious, so I asked... total cost: $240. Crazy thing is, the little plastic plugs that you need for holding the strings in place at the bottom of the guitar (you know, the ones that most guitar stores give you for free) cost me fifty cents each! What I have found is that the guitar itself is super cheap, but the parts are incredibly expensive.

Well, that is all I wanted to post. Just thought you might find these things interesting. I will try to keep taking pictures, as I find interesting things. I will post more next week, or sooner! Until next time!
Micah and Kelsi.

Rest

Hey Everyone,

There was a guest speaker at our church yesterday, and he was preaching from Hebrews chapter three and four--focusing on the idea of the Sabbath rest. He made some really good points, and I wanted to share it with you. It is pertinent to our work in Cambodia, and I will explain after I give you the highlights of what he said. There are three things that help us to understand biblical rest: God's example in Genesis, a proper self image, and keeping it holy.  Firstly, when someone says that they have taken a Sabbath or a rest day, what they usually mean is that they took off work. God's example in Genesis agrees with this thought, because on the seventh day, He stopped working. However, the answer to the question of why you took of work is what normally differs. "I was so stressed from work." "I couldn't work any longer, because I was so worn out." "I needed a break." When we say these things, we are implying that a Sabbath day is necessary, because we will burn out if we don't stop for a breath. But this is not what God did on the very first Sabbath... He did not come to day seven and say, ""Man! I am so tired from all the work I have just done... I'm gonna have to stop for a minute, or I am just going to collapse." God took a Sabbath because His work was complete, and He was SATISFIED. So some might say, "well, my work is never complete! I can never get something the way I want it."or "I can't stop working, because, if I don't do it, no one will." We have a hard time being satisfied with the work we have accomplished in a week. This is where a proper self image is necessary. Just as God disciplined Elijah when he said the words "I'm the only one left" so He longs to tell us, "You are not the only one! If you would only trust Me, there is someone else willing to step into that role." Although I believe that many people do not use their gifts for the edification of other believers enough, it does not give me the right to say that I am the only one working, because God is on His throne and will work in the hearts of those He pleases. The director of the BSU that I was involved in (when I was in college) gave me some great words. When I explained that I could no longer lead the worship on Tuesday nights, he said, "Life goes on, the world will keep spinning, and we will continue to worship God, even if Micah Bergen is not on stage on Tuesday nights." And after I left, just that happened. There was someone to lead the worship, and everything is still happening on Tuesday nights. God calls us to obedience. If God has given you a task, and you have accomplished it, be satisfied and rest--don't continue to work on something else, just because someone lays guilt on you, or because your pride tells you that you haven't done enough. Some may say that you are not a "go getter" but we are not men pleasers. We do not do what we do for the glory of men, but for the glory of God. And if God has given you a task, and you are obedient, REST in satisfaction. Lastly, I should like to explain something that is the most important aspect of rest. God says to keep the Sabbath holy. Holy can mean set apart, and it can also be used to describe an attribute of focusing on God. Some try to say that their Sabbath was spent doing this or that, and in no way did they draw nearer to God. Is this truly rest? Is this really a Sabbath? Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) Rest cannot be found outside of Christ. Sure, you may not work, but you cannot rest your soul without Christ--just as you can have lack of war but no peace, without Christ. God says to take a day and not work, and simply focus on Him. When we do this, we find true rest. Now to apply this to our work here in Cambodia. I have found that a lot of missionaries will ignore God's command to rest, and say that they are an exception, because God has so much work for them to do. I have gotten caught up in this mind set, and have found myself exhausted. We are all commanded to take one day a week and rest, not out of physical exhaustion, but out of satisfaction that we have been obedient to everything that God has called us to do that week. We can sit in His presence and feel His rest come upon us. We can pray that He will give us guidance on what to do in the week to follow. And at the end of that week, we can look back and see all that God has done, and be satisfied once again. We can even have rest nightly. In Hebrew culture, the day begins at midnight. We go through our nights sleep and God is preparing us the whole time for the morning's work. This changes the way in which we see our day to day: God is our strength, and has already begun to work in us before we have even opened our eyes. Under His strength and rest, we begin again. I am now going to start my day (going to sleep), and I know that God will begin to strengthen me for the work He has for me to do. In the morning, I will be obedient to His leading, and at the end of my day, I will spend time in His presence in satisfaction that my work for that day is completed, and I have been obedient to a wonderful Lord of my soul. Leaving phrase: "Our rest comes from connecting with God and being obedient to His calling." Good night, everyone.

BecauseHeLives,

Micah.  

The Teagardens came to town!

Just a short word from Micah Bergen

Hey Everyone!
It has been a wonderful start to the new year. I hope that everyone else is having a great year, so far. Kels and I have been busy at it this year (although not busy bodies--because we know what Scripture says about those people). I know that Kelsi wrote some about Christmas already, but I just want to thank everyone again for the amazing generosity that went into BYKOTA Christmas. The video is just a short clip of me talking (BORING), but I wanted to test the video quality of the new computer. If you notice, I am alone in the video, and that is because Kelsi is gone to the airport with her grandparents--Wendell and Carol. They have been with us the last two weeks, and it has been really refreshing. Wendell taught the older BYKOTA boys how to make baby gates out of PVC pipe, so we can contain our children from the Cambodian architecture (stairs). He also built some for the roof to keep Muggy from digging up our garden. During that project, Wendell and I cut ourselves with a rusty hack saw trying to slim the length by one inch... it goes without saying that they are snugly in place ;) Carol helped Kelsi with her month of cooking for February--since we also were blessed by a deep freeze. Mark and I went to Russian market and bought fifty kilos of pork and ground it up to freeze. It ended up saving us over a hundred and fifty dollars in meat! This month, we have been doing school a little differently at School of the Nations. Our schedule has been all thrown off since the kids started Khmer school, but we had been wanting to try something different with the kids. Although the PACE Book system is a fine education, Kelsi and I felt like as certified teachers, we could do more for the kids while we were here (the PACE books can be taught by anyone--not only teachers). So, we have been teaching explicitly this month. We broke all the kids into four categories--Kindergarten, Middle age in need of more basic instruction, Middle level in need of moderate English instruction, and Older in need of intermediate/advanced English. I am of course teaching the moderate and intermediate groups and Kelsi has taken on the Kindergarten and basic groups. Although the kids could have continued in PACE Books and been fine, I think that they are benefiting from learning English from someone speaking it to them, who also has a college education in teaching. Eventually, when we leave, they will go back to PACE Books and continue on in their English education, if that is God's will. (PAUSE). Sorry for that, I needed to go and take care of Abby... she just threw up all over the floor. I love being a dad :) Anyways, I mention in the video that we went to the zoo with the BYKTOA kids and staff... crazy! We had to rent a bus. Such a sweet experience! I really want to add pictures, and I will as soon as I can get some on this computer. I also mention in the video that my computer crashed to the floor--tile, of course, because it is Cambodia. I prayed and prayed that it would be some other hardware problem, but no it was my hard disk--for all you non-computer people out there, that is where all your memory and documents are kept and if it breaks, you most of the time lose everything (no big deal--just my entire college career and pictures). I am now typing on a notebook, which I plan on backing up to an external hard drive frequently and keeping no photos on. I love Cambodia prices on things! I not only got a great deal on the computer, they also through in a mouse, mouse pad, soft case, and cleaning wipes... oh and there was no tax on the final cost :) but strawberries cost $15 for a small carton :/ weird. When I post the pictures from the zoo, I will talk more about it. For now, I think that I will keep it short and say "God is good. He is at work. Pray. Thank you."
BecauseHeLives,
Micah.

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 :)