I hope you enjoyed the pictures!
BecauseHeLoves,
Micah.
June 20, 2013
Siem Reap Trip
This past Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday we had a huge blessing. One of the teams that came for the month of June asked in what way they could be a blessing to us. We have been wanting to take the older boys to see the temples in Siem Reap, but could not think of a way to fund it, much less plan it. This team from Forest Park offered to fund the trip, and the team went with us. It was a blast to spend the three days with the boys. I was kind of curious as to how they would react to the temples... I thought, "they are teenage boys, and they could be bored by old broken down buildings." There was one thing that I did not realize. If you are friends with Chantee, Ratana, Savorn, Visoth, Seth, Ta, or Bunro on facebook, you know that these boys are obsessed with taking pictures of themselves. We went to the temples for one day, and we left at 5 A.M. and stayed until about 11 A.M. and the entire time was basically a six hour photo shoot. I will post all the pictures below of the day, and you will know exactly what I mean. Not only did we get to see the temples, but our guest house owner planned a trip to see a Cambodian circus for our last night. Again, I couldn't decide if the boys were going to like this or not... THEY LOVED IT! When I asked what their favorite part was, I didn't get the usual "can answer" of "all of it." Each of them had a specific thing that they liked. Overall, this trip was fantastic. The boys loved it, and it was a special time away from Phnom Penh with the guys. We played games and shot some pool, and basically just enjoyed hanging out. Super blessed by the Forest Park team and this trip. The boys are now painting their rooms with the same team--got the fun out of the way and now to the work! They are enjoying this time as well, because they got to pick the color for the walls in their rooms... SUPER GREEN. Way brighter than what I thought Mark would allow ;) I will post some pictures of the end product, so you guys can see. I also have a music video coming, that I think you will quite enjoy. Here are the pictures I promised:
June 14, 2013
New House - Update to Come
Hello Everyone,
It has been a crazy couple of weeks. We are finally getting the touches done on our new home. I have found with our blog that when I try to make a big thing out of it, it does not get done. We are wanting to do a before and after video/picture of the house, and we are just getting around to putting everything in the right place and such. As soon as that is done, we will get some pictures up to show you. We also have a pretty busy month--Teams are coming throughout the month. We are blessed to have the breath of fresh air that teams bring. They are an encouragement, and they remind me to keep my joy through long seasons of "day to day drudge." I also enjoy hearing the stories that each of them have for how God brought them to Cambodia to work with us. It is fantastic. I hope to get the pictures and a video blog up before the month is out. For now, I wanted to post this little note and let everyone know that we are in fact still alive :) your prayers are always a blessing, and we appreciate everyone who sacrifices financially so that we can continue to follow God's leading here in Cambodia!
BecauseHeLives,
Micah.
It has been a crazy couple of weeks. We are finally getting the touches done on our new home. I have found with our blog that when I try to make a big thing out of it, it does not get done. We are wanting to do a before and after video/picture of the house, and we are just getting around to putting everything in the right place and such. As soon as that is done, we will get some pictures up to show you. We also have a pretty busy month--Teams are coming throughout the month. We are blessed to have the breath of fresh air that teams bring. They are an encouragement, and they remind me to keep my joy through long seasons of "day to day drudge." I also enjoy hearing the stories that each of them have for how God brought them to Cambodia to work with us. It is fantastic. I hope to get the pictures and a video blog up before the month is out. For now, I wanted to post this little note and let everyone know that we are in fact still alive :) your prayers are always a blessing, and we appreciate everyone who sacrifices financially so that we can continue to follow God's leading here in Cambodia!
BecauseHeLives,
Micah.
May 31, 2013
We Serve a Big Big God
Wow! I just want to start by thanking God for His provision over the past three weeks. So so much has happened and God has provided for us over and over. You don't want to skip reading this one!
It all started about a month ago. Micah and I were coming to the realization that we kept telling people we were going to be here for two more years. Once the adoptions were finalized and we waited our two years we would be going home! Well, it has been more than half a year and we are still waiting for our adoptions and for our "two years" to start... We had come to the understanding that our short term stay in Cambodia was no longer short term. We are here for the long haul. That being said, we were still living in the short term intern housing. We were fine being there and had made it comfy but we still had the short term mentality. We decided that it was time to start thinking about finding our own home. We wanted to wait until the end of July after all the teams had gone home. After talking to Mark about it we decided that if we did go ahead and move out there would be extra rooms for the teams to stay in. So we sent an email to a guy we had had previous contact with just to have him look around for something affordable and close. Within two days he had found an apartment that was exactly what we needed. We met with the landlord on a Tuesday and moved in the next Wednesday. (Moving in is a story for another day.)
It all started about a month ago. Micah and I were coming to the realization that we kept telling people we were going to be here for two more years. Once the adoptions were finalized and we waited our two years we would be going home! Well, it has been more than half a year and we are still waiting for our adoptions and for our "two years" to start... We had come to the understanding that our short term stay in Cambodia was no longer short term. We are here for the long haul. That being said, we were still living in the short term intern housing. We were fine being there and had made it comfy but we still had the short term mentality. We decided that it was time to start thinking about finding our own home. We wanted to wait until the end of July after all the teams had gone home. After talking to Mark about it we decided that if we did go ahead and move out there would be extra rooms for the teams to stay in. So we sent an email to a guy we had had previous contact with just to have him look around for something affordable and close. Within two days he had found an apartment that was exactly what we needed. We met with the landlord on a Tuesday and moved in the next Wednesday. (Moving in is a story for another day.)
PROBLEM:
We didn't really have the money to move.
GOD'S PROVISION:
God put it in Amelia Park's heart to have a garage sale to raise some funds for us. The amount she raised was exactly what we needed to be able to move and equip our major needs. (I realize now that Micah already blogged this part... bear with me.)
PROBLEM:
We thought God was awesome to provide for our needs but after our deposit of three months rent plus our first months rent we were going to be squeaking by the rest of the month. No big deal just a few sacrifices here and there.
GOD'S PROVISION:
Our landlord came to our meeting on the day we moved in and said that rather than paying a three month deposit it was only going to be a one month deposit! YEAH! Then we got hit with a big expense....
PROBLEM:
We had forgotten about our visa's! Micah thought they were for a year while I just completely forgot about them. When our landlord asked for a copy of them for the paper work we realized they had expired in March! AHHH!!! What do we do? So we prayed. God told us to just take it to our church families. We called my mom on Sunday morning and asked if she could make a few calls. We needed $1000 dollars to get to Thailand, pay our fees ($5 a day per person for 69 days, you do the math) and get our new visas. We just told God that we were going with what ever He provided and hoped to find favor with the border patrol.
GOD'S PROVISION:
Yeah, we have a big big God! Over night, He supplied us (through our churches) with more than enough money to take care of what we needed. Every time we thought God had already given us more than we deserved, He came through and provided even more. Every time we thought there is no way God could give us more or that we had drained our options He pulled out a new trick. WOW!
PROBLEM:
We didn't have a washing machine... there are places here where you can take your clothes to have them washed but I have only heard bad things about them. They use the same water over and over and your clothes sometimes come out worse than when they started. (or so I am told)
GOD'S PROVISION:
With the extra money that was given we were even able to get a washing machine! (It took me two days to get caught up after two weeks of not washing anything but a few pairs of underwear at the Benz's.)
PROBLEM:
We didn't have a washing machine... there are places here where you can take your clothes to have them washed but I have only heard bad things about them. They use the same water over and over and your clothes sometimes come out worse than when they started. (or so I am told)
GOD'S PROVISION:
With the extra money that was given we were even able to get a washing machine! (It took me two days to get caught up after two weeks of not washing anything but a few pairs of underwear at the Benz's.)
WE SERVE A BIG BIG GOD!
May 9, 2013
Little News...
Greetings to all of our great supporters!
We have some news. Kelsi and I have found an apartment to move into! I know half of you are probably thinking "I assumed you already had an apartment" and the other half are thinking "why have you decided to get an apartment now?" So I am going to get you up to speed on our living situation and some things that God has been doing in Kelsi and I's hearts. Firstly, we have been staying with Mark and Rhonda in their intern rooms since we arrived in Cambodia. It has been great living above the school in which we teach, and also having Mark and Rhonda to fall back on every time we have forgotten to buy sugar or eggs. When we first arrived, we were only using one room. Then we thought it would be nice to also have a living room, and they graciously let us take another one of the small intern rooms to make our own, so we weren't cooped up in one room anymore. Then Abby and Lily came along, and after a couple of months living with us in our bedroom (and Abby sleeping in our bed for lots of that), we thought it might be better to get the girls in their own room. Mark and Rhonda gave us another intern room. And through all of this, Mark and Rhonda did not ask for more money than what we agreed upon when we first arrived--to help with the cost of electricity. Now I would like to explain why we are moving into a new place. When Kelsi and I first arrived, we thought we were going to be here for nine months. When God placed Abby and Lily into our lives, we knew that our plans were changed. We have posted on blogs and told, everyone who asks us, how long we are going to be here: "at least two years." With our lips we said the words "at least" but in our hearts we were really saying "two years." In reality, we are not certain of when we will have the adoptions completed and be able to come home. As we have been praying, we have felt like God was saying that we needed to just be content with where He has placed us for now, and not try to look forward to some future date of when we will go home. With this comes the reason why we have found a new home. That is exactly what it is: our home. God has us in Cambodia for as long as He wants us in Cambodia, and for the time we are here, we are going to treat it as our home. It is quite possible that we will spend the rest of our lives here. Recently, NTNI asked us if we would like to become ministers under Nation to Nation International, since our one year as a special project was coming to a completion. Kelsi and I decided that this was a step that God wanted us to take to show that we meant what we said: "we are here, until you take us home, Lord." NTNI represents missionaries all around the world and takes care of the administrative aspect of the ministry to ease the burden of the missionaries. With this switch in title from "special project" to "minsters with NTNI" I found myself coming to grips with the reality: "we are here, until you take us home, Lord." This is when Kelsi and I began to pray about moving out. Living with Mark and Rhonda has been great, but we have been living in intern rooms intended for interns. In our mind the word "intern" means short term. Living here in the intern rooms was a way that we were still holding back from trusting in God's timing, because it was the thought "we are only going to be here for nine months (now two years)" that led us to move into the intern rooms initially. After it was confirmed in our hearts that this was what we needed to do, we began looking for a place of our own, and within one day we found one that is right in our price range, has exactly the amount of rooms we need, and is close to BYKOTA House. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen, and living area--all connected by a hallway. Kelsi and I debated on if it was too small, but the words "I know and will provide exactly what you NEED" came into my heart. It is what we need, no more, no less. It would be nice to have an extra bedroom and a bigger living room, but those are things that we do not NEED. I find it funny that these are the words that came to me, because a friend of ours (Amelia Parks) recently had a garage sale to raise support for us, and it was based on the thought that she had too much stuff that she didn't need. The support from that garage sale amounted to $1,200, which is the amount we use monthly on things (as mentioned in a previous blog). What Amelia did not know is that in Cambodia to move into a rental, you have to have three months of rent as a deposit, and the first months' rent on hand. We did not have this, nor did we have the things to equip our new home. The funds from the garage sale are plenty to make the deposit and first months' rent and equip our new home with plates, dishes, beds, and such. It is being deposited sometime tomorrow, and is such a blessing and exactly what we needed, in the exact time that we needed it. God provides all our needs. He may not supply all of our wants, but I can state from experience that God ALWAYS provides exactly what we need.
BecauseHeLives,
Micah and Kelsi.
I will post pictures of the new home, as soon as we move in and get it situated :)
We have some news. Kelsi and I have found an apartment to move into! I know half of you are probably thinking "I assumed you already had an apartment" and the other half are thinking "why have you decided to get an apartment now?" So I am going to get you up to speed on our living situation and some things that God has been doing in Kelsi and I's hearts. Firstly, we have been staying with Mark and Rhonda in their intern rooms since we arrived in Cambodia. It has been great living above the school in which we teach, and also having Mark and Rhonda to fall back on every time we have forgotten to buy sugar or eggs. When we first arrived, we were only using one room. Then we thought it would be nice to also have a living room, and they graciously let us take another one of the small intern rooms to make our own, so we weren't cooped up in one room anymore. Then Abby and Lily came along, and after a couple of months living with us in our bedroom (and Abby sleeping in our bed for lots of that), we thought it might be better to get the girls in their own room. Mark and Rhonda gave us another intern room. And through all of this, Mark and Rhonda did not ask for more money than what we agreed upon when we first arrived--to help with the cost of electricity. Now I would like to explain why we are moving into a new place. When Kelsi and I first arrived, we thought we were going to be here for nine months. When God placed Abby and Lily into our lives, we knew that our plans were changed. We have posted on blogs and told, everyone who asks us, how long we are going to be here: "at least two years." With our lips we said the words "at least" but in our hearts we were really saying "two years." In reality, we are not certain of when we will have the adoptions completed and be able to come home. As we have been praying, we have felt like God was saying that we needed to just be content with where He has placed us for now, and not try to look forward to some future date of when we will go home. With this comes the reason why we have found a new home. That is exactly what it is: our home. God has us in Cambodia for as long as He wants us in Cambodia, and for the time we are here, we are going to treat it as our home. It is quite possible that we will spend the rest of our lives here. Recently, NTNI asked us if we would like to become ministers under Nation to Nation International, since our one year as a special project was coming to a completion. Kelsi and I decided that this was a step that God wanted us to take to show that we meant what we said: "we are here, until you take us home, Lord." NTNI represents missionaries all around the world and takes care of the administrative aspect of the ministry to ease the burden of the missionaries. With this switch in title from "special project" to "minsters with NTNI" I found myself coming to grips with the reality: "we are here, until you take us home, Lord." This is when Kelsi and I began to pray about moving out. Living with Mark and Rhonda has been great, but we have been living in intern rooms intended for interns. In our mind the word "intern" means short term. Living here in the intern rooms was a way that we were still holding back from trusting in God's timing, because it was the thought "we are only going to be here for nine months (now two years)" that led us to move into the intern rooms initially. After it was confirmed in our hearts that this was what we needed to do, we began looking for a place of our own, and within one day we found one that is right in our price range, has exactly the amount of rooms we need, and is close to BYKOTA House. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen, and living area--all connected by a hallway. Kelsi and I debated on if it was too small, but the words "I know and will provide exactly what you NEED" came into my heart. It is what we need, no more, no less. It would be nice to have an extra bedroom and a bigger living room, but those are things that we do not NEED. I find it funny that these are the words that came to me, because a friend of ours (Amelia Parks) recently had a garage sale to raise support for us, and it was based on the thought that she had too much stuff that she didn't need. The support from that garage sale amounted to $1,200, which is the amount we use monthly on things (as mentioned in a previous blog). What Amelia did not know is that in Cambodia to move into a rental, you have to have three months of rent as a deposit, and the first months' rent on hand. We did not have this, nor did we have the things to equip our new home. The funds from the garage sale are plenty to make the deposit and first months' rent and equip our new home with plates, dishes, beds, and such. It is being deposited sometime tomorrow, and is such a blessing and exactly what we needed, in the exact time that we needed it. God provides all our needs. He may not supply all of our wants, but I can state from experience that God ALWAYS provides exactly what we need.
BecauseHeLives,
Micah and Kelsi.
I will post pictures of the new home, as soon as we move in and get it situated :)
May 6, 2013
Abby and the Eye Doctor
Hello all,
As most of you know, Abby is blind in one eye. She fell when she was very young and lost her retina. We recently went to an eye doctor in Phnom Penh, and he recommended that her stitches might need to come out soon. Lately Abby has been rubbing her eye and it went red two days ago, so Kels and I decided it was time to take her to the specialist in Takeo province. We went today. Hired a driver because it was too far for a tuk tuk. Four hours round trip. Abby loved the car ride, because she has been asking to ride in the car again since we went to the zoo. As soon as we got to the eye doctor, she broke down crying... I guess hospitals only have one purpose in her mind: shots. When we got in to see the doctor, he checked her eyes and said her blind eye was looking fine (still blind of course). We mentioned about getting the stitches out and such, and he said that he wanted to wait until she was older. He gave us some eye drops and sent us on our way. So to add up our day: 4 hours in the car, $1.75 at the eye doctor for everything, and $80 to pay the driver... We will not be making that trip again :) but at least Abby got to ride in the car... Just a day in Cambodia :)
We are still praying that God will heal Abby's eye, and we would love for you to join in and pray with us :)
BecauseHeLives,
Micah and Kelsi.
As most of you know, Abby is blind in one eye. She fell when she was very young and lost her retina. We recently went to an eye doctor in Phnom Penh, and he recommended that her stitches might need to come out soon. Lately Abby has been rubbing her eye and it went red two days ago, so Kels and I decided it was time to take her to the specialist in Takeo province. We went today. Hired a driver because it was too far for a tuk tuk. Four hours round trip. Abby loved the car ride, because she has been asking to ride in the car again since we went to the zoo. As soon as we got to the eye doctor, she broke down crying... I guess hospitals only have one purpose in her mind: shots. When we got in to see the doctor, he checked her eyes and said her blind eye was looking fine (still blind of course). We mentioned about getting the stitches out and such, and he said that he wanted to wait until she was older. He gave us some eye drops and sent us on our way. So to add up our day: 4 hours in the car, $1.75 at the eye doctor for everything, and $80 to pay the driver... We will not be making that trip again :) but at least Abby got to ride in the car... Just a day in Cambodia :)
We are still praying that God will heal Abby's eye, and we would love for you to join in and pray with us :)
BecauseHeLives,
Micah and Kelsi.
April 30, 2013
Fit BYKOTA Kids
Rhonda suggested that we use a fitness dvd during our break time in school, to help the kids stay healthy and also to burn off some of that energy. So we did, and the kids loved it, and it was great to watch. I look forward to the future of this break time activity. Here is a video to watch (you didn't think I would leave you without a video, did you?) :)
Thank you to everyone of our supporters. We love it here in Cambodia, and we love working with these great kids. Jesus is doing some great things in their hearts, and I am excited to see them grow in the Lord.
BecauseHeLives,
Micah and Kelsi.
Thank you to everyone of our supporters. We love it here in Cambodia, and we love working with these great kids. Jesus is doing some great things in their hearts, and I am excited to see them grow in the Lord.
BecauseHeLives,
Micah and Kelsi.
April 16, 2013
Soccer Blessing
Hey everyone,
It has a been a while--sorry for that.
I wanted to tell you about a really cool opportunity the kids got to enjoy this past Saturday. The three boys that recently joined the family of BYKOTA House (Boung, Hiang, and Katrona), have been adjusting to the new living arrangement really well, since they arrived a few months ago. Kelsi has been working with them on their English, and they really do get along well with Bee, Heng, Gene, and Timothy. Well, I tell you about these three because the person who brought them to us (Martina) contacted us a few weeks ago and told us of the opportunity to watch the soccer leagues play at the Olympic Stadium for free. She asked how many tickets were needed, and Rhonda told her sixteen with one adult ticket to help supervise the kids. You can guess who got to go to the game: ME!! :) I had never been to a soccer game before, so I was very excited. The tickets apparently came from the prince of Cambodia, who wanted to donate one-hundred tickets to a few different orphanages. Great opportunity, and possibly once in a life time opportunity. God blessed us in so many ways. It is the hot season in Cambodia, and even the kids were complaining of the heat, as we waited to get into the stadium--standing in the parking lot. It was pushing "feels like" temperatures of 105 degrees, and standing with the sun blazing down on us. I had a hat and sunglasses, so I wasn't too hot, but the kiddos were feeling the heat. I looked at the stadium, and from what I could tell, we were most likely gonna be sitting in direct sunlight the whole game. I would love to say that I prayed for shade, but what I was really thinking was, "Man... Kelsi told me to bring sunblock; I forgot, and now I am gonna get burnt and she is gonna say 'WHY DIDN'T YOU WEAR SUNBLOCK!'" Well, we get inside, and apparently there is a part of the stadium that is shaded, and so we were able to sit in the shade the entire game (never got burnt). I learned something from the Cambodians, however. The seats were concrete and literally a thousand degrees. When we first arrived Martina said, "If we sit here too long, our bums will barbecue" and I said, "It isn't too bad." Well after about two minutes, I was getting squirrely, and I wasn't sure I was gonna make it, because my backside was cooking fast. I look around and everyone doesn't seem to be bothered by it... it is because they are Cambodian! No... that can't be it... And then I realize that everyone has only one shoe on the ground... THEY SIT ON ONE AND PUT THEIR FEET ON THE OTHER! Genius! I showed Martina and her husband, and we sat comfortably the rest of the game. Anyways, here are some pictures of the kids burning before and enjoying the game afterwards. I took some video of the game... there was a penalty shot, and I thought "This is gonna be good, so I better record it." Recorded it, and it was the worst penalty shot I have ever seen... flew way left of the net.
Pictures:
The game was awesome, and the kids loved it. After the game, we all ran out of the stadium with a flood of people. I lost Martina, and waited for ten minutes, but never saw her again. The kids are making thank you cards for her. It was such a blessing to have this opportunity come up, and I was so glad I got to go with the kids to see the game. Heng asked when we could go back again, and I had to tell her that it was really a one time thing... these opportunities don't come up just everyday, but sometimes God gives us more than we deserve... scratch that, God always gives us more than what we deserve.
That is all for now. I will try to post more pictures of things happening here in Cambodia. It is beginning to cool down and rain again... looks like rainy season is coming--CAN'T WAIT!
BecauseHeLives,
Micah.
It has a been a while--sorry for that.
I wanted to tell you about a really cool opportunity the kids got to enjoy this past Saturday. The three boys that recently joined the family of BYKOTA House (Boung, Hiang, and Katrona), have been adjusting to the new living arrangement really well, since they arrived a few months ago. Kelsi has been working with them on their English, and they really do get along well with Bee, Heng, Gene, and Timothy. Well, I tell you about these three because the person who brought them to us (Martina) contacted us a few weeks ago and told us of the opportunity to watch the soccer leagues play at the Olympic Stadium for free. She asked how many tickets were needed, and Rhonda told her sixteen with one adult ticket to help supervise the kids. You can guess who got to go to the game: ME!! :) I had never been to a soccer game before, so I was very excited. The tickets apparently came from the prince of Cambodia, who wanted to donate one-hundred tickets to a few different orphanages. Great opportunity, and possibly once in a life time opportunity. God blessed us in so many ways. It is the hot season in Cambodia, and even the kids were complaining of the heat, as we waited to get into the stadium--standing in the parking lot. It was pushing "feels like" temperatures of 105 degrees, and standing with the sun blazing down on us. I had a hat and sunglasses, so I wasn't too hot, but the kiddos were feeling the heat. I looked at the stadium, and from what I could tell, we were most likely gonna be sitting in direct sunlight the whole game. I would love to say that I prayed for shade, but what I was really thinking was, "Man... Kelsi told me to bring sunblock; I forgot, and now I am gonna get burnt and she is gonna say 'WHY DIDN'T YOU WEAR SUNBLOCK!'" Well, we get inside, and apparently there is a part of the stadium that is shaded, and so we were able to sit in the shade the entire game (never got burnt). I learned something from the Cambodians, however. The seats were concrete and literally a thousand degrees. When we first arrived Martina said, "If we sit here too long, our bums will barbecue" and I said, "It isn't too bad." Well after about two minutes, I was getting squirrely, and I wasn't sure I was gonna make it, because my backside was cooking fast. I look around and everyone doesn't seem to be bothered by it... it is because they are Cambodian! No... that can't be it... And then I realize that everyone has only one shoe on the ground... THEY SIT ON ONE AND PUT THEIR FEET ON THE OTHER! Genius! I showed Martina and her husband, and we sat comfortably the rest of the game. Anyways, here are some pictures of the kids burning before and enjoying the game afterwards. I took some video of the game... there was a penalty shot, and I thought "This is gonna be good, so I better record it." Recorded it, and it was the worst penalty shot I have ever seen... flew way left of the net.
Pictures:
 |
| "Mr. Micah, why is so hot!?" |
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| Mark paid for all the kids to get a water... knowing how hot is was and not knowing how long the game would be, they got big waters and a warning, "This is for all day; if you drink it, you don't have anymore." |
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| Finding shade where ever possible! |
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| Notice how shady it is... Thank You, Jesus! :) |
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| Waiting for the game to start... |
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| Panorama does not work on my ipod camera... |
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| This was during the game. Every time the team would bring it close to the net, some kids would start playing on plastic tubs and blowing into these odd instruments, to give the same effect that a band at a football game would. |
The game was awesome, and the kids loved it. After the game, we all ran out of the stadium with a flood of people. I lost Martina, and waited for ten minutes, but never saw her again. The kids are making thank you cards for her. It was such a blessing to have this opportunity come up, and I was so glad I got to go with the kids to see the game. Heng asked when we could go back again, and I had to tell her that it was really a one time thing... these opportunities don't come up just everyday, but sometimes God gives us more than we deserve... scratch that, God always gives us more than what we deserve.
That is all for now. I will try to post more pictures of things happening here in Cambodia. It is beginning to cool down and rain again... looks like rainy season is coming--CAN'T WAIT!
BecauseHeLives,
Micah.
April 7, 2013
Exciting News!!!
FOUR BOYS IN MY REMEDIAL CLASS ACCEPTED JESUS INTO THEIR HEARTS!!! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we are here. :)
The week before Easter I was doing resurrection eggs with my classes as our morning devotion. When we got the the part where Jesus died on the cross it occurred to me that these mostly Buddhist boys have no clue why that is important. So I stopped what I was doing and shared the gospel with them. The whole time I was doing it I was thinking "man I wish I knew more Khmer." By the time I was done most of them were excited and really into it. So I asked them if they wanted to pray and ask Jesus to be Lord of their life. They said yes and we did! I was so excited but kinda weary because their English is not really up to par so I wasn't sure how much they actually understood. So I asked Visoth (an older BYKOTA kid) to come in the next Monday to translate for me. We went through it all again (they hadn't really understood anything the first time) and this time they did it for real. David, Katrona, Hiang, and Ratanak all asked Jesus to be their Savior and Lord. :) We are now doing discipleship training for morning devotion to help them know how to live as Christians. These boys, except for David, are new to BYKOTA house, and it is highly likely that they hadn't even met a Christian before here. We started with the 10 commandments, at home it is easy to bundle the first three together, but here there are many gods and many many idols so we had to take them one day at a time. It is hard to go from a religion where you worship and pray to lots of things to understanding that there is only one God. Please pray for us, pray that God gives me wisdom in teaching them and that they will be receptive to what He has to say.
~Kelsi
The week before Easter I was doing resurrection eggs with my classes as our morning devotion. When we got the the part where Jesus died on the cross it occurred to me that these mostly Buddhist boys have no clue why that is important. So I stopped what I was doing and shared the gospel with them. The whole time I was doing it I was thinking "man I wish I knew more Khmer." By the time I was done most of them were excited and really into it. So I asked them if they wanted to pray and ask Jesus to be Lord of their life. They said yes and we did! I was so excited but kinda weary because their English is not really up to par so I wasn't sure how much they actually understood. So I asked Visoth (an older BYKOTA kid) to come in the next Monday to translate for me. We went through it all again (they hadn't really understood anything the first time) and this time they did it for real. David, Katrona, Hiang, and Ratanak all asked Jesus to be their Savior and Lord. :) We are now doing discipleship training for morning devotion to help them know how to live as Christians. These boys, except for David, are new to BYKOTA house, and it is highly likely that they hadn't even met a Christian before here. We started with the 10 commandments, at home it is easy to bundle the first three together, but here there are many gods and many many idols so we had to take them one day at a time. It is hard to go from a religion where you worship and pray to lots of things to understanding that there is only one God. Please pray for us, pray that God gives me wisdom in teaching them and that they will be receptive to what He has to say.
~Kelsi
April 2, 2013
Lily's Easter Song
We do a family worship time at night before the girls go to bed--mostly because I am trying to memorize the worship songs in my song book. For Resurrection Sunday, we did special songs about Jesus raising from the dead. We sang "O Happy Day" really loud, and Lily loved it. She sang along and clapped her hands. During school today, we had music specials and learned the song. Lily, who stays with us in the mornings during school, then began walking back and forth singing the chorus: "Happy Day! Happy Day!" I thought you guys might enjoy the video :)
Happy Resurrection Day!
Have a blessed week :)
BecauseHeLives,
Micah.
Happy Resurrection Day!
BecauseHeLives,
Micah.
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