Life in Cambodia! (June 11th-19th)

Hey Guys!

            There has been a lot in the past week, so we have decided to break this post into categories. You can pick and chose which one to read or read the whole thing, but know that we have wanted to post all week and did not have the time because of all of this…

-Organizing the Books and Rooms-

            Early on in the week, when we were still overcoming jetlag, Kels and I were in a room full of stuff—all kinds of stuff: painting stuff, crafty stuff, cleaning stuff, technology stuff, and the list goes on and on. When we started, there was not even enough room to walk around freely. Mark and Rhonda asked us to organize it for two reasons. One was because they had moved so quickly that they had not been able to organize it better, and they needed to be able to access things in the room. The second reason was a medicine cabinet. Down stairs in the kitchen, there was a medicine cabinet that was placed right in front of the guest bathroom—making it difficult to get into. Mark and Rhonda asked if it were possible to get it into the storage room. Kels and I took the challenge. In the end, the room was organized with the medicine cabinet up against the wall.

            Cleaning this room and organizing had another purpose, however. The Benz’s gave Kelsi permission to take one room in the school and transform it into what Rhonda called a “resource room” and Kelsi called her small group room. Basically this was a place to pull small groups and work with them without distraction. The problem was that the material we needed was both in the room with all of the stuff and the resource room itself. I am not sure exactly how long it took to accomplish this goal, because we worked on it for several days while doing other things, but both rooms are up and running.

     

-School News-

            Although school was out for a week (which was a good thing, because we had a lot to get done), we started as normal yesterday (Monday). It was really exciting to see how all the work the week before had paid off. One project in particular was a great success. Kelsi wanted to have the students come in the morning before school officially started and read—time they usually spend goofin. She explained that in her classroom, she had a classroom library, and she wanted to do something similar. So, we set up a shelf with colored baskets with different book genres and book levels in them—that were labeled, of course. Kelsi also found some key chains on which she placed the names of the individual students. We had hooks on each basket, so that each student could hang their key chain and take a book from that basket—so they would know where to place the book back. I thought it was cute, and I thought the younger kids would enjoy it. Today they were allowed to use the book shelf, and Kelsi explained how it worked. She did this at the beginning of their break time, and as soon as she finished explaining it, they all rushed (young and old) to the book shelf to get a book to read. It was amazing to see how much they all loved to read and how excited they were to find that the books that were packed away in boxes were now available for them to read. I think that most of you understand that this one paragraph was a ton of work—the key words like sorted, genres, and boxes of books give you an idea of what went into just this one aspect of our school day. It was totally worth it, though! And the resource room is great!

-Clinic-

            Kelsi also went with Rhonda to the clinic with the BYKOTA kids to get their shots, and I will let her tell of this adventure.

     Almost every month someone from BYKOTA house needs to go get shots or blood work or something from the doctor.  I got to go on this trip to be more familiar with the doctor and the facility.  I think I mentioned before that we have access to very good health care.  The lady that works with us is very nice, she is also very blunt.  In Rhonda's words "she cusses like a sailor and smokes like a smoke stack but she knows her stuff."  Something I found comforting is that even though she has been doing medicine for a very long time and in several countries and really knows her stuff, she is not afraid to say " I have no bloody clue" and then go find the answer or someone who knows.  Anyway, on this trip we took three siblings to get blood work to make sure all the vaccines took hold, and two special needs children to get shots.  I "got" to go in with Ty-yu ( I don't know how to spell his name)  he is maybe 2ish.  The poor baby had a hard time.  She could not get his vein to stop rolling and he just cried and cried.  When it was all over we got to cuddle a little and he was all better, especially after we stopped and got some sugar cane. :)  His brother who is probably about 4ish was really cute when he came out.  We all heard him crying when he was in there but when he came out he had one tear streaming and wouldn't look or talk to any of us but just sat there looking out the window till he gained his composure.  I was thinking the whole time, wondering how Rhonda kept track of who needed what and when, but then she told me that the doctor keeps track of it all in a spread sheet and e-mails her every month with who needs to come in.  :)  Very cool!                                                 

-Tuesday Night Small Group-

            One aspect of the BYKOTA house that I enjoy is Tuesday nights. Every Tuesday night (weather permitting), all of the children and staff come together for a worship service and a message. This past Tuesday, I gave my testimony (this Tuesday is Kelsi’s turn). But before I talk about that, I want to talk about the worship, because it was great. There is another ministry here in Cambodia, and I wish I remembered the name, but they come every Tuesday and lead the worship… in Khmer :) Although some of the songs were unfamiliar, there were a few that I knew, and it was great to hear all of God’s children praising Him—in Khmer and English. One of the boys, Bee (who is around seven years old) sat with his hands in the air singing with his eyes closed . . . I know it made God’s heart as joyful as it did mine. After worship, I was up to give my testimony. I spoke with Mekerah (an older BYKOTA kid who translates really well). I have to admit, I lost my train of thought a couple of times waiting while she translated. I found that my mask of using a lot of words when I am nervous does not work, when every five words I have to stop and be translated—I also found myself taking more time to choose my words. We also met two women that were in Cambodia for a visit with their teenage children—one lived in South Africa and is serving in Malaysia and the other spent seven years near Cambodia (I didn’t recognize where she said, but I am also terrible with Geography). The one that lived near Cambodia told us that we better be careful, because she and her husband only planned to serve for a year and a half, and ended up on the mission field for seven years! :) It makes Proverbs 16:9 really stand out in my mind: “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs His steps.”

       Tonight, Kels told her testimony--she did great! The worship, again, was fantastic. We then learned a Cambodian game from the kids that was a mixture between heads up seven up and red rover. 

-Birthday Fun-

      Since the Benz's got back from their furlough they have been very busy and had not had a chance to celebrate anyone's birthday since January.  One Thursday we had a big birthday party for all those who had been missed.  This was nine kids!  We ate gumbo and had cupcakes.  The day before a mission team had brought candy bags so we also handed those out.  Micah learned how to play "Happy Birthday" on his guitar and we sang to each child individually!  We ended up singing it 11 times!  Once for each child, once for all the kids who had had birthdays that had already been celebrated, and once for Teacher Heather.  Everyone had a lot of fun.

-Young Men’s Bible Study-

            God really laid it on my heart to get some of the young men of BYKOTA house together to get in God’s word. Rhonda explained the ways in which young men fall in Cambodia, and it made my resolve to get them grounded in scripture even more. She explained that anyone can lay with a prostitute all night for only $2.50 and that there are internet shops that are only a dollar to enter, and are places where many go to look at pornography. I thought of Proverbs 7 and my heart was frightened for the young men in this perilous land. One thing that I really wanted for this Bible Study, that I believe God laid on my heart was to have it not just once a week for a long period of time, but instead to have it almost every night and make it brief (thirty to forty-five minutes). We met for the first time last night, and the boys did not seem bored at all but were a captive audience. We plan on meeting every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We have Tuesday night small group, and most of them go to church on Sunday. What I desire for this Bible study is to simply get them in God’s word on a daily basis and give them a group of men to support them and hold them accountable to what is in God’s word. I do not have a curriculum or plan, other than to open God’s word and allow Him to speak. Just like Proverbs 16:1 says: “The preparation of the heart belongs to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” Hopefully, God has prepared me for this daily leading in His word through the fifteen years I have been following Him, but I still need prayer for the words to speak and the answers for the questions the boys may have for me. I will keep you posted on what God is doing in this amazing opportunity.

-Other News-

            Well, Kels and I have been here for only two weeks, but we have adopted a son. His name is Muggy and he is a Doxen puppy ;) (GOTCHA!)

            I am excited to film some at the markets here in Cambodia, because it would make for an interesting video. I will leave it at that, and allow you to wonder, until I get the video made . . .

            I got my hair cut yesterday, and it turned out to be interesting. The barber did a great job, but he cut the sides of my head pretty short, and in the end thinned my hair out with some scissors on top… I have never needed that done before! I guess he thought I had thick hair :/ It is nice and cool, though! :)

            I think that is all I have for now. Like I said, we would like to get more frequent and less lengthy posts up, and we will later. It has just been crazy lately!!! God is doing some cool things here in Cambodia, and I am excited to be in on it. Also, if you have been praying for us or supporting us financially, you are involved too. We appreciate you guys’ support so much :) keep up the good work! We will keep you updated.

           

            Until next time,

                                    BecauseHeLives,

                                                            Micah and Kelsi! (and Muggy)