What We Do, While We Wait

I have been hesitant to write a blog, because I know that everyone is waiting for us to write THE blog. The blog that tells of our adoptions... but our lives are not on hold while we wait for adoptions.

So this blog is to tell you (our friends and family) what we are doing while we wait on God's timing.

Firstly, there is an understanding that we have come to that God has us here for a reason, and when He is finished with us here, we will have adoptions and the ability to come back to the States. When Kelsi and I came, it was for a nine month short term mission trip before we settled down to have kids and jobs... ha! The reason I say that is we have never really had the sense that we are meant to be here for ever.

I am not sure that you have to have some amazing vision or dream or feeling to go on the mission field (and in reality we are called to the mission field of our daily lives, everyday), but I think that as we abide in Christ and He in us our desires become molded to His desires for us. It is my understanding that if God wanted us here forever, He would give us that desire or He would let us know in some way. In reality, we are here because in God's wisdom, we have not been able to immigrate our daughters to the United States. And for me, that is God saying that He still has work for us to do here. Really, we are blessed to have no input on it, because as planners, we would go crazy trying to find out what to do.

Kelsi and I had a transition period after my appendix was taken out and we felt that God was leading us away from Bykota House. During that time, it felt like some days I was twiddling my thumbs, and I was slightly embarrassed to not have anything to do during that time, but a friend really helped by telling me that it was important for us to really seek what God wanted from us during our time left in Cambodia. Kelsi said at one point, we really need to pray and seek what God wants us to do every day. Each day, I woke up and prayed for God to lead me that day.

Recently, Kelsi was at play group (she goes every Friday) and a friend asked her if I was still looking for what God wanted us to do, because they needed an English teacher for their ministry. Kelsi explained that it was hard for us to commit to anything not knowing how much longer we will be here, but our friend explained that they had no one and anything would be great for any amount of time, so I met with her husband at the ministry.

The ministry is called Center for Global Impact (CGI). Basically, they are a vocational/life skills training facility for young women who are either victims of or vulnerable to human trafficking. They teach the girls how to sew and make clothing, give them basic Khmer education (math and reading and writing), and teach them life skills. The program is one year long, and the girls graduate with a certificate of completion. You can check out their website here: centerforglobalimpact.org.

My role at CGI is the English teacher. There are twelve girls, and I teach three classes from 9:00-12:00 Monday through Friday, and also I am teaching the staff Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:00-5:00. I just finished my first week, and it was amazing. It is interesting teaching adults... when you teach middle schoolers (as I am more accustomed to), basically 80% of your time is classroom management. I am able to teach so much in the short time I have with each group of four students.

Kelsi has been homeschooling Abby and Lily, and in general being just an amazing mom. She has a blog all about it, so I will just direct you to that to read all about her adventure as a mom, wife, and missionary. The link is in the tabs!

Kelsi prayed about it, and felt like God was telling her that her ministry while we were still here was to the families in our small group for church. So, she has been babysitting and such on demand, which all you parents with small children know very well is a great ministry!

Our small group has been going really well, we have five regular families involved, and we meet twice a month at different houses. We are currently studying Philippians, and it has been really wonderful. I don't know what we would do without our small group.

I continue to be involved with worship at ICF, and have branched out to youth ministry on Thursday and Friday nights, in an attempt to raise up a youth worship band. God has been doing some really cool stuff with that. The middle school youth have a bass player, guitarist, and rhythm box. The highschool is coming along, but we could use some more musicians.

During the transition time, I put together a song book with simplified chords and have been recording the songs as mp3 files, because the students are unable to meet for band practice regularly. I am also working on youtube videos with tutorials. The vision is that I can send out the songs for the week, and the students can practice along with the mp3 files and videos on their own without leaving the house. Raising up some future worship leaders, and so excited to see God working in it!

Kelsi and I are very excited about the Bible study with Boo and his wife. We just finished a Bible study on prayer and reading the Bible, and now we are moving into a study on the fruit of the Holy Spirit, as we progress in their understanding of God's work in their lives. Boo said something really cool the other day in Bible study. He said, "I used to think that Christians were not good people, but then I met Mark and Rhonda, and then started studying the Bible with you, and I realized that Christians love people and Jesus wants us to help others." At some point we put the Khmer Bible on an mp3 player so Boo could listen while he drove, and he and his wife asked us to do it again, because they have a hard time seeing the words in the Bible to read it at night, and they want to listen to it every night.

I have been meeting with a Khmer brother, who leads worship at his church, on Saturday mornings and just worshiping together. He is already very good at guitar, but wanted to learn some strum patterns, and we have been just talking about different ways to play songs and dynamics of guitar led worship, and it has been really good. I have seen God using music a lot more in my life lately, and I love it. Music has always been my passion, and I love that I get to play all the time now.

So, that is it. What we do while we wait. We are still actively trying to get back to the States, but we are so content with what God has for us right now in Phnom Penh. It is an adventure everyday, and we actually really enjoy our life here. Our house is great, we have great community with our church, we are doing God's work, and we have amazing daughters who entertain us everyday.

Thank you to our supporters. You guys are amazing. We are blessed more than you know to have you praying for us and for your obedience in giving each month. We will strive to glorify God each day as we wait for His perfect timing.

BecauseHeLives,
The Bergens.