This last month has been very busy for me, and sitting down to write it out wasn't that most appealing thing for me. But, that is no excuse to you guys who want to keep updated with me, so I apologize to you.
I'll put my updated under headings so if you don't want to read the whole thing you can just read about a topic. :)
Katlyn:
Two weeks ago Katlyn's team from her church came for about 10 days. They were such a huge blessing and Christ's love shone through them so much! I wanted to do out-reaches with them but there usually wasn't enough room in the vehicles that they were taking. Along with Katlyn herself they left this last Monday. :( That has been a hardship for me having Katlyn gone. For about 1 month we hardly left each other's side. It was a friendship that I did not expect to happen at all. I thought that I would probably be hard to get used to the culture, and getting around the city, and going to the market and such, but God was so good and gave her to me! I knew who she was from Bible college, and from my last trip here, but we did not find out that we are SO MUCH ALIKE in almost everything except our bodies! Lol It was so much fun to have her here...we would finish each other's sentences, finish our food at the same time, give into chocolate (or any kind of treat) and not say how bad it was for us! Lol Just little things like that. It made that month very special to me! After she got baby Samuel she moved into the boy's house to take better care of him, and so I would go over there (1 1/2 blocks away) often and help her and make sure that she was eating. Lol And with her here, that is how I found out about Takeo! The plan is that she will be back the beginning of August a married woman! ;) <3 She met a guy here before I came and would talk to him over emails, and they fell in love, and are now engaged! They will live her in Cambodia! It was an honor and a privilege to witness and be a part of it all!! <3
I could go on, but I will not bore you with details. :)
God is so good!! I am not holding on to our friendship as if it is what gives me joy, and it is still sad that she is not here, but I see it as a blessed season from God and I am excited to see how God wants to use me out in Takeo more maybe and different ministries here in the city perhaps.
I could go on, but I will not bore you with details. :)
God is so good!! I am not holding on to our friendship as if it is what gives me joy, and it is still sad that she is not here, but I see it as a blessed season from God and I am excited to see how God wants to use me out in Takeo more maybe and different ministries here in the city perhaps.
An update on Takeo:
I was unsure about how to continue with a good way to teach the Bible to Sothea's students.
During our (western woman's) Bible study every Thursday I asked for prayer to have wisdom from God on how to continue and strength, so Toinette said that she had some Bible lessons in story form that I could borrow to copy. That was Sothea's idea that I should get stories that are on paper and have questions for them to answer so that they have to focus on what the story is about. Before I would just write some verses on the white board and they would copy it down, then I would explain it to them...then a couple of times, Sothea played the guitar and we taught them some worship songs (they wrote down the lyrics). That was cool, but we wanted to start to do something that was a little more regular/scheduled.
So, on the Monday mornings that I can't ride with Sothea back to Takeo on his moto, I get up and Chou takes me to the bus stop to catch the 10:30am bus (which takes 1 hr. 45 min.). Long wrote out on a piece of paper in Khmer for me to show the bus driver where they are to drop me off...I keep that piece of paper in my Bible...and I usually start my timer on my iTouch when I leave the bus stop so that I don't miss my stop. Then I get a moto to drive me about 5 min. to Sothea's school (which is kinda in a house).
Nget asked me to teach his 10-11 yr old boys English class on (sometimes Mondays from 2-4om) Tuesday mornings from 8-10. I don't really know how to teach them very well (you could pray for me about that;) so I've been teaching them Christian kid's songs with fun hand motions! :D They really love to sing them! And I brought them a prize for (kind of) remembering the songs. I taught them the "I will call upon the Lord" (karate style), "I'm in the Lord's Army", "Ain't Nobody" (which I think is ironic seeing that I'm supposed to be teaching them English! ;D ;D I love it though!!!). After I teach Sothea's class on Monday nights we usually eat dinner (rice and something) and then we've been watching movies. Part of me going out there is to just hang out and encourage...it's really nice for me too to be able to get out of the city and be in the quiet country. After I teach Nget's class Sothea (and sometimes Nget) and I go across the street to a little coffee shop and get our breakfast (coffee with a LOT of sweetened condenced milk and ice! lol) and get on my computer tell 11:15am, then Sothea takes me to the side of the road where I will catch the 11:30am bus (haha if it comes...last time it didn't even come, so I had to take the 2:30pm one). I get back to PP (Phnom Penh) about 1pm.
I am so excited about Takeo!! I really enjoy going out there!
Learning The Language (Khmer; "Ka-m-i"):
I take 1 hour Khmer lessons with Sokleng from Tuesdays-Fridays at 3:30. I have not been doing very well, because I don't practice very much outside of my lessons. BUT, lol, it's a very easy language because there is not very much grammar...haha, which a really love! ;D Instead of saying, "I am going to go to the market" you say, "I go market" ("Khnyom tov pasa").
I can tell time fairly well...I try to say it in Khmer to myself or to the person with me so that it will become second nature. Or, I will speak KhmEnglish ;)...when I know a word in Khmer I say it in Khmer. :) I want to be able to have conversations with people. I went out to a province (about 3 hours one way) this last Thursday with Steven and Salomon (who is a Khmer teacher) so they could teach a youth group and met Salomon's family, and I couldn't talk to them...they tried to talk with me, but I froze up with the little that I know...so it's given me some more intensive to learn it faster. Living here in the city at WoL (Water of Life) I don't NEED to know Khmer, but once I go out into the province I'm not much good. Lol Even here in the city, it's much easier to get around if you speak Khmer, even though people here at least know a little.
Random Stuff:
A girl from England came here about 1 month ago for the same reason the I did. Her name is Millie. She lives at the Girl's Water of Life house. She had never been here to Cambodia before! She took an amazing step of faith with God's strength!!!
Please keep the Cambodian government in your prayers...they are trying to pass laws that will restrict NGOs (non-government organization)...people here for the most part are very open to the Gospel! And God's Word IS going out to people! So we pray that that freedom will stay open!!!!!! PLEASE PRAY FOR US! We do not want the restriction of our neighboring countries! I head that Cambodian's prime minister is like best friends with the prime minister of North Korea...one (if not "the") most persecuted nation on the face of this earth!... please don't forget to pray!!!
Being on the foreign mission field with other foreign missionaries, the enemy will really try to get you down at the seams. As we all know, the best way to over come your enemy is to "divine-and-conquer". Please keep us in your prayers in that regard too! There is a GOOD group of people here...well, lol, we are a bunch of idiots who God likes to use for His purposes. ;) We are love Jesus so much, and if that is all, then God uses us. :) It's a beautiful thing, because God tells us in the Bible that they will know us by our LOVE for ONE ANOTHER! In SPITE of our differences! ;) <3
Kerri, has asked me to help out with Srey Na's new baby boy (David) on Wednesday nights. She doesn't really know how to take care of a baby, and Kerri needs to be able to sleep...she would stay up with Srey Na and David. So, I said that I could help out every Wednesday night for a while.
I was unsure about how to continue with a good way to teach the Bible to Sothea's students.
During our (western woman's) Bible study every Thursday I asked for prayer to have wisdom from God on how to continue and strength, so Toinette said that she had some Bible lessons in story form that I could borrow to copy. That was Sothea's idea that I should get stories that are on paper and have questions for them to answer so that they have to focus on what the story is about. Before I would just write some verses on the white board and they would copy it down, then I would explain it to them...then a couple of times, Sothea played the guitar and we taught them some worship songs (they wrote down the lyrics). That was cool, but we wanted to start to do something that was a little more regular/scheduled.
So, on the Monday mornings that I can't ride with Sothea back to Takeo on his moto, I get up and Chou takes me to the bus stop to catch the 10:30am bus (which takes 1 hr. 45 min.). Long wrote out on a piece of paper in Khmer for me to show the bus driver where they are to drop me off...I keep that piece of paper in my Bible...and I usually start my timer on my iTouch when I leave the bus stop so that I don't miss my stop. Then I get a moto to drive me about 5 min. to Sothea's school (which is kinda in a house).
Nget asked me to teach his 10-11 yr old boys English class on (sometimes Mondays from 2-4om) Tuesday mornings from 8-10. I don't really know how to teach them very well (you could pray for me about that;) so I've been teaching them Christian kid's songs with fun hand motions! :D They really love to sing them! And I brought them a prize for (kind of) remembering the songs. I taught them the "I will call upon the Lord" (karate style), "I'm in the Lord's Army", "Ain't Nobody" (which I think is ironic seeing that I'm supposed to be teaching them English! ;D ;D I love it though!!!). After I teach Sothea's class on Monday nights we usually eat dinner (rice and something) and then we've been watching movies. Part of me going out there is to just hang out and encourage...it's really nice for me too to be able to get out of the city and be in the quiet country. After I teach Nget's class Sothea (and sometimes Nget) and I go across the street to a little coffee shop and get our breakfast (coffee with a LOT of sweetened condenced milk and ice! lol) and get on my computer tell 11:15am, then Sothea takes me to the side of the road where I will catch the 11:30am bus (haha if it comes...last time it didn't even come, so I had to take the 2:30pm one). I get back to PP (Phnom Penh) about 1pm.
I am so excited about Takeo!! I really enjoy going out there!
Learning The Language (Khmer; "Ka-m-i"):
I take 1 hour Khmer lessons with Sokleng from Tuesdays-Fridays at 3:30. I have not been doing very well, because I don't practice very much outside of my lessons. BUT, lol, it's a very easy language because there is not very much grammar...haha, which a really love! ;D Instead of saying, "I am going to go to the market" you say, "I go market" ("Khnyom tov pasa").
I can tell time fairly well...I try to say it in Khmer to myself or to the person with me so that it will become second nature. Or, I will speak KhmEnglish ;)...when I know a word in Khmer I say it in Khmer. :) I want to be able to have conversations with people. I went out to a province (about 3 hours one way) this last Thursday with Steven and Salomon (who is a Khmer teacher) so they could teach a youth group and met Salomon's family, and I couldn't talk to them...they tried to talk with me, but I froze up with the little that I know...so it's given me some more intensive to learn it faster. Living here in the city at WoL (Water of Life) I don't NEED to know Khmer, but once I go out into the province I'm not much good. Lol Even here in the city, it's much easier to get around if you speak Khmer, even though people here at least know a little.
Random Stuff:
A girl from England came here about 1 month ago for the same reason the I did. Her name is Millie. She lives at the Girl's Water of Life house. She had never been here to Cambodia before! She took an amazing step of faith with God's strength!!!
Please keep the Cambodian government in your prayers...they are trying to pass laws that will restrict NGOs (non-government organization)...people here for the most part are very open to the Gospel! And God's Word IS going out to people! So we pray that that freedom will stay open!!!!!! PLEASE PRAY FOR US! We do not want the restriction of our neighboring countries! I head that Cambodian's prime minister is like best friends with the prime minister of North Korea...one (if not "the") most persecuted nation on the face of this earth!... please don't forget to pray!!!
Being on the foreign mission field with other foreign missionaries, the enemy will really try to get you down at the seams. As we all know, the best way to over come your enemy is to "divine-and-conquer". Please keep us in your prayers in that regard too! There is a GOOD group of people here...well, lol, we are a bunch of idiots who God likes to use for His purposes. ;) We are love Jesus so much, and if that is all, then God uses us. :) It's a beautiful thing, because God tells us in the Bible that they will know us by our LOVE for ONE ANOTHER! In SPITE of our differences! ;) <3
Kerri, has asked me to help out with Srey Na's new baby boy (David) on Wednesday nights. She doesn't really know how to take care of a baby, and Kerri needs to be able to sleep...she would stay up with Srey Na and David. So, I said that I could help out every Wednesday night for a while.
Today was the first time I went out to The Rice Field Church (Sothea's church). I think it's funny how I've gone out to Takeo every Monday and spent the night for about 8 weeks, and never went to his church. *chuckle* Bora wanted to go see his family (he lives close there) so he took me out there this morning. I got up at 5am so that I could get some coffee and get some alone time with my Jesus before I got started, then we left for Takeo at 6:30am and got out there about 8am. We had some breakfast at a little restaurant...and low and behold it was rice...shocker I know. ;) Lol It was good though, it had meat and cucumbers, and I had another coffee. Sothea and Nget come back to PP on Saturdays to go to their church here (Sothea grew up in PP) and then goes back on Monday. So, because Bora was so tired he rode on the back with Nget and I rode with Sothea.
When we got back, we went and bought a couple of watermelons from the market (for 6,000 Riel = $1.50), they are not the big one like in America. But they are good! :d
Thank you all who pray for me!!! I need it! (As we all do. ;)
May the Lord bless you and may you embraced His peace that passes ALL UNDERSTANDING! =) Philippians 4:4-9 (read it;)
Lana Salisbury
When we got back, we went and bought a couple of watermelons from the market (for 6,000 Riel = $1.50), they are not the big one like in America. But they are good! :d
Thank you all who pray for me!!! I need it! (As we all do. ;)
May the Lord bless you and may you embraced His peace that passes ALL UNDERSTANDING! =) Philippians 4:4-9 (read it;)
Lana Salisbury
