Monday, March 23, 2009

Recent Highlights

Well, it's finally Spring! In the US the seasonal change is more drastic. Here it's just getting warmer and we are getting ready for April, the hottest month of the year in Cambodia.

Highlights of the past several weeks have been...
-Learning new songs to sing in Khmer and in English. Ryan bought some Khmer worship C.D.'s recently and Juliana has enjoyed learning Bible Story songs by listening to Focus on the Family's "Sing through the Bible" that her Auntie Joanne sent to her.

Juliana singing and drumming...

-Fun conversations with our house helper, Nyaw. We continue to find great joy in growing in our relationship with her. We also enjoy the opportunity for us to practice our language skills with her.

Nyaw with two of her daughters, their friends, and our little ones.

-Ryan bought a guitar with Christmas money and hopes to learn to play half as well as his older brother Randy. (Check out http://www.umbles.com/music.htm )

-Juliana has enjoyed biking, drawing, and speaking other languages. She is a self-proclaimed linguist. Besides English and some Khmer, she claims to be able to speak Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and German. If we try to join her in speaking her version of one of these languages, she is quick to say, "You're not saying it right!" She's sharp and creative, but at the present it's not very fun to be her student. :)

Biking and Walking.

-Kai enjoys using his little legs and has even occasionally practiced running. He's not at all interested in a pacifier/nuk, but we'll often find him with one of his cloths hanging out of his mouth. Especially during times of teething, he finds much comfort sucking on one of his cloths. In some ways, he reminds us of the "Peanuts"character, Linus.

The man and his cloth

Well, that's all for now. May you and your family enjoy the sights and sounds of Spring!
-Ryan

Monday, March 9, 2009

Dorm Retreat: To the Beach and Back Again!

The last weekend in February, our family had the pleasure of joining students from the Men's and Women's Dorms on the Annual Dorm Retreat. This time, the destination was the beach town of Sihanoukville, Kompong Saum Province. About forty Khmer and four Americans - us! - traveled on a rented tour bus about four hours to take a dip in the ocean, enjoy seafood-laden meals, play games, hear sharing from the Word, pray together, play on the beach, and visit a near-by rock formation/waterfall. On Saturday night, as the guest speaker shared and invited the students to consider placing their trust in Jesus Christ, two female students accepted the pastor's invitation! They were prayed for by the group, and we are excited by their steps of faith.
It was a lot of travel for a short weekend, but the journey there and back factored large in the whole experience. Our time on the bus included love song singing sessions (in a call/response style popular in Khmer Karaoke videos), rounds of worship music accompanied by guitar, guessing games and silly group games, and a Khmer comedy DVD. There were more stops (for snacks, potty, etc.) than the Americans thought necessary, who are used to trying to make time in "getting there." We reflected afterward that our Khmer friends live well the truth of the journey being more important than the destination. There were lots of opportunities en route to absorb Khmer language and culture, laugh, interact, learn more names, and join in the fun. We think the students are a great group of young people, and we really enjoyed the time together. Our kids did well, too (for the most part!). Sleeping with all four of us in one tiny room always has its challenges. By the time we arrived home Sunday night at 7 pm, we were exhausted! A full weekend, but we're looking forward to the retreat next year!
At one "pit stop," Kosal pretends to drive the bus

Singing a silly song Saturday evening

Juliana and her friend Sophea (So-PEE-a) play in the sand

Kai and Pengin by the beautiful, clear water

Our whole group, minus Sokheang, the cameraman (Sophal, WD Director, in white hat in middle)

- Bethany