A Week to Remember

This past week, which marked the Khmer New Year, our family spent five days in a rural village in the province of Kompong Thom, about 3 hrs drive from Phnom Penh. We went in response to the invitation of our house helper, Ming Nyaw, staying with the family of her older sister. The experience was an excellent opportunity to learn more about Khmer culture and to experience rural Cambodian life. Though challenging in many ways, we are grateful for what we learned from the week.

The house was a traditional Khmer house, cement on ground floor and wooden on the second floor. It had electricity, and even a generator for when the village electric wasn’t available (a daily occurrence). There was a well nearby the house and water was pumped up through a hose to large cement holding troughs. When needed, water was then dipped out of these tanks to wash dishes, shower, or flush the toilet.

The owners of the house, the family of Nyaw's older sister, were farmers. They grew cashews, cucumbers, and some other vegetables. Here we are showing off cashew fruits. (The cashew grows in the seedpod on the top.)

The fruit is much larger than the nut, and is a bit bitter in taste. We had the opportunity to eat the fruit dipped in syrup made of palm sugar.

Khmer families typically gather together to celebrate the New Year, so we got to meet and interact with many of Nyaw’s relatives. One day we went with several of the youth and children to a small lake where we played in the water. Juliana and Kai had a grand time there! Later in the week we hiked a mountain together.

The youth/children enjoyed watching Kai eat and kept him entertained.

Proof that playing with cars is a boyhood activity that transcends age, language and culture.

One day we traveled an hour and a half to visit friends from Phnom Penh Mennonite Church. There we enjoyed visiting, and were served a tasty lunch. Juliana also enjoyed serving lunch... to the chickens! (She had good practice with her Paw-Paw’s chickens in Atglen, PA.)

Here we are with Nyaw (center in pink/black/white stripes) and some of her children and extended family members. We were on the grounds of a Buddhist pagoda, which also serves as a community gathering place for the Khmer New Year. Here we got to see some dancing (the group dances remind us a bit of country line dancing) and buy some drinks. Though there was not much in the way of farm animals, exhibits, or tractor displays, the whole event had the feel of a Lancaster County fall fair.

On Friday afternoon we were happy to arrive back home in Phnom Penh. We were feeling physically and emotionally tired from the lack of sleep, the lack of predictable routine, and the lack of space to just be alone as a family.

Our prayer is that God will continue to lead us into deeper understandings of Khmer culture. We aren't planning on giving up our American citizenship, but as servants of Christ, we want to follow the example of Paul, who said, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."(I Cor 9:22) May God grant us grace to discover ways to clearly model and articulate God's truth and grace to our friends in this culture.

- Ryan

Turning Up the Heat

Indeed. It's getting rather warm here in Cambodia, and as the heat increases, so does the frequency of power outages. We've been blessed where we live to not experience as many and as lengthy blackouts as some other parts of the city (not sure exactly why), but it's still a bummer. Just when you really want to be able to count on consistent airflow from your nearest fan, you may instead be sitting in your sweat, praying for the power to come back on... : )

The change of temperature has also marked another change in the Umble home. We began a new schedule of language study last week - Ryan and I are studying together for the first time! We are taking the Institute of Foreign Language's Level II Khmer, and it's going really well. As you may recall, Ryan studied Level I there, but I spent the last 6 months with a private tutor. I was curious how it would be to jump in at the second level, not having taken IFL's first course, but so far, so good. We were also a bit concerned about the childcare situation, but needn't have worried. Nyaw, our house helper, agreed to lengthen her work day by an hour and a half to enable us to take the class together. (She hadn't really watched the kids before - we took turns studying and tending them ourselves.) Juliana and Kai are usually both napping when we leave for class at 3:30 pm, and then they play with "Om" (older aunt) until we return by 6:15 pm. We're thinking it will also be a boost for them to learn Khmer, as they play and communicate more directly with her. (No parents around for Juliana to request an English translation!)

Lokru (teacher) Phara, our professor at IFL is a jovial and knowledgeable instructor

"Om Nyaw" and her rambunctious charges

Next week is Khmer New Year, the biggest holiday of the year. It's actually three days long, but most of the city empties out for the entire week as people travel to their hometowns to celebrate with family. We'll be joining Nyaw and some of her children for a five-day visit to their relatives in Kompong Thom. We're looking forward to a lot of new cultural learning experiences, but we hear that it might be a week lacking in sleep due to the noisy, late-night festivities that accompany the celebration. We'll let you know all about it in a couple weeks! : )

- Bethany

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

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

Kids Walking and Talking...

Ah, the joy of having children! As any parent knows, there is something amazing about seeing one's children passing significant milestones. The biggest family news around here is that Kai's having fun learning how to walk around. Granted he sometimes looks like he's not quite sober as he stumbles around, but it's great fun to watch. We've praised his efforts so much that when he walks and we're not looking/praising, he does the cheering himself by saying something that is the equivalent of "Yea! I did it!" He's also becoming more adventourous in eating more "un-pureed big people food." He loves bread, bananas, oranges, and carrots. Below is a picture of the little guy before he had his face wiped after a messy meal.

Juliana continues to amaze us with the way her mind works. She is very observant and asks terrific questions. One of her favorite story books is one about the life of Job. As we read to her, her thoughful theological questions sometimes leave us with no other option but to say, "That's a great question Juliana, I'm not sure how to answer that..."

The way that Juliana articulates her love for her brother and her parents is also quite cute. During one meal she said, "I wanted to share my bread with 'bapes' (Kai's nickname, based on the word 'baby') because I love him and I want him to be my friend." Before going to bed one night, she said, "I love Daddy the best and Mommy the best and I don't want to get married because I want to stay with them." She's really thinking ahead isn't she? Below is a shot of the the little smirking girl. -Ryan

Fun with Parents/Grandparents-Part 3

Our vacation time together was a wonderful time of relaxing and connecting more with Mom and Dad/Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw.

Eating breakfast at the guesthouse where we stayed

Daddy and Juliana posing for a picture with a young crew of traditional "Apsara" dancers. We ate supper at a garden restaurant that also had a live show which included traditional Khmer music and dance.

And what would vacation in January be without some outdoor swimming! Here Kai and Paw-Paw enjoy splashing in the cool water.

Juliana's first experience in a jacuzzi was quite amusing. She laughed up a storm as she felt the jets shoot water against her legs. It was too funny!

At the close of Mom and Dad's time with us here in Cambodia, I asked them, "When people ask you how we are doing, what will you tell them?" After some thought they said that they will share that it seems we're adjusting well to life here. We were happy to hear this. As we continue to go through the "growing pains"of making Cambodia "home," it was helpful to see ourselves through Mom and Dad's eyes and to recognize the progress we've made in being ourselves, learners, and blessings here in this land.

-Ryan

Fun with Parents/Grandparents-Part 2

While Mom and Dad were here, we took a vacation trip six hours North to Siem Reap, the most popular tourist area in Cambodia. During one of the days there we took a day to walk around several of the ancient stone temples.



A smiling group. (Juliana was more interested in a new-found flower than seeing some old buildings...)

"Maw-maw", Juliana, and "Paw-paw." This was the first temple we saw and Juliana still had a good amount of energy. She, her brother and her Daddy only lasted half the day of hiking and sightseeing. They chose a nap instead of seeing the famous, "Angkor Wat."

Dad and Bethany in front of "Ankgor Wat," the temple complex that is displayed on the Cambodian flag. The day was fun, but tiring. The rest of the vacation was a bit more relaxing...

Fun with Parents/Grandparents-Part 1

The past several weeks have been a whirlwind of activity as we had a blast hosting Mom and Dad Freed. It was a real privilege and treat for us to have them here as they got to experience what life and ministry is like in Cambodia. This is the first of several blogs we'll post about our time together. This blog will feature various activities we did in Phnom Penh, our home city.

Mom and Dad enjoying good ol' Asian "Bubble Tea."

Dad, Mom, Bethany, and Les Frey at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. (Les was in Cambodia for a short time with Global Disciples, doing some agricultural teaching.)

Dad gives Juliana a "Whoop-dee-doo" and gets lots of giggles in return.

Dad talks with Piseth after the Sunday service at Phnom Penh Mennonite Church. Piseth was the moderator for the service and translated for Dad during sharing/testimony time.

Stay tuned for the next blog within a few days...

New Look for '09 and Grandparent Glory

We've had a hard time keeping up with all the happenings around here lately, so before I get into the most current, most exciting news, I'm going to make you wait and start with some older news to catch you up. : ) (I guess you could always read bottom up, but that'd be cheating!)

On New Year's Day, Kai finally received his very first haircut!

This is how long his curly locks were before the cut...

This was right before the shearing.

Here we have the freshly-shorn boy (who cooperated for the most part, held by Daddy and distracted by Juliana's Cinderella movie) and the stylist. He looks very different!

Okay, so the big news around here is that we have visitors of the personal, familial variety! Mom and Dad Freed arrived at the airport around 11:30 pm Friday (our time) after traveling over 28 hours to get here. They reported uneventful flights, and so far, jet lag has not seemed to bother them too much. We're so grateful to be able to spend lots of time together, and are planning to travel on Friday to Siem Reap, home of the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat, for a week of vacation.

"Maw-maw" and "Paw-paw" and grandchildren at an outdoor restaurant (Kai seems to be wondering where he can get a cool hat like Maw-maw's/Juliana's)

Paw-paw and Kai getting (re)aquainted. So far Kai is really enjoying his grandparents, which is a blessing and noteworthy, since he surely doesn't remember them from 9 months ago.

We were also very blessed, overwhelmed and thankful for the two, full suitcases of gifts, etc. that came along with them. We feel extremely loved and cared for! Thanks a million to all who contributed to the stash of goodies - we love you, too!

Checking out the gifts after Christmas came again

A special treat for all of us are/were Nana Umble's banana muffins, per Juliana's request. They made it fine all the way to Cambodia - mmmmmmm! (So did the sweet potato bread, Auntie Joanne!)

- Bethany

Christmas, etc.

Well, as I’m sure is the case for many families in the U.S., much has happened in the life of our family over the past several weeks.

One thing we did this year to make Christmas special here in Cambodia was singing some Christmas carols by candlelight after our suppers during the last two weeks before Christmas. Juliana now recognizes more carols than her two favorites: “Silent Night” and “Away in a Manger.”

Following are some snapshots of Christmas day and the days following...

We enjoyed receiving many Christmas cards from Church family and friends. We also had fun opening thoughtful gifts from our MST on Christmas day...


Juliana quickly leafs through one of her gifts: a Cinderella Storybook.

Here Kai poses with a puzzle he has thoroughly enjoyed chewing on.

Sandwiched in-between Christmas and the New Year, we enjoyed a few days at the beach. While many in the U.S. were experiencing cold weather, we traveled four hours to enjoy the water and the sun.

Juliana eats a snack on our rice-mat.

Bethany and Kai enjoy the warm waters. Kai loved his first ocean experience!

Our Christmas vacation time was very relaxing and refreshing. It felt like it did for us what a vacation is supposed to do. Life is busy and challenging, but we enter this new year excited to learn, grow, and be a blessing... -Ryan