Just in case you were wondering if we fell off the face of the earth, allow me to begin by putting your fears to rest: We are alive and well (mostly)! We’ve been up to our ears in transition and out-of-the-ordinary events, so posting on our blog during the past month fell to the bottom of the to-do list. We will attempt to catch you up in a series of shorter posts, so here goes…

Getting Around...

This short post is dedicated to Modes of transportation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Enjoy the snapshots of what we daily see on the city streets...


A Bicycle. Besides walking, this is the most affordable travel option. However, bikes are for more than just transportation. This young man is peddling his kitchen-related wares from the back of his bike.



A Cyclo (see-clo). A cousin to the tricycle, the cyclo is ideal when transporting large market purchases home. Many tourists like them too because of the leisurely view they can take in as they travel along at a slow pace.





A Motorcycle. The motorcycle is by far the most common form of transportation used in Cambodia. It provides a fast way to get where you’re going and is small enough to be able to weave in and out of the hectic traffic that slows cars down.





A Tuk-Tuk. This motorcycle-powered carriage is the form of transportation we use most frequently. It is safer than just riding around on motorcycles and allows our family to all ride together. Because our new house (We’re moving in August!) has a garage to keep the EMM van in, we’ll start using the van more regularly. I have enjoyed the challenge of learning to drive in what seems to Americans as the crazy Cambodian traffic.

And something you'll never see in the United States: an SUV. The sports utility vehicle seems to be quite popular here in Cambodia. We were surprised to see how many SUV’s there were when we got here. Though the country has great financial need, there are some people here with well-padded wallets.

That's all for this post. Thanks again for your interest in our lives and for your prayers!

-Ryan

Kids, Cultures, and a Trip to the Countryside

When we were preparing to come to Cambodia, we were told several times that having children with us would make for an easier entry into the new culture, as kids open doors for relating with people. I'm guessing this is because of their lack of inhibitions, appeal across cultures (the "cute factor"), and the fact that most everyone loves a baby. We've certainly been given a warm welcome as an expatriate family living here, evidenced by the many smiles, attempts at communication, and attention we get when we are out as a foursome. We often joke about the huge fan clubs that Juliana and Kai have, and how we can identify with the Hollywood set who can't seem to leave their homes without encountering adoring fans and paparazzi. But as parents, the situation is not always so funny. Pale, white skin attracts a lot of attention here (it's considered more beautiful than dark, brown skin - you wouldn't believe the assortment of lotions sold in markets that supposedly whitens brown skin!), and sometimes that attention can become a bit bothersome. People do enjoy children here, but it's not uncommon for them to show that enjoyment by tweaking noses, touching faces and arms, and actually taking Kai out of our arms (often without asking) to hold him and get a picture of/with him. Juliana has had her share of photos taken, too. Bless his heart, Kai seems to mind the least of any of us, but Juliana doesn't always appreciate the stares, extra attention and contact. It's hard to know how to be hospitable and share our children - and to teach them to be respectful and kind - when they and their personal space are not always given the same courtesy. It's going to take us a bit to adjust to the cultural differences involved, ie. it's not considered rude to stare, children are somewhat objectified, and personal space is much, much smaller here. So, if you're ever not quite sure how to pray for us, wisdom, grace and patience are always good bets!

A common scene while traveling: someone pointing and commenting about our family

In other news, we were able to get out of the city for a few days last week, and spent Thursday evening through Sunday morning in Prey Veng, the provincial capital of the province of Prey Veng. Miles and Ruth Wiederkehr, Canadians serving with MCC, invited us out for a visit, and we had a great time. We rested, played games, road bike, watched some Mr. Bean, talked, ate Ruth's good cooking and baking, and got lots of mosquito bites. White skin is even scarcer in the countryside, so after our trip to the local market and nearby rainy-season lake (it completely dries up in the dry season) attracted a lot of attention, we retreated to a restaurant close to the Wiederkehrs for some cold drinks and a spell on the wooden swing (which reminded us of Atglen!). Below are some pictures from our time in Prey Veng...

Hanging out in the hammocks the Wiederkehr men built

On our bike ride

Juliana helped Ruth make Sesame Seed Cookies (Ruth's putting in palm sugar in photo above)



Theo and Andre Wiederkehr (ages 11 and 9) and Slater the cat

Blessed Bruises

When it comes to the game of "Swat," it most definately is better to give than to receive. This "icebreaker" game was a great way for us to get to know the young ladies in EMM's women's dorm last Sunday. After the morning's church service we took some hearty curry, bread, and fruit with us as we looked forward to sharing a meal and some fun with these university students.




We had a really good time together. The women enjoyed the meal and it was so fun to hear the group erupt in laughter as persons would get swatted with a rolled-up newspaper if they were not quick to say someone else's name.
Juliana quickly warmed up to the ladies and impressed them with the Khmer words she was using. And as always, Kai had his share of doting young ladies.

May God continue to bless these young ladies as they pursue university education in Phnom Penh. May they grow healthy: physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. May they be agents of future positive change their country. May they be builders of Christ's kingdom in Cambodia!

-Ryan

Welcomed Guests

With squinted eyes, we enjoyed our "to-go" breakfast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as we traveled in the bright morning sun to the Vienamese Mennonite Church. Our brother and friend, pastor Luy, had specifically invited us to come to this morning's service because it was a special baptism service. Pastor Luy gave me the opportunity to share some words of encouragement with the new believers and the rest of the congregation. I briefly shared, reminding them that though they sometimes may feel alone in the struggles they experience in their Christian lives, they have great support as they look to the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and their brothers and sisters in Christ. I felt very honored to have the opportunity to share in the special morning.
After the service and a brief time of snacks and fellowship we took some group pictures and then Pastor Luy and the elders of the church distributed bags of rice and noodles to the families.
Pator Luy had shared with us that many of the families are facing financial difficulty, in part because they used to depend on funds that they received by selling their daughters into prostitution. As they have learned about God's word and joined the church, they have recognized that prostitution, though financially profitable, does not honor God. Therefore, they need assistence getting food on the table as they get re-established financially. Praise God for the ministry of his Spirit through people like Pastor Luy! We serve a God who cares greatly about all our needs...


A picture of us with Pastor Luy (holding Juliana) and the leadership team of the church

A picture of us with the rest of the church. In front of the group are bags of rice, donated by an Australian couple that Pastor Luy has been in contact with.

The Doctor is In!

One of the wisest investments we've made as parents has been a Plastic Doctor's Kit via eBay. Juliana has gotten hours of enjoyment from this kit. I often hear her ask, "Daddy, can you check my doctors?" Perhaps we should introduce her to some medical missionaries here in Cambodia to test her potential calling into the medical field...
While Juliana was practicing her doctor skills last week, we were busy helping Darrell and Susan Caldwell pack up and prepare for their transition back to the states. We also had the opportunity to spend a lot of time together with Skip and Carol Tobin (more below).

(Left) Darrell and Susan Caldwell, exhausted after saying four hours-worth of "good-byes"to many friends at their fairwell open-house party. This family will be greatly missed by many here.

(Right) We hosted Skip and Carol Tobin last week. As EMM regional reps to southeast Asia, the Tobins will continue to provide direction and support for us as we are the only EMM long-term missionaries currently in Cambodia.

Skip and Carol quickly re-established themselves as "aunt"and "uncle"to Juliana. Here our daughter is sandwiched inbetween the two on a tuk-tuk ride.

Sunday morning was a special morning of honoring the Caldwells at Phnom Penh Mennonite Church. Here is a group picture after the service and meal together. (Can you find the fair-skinned baby in the group?)

Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted after the week. (Right) Juliana and I resting in a hammock. (Below) Kai, proving that he will not let the rungs of the crib confine his body...

Thanks for your interest in our lives and ministry. If you're reading this blog, you've most likely played a very significant role in helping us be the people we are today, and for that we say a big "Thank You!"

-Ryan

Farewells and Fan-less Nights

It's funny how sometimes things turn out very differently than we imagine them... When we initially planned our return to Cambodia, we were looking forward to reconnecting with Darrell and Susan Caldwell, working together with them here in Phnom Penh and being EMM teammates. But a few months ago, they made the bittersweet decision to leave Cambodia to be with their family in the USA, and so we're preparing to bid them farewell for now. (They hope to return someday, but are not making specific plans at the present.) So, that means Ryan and I will essentially be the EMM "country reps", with some pretty big shoes to fill!
Actually, we're not planning to wear all the hats that Darrell and Susan wore (at least not at first), but one significant role that I've been spending lots of time trying to learn is that of EMM Financial Bookkeeper. I've been getting a crash course in handling EMM finances, preparing lots of reports, and doing Cambodia-style banking (which reminds me of my days as a teller at Blue Ball National!) It's going to be fine once I understand it all and get into a routine, but for now it's been the cause of a few headaches. : ) The Caldwells fly to the US on June 13th. We're going to miss the them, and hope their time in the USA is one of refreshment and blessing...

While I've been spending lots of hours with Susan learning the ropes, Ryan's been doing a great job entertaining and caring for Juliana and Kai. They continue to adjust well to life here, and Juliana's been speaking more and more Khmer. She loves to repeat phrases that Ty, our househelp, is teaching her, and the loud praise she receives for her efforts are enough encouragement for her to keep trying. We are often asked to repeat what's been said in conversation she hears (whether it's spoken in Khmer or English!) and we laugh about being her personal translators. It's fun to watch her absorb two languages at the same time!

Just this morning, Ryan and Juliana were getting ready to go outside on the upstairs balcony, and Ryan counted "One, two, three." Juliana responded with "No, Daddy, moy, pbee, bie!" No more "saying it plain" for her!

In other milestones, Kai had his first solid foods recently. Appropriately enough, he had his first taste of rice cereal, and seemed to enjoy it. After making some funny expressions initially, he opened his mouth for more, so I think we may have two children who love rice - which is a good thing for living in Cambodia, where we eat rice twice a day!

And here's another facet of life in Cambodia... due to a power shortage in Cambodia, we've been experiencing power-outages on a regular basis. They happened almost daily when we first arrived (during the hot season, more AC's are running, needing more power - at least that was our guess), and since we've gotten into the rainy season, it's not been quite as often, but they still manage to happen when you least expect it. When the power's off, it's most frustrating to be without fans - the difference in our apartment from hot season to rainy season has only been a drop from 90 deg. F to about 87 deg. F. But we're trying to learn how to make lemonade from such lemons, and the other night when the power was out from about 6:30 to 8:30 pm, we took our bedtime snack out onto the balcony! We enjoyed sweet jackfruit and crackers by the light of the flashlights on our cell phones (do phones in the States have flashlights on them, or is that just here where having a ready light in your pocket comes in especially handy?) and the glow of the mosquito coil (an invention similar to the punk-sticks from my youth, burned to keep mossies away), and prayed for the power to come before we'd need to sleep in pools of sweat! (It did.)

- Bethany

Snapshots of our Lives...

This week, to make up for some of the previous lack of photos, I'm just posting some random shots from the past few weeks, so feast your eyes on the following...

Juliana shows off some of her favorite fruit,

known in Khmer as "sau-mau" (both words rhyme with cow)

From a recent "photo shoot" - but I couldn't get them to both smile at the same time!

From our first trip to Swenson's, a western-style ice cream parlor, which has delicious treats that remind us of home!

I was hoping to post some more, but I'm running out of my alloted time at the internet shop that we patronize for posting to our blog - Ryan's at home on Daddy-duty, and I need to relieve him soon!

- Bethany

A Refreshing Retreat

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Siem Reap, Cambodia at EMM's Asia Retreat. After traveling north about six hours by bus, we arrived in Cambodia's biggest tourist city. What brings tourists there? Well, primarily the Temples of Angkor, which include quite a number of magnificent ancient temples. Though I'm sure the Egyptian pyramids are neat to see, these temples are much more fascinating in my opinion. They are both very massive and incredibly ornate.

But we didn't go to "play tourist,"we went to Siem Reap to connect with other EMM workers serving in Asia. It was a really neat time of making new friends and touching base with those we already new. All in all, we left the retreat feeling very refreshed with an increased passion for service and a renewed vision for ministry.

The theme of the retreat was being prophetic kingdom builders. In one session we talked about how in being prophetic kingdom builders, we are called to be involved in Proclaiming the Kingdom, Providing for the needs of others, and Partnering with others. In another session, we talked about how the kingdom of God is Alternative to the kingdom of this world, Attractive in that it meets real needs, and Articulate in that we are called to verbalize why our way of life is so alternative and attractive.

Besides having the opportunity to interact with other missionaries, probably the biggest highlight of the retreat was the times of passionate and reflective worship. I recognized during the retreat that during our first weeks in Cambodia, I had not been making worship a high priority. I had been more aware of how big all the details of our transition were rather than focusing my attention on how wonderfully big our God is. The result of this neglect in worshiping had resulted in me thinking of myself primarily as a worker for Christ, rather than a co-worker with Christ. It was so refreshing to be reminded that Christ, by His Spirit, wants to lead me, inspire me, motivate me, equip me, speak to me, sustain me, etc. I am not left to myself. I am in Christ and Christ is in me!

Ryan

P.S. Enjoy the pictures below...

Darrell Caldwell sharing with the group about their 12 year missionary experience in Cambodia. At the present, he and his wife Susan do not have specific plans to return to Cambodia, but they would be surprised if they didn't come back some day.

Susan Caldwell also sharing with the group. She and Darrell are returning to the states to spend time with their Children. Luke is getting married this fall, Rachel just finished her fourth year at college, Caleb will be starting college, and Joshua will be going to school in the States.

Our Philipino friends that are praying/planning to join us in working with EMM in Cambodia. They are Rene and Hesper, Annie Fe and Rudy. They have strong business background and plan to be working in the northern part of the country.



Juliana and I looking at some butterflies in "Butterfly Gardens," a Siem Reap restaurant that is enclosed with netting, letting customers enjoy the beauty of many local butterflies as they eat a delicious meal.

Kai "hanging out"on the floor during one of the retreat sessions.

On Tuk-tuks and Transitions

We seem to be writing in retrospect these days, as much more happens than we have time to write about in the few times that we've been able to get on the internet! So I'm updating some thoughts I wrote a week and a half ago (so we stay in chronological order!), and hope to catch up soon on last week and the EMM Asia Retreat that we attended in Siem Reap, Cambodia from Wed. to Sun. (4/30-5/4).
First, a comment on the lack of photos in the last post... Our understanding was that the electric voltage wasn't so different here, but it's not true. We discovered while I was giving Ryan a (much-needed) haircut the other week with our clipper set that the voltage adapter we borrowed from friends still didn't make things quite right. It was cutting REALLY loud, getting hot, and vibrating so hard I could hardly hold it right - too much power. But we've since figured out how to power up our laptop safely, and as soon as we get to a place with WIFI that works (as I discovered the other night, just because a place says it has WIFI doesn't mean it does!!) we should have an easier time posting photos.
Secondly, for those not familiar with our living situation, when we mention the apartment we're renting or the Hill family, we're referring to the fact that we are housesitting for some British OMF missionaries named Mike and Rachel Hill (and two of their three children) as they're home in England on furlough through July. So we'll soon be looking for a new spot eventually, but it's been great to be in their home for now!
Some random thoughts...
While some things in Cambodia will take a while to get used to, it's amazing how quickly one adjusts to other things... I thought that it would be very weird to get used to not buckling our kids up in car seats to travel, but we've accepted rather quickly and gracefully (?) the lack of such safety precautions. Juliana still needs reminded to stay on the seat of the van or tuk-tuk (wagon/cart with seats pulled by a motorcycle, pronounced "took-took"), but I rather like being able to hold Kai in my arms as we go. Praying for safety all the while, of course. But as chaotic and crazy as the traffic can seem, there is a sense of order, of understood rules, as it were (at least understood by the majority of the Cambodian drivers!) There's a sort of pecking order of vehicles, and if you know where you are in the order and don't do anything too quickly, you usually manage to get where you're going without incident. I had a milestone of my own when I travelled by myself to a market the other day - getting there was no problem, but since we live a tad "in the boonies" of the city, away from center-city Phnom Penh and not really close to any huge, well-known landmarks, I was praying that I'd be able to tell the moto driver I hired for the return trip exactly where I lived. We made it home, though the traffic was REALLY CRAZY at one certain intersection that's in dire need of a light, and I got bumped a bit as we went by the van on our left. No injuries, and not really that scary, since similar things happened when we were here in 2002 (and traffic in such situations moves VERY slowly). But thanks to all who pray for our safety as we travel!

Will it all fit? Trying to get our newly-purchased crib home in a tuk-tuk

Speaking of adjusting to new situations, Juliana has been doing fairly well in this transition. She loves going places in tuk-tuks, really enjoys our househelp Ty, and her imagination is as creative as ever! She likes to play the games the Hills' four-year-old son James left in the apartment, such as Hi Ho! Cherry-O and Spotty Dogs, and all sorts of made-up games with whatever's at hand. She's also been getting lots of use out of the doctor's kit we brought with us, and has regularly shown up "pregnant," with one of her stuffed friends up her shirt. (The other day, Ryan was the attending physician when a beautiful baby bunny was born!)

She's gotten to play with some new Khmer friends, also: the landlord's granddaughter SreiBik ("my friend" as J calls her, insisting she can't say the name) visits her grandparents regularly, and she's played with a three-year-old from across the back alley named Silena a few times. The other day, Juliana played at Silena's house for the first time - and it's worth noting that was there by herself (neither Ryan nor I were there). She came back saying that they had fun, they'd had a snack, and that the people in the house had "talked different." Her observations and questions about life here often make us chuckle!

Playing Hi Ho! Cherry-O with Ty and Silena

And I thought I'd throw in some photos from our first Saturday here, when our colleagues Darrell and Susan Caldwell (missionaries with EMM, returning to the USA in June) took us to a beautiful swimming pool for some R & R. It was good for all of us to have a chance to cool off and play for while - even Kai got in the pool!

So, since we've arrived in country three weeks ago, our days have been filled with such things as taking care of our kids, getting what we need to settle in here, learning Khmer with the help of language helpers from the Men's Dorm (one of EMM's ministries: supplying housing for university students from the countryside as they study in the city), going for immunizations and rabies shots (Ryan was bit by a dog the second week we were here!), and enjoying the EMM Retreat last most of last week. But I'll save that for another post!
- Bethany