This has been a full week! Started out with Stan and I making a trip to Phnom Penh for groceries, and to get steel for the building a rotisserie bbq for christmas dinner, and some steel for farm project ( I think its for the water tower) then hurry back for afternoon school and sewing! finishing the evening doctoring a little girls foot. She injured her toe while we were at farm and it got infected, her whole foot was swollen and hot... Tess put her on antibiotics and Sreylin set me up with bowl and medicine to soak her foot, after a few days of soaking and squeezing out lots of nastiness she started healing up, all better now!! thank goodness, kinda scared me how fast it got infected! We would give her a treat for being so brave and good, now she likes to come visit, sometimes with friends in the evening, hoping for treats:)

Tuesday and Wednesday were scheduled dentist days each day 15 -17 kids went in to dentist for check ups and work done as needed, they all seem to be doing pretty good according to the dentist. He is a retired Australian who has set up a clinic for kids, he works with approx. 125 schools. It was very interesting visiting him listening to his perspective on Cambodia.

A bit nervous......

Stan and the boys kept busy building the Rotisserie and finishing up shelving units for kids to keep their clothes in, in hopes of keeping them better organized.
Thursday, back to Phnom penh to go Christmas shopping with Sreylin for the kids, it was probably a record Christmas shopping trip by American standard of shopping! shopped for approx. 50 people, leaving Sovanapoom Care at 7:30am walked to the ferry, got a tuk-tuk, went to 2 different markets plus a few groceries at Lucky, and back at Sovanapoom by 12:30pm FINISHED!

Saturday I went with Ra and Betty to go shop for fruit and ingredients for Christmas Day dinner, went to a big wholesale type market since we were buying large quantities for fruit so we could make up bags for each person, I was actually surprised at how expensive fruit was here! Prices are definitely going up!!

the pig has arrived! 

While we were out shopping, they kids were cleaning for the big day, and all the guys were getting the BBQ set up, and pig and cow ready and cooking on the spit, this will be an all- nighter Quite the project!! This afternoon I went to Tess house and we baked a couple large cakes for a Jesus Birthday cake for the kids for Christmas! my mom started this tradition with me when we were kids, so I will carry on the tradition here in Cambodia! :) Its nice to have an oven available!! a first time for here!

Khmer men brought cow and were in charge cooking it

Richard and Betty missionaries from Papua New Guinea 

God is good answered prayer for them to be able to get the proper visa's so they can stay in Cambodia!

The Sovanapoom family Christmas gift was a audio speaker system, set up thru out the buildings so they can play music or Bible teachings and everyone can hear!

Wiring.... putting together a speaker system for music and teaching 

making up fruit bags for the kids

kids Table ready for dinner

   Feeding Program was  extra full, for Christmas, the kids preformed their Christmas Play and everyone was packed together standing trying to see!! While the older folks and some of the mom's with babies listened below. The kids preformed again for the regular church service, Tonet did an excellant job working with the kids preparing and directing the Christmas Program, lots of practicing for the weeks prior, and  his wife did a nice job making  the costumes for the kids. (pictures are below) For Christmas extra packets of noodles were passed out to all, the people seemed pleased!

Stan enjoying baby time!

Praying during church with Tonet translating 

The Christmas Pageant

Meat is done and feasting on it is about to begin!! (Khmer men came and cooked the cow for us. 

A bunch of hungary boys!! 

Khmer school teachers enjoying Christmas Dinner

Christmas goodies! 

Jesus Birthday cake

We talked a bit about Who's birthday we were celebrating and the Gift what we can give to Him for His Birthday gift!!

A restful afternoon was enjoyed and a few kids
had relative's come visit for Christmas :)

gifts handed out to all:) 

  Keep this family in prayers as the New Year
approaches, that they would be light shining
for Jesus, in the darkness!!

   Since I last updated the blog, we have had a week of school and sewing lessons, some of the girls that finished their nightgowns, made poncho's out of fleece fabric that was donated from friend at home and I brought along, now more are excited to make theirs this week:) some of the kids want to make a jacket out of it!

    Stan and I had a bit of excitement one day as we had some unwelcome visitors ! I was doing up our lunch dishes and was observing these long legs crawling around the edge of the window frame.... suddenly a giant spider jumped out from the window frame at me!! it landed in the sink... of course a screamed a bit then ran for Stans shoe! Stan saw it jump at me and jumped up grabbing the bug spray!  Stan spent a little time after that to double check all the windows, making sure they don't have cracks for  creaures to come visiting thru! I wish I would have thought to take a picture, but my only thought was to kill !! later that evening we had a frog come visit, and as we were letting the frog outside a baby gecko ran in!!
    Last Saturday Ra & Betty and I went into town to get the overlock machine and Ra's sewing machine fixed, going to the part of town the sewing machine shop is in can be intersesting, that day there was a funeral taking up part of the street and so the other half of the street was a traffic jam of people, moto's tuk tuk's and car's we had to pick our way thru the traffic to go to Oressay market to do a bit of shopping, while walking back we observed a stand off between and ox cart delivering clay pots and a mini-van!! neither could back up due to the jam of traffic behind! reminded me of a Dr. Suess story! another missed camera moment!:( We met Peta for lunch and had a nice visit.

Rice Mill 

  Sunday, I had the privilege to be able to visit with a young mother who is deaf and can't speak, but she was very good at gesturing with her hands, and another young mom, (who I didn't think knew english started explaining to me what she was telling me. It was nice to visit with the ladies of the village, building relationships.
     On Sunday December 11th we left for the Farm. stopping at a restaurant for lunch (total for all 4 of us was around $7.00) We stayed in Battambang the first night (about 5hrs from Sovanapoom)  early the next morning headed to the Farm, it was a very rough road! Although John & Tree said it was much improved from the last time they were up. its mostly a dirt road and washed out here and there from the flood, Although it was nice to see some graders working it over, soon it should be in great shape again! Arrived at the farm close to lunch time, One of the boys who is head cook:)  made some soup and rice for all of us. He is a good cook!! I tried to keep busy by helping him a bit,  and was impressed with his cooking ability over the little open fire stove, All the boys seem glad to see us!  

framework to keep critters out and shade the chickens and future pigs

off to plow the fields

some of this years rice harvest

off to the market for the days food

  
  

They have been busy working on improvements, such as since Stan was there last winter, They had finished a room inside the main building with a nice tile floor, shelf and cupboard, John, Stan and I slept in there. it was nice although not completely rat proof at least it was better!! and the tile floor was nice!

  Also they have a brick wall started for the shop area to house the rice mill and other equipment, and and the brick walls started on a guest house and housing for Young Khmer families as the boys get old enough to marry. They have also made the frame work to enlarge a shade/critter proofing for chicken and pig shed. They are waiting on another load of sand so they can continue working on the brick walls.

Future Guest house and home for young khmer families

While we were there, Stan and 1 of the boys went to work on a water tower, welding up the frame-work, while the other boys dug the foundation,
 (The water tower will work much like the one at Sovanapoom Care, they are in much need of cleaner water!) while we are gone they will get the rebar set and make it ready for cement. John plowed the rice fields, so they will be ready come the wet season for leveling and getting ready for planting.

pond water, for washing dishes (need for water tower! )

   There is much to do!! to get all facets of this ministry up and running, at the present this area of Cambodia has the highest in infant mortality, which is due to lack of education in the basic's of cleanliness ect. One of the future plans is to begin a ministry helping to teach the people, while presenting the gospel.
   Leaving the farm on Thursday morning we headed for Poipet, the border town to Thailand, Stan & I had to cross over the border to get the correct visa's (when we flew in they sold us the wrong ones:( )
We found a hotel, then walked to a small restaurant down the street, they talked to Tree, with concern.. I thought they didn't want to serve us but Tree said they were worried we wouldn't like the food, so we went to the next restaurant.. (they aren't used to foreigners here!!  Tree ordered a variety of foods to share,  which were all good:) . Friday morning Stan and I walked down and did the border crossing, had breakfast in Thailand then crossed back over, no problems, just a lot of standing in lines!! Saw lots of sights we wouldn't have seen... always interesting!!