Holiday Update and more!

     I am not sure where even to start, sharing on whats happening here, I am going to put a couple of our bigger events on separate blog updates so this doesn't get to long. I actually have attempted to do a blog update for awhile now, our internet has been so bad, I gave up trying to upload photos, just wasn't happening..grrr . But today we started house sitting for another missionary couple, and I am simply amazed click a photo and it instantly uploads! they have amazing good wifi! so here it goes an update on the last couple months!!
So an Update on Vondy's Ministry Christmas Program will be in a separate post, so if you are interested in that ministry you can go to that post to read about that.
   I will also post separately about the Khmer wedding we were involved with this past weekend. As soon as I can. ( I was asked to be the "Mother of the Groom" for the Wedding) it was an honor! and gave us an inside peak at all the traditional ceremony's!

   Middle of November during the annual "Water Festival" we went to Phnom Penh to attend the "Baby Shower of the Generals new baby daughter, Nisa from NTC Thailand came down to attend with us, Representing NTC. It was a formal dinner party with the expected loud music that is a trademark of Khmer parties :)

Generals wife and the baby,star of the evening ! 

  The next day we helped Srey Leark ( one of the girls we know from Sovanapoom) a couple days before we came to Phnom Penh her mother passed away suddenly.. at age 47.. and she was very concerned for her 3 younger sibling and needed to find a place for them to live, since there isn't anyone at home now to help care for them, their ages are 5,7,11 yrs old.  I gave her the director of Place of Resuce's phone number, as that is the best place I know for children. They were wonderful, came right away and picked us up ( Srey Leark and Stan and I, she wanted us to go along since she didn't know them) we all went to her parents home, they needed to check on the situation, By the end of the day, they took the kids to Place of Rescue and Srey Leark went along to help get them settled. wonderful organization!!! they are in need of Sponsors to help cover the cost of raising the kids. If anyone is interested, you go their website.

Srey Leark, Srey Ly, and the 3 younger siblings

                       

After we returned from Phnom Penh, we got all the un-cracked seed we had purchased last winter and had been storing in our apartment, ready to send on a truck to the farm to be cracked, a lot of it had to be re-bagged since the farmers put it in old bags to start with which basically disintergrated , while waiting to get
 all the other seed at the farm shipped, so there was room for it!

Now with that out of the way we actually can host people! a couple days after it was gone, we were helping move furniture for a missionary lady that was moving to Phnom Penh, and she blessed us with a wicker couch and 2 chairs and a coffee table set! Pichit says " look how God provided furniture soon as the seed was gone! now we can have worship at our house! "

For Thanksgiving, The Smedley family  in Ratanakuri province, invited us to join them and  several  missionary families in that province for a big Thanksgiving Potluck celebration. Many of them are working with the different tribal groups in the area, working on translations, ( The different tribal groups have their own languages). The Smedley's work with the Tampoun people, and live in the village with them. We had a wonderful time with their family, getting to know them better and enjoying their kids. they  took us to see some of the beautiful sites, that the area is known for, such as waterfalls, and a volcanic lake, ( much like our crater lake, but a bit smaller, and much, much warmer!) we walked around their village and visited with several of the people there,  Jon translated for us, we watched them work on their weaving of blankets and baskets and had to purchase some:) they are so unique! It is a beautiful part of Cambodia much more mountainous, which makes for cooler temperatures.

 

Well for the village that Jon Smedley had put in, it looks like its much appreciated !

Tampuon lady weaving cloth

Tampuon man weaving baskets

 

heading out to see the new village school

well, with a wash hand and foot washing area at the school





While preparing for Craft Day , Stan helped me figure out how to make "Orgami Stars", neighbors kids came by to learn how to make "Ninja Stars with paper:)) 

On Dec 3rd, I  ( as the women's ministry coordinator for our church here in Siem Reap) planned a "Christmas craft day"  for the ladies, for a day to fellowship together, it was well attended and seemed to be enjoyed by all. Some enjoyed the crafted and some enjoyed the visiting :)

On Dec 10th, I headed to Battambang on the bus, to help Vondy get ready for their big Christmas Party and then a big family wedding after that, so I stayed all week, since the Christmas Party was Dec 11th, and the wedding was Dec 16th & 17th. Stan came to Battambang on Dec. 15th , He had to go to the farm on the 12th to check on seed cracking and haul a load of equipment back to Siem Reap. You will have to look at the Blog update about the Christmas Party for more details about that. also I'll be writing a separate update about the Wedding, since it will make this much to long to get all that in. Also if your not into Weddings you don't have to wade thru all that :)
 

 While I was at Battambang, Stan and Pichit ( Pichit our translator, has a heart for evangelism! ) were at the farm, they spent the evening having Bible Study with Buntie  and his family, another family, joined them, also a Thai lady, and another one of the Generals farm foreman's. The other family accepted Jesus that night!!! Its been amazing to watch God at work in these peoples lives. we just do our part by loving them and sharing what we know and God does the work!

These families came to Siem Reap to spend Christmas with us, They expressed a desire to attend a Christian Church and see what its like especially at Christmas time, They arrived on Saturday before lunch and stayed until Monday, when the taxi that goes up to the farm area could take them back. While at the house they expressed a desire for us to come up and have Bible Studies, show the "jesus Film" if possible ( we showed it to them at the house Saturday night) . Sara, mentioned that many soldiers would come if we did this! ( There are a lot of soldiers living in that area.) We think this group is the beginning of a home church :) pray for them, I'm sure Satan isn't to happy about this! 

Sara and her husband have their own home off of the Generals farm. so that is probably where we will meet them.

Also for Christmas, SreyLeark and Chandy came by Moto, from Phnom Penh to spend the weekend with us:) So after lunch on Saturday we all went to Angkor Wat, since some had never seen it before.

 For Christmas Eve dinner we enjoyed a khmer beef soup dinner, where you have the broth cooking on a burner and everyone adds the vegetable and meat they want to the broth and dip it out, as it cooks. Its a "party " food they enjoy here. So since we had more people than fit around the table we sat on the mats on the floor, Our company was more comfortable that way, anyway

That morning I went to the meat seller to get the beef, bone and meat, I asked for a small piece of bone, I got the whole cow leg!!! chopped into chunks.. they don't sell part of the leg I guess :) made a giant pot of broth. So since I had so much broth I made Kguy Tio for breakfast for everyone, ( its the beef noodle soup they eat for breakfast here).
  Sunday morning we took everyone off to the Khmer Church, we attend sometimes with Pichit, since it was their special Christmas Service, they provided a chicken and rice lunch for everyone, ( Yay, one less meal to cook!!) . that afternoon, Stan and I went to our church service, "Ing " helped me make food to take to our Church's Christmas services, she wasn't to sure about the taco soup and eggnog, but she was happy to help make fried spring rolls  some to take and some for them to "tied them over " until  we got back from church with dinner for everyone ( I was going to cheat and bring grilled fish from the fish lady on the street!)

 It was a nice Christmas with Jesus being the focus, helping New Christians understand the real reason for the Season!! the"why" behind why we celebrate this important Christian holiday,  As I start missing all the " Holiday things that we think we need to celebrate Christmas, God helped me to realize, that we can have a extremely meaningful Christmas without the tree, gift, stockings or even Fudge!

    When our people were leaving they blessed us with about 10 big bunches of banana's as a thank you gift, (I think) UMMM now what to do with all those bananas!

Jesus film , amazing we found a projector to show it from the computer to our big white wall, everyone thought it was like to Cinema!