Rich and Ronda Dolan

Sorry it has taken awhile to finish this up. I got ready to do it and got some kind of virus and all my pictures on the computer disappeared. So I got to load them all up again, check the programs, etc. So, here finally is the rest of our trip. After leaving Maung Russey, we drove 45 more kilometers to get to Battambong. Battambong is known for their abundance of fruit and rice. This first picture where we ate supper by the riverside. It is really just a bunch of carts of different foods under big tarps. The food and fruit shakes were very good. The statue is one of many in Battambong. The city is not very big, but we enjoyed driving and walking around, going to the market and just seeing the town. We stayed in a nice hotel that was wonderfully inexpensive. Of course, the first night we were there, there were probably 100 military men also staying there on their way to the Thai/Cambodia border, many sporting machine guns,etc. We decided we were either really safe or really i...

For part of Khmer New Year, we traveled NW from Phnom Penh to a village named Maung Russey, just out of Battambong. We stayed the first night with Tawn's older brother and his family (2nd picture). They were so very kind and so worried that their home, food, bathroom, etc. wouldn't be good enough for us. They were wonderful! This is a picture of their home. We sat and talked and ate under the house and the bedrooms are up the stairs. This house is really quite large and Rich and I got a room to ourselves, as well as a bed. Normally everyone sleeps on the floor. The only bathroom was a squat pot outhouse, but it was clean. They fixed tons of food that was delicious. One of the best parts is when they went to the pond to go catch fish for dinner, we were told that we could swim. Well, I waited until they asked if I wanted to a couple times and then in the water I went! This pond was deep! Not only could I not touch, I tried to find the bottom and didn't ever hit it...

But I will spread it out between several blogs so they won't be too long. Last Tuesday, we went to one of the villages with our students. We loaded 16 people in the van and headed out. Since Khmer New Year is April 14 - 16th, a lot of people of a week or two of vacation. As you will see from the picture of the traffic trying to cross the bridge over the Mekong River, a LOT of people were trying to get out of town. It took us an hour to get over the bridge - and it isn't that long. Traffic just at a standstill. But the effort was worth it. Here are some pictures of the children in the village we went to as well as Nuan, one of our students, teaching some of the adults. We had 3 classes going that the students taught. I took several pictures, but takes too long to load up more than 4, so this is a sampling. We had 6 baptisms which was exciting! So we all went down to the river that is close to this village. As with most of the people here in Cambodia, they were exceed...

The students are having an evangelism week this week, so they are out in different villages each day. Rich finished teaching I and II Timothy and Titus and they had their final last Friday. Saturday was a sad day in that Earl Bridges left for the US. Due to health reasons, Earl and Judy have had to move back. Several of us went to the airport to see him off (Judy is already in the US). It was hard for those Khmers that were the closest to them. We wish them well in their new work. Also this weekend, 2 men from a congregation in Singapore were here teaching at a weekend meeting. Many Khmers from villages came in and enjoyed the teaching and fellowship. Schools here have a 2 weeks vacation as Khmer New year is April 14th - 16th. We will get a week off from both CBI preaching school and language school. Much love to all of you. Ronda PS. I did a blog a couple days ago and lost the internet about the time I was done, so now I am just getting back to it.