Rich and Ronda Dolan

We had a little Christmas party/game night at CBI.  I had already taught the girls how to play Uno, but the boys had never played, so this seemed a good time. If you will notice in the background, our Christmas tree has absolutely no ornaments or lights.  I told the girls that if they wanted to decorate, then it was up to them.  Guess not!!  Since it isn't a holiday for them, they don't really get all the decorations.  I just thought it was funny to have a bare tree. This is Khemrin, Sraynich, Kemchhouy and Phalin. On the far side is Eliab, one of our new students sitting beside Srouy; then Rich, Bunly and Wejega. Somnang, Gimson, Jenthra, Srang and Samai. We had fun, gave a few prizes and small Christmas gifts from us. On Christmas Eve, the Phnom Penh Church of Christ has a New Years Party.  (I did NOT type that wrong...a New Years party on Christmas Eve).  Again, it is not a holiday for them and since there was a big New Years party in Kampot the fol...

Another interruption of the "catch up" blogs!  (Don't you love these!!) On Sunday, Phany was baptized.   Phany and her friend Lyheaum come from the village where our graduate, Borey, teaches and preaches. The Lavender Church of Christ in Singapore helps them with university tuitions and housing in Phnom Penh.  They have helped 3 students before and these are the 2 new ones. This is Phany with Socheata.  Socheata is one of the others that the church in Singapore has helped.  She has now graduated and, according to the plan they set up, will begin to repay the college tuition to the congregation so that they can help others. This is Socheata, Phany, and Lyheaum.  I talked to Lyheam and she was converted while in high school, living in the village. Please keep Phany in your prayers as she starts her new life with Christ. Also, please keep Phany and Lyheaum in your prayers as they start their lives here in the city.  Please pray that they are courageous an...

We are blessed by a friend that sends money each year for us to take our students for a Christmas meal. The students LOVE it!  For people who don't typically each much meat, they put away the meat in this meal. Here is the group of us. They have many places like this here in Phnom Penh.  But the way it is done, everyone pays one price, just like our buffets.  However, all this food is raw.   This is a picture of one of the tables of food that is available.  You just pick what you want and then you take it back to the table and you cook it, either on the grill or boiled. This is Phalim, Phalin, Wejega, and Eliab. Eliab just started school at the beginning of this week, so his timing was great! Sraynich, Gimson and Somnang Bunly, Khouern, Samai, and Teang Srang, Jenthra and Srouy Soknah and Sophanmai In this picture, you can also see Buntheoun, 2nd on the left and Khemrin, standing on the right. There is a sign on the wall saying that if you leave food on the...

I am interrupting my "catching you up" blogs to give you great news!!! Sroy, one of our students, was baptized on Friday night.   She has been thinking about it for some time. Her older sister is also a student at CBI, but she hasn't been baptized yet. Sroy's dad is Muslim and her mom is a Buddhist.  She is usually quiet and a bit shy.  That is why she wanted just Khemrin and Navy and Rich and I there.  We used the Phnom Penh Church baptistry, so James and Gonya were also there.   I love her face in this one.  She was so thrilled to be a perfect child of God.   Please keep her in your prayers as she begins her life with Jesus as Lord.  We are so proud of her for having the courage to do what she knew was the right thing to do. This is Navy and Khemrin, me, Sroy, Rich and James and Gonya. Much love, Ronda

I know it has been SO LONG since I blogged.  But, with the holidays, I figured that you all were as busy as we were, so I decided to wait until the New Year.  So, I will be sending a blog a week for a few weeks to get you all caught up. I had thought that I posted this one already though.  I am truly sorry that you haven't been able to pray for these 2 new souls for the last couple months, since I didn't tell you.   But shortly after we got back from our nation wide church camp, Phalim (the boy in red) and Teang ( the girl) decided that they wanted to live their lives for Jesus.   This is Teang and Khemrin getting ready for her baptism.  Teang comes from the province of Battambang.  She came to know Jesus and about CBI school through Sokun and Soklee, our graduates who work in her village.   Khemrin talking with Teang before her baptism to make sure she understands what this will mean in her life.  He asked her if she needed to...