Rich and Ronda Dolan

George and Hilda Carmen

2012-01-28T15:13:00.002+07:00

George and Hilda Carmen came at the end of December. George began teaching at CBI on January 2nd. He taught Philippians and is now teaching the Epistles of John. George was over the Sunset Schools in Asia when we first came, and we were thrilled that their health was such that they could come back.

They will be leaving on January 30th to return to the United States. Along with the benefit of the students getting George's teaching and experience, it allowed Rich to have a break from teaching so he can do some administrative work as well as prepare to teach Psalms next month.

Hopefully, I will remember to take my camera to get a picture of them for you later.

Much love,

Ronda

Happy 50th Birthdays to us!

2012-01-24T14:58:00.003+07:00

I am WAY behind on my blogs, so I will try to catch you up on all the happenings soon.

First off, as many of you know, our kids bought us Open Water Scuba lessons. Most of my family dives, but because of my epilepsy, I couldn't do it before. SO...for our 50th birthdays, we went and played for 2 days off of the coast of Cambodia.
This first picture is us, all geared up, before our 3rd dive. It was great! I need to figure out someway that I have to do it again!

The 2nd picture is the boat that we lived on for 2 days. We were very fortunate as it was just us, a Danish girl, and our instructor along with 3 crew. So it was quiet and relaxing.

The last picture I took off the top of the boat after the first day of diving. God sure made our world, both above and below the water, beautiful for us to enjoy. I hope you take the opportunity to enjoy what God created.

Much love, Ronda

Faces in Krang Dong

2012-01-04T15:54:00.002+07:00

Here are just some of the children in the village we were in on Christmas Day.

Sothun, Sothea's son, in the first picture was having the best time pouring dirt on his truck...until his mom made him get out of the dirt and dusted him off. She ruined all the fun!

The 2nd picture is of a little girl. As soon as I took her picture and showed her on my camera, she broke out into a huge grin. But of course, she didn't smile WHILE I was taking the picture.
I just wanted you to see some of the sweet faces of the Cambodian people that we are priviledged to see.

Much love, Ronda

Christmas at Krang Dong

2011-12-29T15:39:00.003+07:00

We went to Krang Dong on Christmas Day. It is a village where, Sothea, one of our graduates and his family live.

The pictures are out of order...sorry!

Picture #1 is after our worship service, we all ate lunch together. This is a couple groups of the kids eating.

Picture #2 is just a group of the kids before we started services. It is fun to go back and see how much they have grown since we first started going out there a couple years ago.

Picture #3 was taken during the worship service. Unfortunately, most of the adults are sitting against the house on the far side of the picture, so you can't see them well.
We had a nice day and hope we encouraged them. Pray for these sweet people.

Much love,

Ronda

New Students - Huana and Piset

2011-12-21T20:37:00.002+07:00

This is the last of our new students.

Huana, on the left, is 20 years old and is the 3rd of 4 children.

Piset is 20 years old as well and is the 4th of 5 children.

None of our new students come from Christian families. So, in the near future, what they learn in school will be tested to see if they truly believe.

Please pray for all of our sweet students. I wish you all could meet them. They are wonderful!

Much love,

Ronda

New Students - Rodta and Rajana

2011-12-16T20:33:00.003+07:00

On the left is Rodta. He is 18 years old and the youngest of 3 in his family. He is pretty quiet so far.

Rajana is 21 years old and is the 7th of 8 children.

They both seem to be doing well in their studies and we are enjoying getting to know them.

Please pray for all of our students and they study and put into practice what they have learned.

Much love,

Ronda

New students - LiHeang and Kakada

2011-12-12T20:27:00.002+07:00

These are 2 of our new students.

Kakada, the one on the right has been at the school since August. He is a good student and was just baptized a couple weeks ago. He is 21 years old.

LiHeang is also 21 years old. He is the 2nd of 3 children in his family and from a province close to Phnom Penh. He is related to one of our girl students.

They are so funny. I tried to get them to smile big, but...it didn't work. Usually they have these wonderful big smiles on their faces. I guess you will just have to come visit to see for yourself!

Much love, Ronda

Nathan and Wendy Lee

2011-11-28T20:26:00.002+07:00

I haven't blogged lately, because I was too busy showing Nathan and Wendy around Cambodia.

We were thrilled that they got to visit, even though it was too short. We did manage to make a quick trip to Siem Reap to let them get in a little history and culture.

They went to chapel with us each morning and got to meet our students.

We are excited that they are our liaisons with the missions committee and were able to experience the work here first hand.

Of course, it was also fun having a couple of our "kids" here and seeing how well they are doing, all grown up! We were so blessed to have so many "kids" over the years that have touched our lives. Truly a blessing from God. Much love, Ronda

Doug and Marge Reeves

2011-11-13T19:20:00.002+07:00

We are thrilled that Doug and Marge Reeves were able to come to Cambodia. Doug will be teaching Matthew to our students starting on Monday, the 14th. He will be teaching for a month. Marge, his wife, was able to come for a week.

So we made a trip to Siem Reap. The first picture is of Angkor Wat. The next 2 are of Doug and Marge. Even though it was only a short time, we enjoyed getting to know Marge. And we are anxious for Doug to get to know our wonderful students.

Much love, Ronda

Another blog of graduation

2011-11-10T11:33:00.002+07:00

Rich invited Chheav to speak at graduation. Not only is Chheav one of our graduates, but he is from the village where the boys are from and was instrumental in their coming to school. Chheav now works with a congregation on the west side of Phnom Penh.

The 2nd picture is Rich and Dennis with Sokun. Sokun will go back to his village to work. He will be getting married in February as well.

And the 3rd picture is of Sopheap.He will be working with Khim and Penh on some follow up work.

Again, it was wonderful to get to spend 2 1/2 years with these students. We were richly blessed and we hope they feel their lives were blessed by spending time at the school.

Ronda

More pics from Graduation

2011-11-05T11:18:00.002+07:00

This is us with our graduates.

All 3 of the boys that graduated comes from the Battambang area. We were fortunate to spend several days in their homes a few months ago. They have wonderful families and were delighted that several of them made the trip down for graduation.

Penh is in the 2nd picture with Rich and Dennis. His family housed the boys when we were up there. He will be working with Khim, a former graduate, and Sopheap, another one fo the graduates, to do some follow up work in the city.

Sovann and Sokna are in the last picture. Sovann already graduated
from the school and is living and teaching in the village where Sokna is from. So they will continue to work there.

We are so blessed to have these sweet souls for a little while. We pray they will be a blessing to God's kingdom.

Much love, Ronda

Graduation!

2011-11-01T11:04:00.003+07:00

Last Saturday night, we had another graduation ceremony. We had 4 graduates.

In the 2nd picture is Rich, Sokun, Sokna, Sopheap, Penh, and Dennis. As excited as we are that they have finished their studies and now will go out to teach, we will miss seeing them at the school each day. They are all very special people. Please pray that daily, they will walk with God and follow Him always.

Much love, Ronda

A sweet comment

2011-10-22T09:23:00.002+07:00

I teach English to a couple of our preaching students in the evenings. One night last week, we were talking about what we pray for (using their English).

Sokan, one of them, said that he thanks God because he is so very blessed. He said that a couple years ago, he didn't know who God or Jesus was. And now, he is a Christian, he has a wonderful Christian family, he gets to study the Bible everyday and sing songs about God, he has hope. He said "I am very happy".

Just wanted all of you who support us to know how special you all are, because without you, we couldn't be here doing this.

Much love,

Ronda

Great to talk to some of you

2011-10-10T18:33:00.002+07:00

The Broken Arrow Church of Christ had their Mission Sunday yesterday. We were able to "attend" via skype. Technology is a wonderful thing!

We truly hope that all of you know how much we love you and appreciate you. I know you are a long way away, but we pray you know you are a vital part of the work here. Without you, we couldn't be here working.

And it isn't just your money (although, don't get me wrong, that is great!), but also your prayers, your trust, your love for our children, your emails and facebook messages, your offerings of homes, cars, meals, etc when we are in the US, and, of course, your wonderful love. We are truly
blessed to be your friends and brothers and sisters.

We try diligently to be good stewards of all God through you have given us. Know that we love you all very much!

Ronda

Just for fun and relaxation

2011-09-27T19:12:00.002+07:00

This weekend, we were able to go to Sihanoukville, a town on the coast. The grocery store here, that caters to foreigners, has a program that adds up points. Well, after nearly 3 years, we had enough points to go to a fantastic resort on the coast and spend 2 nights free! Let me tell you, it was great! Since my birthday was 2 weeks ago, we counted it as that!

It is a huge place with a private beach as well as 2 swimming pools, work out facilities, tennis courts, restaurants, etc. (We were too lazy to work out!)

It was overcast the whole time we were there, and although the water looks prettier when the sun is shining, it was great! I was on the beach all

day for 2 days and never broke a sweat! As you can see in the last picture, there are little huts along the beach that you can sit under when it is raining and just enjoy the rain and the ocean. Again, it was fantastic!

The first picture is of Rich...the child that he is, rolling around in the water when the waves hit. The next 2 are just a couple I took while sitting on the beach. The private beach was great!

Since Rich and I both start teaching again on Monday, this was a wonderful relaxing quiet long weekend that we absolutely enjoyed!

Now, if we can only get out of vacation mode and get back to work, it'll be
good! Much love, Ronda

Just more pics

2011-09-22T14:27:00.002+07:00

A few more pictures from our trip out of town.

This first two are in Keb, the town on the coast. Again, I don't usually use the word "cold" in association with Cambodia, but it was windy and cold. OK...cold is relative; it was probably in the lower to mid 70s, but that is cold here.

The last picture is of a Buddha that was up on the side of a hill off of the highway.

Just to let you see some of what we see.

Love, Ronda

Rainy season makes for a beautiful countryside

2011-09-17T14:15:00.001+07:00

These are just some pictures that I took while we were on the highway to Keb. I loved the clouds sitting down on the mountains. And the rice fields were bright green. Many of the rice fields have been replanted already, but a lot of people were out in their fields replanting.

I told Rich that one of these days, we were going to drive leisurely so that we could stop and take picture up close of people working in their fields. But for now, I hope you enjoy these.

Fellowship at the Beach

2011-09-12T13:59:00.002+07:00

On Saturday we took a group of Christians from one of the congregations here on a day trip to Keb, which is on the coast. There were about 30 of us in all. We had a nice devotional time, lunch and then free time after arriving.

This first picture is of Chaeut, one of our students at CBI. It was his first time to the ocean and he was loving it! He was trying to jump when the waves came.

It was cold (yes, I used the word "cold" in Cambodia) and rainy so we didn't stay in the water long.

The 2nd picture is of our CBI students
that came. They are: Sraymom, Makara, Sraythouj and Chauet.

The last picture is of the group as we were getting ready to have a devotional. Billie Martin, who is here teaching in the BEST Center from Grandbury, TX, did one talk and Try, one of our graduates who works with this congregation did another talk.

After the devotional, we ate lunch and they surprised me with a personal sized cake for my birthday.

Much love, Ronda

Thanks! James Glasscock

2011-09-06T19:10:00.003+07:00

James Glasscock was here for 2 weeks and taught our students I and II Timothy and Titus. He taught all day for 2 weeks. Let me tell you, with the heat, teaching for 6 hours a day without air conditioning wears you out!

The students enjoyed his being here. In this picture, Cheav is translating. Try translated in the mornings for James and Cheav translated in the afternoons.

Since both Try and Cheav have their own congregations that they work with, we don't want to take too much of their time.

James was in our first youth group in San Angelo, Texas. (He was Jimmy then) So it was fun to get to know him again and remember old times as well. They have served the Lord in several places, but are currently in Troy, New York. Much thanks to his wife, Tanya and his 2 daughters for giving up some time with James so that he could be here with us.

Much love, Ronda

Odds and Ends

2011-08-29T19:45:00.003+07:00

This is Rebekah. We call her Rebekah the 2nd because our Rebekah is the first. She is the next generation of Christians here in Cambodia.

The 2nd picture is of her dad, Channy, and Rich in front of their house south of Battambang, in the northwest part of the country. After Channy finishes his schooling, he plans to move back home and along with Sokgoon, who will graduate in October, plans to start a church in the area of their villages. Channy has a good heart for the Lord and along with Ki, his wife, we think they will do great things for the kingdom.

The 3rd and 4th pictures are of a sign that sits on a table in front of the bank that the school use. I have never seen weapons on it, but we think it is funny. I get a picture of old cowboys (in Cambodia??) dropping their 6 shooters on the table as they head in! The Khmer words are actually "place to send weapons". So, see how safe it is here!!?? You should come visit!

Much love, Ronda

A new semester at CBI

2011-08-22T19:49:00.003+07:00

Time has gotten away from me again! We started a new semester at CBI. Here is a picture of our students, as well as Rich, Dennis Welch and myself. We are excited about this semester. During this semester, the students will study about I and II Timothy and Titus, Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, Christian Evidences, Biblical Interpretation, Teachings of Christ from Matthew, and the Cross of Christ.

Please pray that God will direct the teachers and their words as well as the hearts and minds of our students.

The last 2 pictures I took from our roof at sunset on evening. God has
given us so many blessing! Take the time to enjoy some of them and thank Him. Much love, Ronda

Northwest Cambodia

2011-08-11T09:57:00.002+07:00

We took our students to some villages just to the south of Battambang in the northwest part of the country. Several of our students are from there and we are looking for the best place to start the church there.

We were there for 3 days. We stayed with the families of our students. They were so kind to put all of us up. These are pictures of a couple of the meetings that were held in the area.

Today and tomorrow, our students are going to 4 more villages to teach and encourage Christians that are already there.

Next week, we will start our fall semester. Rich will be teaching all day for the next 2 weeks, so pray for him
to have the right words (teaching in Khmer) and the endurance. Since the school is not air conditioned, teaching for 3 hours in the mornings and then 2 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon in the heat, plus studying at night to teach the next day is quite exhausting, especially when you have to think of each word you say, as it is in a different language. Much love, Ronda

50th Asian Missionary Forum

2011-08-05T14:54:00.002+07:00

Due to the kind people at the church in Batesville, we were able to attend the 50th Asian Missionary Forum this year in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In the past years, we have had company at our house, so have been unable to attend, so this was our first year.

I (Ronda) went to the 16th, 17th, and 18th Asian Missionary Workshops when I was a kid living in Thailand. This is my first since then and Rich's first ever.

It was wonderful to see old friends - Parker and Donna Henderson, Larry and Pam Henderson, Kelly and Sarah Davidson, Skip and D'Aune Rodgers, Gordon and Jane Hogan, as well as some of my Thai friends. It was also great to get to meet new missionaries around this area.

We are so grateful to God for all of our Christian friends and family that we can lean on, laugh with, and just enjoy talking to. God has blessed us greatly with our church family. And thanks to you in Batesville for helping us attend.

Tomorrow, we are taking our students to some villages just south of Battambang, Cambodia. It is northwest of Phnom Penh. Several of our students are from that area and we are looking for the best place to start a church. So we will be staying with our students families for several days while we are there. Please pray for us to see the open doors and lead us to do all things to His glory.

Much love, Ronda

Just around the country

2011-07-25T15:58:00.002+07:00

Just some pictures that I took in the last month. Hope you enjoy.

Ronda

Aggies with us on Rabbit Island

2011-07-19T15:36:00.003+07:00

Someone has to enjoy all this beautiful creation that God made, so we decided that it might as well be us!!

On the last weekend that the Aggies were here, we headed to the coast for a little downtime on Rabbit Island.

We got there Friday afternoon and left the island Monday morning.

This first picture is of Paul Garret standing on the dock as the sun is setting.

We did get rain for one afternoon. It was awesome to watch the clouds rolling as the storm progressed.

The 2nd picture is Paul, Rebekah, Macy and Whitley just floating
around. Again, this was downtime, so we didn't want to exert too much
energy.

The last picture I took as I was on the beach and they were walking out in the water.

It was a nice weekend are it was really hard to head back to the city!

Ronda

2011-07-14T15:20:00.002+07:00

The Aggies have been gone for nearly 2 weeks now, but I wanted to give you some more pictures of their time here. On the next blog, I will put up pictures of our free time on Rabbit Island.

This first picture is of them on the dock at Rabbit Island. By the way, I guess it would be nice of me to actually give you their names! In the back are: Whitley Lanier, Macy McWilliams, Abigail Elkins, and (of course) Rebekah Dolan. The guys are: John Stone, Jared Wissel and Paul Garrett.

The 2nd picture is of them with some of the kids from the school that they helped with on Wednesdays. The kids colored pictures for each of them and Doris had them bound along with a picture of each child with the picture they drew. It was very nice!

The 3rd picture is of Whitley Lanier teaching one of her students. As I told you before, they all taught students English from 7 or 8am to 6pm, weekdays other then Wednesday. The Khmer students always enjoy getting to talk to Americans their own age.

Again, they worked hard and did an excellent job! We were thrilled to have them with us while we did.
Ronda

More from Cultural village

2011-07-10T17:12:00.002+07:00

Here are some pictures of the Aggies at the Cultural Village. As I said before, it rained nearly the entire afternoon so we are all wet.

We were worried about being so hot, but the rained cooled us off...and then some.

Ronda

Other scenes from Siem Reap

2011-07-05T16:58:00.002+07:00

In the last picture, is some of our group in a tuk tuk. We rented a large bus to take us to Siem Reap and get us around. They were working on one of the little bridges, so the bus wasn't able to get through, so we all got in about 5 tuk tuks for part of the trip.

ronda

CBI Student and Aggie Retreat

2011-06-30T16:33:00.003+07:00

June 17th - 19th, we rented a bus and took our CBI students and the Aggies to Siem Reap.

We left Phnom Penh at 1pm, after the students had their final in Rich's class; and arrived in Siem Reap at about 7:30pm. We checked in the guesthouse and walked to one of the outdoor eating areas.

On Saturday morning, we went to a few of the temples in the Angkor Wat area. Even though it is free to the Khmers, they don't travel much and the only times they have been is when we stopped for about 1 hours in February when we were there for the lectureships.
The Aggies treated everyone to lunch at Pizza Company and then we went on to the Cambodian Cultural Village. They do about 10 different dramas showing the different cultures around the areas in Cambodia. John, one of the Aggies was selected to be in one of the dramas. Naturally, he was the hero and therefore was rewarded with the daughter of the chief. Our students really enjoyed watching him interact with the Khmer actors. None of our students had ever been to the Cultural Village so they were very excited.

The first picture is of us on the bus.

The 2nd picture is all of us as we are
starting to go into the Angkor Wat area. And then the last picture is several of our students in TaProm, the temple that was in the movie "Tomb Raider."

I think everyone enjoyed the weekend even though it rained (softly) nearly the entire afternoon. By the time we got back to the guesthouse to change and head back out for supper, some decided to just stay and go on to bed.

We met with the Church in Siem Reap on Sunday morning before coming back to Phnom Penh.

We are so appreciative to the Aggies as well as the church in Batesville for helping make this trip a success.

Much love, Ronda

Serewudt's graduation

2011-06-25T16:18:00.004+07:00

June 11th, we had another graduation. There was only one graduate this time, but he was very excited!

Rich called earlier in the day to pick up some more chairs and he was told that Serewudt had taken some on the moto and was making trips to make sure there was enough chairs at the school.

Serewudt will go back to his village and teach the people there. Not long after he came to school, our students went to his village one day during an

Evangelism week. There is a congregation of about 15 or so there now. Please pray for him to be the leader that he needs to be to the

people in that place.

Much love, Ronda

Aggies at the English school

2011-06-20T16:08:00.001+07:00

Just a few more pictures of the Aggies with some of the kids at the school. The kids really enjoyed having them here to talk to and play with.

Ronda

The Texas A&M Aggies for Christ are here!

2011-06-16T15:16:00.000+07:00

Our daughter, Rebekah, is leading a team of 7 Aggies who are currently working with us in Phnom Penh.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays they teach English with the WEI program. Most of their students are college age. They teach all day.

On Wednesdays, they go to another school in the city. It is a school of about 60 kids. This school is in addition to their public school (which is only half the day). They also teach English at this school.

Two Friday nights, they had a party for these kids. They teach them Bible songs as well as stories and do some crafts. These pictures are from one of those Friday nights parties.
We are thrilled to have them here! We have enjoyed having them in our house and getting to visit a bit with them. They are great kids doing a wonderful job, both with their teaching and their Christian influences.

More about them later.

Much love, Ronda

More wedding pictures

2011-06-11T14:25:00.002+07:00

This first picture is of Sovan saying his vows. I forgot to mention that all of the bridal parties' clothes are rented, as are the headdresses.
The 2nd picture is of the bridesmaids, Makara and Kolab. All of the wedding party does the whole makeup, eyelashes thing. They have asked me in the past if I was going to wear makeup. Well, those of you that know me know that the answer was no. They couldn't believe that I wouldn't like to wear all of that!
The last picture is of Sokna putting a lei on Sovann. They put the leis on each other and them take them back off. Then the leis are broken and passed through the crowd so that everyone throws the flowers on the bride and groom as they leave.
Since, during a Khmer wedding, the bride usually changes clothes 10 times in the course of the day and the groom about 4 or 5 times, they did change clothes twice during the lunch reception at the restaurant. Since the Aggies were here, we did not attend the lunch as it was quite expensive and we didn't want burden them with the extra expense.
I wish you knew Sovan and Sokna. They are two of the sweetest people you will ever meet. They both are very service oriented. Sovan has a wonderful heart for the Lord and strives to do what the Lord would have him to do. Sokna is a quiet, soft spoken girl that is always quick to thank you for anything
you do for her.
They both have many wonderful talents and we look forward to seeing how they work together to build the church in their village.
Much love, Ronda

Sovan and Sokna's wedding

2011-06-07T14:05:00.003+07:00

Sovan and Sokna got married on May 28th. Sovan is one of our graduates and Sokna should graduate in December 2011. They waited until we returned from the US so that Rich could perform the wedding.
As you can see from Sokna's picture, when they have weddings, they wear a lot of makeup, fake eyelashes and elaborate hair pieces. Sokna told me that she got up at 3am in order to be ready for the wedding at 9am.
Since my blog works better if I only download about 3 pictures at a time, I will put more pictures on the next blog.
Rebekah, our daughter, and a team of 6 Aggies got here on Friday, May 27th. So the first day they are here, they had to get up and get dressed up to attend this wedding.
The 2nd picture is Rich with Sokna and Sovan. And then the 3rd picture is of Sovan and his groommen, Serewudt and Soklee.
Since Khmer weddings last an entire day, they wanted Rich to "preach" for a long time. What was funny was that the Aggies thought that the
wedding was really long and the Khmers thought
it was the shortest wedding in Khmer history! I guess Rich just couldn't win. We were told that some people came just to see what a Christian type wedding was like.
Sovan is already working in Sokna's village and has started a new church there. Please pray for Sovan in that work and for both Sovan and Sokna in their new marriage.
Much love, Ronda

US trip

2011-06-04T11:36:00.002+07:00

This is a picture of the Askew family. We had a wonderful evening visiting with all of them. (I did remember to get a picture of them)
We got to visit with a lot of friends in Broken Arrow, but of course, missed a lot of others. I hope you all know how special you are to us. We especially want to thank the Binkleys for letting us stay with them; and the Binkleys and Saffells for letting us drive their cars. We had so many delicious meals with different people but we especially enjoyed getting to visit with so many of you again. (I think Rich got his fill of steaks and Mexican food thanks to you!)
The 2nd picture is of the congregation in Batesville who have been so good to support our work here and the school. Like Broken Arrow, they have been invaluable to us.
After leaving Oklahoma, we headed south to see Jason, our oldest in Abilene. Then we went on to Midland for Rich's parents 50th wedding anniversary party. We got to see many of Rich's relatives and were able to spend a few days with them. Again, I was busy visiting and didn't take pictures. Sorry!
But it was wonderful to see so many of you. Keep us in your prayers. Ronda

We are back home

2011-05-30T11:16:00.002+07:00

We had a wonderful trip to the US, but we are also glad to be back home. These are a few pictures of our trip. Unfortunately, I got so carried away visiting, that I forgot to take many pictures.
This first picture is of Rebekah, Reuben, my aunt and uncle, Beverly and Kermit Hollingsworth and Rich. We were thrilled that we got to spend some time with them. I have a wonderful family but I don't get to see them very often.
Reuben graduated from Pepperdine on April 30th. These pictures are from Malibu. The 2nd picture is at Heroes Garden at the top of the hill.
And the last picture is Rebekah, Reuben, Rich and I at Reuben's graduation. Everyone at Pepperdine were very kind and we got to meet a lot of Reuben's friends. Thanks especially to the Selby's for allowing us to stay in their house for the time we were there. It was a wonderful visit.
We also went to Sherwood, Arkansas to spend some time with Kassie, our daughter-in-law. We only got a short time with her, but we enjoyed the visit. Our son, Randall is at Army boot camp so we didn't get to see him. We did get to talk to him twice on the phone.
After Sherwood, we drove on up to Batesville, Ark to the North Heights congregation. They support the work in Cambodia and have been excellent in taking care of the needs of the school and us while we have been here. It was great to spend a little time with them as well.
After that, we went to Broken Arrow and tried to see as many people as we could. More about the rest of the trip in the next blog. Much love, Ronda

Still Khmer New Year

2011-05-04T17:31:00.002+07:00

We are actually in the States while these are posting, but since I won't have time to write while we are there, I thought I would have some post later.
While we were in Kampot Province, we made a trip to the coast with about 25 of Vannat, our student's, relatives. We also went to Bokkor Mountain. This first picture is from the top of the mountain. I am standing at a old house that is on top of the cliff. The middle blue color is the next level which is WAY down there and then farther out is the sea. It was really beautiful! I wish the picture was better.
This 2nd picture is all of the people getting out of the back of the pickup that they road in. We had about 15 people in our van and then there was this pickup load. We ate crab, shrimp and calamari for lunch and enjoyed the ocean.
The last picture is just one I took of an ox cart going down the road. I love this picture. It shows how peaceful it is in the countryside.
Much love,
Ronda

1st day of Khmer New Year

2011-04-29T17:09:00.000+07:00

On the first official day of Khmer New Year, the older people in the family bless the younger
ones. This first picture is part of the line of the elderly ones sitting and you younger ones in front, getting ready to receive blessing on the new year from their grandparents, aunts and uncles.
The 2nd picture is the perfumed flower water that the younger members in the family use to bath the older ones. After the blessings are given, then all the younger members of the family pour water over the older ones and "bath" them with perfumed water.
And the last picture is of the actual bathing happening.
Again, Cambodia is very family oriented and everyone watches out for each other.
In the immediate area, everyone is related. Usually upon marriage, the husband moves to the wife's family's
house. If they have the money, they will build a house on their land or nearby; if they don't have the money, the newlyweds move into the bride's parents house. So there are aunts, uncles, cousins everywhere.
In fact, everytime we ate, if anyone went down the road on a moto, bike or walking, they were asked if they had eaten yet and were invited to eat with us. They don't have a lot, but what they do have, they readily share.
Both the older and the younger seemed to really enjoy the blessing/bathing ceremony. We enjoyed being able to watch how they all respond to each other. A little more on Khmer New Years in the next blog. Love, Ronda

Khmer New Year in the countryside

2011-04-25T16:50:00.000+07:00

Khmer New Year is in April. As it is a big holiday here, the school was out for a week. So April 13th we went to Kampot Province with one of our students.
This first picture I took because I thought it was funny. I don't think these pigs were having a good day! And it probably got worse!
In the village that we went to, there was this "cattle truck". As you can tell in the 2nd picture, it is a motorcycle with a cart behind it.
The last picture is the house that we stayed in for the 4 days we were there. Under the house is a table type thing that is used for a eating table as
a bed at night. It is probably the size of a queen sized bed. They put the food in the middle and then we sat around in a circle cross legged on it.
Rich and I were given a bed upstairs. We were thankful that this has been a relatively mild hot season as there were only small windows and no fans.
All of the people were wonderfully kind. They wouldn't let us help with anything!
More in the next blog.

Khmer New Years party at the school

2011-04-21T14:29:00.001+07:00

Before all the students went to their homes in the village for the Khmer New Year holidays (April 11-16), Navy organized a party.
Of course there was food, laughing, talking, etc. These are just a couple pictures from that.
I need to explain the last picture. At most of the parties here, they have Khmer dancing. Basically you walk or step around a table with some hand/air movements. It is very calm and not done in couples; just everyone going around a table.
In the last picture, before we left for the night, some of the boys thought that they would teach Rich how to do
it. You can't tell from this picture, but Pben, the boy behind Rich is laughing at Rich so hard that he can hardly move.
Anyway, they had a good time. And were ready for a holiday break.
Much love, Ronda

Along the highway

2011-04-16T13:57:00.001+07:00

I took these pictures as we drove
down the highway back to Phnom Penh from Siem Reap.
The first picture is sacks of rice being loaded. All up and down the highway were truck loading rice. The harvest is over and the rice has been laid out and dried, so now it is ready to go.
The 2nd picture is a pig either going to market or to another place. Doesn't look good for the pig!
And the 3rd is just another taxi. It still amazes me how much they can get in one pickup, van or on a moto! And then they climb on and ride for hours.
Well, hope you are doing well. Come and see us and enjoy our little country!
Love Ronda

Siem Reap - Part #2

2011-04-12T20:54:00.002+07:00

Before we left Siem Reap, we did take the students to Angkor Wat area. This is a picture of them in front of Bayon Temple. Since they don't travel like we do, most of them had not been there before, so they were pleased we took the time to let them see some of the area.
The 2nd picture is us eating lunch at the school/church building before we left. Again, the guys in Siem Reap did a great job with the planning of this lectureship.
The 3rd picture is of Pisay. She graduated from our school last year. Now she works in the orphanage that is in Siem Reap. She is holding Daniel,
one of the 13 orphans there. It was great to get to see her and hug on her. We miss her.
Love, Ronda

Siem Reap Lectureships

2011-04-08T20:38:00.001+07:00

The last weekend in March, we took our students and went to Siem Reap for the 2nd Annual
Siem Reap Lectureships. The school of preaching there, backed by Bear Valley, hosted. Phanat and Chan, the men that run the school there, do a great job and we really appreciate their hard work.
The theme was from Ephesians 4:1-4 and Rich taught Saturday night on One Faith.
I never counted how many people there were. The 2nd picture is of part of the crowd. Unfortunately you can't see the back of the crowd.
As you can see from the 3rd picture, not everyone was enthralled with the speakers. (The boy in the black shirt had been asleep as well) Actually, it was a long day for the kids since there was preaching all day long.
Tim Brumfield, who is staying with us right now and teaching at our school, preached Sunday morning.
Love, Ronda

Ladies Chapel

2011-04-05T20:47:00.002+07:00

On Tuesdays at the school, we are splitting chapel. The boys still meet downstairs in the classroom. The ladies go upstairs.
These pictures are of the ladies. Sokna gave the talk. She did a great job. She is engaged to Sovann, who graduated in December.
The 2nd picture is of us singing. And then the 3rd picture is of Sraythouj, Golap, and Makara listening to Sokna.
We have also been trying to have a ladies study on Saturday afternoons at my house. There are a lot of times that there are other things going on, so we can't meet, but we have had several good studies so far.
Ronda

More school pictures

2011-03-31T20:36:00.001+07:00

This first picture is the inside of the classroom. The students are working in groups on a story problem. (Is no child safe from horrid story problems??)
The next pictures is a game some of the boys are playing during recess.
Then the last picture is one side of the school. There are building just like these that are on the other side. The teacher I talked to told me that there are about 2,000 students at this elementary school; half in the morning and half in the afternoons.
A couple of the kids in this 3rd grade classroom could speak a few words in English. When I asked, they told me
that they go to another school to learn English.
I really just wanted to watch and see what they did, but when you are the only white person around, you are rather obvious.
Maybe I'll go back another time.

School in Cambodia

2011-03-28T20:20:00.002+07:00

My language school teacher thought it would be a good idea to go to a school and listen and watch. So, I went to the school by the temple close to our house. This is a 3rd grade classroom. The students here go either in the morning or the afternoon.
I got there at a recess time. The last picture is of some of the girls playing a game.
After recess, they all line up (2nd picture) and then walk back into the room at which time they stand and recite something(I didn't understand it). That is when I took
this first picture. After I took the picture, the teacher instructed all of them to tuck their shirts back in. It is a rule here, just like the uniform, that the shirts be tucked in, so after playing, it has to be done again.
One thing I noticed...kids are kids everywhere. In this class, all of the girls were on the front 3 rows with a few boys mixed in. Then a couple rows of boys and the back were boys that really still wanted to be out playing and did more drawing pictures that working on math.
I'll put a couple more pictures of the school on the next blog.
Love, Ronda

By our house

2011-03-22T20:07:00.002+07:00

I took a couple pictures as I was walking home from language school so you could see what I see everyday.
This first picture is of the street that winds around the temple and comes to our street. The market is behind the umbrellas on the right of the picture and then there are shops all along with left side.
The next picture is the shop where I stop once a week for iced coffee on my way to language school. A glass of iced coffee at this shop cost me 50 cents and it is quite good!
The last picture is of my dad and mom, Loren and Penny Hollingsworth. Every year they come and spend about a month. Dad teaching in the preaching school while they are here. This picture was taking at the airport when they were leaving. They are now back in Alaska, cooling off from their trip here. We are grateful to them and their example both in our lives and the example that they show to our students. Come and we will share Phnom Penh and Cambodia with you. Love, Ronda

Tawn's Pickup Truck

2011-03-17T19:35:00.001+07:00

This story is two weeks old, but it amazing!
Tawn’s Pickup Truck
Yesterday was a long and exhausting day. It started with a student who wanted to clear his name and reputation (I think that was accomplished). Then it progressed to the normal stuff; administrating, preparing to teach, etc.. Mid-morning, we got word that a student’s wife had been robbed of her jewelry and was not doing well physically. She had to go to the hospital and is back there now with some health problems. Mixed in there was dealing with two men who were not happy about financial arrangements (salary and things).
The afternoon was spent at language class and getting updates on the student’s wife. Later, came a meeting on school finances. And, just for good measure, while I was in language class, a female student called in tears because her finance was threatening to break off their engagement. She wanted to meet with me immediately to see what she should do. I had to put her off for a few hours.
Why tell you all that? Because of what happened about 5 p.m. I had a meeting with Navy, Tawn’s young widow. (You may remember that Tawn was a teacher, translator, Dean of Students, Dorm Dad and many other things for the school. He died after a motorcycle wreck in late December.) While Navy and I talked, she told me that she had finally been able to sell Tawn’s pickup truck. That’s great news, I thought. She told me she wanted to buy a house with the proceeds. I thought that was a good and wise plan; investing and thinking about the future. She proceeded to say she thought she would rent out the house. Smart, I thought, to have some extra income. What she said next floored me. She said, “And I want to use the money to support a Khmer preacher, if he will work hard.”
I didn’t know what to say. Here’s a young widow, not even 30 years old, who has suffered a great loss. Many of her dreams and goals for life have been changed. She does have a job to support herself, but has lost so much physically and financially. Yet, instead of thinking of herself and her future, she wants to use her resources to help the Kingdom grow. I am stunned and amazed at her faith. Wow! --- Rich

Our 28th Wedding Anniversary

2011-03-11T20:24:00.003+07:00

Today is our 28th wedding anniversary. Adding to that the 4 years we dated, we have been together for quite awhile.
God has blessed us incredibly during that time. We have 4 fantastic children and now we have a sweet daughter-in-law as well. We have also been blessed with our extended family as well as tons of friends.
To update all of you on our family...you know all about Rich and I from this blog.
Jason is now 26 years old and lives in Abilene, TX. He is working at one of the hospitals there.
Randall, 24, and Kassie live in Sherwood, Ark. Kassie is an elementary school teacher. In just a few weeks, Randall will enter the Army. Of course, we don't know where they will be at the end of the summer.
Reuben, 22, will receive his bachelors degree from Pepperdine in Malibu, CA April 30th and will be going to London, England in the fall to work on his Masters.
Rebekah, 20, is a senior at Texas A&M in College Station, TX.
We could not be more proud of our kids than we are. We often say that there is no one we would rather spend time with than our own kids.
For all of our friends, thank you for being a wonderful part of our lives. We love you all. Ronda

Loren and Penny Hollingsworth

2011-03-09T20:09:00.002+07:00

My parents, Loren and Penny Hollingsworth have been in Phnom Penh with us for about 6 weeks.
Dad has been teaching Romans to the students in the morning. This is a picture of Dad and Cheav. Cheav has been translating for Dad. Cheav has done a great job of translating without much notice. Tawn did all of our translating before his death.
It has been great to get to spend some time with them as we have been able to do for the past 3 years. It is wonderful to be able for our students to learn from Dad. It is also nice for Rich to be able to have a break from teaching.
The next picture is one I took of Rich today at the school after chapel. He has done a great job of reassuring the students after Tawn's death. They all respect him, and they like him, which I think is important as well.
2 of our former students are in town. On Tuesday, Sokchea and Pisey will have their engagement party in her village. Sokchea is Tawn's youngest brother and now works with a church in a village close to Siem Reap. We are excited for them. It's great to get to see them and hug on them.
On another note, 2 of our dear friends in Broken Arrow, Geames Wooten and Pete Huntsman, are now receiving their reward and are singing with the angels in heaven. Pray for their families as they will be missed here. Much love, Ronda

Market and more students

2011-02-24T15:02:00.002+07:00

Just a couple pictures of the market where I buy my vegetables and fruit. Since I don't go to the market until after Chapel, I don't buy my meat there.
The last pictures is 4 more of our students. I couldn't remember who I had already taken pictures of so, here are 4 that you may or may not have seen before.
Sokan is on the left. He is from the village by TNT where the orphanage is that I have shown pictures of in the past.
Juen is next to him. His older brother, Bora, lives in Phnom Penh as well and has been a Christian for quite
a few years.
Gomshrew is the 3rd on. His older brother is Sovann who graduated last December.
And then Sokgoon is the last one. We met him in Battambang nearly 2 years ago now and about a year later he decided that he wanted to come study.
Currently, my dad, Loren Hollingsworth is teaching Romans in the mornings and Dale Lundy is teaching Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in the afternoons. We are thrilled to have teachers come that can not only share the Bible with our students but also part of their lives.
Much love, Ronda

Newest students

2011-02-17T16:32:00.002+07:00

This first picture is of our 4 newest students. They are all from the same village. Also, all are new Christians.
From the left is:
Sraythoj, which means 'little woman'. She is very sweet and quiet soft spoken. She is the 6th child of 9 in her family and is 22 years old.
Makara, which is "January" is standing next to her. Makara is the 5th of 8 kids and is 20 years old.
One of her older brothers is next to her and his name is Tholah, which is the month of "October". I guess when you have 8 kids, naming them by the month they were born might be easier. Tholah is 21 years old.
The last student shown is Sokchea.
He has actually been at the school a few weeks longer than the other 3. I didn't get the particulars on his family but I think he is 22 years old.
All are very sweet. CBI is hard for them as they are all new Christians and are just learning about the Bible. Also, they have to study much different here than in regular schools (a LOT more reading), so at the beginning they usually struggle. But we are enjoying having them in the school.
The other picture is one I took in the village last Sunday in Krang Dong.
Hope you are all doing great! Ronda

2011-02-12T19:16:00.002+07:00

Sorry it has been awhile since I blogged.
We had an Evangelism Week two weeks ago, where the students go to different places each day and teach. It is very rewarding but also very tiring.
Dad and Mom got here on that Wednesday and last Monday, Dad started teaching Romans to our students in the morning while Dale Lundy is teaching Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in the afternoons. Cheav is translating for Dad and Try is translating for Dale. Both of these are students who have graduated from our school. I know both of them really well since they came to the house every night to study English with me for quite awhile. They are both doing a good job and we appreciate them taking the time to do this on top of their own work in their congregations.
Since Rich isn't teaching right now, he is using the time to do some of the administrative stuff for the school as well as playing janitor/repairman a few times.
I hope to take pictures of our newer students that I haven't introduced to you yet, and put them on one of the next blogs.
The pictures on this blog are just various pictures of Cambodian life.
Much love, Ronda

Pictures from Tawn's funeral/cremation

2011-01-27T19:43:00.002+07:00

I didn't take pictures at the funeral process because I thought I needed to help the students, but others did...so here are a few of the pictures to let you know what it was like. Tawn's body was in the coffin in the main room at the school from the time they brought him from the ambulance until we took it to the crematorium.
The first picture is of the cart that we loaded the coffin in. Navy and immediate family walked in front of the cart and then others walked beside and the rest behind.
The 2nd picture is of all of us walking from the school to the temple where the body was cremated. Before leaving, we had what could be
compared to a funeral service in the US. We took up the entire street and everyone just pulled over to the side to let us through.
The last picture is of the crematorium. Tawn was in the one on the right. The family and friends all stand there while the coffin is pushed through the door. We had been given flowers with paper on them, as well as a paper saying that ''God loves Tawn" before. When it came time for the cremation, they gathered them up from everyone and that is how they started the fire on the coffin.
Funeral dress here is white shirts and black pants or skirts.
There are still areas, that we are trying to cover that Tawn handled. I can't wait for you to get to heaven and meet him. We were so blessed to have been his friend for the first 3 years we were here. Much love, Ronda

More of Thailand

2011-01-22T19:32:00.002+07:00

This first picture is of the fish we ate on the last night we were there. They were excellent!!! The preacher caught them for us a nd several of the Christians prepared a delicious meal for all of us to enjoy.
The other two pictures are of the southern part of the island. God created so many beautiful places and I love getting to experience them! Ronda

The New Year

2011-01-17T19:21:00.002+07:00

My sweet husband allowed me to go to Phuket, Thailand for a week with my sister to visit some with our parents. This is, I think, the only week that Dad wasn't teaching somewhere in the country. He was preparing, but decided that he could prepare at a house we stayed at on the beach. Since Dad and Mom have lived in Phuket for about 20 years, they have a friend that has houses on a private beach and we were able to use one for the week. It was wonderful. Phuket is a beautiful island in southern Thailand. For those of you who remember, it was hit hard by the tsunami a few years ago.
Here are a few pictures of different places in Phuket. The first one is one I took from our front porch at night looking out to the sea. It is dark, but I liked it.
In one of the other pictures, Dad, Julie and I are getting ready to have dinner one night at an upstairs table overlooking the sea. It was wonderful. Unfortunately, Rich was teaching so couldn't come. Much love, Ronda

Beautiful coast of Cambodia

2011-01-10T21:51:00.001+07:00

Before the news of Tawn's accident and then death, Rich and I were able to spend a few relaxing days at the coast. Here are a few pictures to show you how we spend the holidays.
Much love, Ronda

Last pictures of Tawn

2011-01-04T20:51:00.003+07:00

These are the last pictures that I have of Tawn. They were taken at graduation, December 18th, just one week before Tawn died. In the group pictures, he is standing next to Rich, 2nd from the left. The other picture is Tawn with Pisay, our first girl graduate. I just wanted you to see Tawn's great smile. We will miss him. At the same time, we are thrilled that he is in heaven and no longer having to deal with the problems on this earth.
Thanks for all your prayers. Much love, Ronda

Have Faith in God

2010-12-29T17:01:00.002+07:00

After spending 2 nights and a day and a half at the hospital, and having her young husband die, Navy went back to the school, where she and Tawn live, to finally get a shower and change clothes. When she came back down the stairs to help wash the body, I nearly cried...she had changed into a shirt that in Khmer (the Cambodian language) says, "Have faith in God". How awesome is that!!

Through one of the most difficult times in her life, she reminded herself and all of us to have faith in God. She wore that shirt for that entire day, in front of many family members that are Buddhist. I thought that said a lot about her faith, her character, and her love for God.

Keep this sweet lady in your prayers and she is now trying to sort out her life. She, like her husband, Tawn, is a wonderful Christian example. We are blessed by her life.

Much love, Ronda

Tawn is singing with the angels

2010-12-27T20:31:00.002+07:00

As many of you have heard, our dear friend, interpreter, teacher at the preaching school, Tawn
Lork, died yesterday. He was 33 years old. He was hit by a drunk driver while on his motorcycle in the northwest part of the country. It is a very long sad story. He died Sunday, December 26th at about 11am.
We will remember him always. As I said, he was our friend. He worked with Rich every day; always had a smile. He loved God, he loved us and he loved our students. Tawn and Navy, his wife, lived at the school as he was the Dean of Students. He was wonderful at taking care of problems, helping the students with their studies, and was a mentor to them all. I can't even imagine the school without him there.
He was a devout Bible student and well as effective preacher and teacher. God blessed him with a great personality, capable of reaching many with his kind words, smile, encouragement and belief in God.
He made our transition to Cambodia very easy as he was always here to help us.
Please pray for Navy, his wife. She has the sweetest heart, and now it is terribly hurt.
Pray for Rich and the decisions he will have to make to try to fill Tawn's shoes at the school. Pray for our students as Tawn was so important to many of them.
(The first picture is of Navy and Tawn and Tawn's youngest brother. The 2nd picture is Tawn preaching.)
Love you all, Ronda

A few more graduation pictures

2010-12-26T12:22:00.003+07:00

This first picture is of the outside of the school. This was taken after graduation and everyone is eating and visiting.

The 2nd picture is of some of our past graduates. I told Rich it was like all the children coming home; it was great! In this picture is: Chheav, Chanty, Try, Sothea, Sophea, Sochea, and Khim. They are all working for the Lord in various places around Cambodia now.
The last picture is of our graduates. Sovann, Pisay and Soklee. They were really a joy to have at the school and we'll miss getting to see them everyday. Oh, well...you know how it is...the children have to grow up and work on their own.

Wonderful Graduation Ceremony!

2010-12-26T12:08:00.001+07:00

Saturday, December 18th, we had our graduation ceremony for 3 of our students.
There were probably about 55 people in attendance and it was a lot of fun. The singing was great! Sokgoon and Pben lead the singing, and Sothea (picture #2), one of our past graduates gave the message. He talked about being fishers of men.
The last picture is of Rich, Tawn, and Dennis with our graduates: Sovann, Pisay (our first girl graduate) and Soklee. All 3 are wonderful Christian people and we wish them well as they go on in their different works for the Lord.
On the next blog, I will put up more pictures.
Love to all, Ronda

Here and in Singapore

2010-12-20T20:54:00.004+07:00

I thought I would send you a couple picture of our traffic. I keep thinking it is more "normal" than it was, when probably, I am just used to it now.
In the picture of the motorcycle with the family - I could take 50 pictures like this every day, but thought you might like to see. The child on the front is asleep and is the child on the front far side of the mother. Then, in case you didn't notice the extra leg, there is 3 children between the father and mother. When a moto is your family car, you all have to fit!
The last picture was taken in one of the malls in Singapore. We were able to go to Singapore the first weekend of December. Rich preached a
meeting for the Lavendar Road Church of Christ. They are such sweet people! We always enjoy visiting with them.
But since, in the US, we don't have eating places like this, I thought you might enjoy it.
Our Graduation ceremony was Saturday so the next blog will be pictures of that.
Much love, Ronda

Our Thanksgiving

2010-12-16T20:43:00.004+07:00

Since Thanks-giving isn't a holiday here, we moved it to the Saturday after and met together at the BEST Center.
So these are pictures of the group of us Americans having Thanksgiving. The food was good as was the fellowship.
We hope your thanksgiving was excellent and that you remembered to truly thank God for the abundance of blessings that we have from Him.
Much love, Ronda
PS. In the first picture, Rich is at the far end of the table in the blue striped shirt.

More Water Festival pictures

2010-12-03T15:41:00.001+07:00

more Water Festival

2010-11-27T15:24:00.004+07:00

This first picture is the front of one of the boats with their offering and incense for good luck. The guy in the front uses his oar to beat out a rhythm for the rowers. He also uses a whistle. Some of these guys get quite animated and flap their arms and chant; they are fun to watch. Some entire teams chant while they row to keep their rhythm. They race 2 boats at a time with only a few seconds between starts, so there is someone always racing. Each team is guaranteed 3 races and then it goes to the finals. I didn't look to see how many teams there was this year but in years past, there were over 450 teams. Boats are various lengths, the longest we saw had 78 people
on it. Fun stuff. Ronda

News about the stampede at the Water Festival

2010-11-23T16:19:00.003+07:00

I already wrote several blogs with pictures of the Water Festival before the stampede happened(some I postdated so will come later). I am sure most of you have seen the pictures and heard the news about all of this. On the news here, they are showing piles of people that are so crushed in on top of each other that they had trouble getting them untangled and to hospitals.
Tawn, who is the dean of students at the CBI school, teaches, and is a wonderful Christian man and great help to us, just texts us to tell us that one of this brothers' only daughter just died. She was about 1 1/2 years old and she just got sick quickly and died in their village; it had nothing to do with the tragedy at the river. However, that brother's wife's brother died last night at the river. Please pray for Tawn and his family.
Thursday has been declared a day of mourning here in Cambodia. Please pray for us and the people here.

No Mail

2010-11-23T14:36:00.003+07:00

I just wanted to let you know that as of November 18th the post office said that there will be no mail coming into Cambodia from the US or Canada or going out. They just said that it was for security reasons and they don't know when it will resume.
So, for those of you with birthdays that I usually send cards to...they will be late; maybe very late. I will send them whenever we are able to get mail out. Sorry, but what can you do?! Love, Ronda

Water Festival time in Phnom Penh!!! Boat races!!

2010-11-22T15:07:00.002+07:00

We have enjoyed going down to the river a couple times and watched some of the boat races. And, who can pass up all the good food along the way. I didn't get a picture of the yummy fried frogs on a stick and you can barely see in the top of the picture the fried roaches. But I though you would like the snake-on-a-stick offering the best. Don't you wish you were here???
Actually, the races are great! So many colorful boats and everyone has on bright colors. Actually, I have just noticed that none of these pictures are actually of the boats racing, rather they are of the boats making their way to the starting line. I'll have to put on some more in a
couple days. The last picture is of the group of boats waiting for their turn to race.
It is really fun. You ought to come see for yourselves! Love, Ronda

Rich's Turn

2010-11-08T20:35:00.011+07:00

Hey, friends! It's my turn to do a blog now. And, that means I can do whatever I want, so here's some random stuff.

First, Ronda got the cast off her leg today! After about 4 weeks, I think she was getting sick of it. Of course, I pitched in with cooking, washing clothes, carrying things and carrying her. All without desiring any credit. Okay, maybe I pointed out every little thing I did. (Ha). I won't say I worked really hard, I'll just let this picture of me say it all.
Here's a picture of our students this fall. The student body has already changed some. And, we do have 4 married students. Two of the men come only in the morning. The lady, Linna, is married to Veasna one of our early graduates. She comes in the afternoon. Currently, I'm teaching them Galatians in Khmer and Tawn is teaching them 2 Corinthians.

Next, here's a town in France to avoid -- Angerville. See what being there just a few minutes did to our son Jason!! We almost missed the town. I would have been really chapped (or angry) if we had.
Then, here is a picture of me explaining some profound thoughts to our children. See how interested they all are? Except for Randall, who seems to be looking away. Guess I will not comment on that. Also, don't know why someone photo shopped me in a little bit of a belly. How rude that is.

Hope you had fun with all this foolishness.

Rich and Ronda

Countryside Cambodian Taxis

2010-11-03T19:05:00.001+07:00

We have all kinds of taxis here. In the city, it is primarily motodopes(motorcycle drivers who taxi), tuk tuks (3 wheeled taxis) and then regular car taxis. But in the countryside and the outlying parts of the city, they also use other kinds of transportation.
Two of the pictures are of trucks with people in the back. We will also see these in the city on occasion. Typically, they are packed with people who are all standing in the bed of the truck. The real fun comes when it starts to rain!
The other picture is of a cart that is pulled by a moto. The cart had boards tied across the cart for the people to sit. I have seen these loaded with more than 30 people along with vegetables,
fruit, and whatever else that they sell in the markets.
We live in an exciting place! Love Ronda

More Cambodian countryside

2010-10-30T18:47:00.002+07:00

The countryside

2010-10-25T18:22:00.004+07:00

Just a few glimpses of the Cambodian countryside and the people that live and work there. It is such a blessing to be able to live here and be a part of this country and culture. Much love, Ronda
PS. More on the next blog

Cambodian countryside in Kirirom

2010-10-20T18:03:00.002+07:00

I thought you might like to see some of the beautiful scenery in the Kirirom area. We have had a good rainy season which means that the rice fields are a beautiful bright green this time of year.
In the next blog I will put up more pictures of the countryside where we drove.
(I have trouble getting the blog to load if I put on more than 3 pictures, so...you will have to wait for the next blog)
Enjoy! Ronda

Some of the kids

2010-10-14T17:35:00.003+07:00

Due to the holiday here, we had time off both from language school and CBI school, so we were able to spend a day going to a couple villages.
One of the village is a place where Sophea, one of our graduates and his wife Srayneeung work. They oversee the orphanage there; Sophea is also the preacher at the church that meets there.
The first picture is of the boys at the orphanage.
The baby smiling holding onto the pillow is Reuben, Sophea and Srayneeung's son. He is their first child and is 4 1/2 months old.
We were also able to go to the village where Sothea and his wife work. The other baby is their son. He is 5 months old; and he is their oldest child.
It was nice to be able to get out off the city and see some of our graduates and their families.
Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf as well as our students and graduates. We are excited about the future of the church here in Cambodia.
Much love, Ronda

Kirirom

2010-10-09T16:42:00.002+07:00

Last Saturday, the University congregation took a little trip to Kirirom. There is a large waterfall there as well as the area we went to that has a stream to play in.
We left at 7 am and arrived around 10 am. There were 45 people that went. Once we got everything and everyone across the little bridges and to the shelter, we had a devotional. The first picture is Veashna, one of our CBI graduates, giving the first talk. We sang, prayed and Veashna, Kim and Try (all our graduates of CBI) gave short talks.
After the devotional, we ate lunch and then spent time just enjoying the area...playing in the cold cold water or hiking around. It was a nice fun trip for all who went.
The other pictures are of the group during the devotional time as well as a group playing in the water.
The area is a beautiful place. We were reminded of the immense blessing that God has given us, both by His creation of beautiful places and beautiful people.
Much love, Ronda

Odds and ends

2010-09-26T19:54:00.003+07:00

I thought you might like to see part of the house we moved into. The first picture is of the dining room/garage. The thing is that there isn't enough room outside to park the car, so, like many of them, we park the car and the moto in the house. So our ground floor is this area with the dining room table, a small bathroom and the kitchen. Oh! And since it is rainy season, sometimes the clothes have to be hung inside.
The next picture is a "construction" sign that the cement is wet. Actually, as far as barriers go, this one is pretty good. Usually they just stick a small tree branch in a bucket in front and behind the repaired place. And all of that is ok...in the daytime. But in the night, it is a little scary
driving along (most roads don't have street lights) and all of the sudden there is a bucket and a tree branch in front of you.
You really ought to come visit! We have so much fun here! Much love, Ronda

New school year

2010-09-21T19:31:00.003+07:00

This first picture is of our students. Most of them are very young Christians. Their normal schedule is chapel at 8:30am, morning class until noon and then an afternoon class from 2-4pm. On top of that, they have reading time at 6am for 30 minutes and then, of course, they have to study what they learned. They usually have a test at the start of each class. We are so blessed to have them and pray for their continued growth in the kingdom.
(We also have 2 part time students that are not in the picture.)
Please keep all of them as well as us in your prayers. Much love, Ronda

Pizza with our students

2010-09-17T11:41:00.002+07:00

Last week, we had a evangelism week, where our students go to a different village each day and teach the people there. However, this is the monsoon season and lately we have been blessed with wonderful afternoon rains. That means that for the farmers in the villages, there is a lot of work to be done in the fields, and they have to go it while the fields are flooded. The people who would normally come were all out working in the fields. So, on Monday, we didn't have a village to go to, so the Welches and us decided to take our students to the mall and then pizza for lunch.
I had the boys in my van and while I was driving up in the parking garage, they were having a blast! You would have thought I took them on a roller coaster! So, I will admit, that I drove through the garage a little faster than normal, for the fun of it. They thought it was pretty much fun.
I found out later that most of them haven't even been to this mall, since it is in a different part of the city. We all had wonderful pizza and great fellowship. It is fun to be able to do something special for them once in awhile. For them, pizza is too expensive, so they love it but don't get to eat it often.
I did take my camera, so I could send pictures....but I forgot to take them. Sorry!
Love, Ronda

New Babies in Christ

2010-09-12T11:28:00.002+07:00

Just wanted to let you know that we have been so blessed recently to have several people converted into Christ. Several of our previous students have been doing the teaching and it was wonderful to be able to see them give their lives to God.
I thought I had a picture of a couple of them, but they wouldn't load. I will try to get more details and let you know. Please be praying for them as we know that Satan will attack them; pray for them to be strong and continue to learn God's will for their lives.
Much love,
Ronda

Ken and Jean Fox; John and Betty Breeden

2010-09-07T11:13:00.002+07:00

We were priviledged to have the Foxes and Breedens here in Phnom Penh to work with us for a month. John and Ken taught out students in the CBI Preaching School while Betty and Jean taught English at the BEST house.
It is wonderful for our students to get a variety of teaching styles, so they can see what style best suits their personalities. John blessed us with their talents, knowledge and abilities and the students reaped the benefits. We are grateful to them as well as their supporters who helped them come.
Much love, Ronda

Weekend trip to Singapore

2010-08-26T19:37:00.002+07:00

The Lavender Road Church of Christ in Singapore has been working with us to help our students here in Phnom Penh. They are wonderful Christian people with warm caring hearts to do God's work. They invited us to come to Singapore this past weekend. Rich taught the youth Saturday afternoon and then preaching and taught class on Sunday morning.
We thoroughly our time there. We got to be reaquainted with friends that have come to Cambodia as well as meet many new friends in that congregation. There were fantastic hosts! I told Rich we were going to have to fast after all we ate there! It was wonderful to meet with the church there. God continually blesses us in
wonderful ways. Much love, Ronda

Aggies enjoying noodles before leaving Cambodia

2010-08-20T19:23:00.001+07:00

One Sunday, the Aggies went to a couple of the village to meet Christians there. Rich and I were unable to go as we had obligations already in Phnom Penh.
One night, we decided to get some noodles off of the noodle cart. We really made the ladies night by ordering 15 orders of noodles. So there is a picture of her making our noodles and of the Aggies enjoying them.
The first picture is of their last night in Phnom Penh. We had the CBI preaching students over as well for supper and a devo. I think the Aggies enjoyed their time here and I know that we as well as the students really enjoyed getting to spend some time with them. Love, Ronda

Aggies in Phnom Penh

2010-08-16T19:04:00.003+07:00

While the Aggies were here, as I explained earlier, they taught English using the Bible every day. These pictures are of a party and devotional that they had with all of their students. They also invited our preaching students and members of the church. Ronda

More of the island

2010-08-02T09:49:00.003+07:00

While we were "retreating" on the island, we got the change to play, sing, swim, hike, etc. The Aggies and our Khmer students got to spend time together and know each other better.
On the last night, the students did a skit of the Prodical son. One of these pictures is of Penh, who played the prodical son, hurding the pigs. I wish I would have gotten a better picture of their masks!
Another one of the pictures is of Abigail, Amanda, and Rebekah with a dead jellyfish that was found on the beach. Thankfully, it was the only one we saw.
This past weekend, we took the Aggies to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and the area there.
Unfortunately, we had some car trouble - just out of Phnom Penh, we busted a belt and then had some additional problems, so we didn't get into Siem Reap until after midnight. I think they had a good time touring some of the temples and then going to the Cultural Village. We worshiped with the church in Siem Reap before returning to Phnom Penh on Sunday.

The Aggies Are Here!

2010-07-22T20:23:00.003+07:00

Rebekah, our daughter, and a team of 7 other
Aggies are here for a month. They are spending all day each day teaching English using the Bible. Saturday, we took the Aggies as well as our students from the preaching school to the coast. We took a boat out to one of the islands where we spent 3 days. One of the pictures is of Rich teaching on Philippians 2. We had a lesson on each of the chapters of Philippians.
I think everyone had a good time, but it did start out a little rough. It rained on us the entire drive to the coast, so I knew that the water would be choppy. We had to go in 2 groups and typically, the water only gets rougher, so the girls as well as a few of the boys went out first. Personally, I
thought it was great - kind of like a roller coaster - and Rebekah enjoyed it as well. But...well, let's just say that there were several people hanging over the edge, not thinking it was so fun. But we all got there and got to enjoy God's creation for several days there. And, the ocean was nice and calm on our trip back on Tuesday, so no one was sick. I will try to put on a few more pictures on the next blog. Ronda

Back from the US

2010-07-12T14:16:00.002+07:00

We enjoyed getting to see many of you while we were in the US. It was a fast trip but wonderful. We got to spend a small amount of time with Rich's and my parents; the first picture is of all of us at the rehearsal of Randall and Kassie's wedding.
Randall, our 2nd son, and Kassie Walker got married July 3rd. She has seemed like one of our kids for a long time, so this just makes it official. We pray that their marriage will be a blessing to God.
The 2nd picture is of our kids, including Kassie. The wedding was beautiful and fun. The entire wedding party was barefoot. Doesn't that just sound like something we would do??
Rich began teaching the Resurrection today to the students at CBI. He
is going to teach all day this week. Then there will be a short break before starting the school in August.
Again, great to see and hug on so many of you. Know that we love you all very much. Keep us in your prayers as you are in ours. Love, Ronda

Try's Graduation

2010-06-14T13:57:00.003+07:00

Saturday was our school's 4th graduation. Try (pronounced "tree") was our graduate. He has worked hard over the last couple years. He is an avid Bible student and a good solid teacher and preacher. As of now, he intends to stay in Phnom Penh and work with one of the congregations here.
It was just a great weekend...on Sunday morning, Try's mother was baptized. He told us that he has prayed every day for 3 years for her to make this decision.
In other news, Randall, our 2nd son is getting married at the beginning of July, so we are leaving for the US. We are extremely excited for
Randall and Kassie and pray that their lives together will be a blessing to God.
However, that does mean that I might not post a blog for awhile...we'll see. Much love to you all. Ronda

People in Kran Dong

2010-06-06T17:00:00.002+07:00

Here are just some of the people in the village where we went to see Sothea and his wife. Of course, the kids are always cutest, so I tend toward their pictures.
The other pictures is part of the assembly that we had for services. In all, there were about 80 people. We sat out on the tarps under the trees. I tried to load on some other pictures, but it kept kicking them out, so here is what you get.
Keep these sweet people in your prayers. Ronda

Channy and Ki's wedding

2010-05-30T15:03:00.003+07:00

Friday we went to Channy and Ki's wedding. Channy studies with us in the mornings at the school.
The wedding was at the church building. On Saturday, they did the Khmer type wedding in the village, that last all day.
All 3 bridesmaids and 3 groomsmen are students of ours.
We wish Channy and Ki well in their marriage.
Ronda

Meeting in Sothea's village

2010-05-25T06:31:00.002+07:00

About 30 of us from Phnom Penh went to Krang Dong, the village where Sothea and his wife are living and working.
There were about 50 adults and children from the village that met with us, talked with us and worshiped with us.
After worshiping together, we ate lunch together before returning to Phnom Penh.
In the first picture, you will notice Sothea's wife in the white shirt and purple skirt - very pregnant. She had their baby the next day! So Sothea is the proud father of a little boy.
These pictures is of meal preparation, cooking the curry and then Lynn and Timothy playing with
some of the village children.
We always enjoy the time we get to spend in the villages. The Cambodians are very family oriented and hospitable.
Ronda

A few more pictures of the get together

2010-05-20T06:01:00.003+07:00

Here are a few pictures of the devotional part of the get together. We always enjoy singing together. The Khmers especially enjoy singing "Holy Khmer" (that's the official translation) songs. Those are songs that are truly Khmer melodies, not English songs that have been translated.
Sorry these are not great pictures, but I hope you get the idea. Much love, Ronda

Get together at the Welch's

2010-05-15T05:33:00.003+07:00

We had a meal and devotional with our students at Dennis and Sharon Welch's house.
As usual, it was a wonderful time of fun, laughter, talking, eating, singing and praying.
Of course, in the last picture, you will see Sovann, Lee and Sokgoon teaching the proper etiquette for eating sandwiches!
We really have a great group of students!
Much love, Ronda

Ron and Shirley Downey

2010-05-10T05:00:00.002+07:00

We were blessed to have Ron and Shirley Downey here
with us for a few weeks.
Ron oversees the Sunset Preaching Schools in Asia. He is teaching Acts to our students while they are here. This was his 2nd trip to Cambodia.
Fortunately, his wife, Shirley got to come as well. While Ron is teaching our preaching students, Shirley is teaching English using the WEI material.
As you can see from the pictures of Ron and Shirley in front of Angkor Wat, we did manage to make a run to Siem Reap and take in a little site seeing.
We are grateful for the time that they are here and having the opportunity for us to get to know them better. We appreciate their sharing their many talents and Christian love with us and the Cambodians that they came into contact with here.
They will be leaving on Wednesday, May 12th to return to their home in California.

Red, Hot, Chili Peppers & Me

2010-05-01T10:12:00.006+07:00

I know that sounds like a concert, but it's not. You may remember that 1 1/2 years ago, while preaching, I said in Khmer that we would study about "another Jesus" instead of "another time about Jesus". A few months ago, I switched the word for "kingdom" with the word for "hell".

Imagine, just for instance, that you were teaching Hebrews in the Khmer language. Also, imagine that you may not be very good at the language, but you try hard. (Several years ago, when asked about my teaching ability, one of my sons said, "No, dad's not very good, but he tries hard." I think he was kidding.) Anyway, also imagine that it had been a long week, it was the afternoon class when everyone is sleepy & it was very hot.

Then, imagine that word of mercy is "Ma-thah" with a long "a" on the first syllable and that the word for red, hot, chili peppers in "Mah-tha", with a long "a" in the last syllable. You can see where this is going. Imagine what would happen if you switched the two words. Instead of teaching about God's grace and mercy, you would be teaching things like this,
"because of God's great love, He gives us all the red, hot chili peppers we need" and
"we can know we are saved because we have grace and hot chili peppers"
Imagine that your polite students would try not laugh. But, someone would start to snicker, then another would add to that and suddenly you would have a full chorus of laughter. I, wait, I mean you the imaginary teacher, would not realize what you had said wrong. Finally, when they told you, you could all have a good laugh.

---- Rich P.S. Looks like we will be in the States June 16-July 5 for Randall & Kassie's wedding. Hope to see you then.

Scenes on the road

2010-04-27T18:48:00.002+07:00

Just to let you know what the countryside of Cambodia looks like and some of how they travel. It is a wonderful country. The people are kind and thoughtful. We have thoroughly enjoyed living here and look forward to many more years to come.
Much love, Ronda

Trying to blog

2010-04-20T22:03:00.003+07:00

I have tried a couple times to load pictures of just scenes on the highway, but am not having any luck. I'll try again. Until then...
Rich and I were able to go to Thailand to their nationwide Church camp. About 500 Thai Christians came for the week. The singing was great; the fellowship was great! It was an excellent week. Of course, I also got to see old friends.
We took Tawn (Rich's interpreter and teaching in the school) and Navy, Tawn's wife, with us. We wanted them to see what the church can be like in the future in Cambodia. They were amazed.
We are back in Phnom Penh now. Rich has begun teaching the book of Hebrews. He is teaching in the Khmer language. One of the students told me today that he is doing a good job and his Khmer is clear and understandable. He said he has really noticed how much Rich has improved.
Ron and Shirley Downey are here now as well. Ron is teaching Acts in the morning to the students. Shirley is teaching English in the mornings with the WEI material. She has 4 students.
We hope you all are doing well. Again, I apologize for the delay and will try again to get some pictures up.
Much love to you all. Ronda

Siem Reap Lectureship

2010-04-03T18:45:00.003+07:00

As I have told you, we took our students to Siem Reap to meet with the students of the preaching school up there. There were other Khmers there as well. We had a short devotional on Friday night. Then 6 speakers on Saturday and 4 on Sunday.
We were exhausted. Not so much because of the long day but because of trying to concentrate the entire time so we could understand the lessons. You know, in English, you can 'zone' a little and still get what the speaker is saying; in Khmer, it was just work the entire time.
The first picture is of one of the
gatherings. The 2nd picture is of lunchtime one day and then the last is of Rich teaching. He taught twice.
We also managed to get in several games of volleyball (unfortunately Team Siem Reap usually won - we will have to work on that) as well as some really good visiting time.
We are grateful for the wonderful Christian friends that we have there.
Much love, Ronda

Sights on the way toSiem Reap

2010-03-31T19:26:00.002+07:00

Here are just some pictures of our trip to Siem Reap. It has been quite hot lately; we are at the start of the hot season. Thankfully, it started raining about 2:30am Friday morning before we left and continued until about 9am. We left the school at 7am, so it cooled off and we had a nice cloud cover most of the way.
The 2nd picture is of the students that were in our car and the last picture is the place we stopped on the way to eat lunch.
We are very excited to say that tonight, a girl named Kiy, was baptized. She is "dating" one of our students and they are quite serious.
Know that we think of you often and love you all. Ronda

Headed to Siem Reap tomorrow

2010-03-25T18:31:00.003+07:00

We are taking our students to meet with the students from the Bear Valley School of Preaching in Siem Reap and having a workshop this weekend. So, the plan is to take pictures and tell you about it when we get back.
I learned a new saying here...when they are really thrilled about something good, the term they use is the words for "to bloom, blossom, or swell" and "liver" (yes, like your bodily organ). So we hope your liver is bloomin' about something!!!
This is just a picture that my mom took of my sister, Julie, me, Rich and Dad standing in the kitchen.
Take care! Much love, Ronda