Rich and Ronda Dolan

We had a quickly put together graduation for another student Saturday night, June 1st. Roem Virak graduated.  He is a former Budhist monk who started training at CBI in the fall of 2008. Virak, who went by the name of Neoun at the time, studied for about 1 & 1/2 years. Then, he left CBI.  He married and lived as a soldier, preaching and teaching at a religious group way out in the boonies. He told them he didn't believe exactly like they did and that he would only teach the bible. They said that was okay. Virak started back at CBI in April of 2010 (after a two year absence).  When he came back, he said he wanted to be know as Virak (a name for a hero) instead of Neoun. I still sometimes called him Neoun.  While Virak finished at CBI, his wife, her two children from a previous marriage and their child together all lived at grandma's house, about 4 hours away.  This was very difficult. Virak worked 5 days a week as a night guard, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., in...

Sorry, but Ronda's still gone. Since I have full power over the blog (but not much time to do it), I can put on whatever I want.   Here is a collection of just a few of my favorite pictures from here. You may have seen these before. If so, consider this to be like a re-run of your favorite TV show. First up, the normal family outing on the moto. This is a Khmer version of the mini-van. How many heads do you count? Next up is the sign by our first house. We thought it must be a poor translation or a place to help the poor. But, no, it's exactly what it says it is. Yes, Virgina, it's the Khmer version of a funeral home. Notice all the words.  Last, but not least, a picture of our van parked in the dining room/garage.  Notice the clothes dryer on the left side of the picture. Love you all. Hope these made you smile. Rich 

I'm filling in while the normal editor is gone. (That also means this is un-edited). First, a picture from the local KFC.  Notice the date is Asian style, so 6/12 means December 6th.  I thought you would enjoy the communication style. Maybe it brings up questions. For instance, is "value customer" those who get the value meals?  And, what about the unkindly customers?  Who do we apologize to? Next, a picture of our CBI students & I.  Because we had four graduate in December and 4 more graduate in March, we now have only 13 students. (Two are not pictured.)  Three of these have been added on since January. The last picture is not a great shot. But, it's of Barbara Rogers (wife of Richard Rogers) receiving Khmer translated copies of Richard's book on Romans, PAID IN FULL.  Many of you had a hand in helping this publication happen. Know that it's making a big impact here in Cambodia.  Bob and Sandy Jackson were here in Camb...

This is Tola.  He is currently taking lessons to get a license to drive trucks. He will be working with the Snack Program that Sharon Welch heads up. It is a program that takes food to villages to feed children.  They also teach Bible stories to the children and teach nutritional information to their parents.  We know that he will be an asset to that program as both a driver and teacher. Sreythouj is another one of our graduates.  Frequently, she had the highest grades in the class. She will be working with Doris Morrison in an area in North Phnom Penh.  Doris, along with Sophy and Vannate, run a school that teaches English to children. Sreythouj is especially excited to be able to teach some of the women that come to worship with the church that meets in the school.  She has a kind heart and will be a blessing to both the school and church there.  Sokchea actually finished school a month ago, but had to wait until now for the graduation cer...

On Saturday, March 30, 2013, we had our 10th graduation at Cambodia Bible Institute. We had 4 more graduates.  And, as they now can earn a bachelor's degree from Sunset International Bible Institute, our 4 graduates plus Veasna, one of our previous graduates and coworker at CBI, were also given their bachelor's degrees.  We were privileged to have Tim Burow from Sunset in Lubbock her for this graduation.  This is a picture of him as he charges our graduates after they were presented with their bachelor's degrees.  Try was our speaker for this graduation.  You may remember that he is one of our earlier graduates and is currently working with the University Church of Christ here in Phnom Penh.  And these are our graduates. Makara, Sreythouj, Tola and Sokchea. In a following blog, I will let you know the work that each one will be doing. And then, this is Rich and I with the graduates.  We are thrilled that they are now going to be...

I haven't blogged in a couple weeks.  We are just doing the same things daily, so doesn't seem like there is anything to blog about.  But, so that you know what we are doing... Rich is teaching Church Growth to our students in the mornings now.  Dennis Welch is teaching Old Testament History in the afternoons.  This will continue for the month of March. Then of course, there is the regular stuff - studying to teach, going to language school, working on administrative things like the schedule for classes and teachers as well as helping the students get lined up in their new works after graduation. On March 30th, we will have another graduation.  There will be 4 graduates, 2 boys and 2 girls. We will give more information when that happens.  We are excited that Tim Burow from Sunset International Bible Institute will be here with us for graduation and a little time after that as well. Rich is also in the process of trying to sell off one of the schoo...

 I forgot to show you pictures of our Bunco night!  On Jan. 25th, we had all the students and Dennis and Sharon Welch over for sandwiches and Bunco.  Gambling is a major problem here and we wanted to show them that they can play games and have fun without involving money. This 1st picture is of my kitchen and some of the student constructing sandwiches.  Since meat and cheese are expensive here, they don't eat sandwiches often and they love them! These are just shots of the kids (and Rich, Dennis and Sharon) playing.  We are playing in our dining room/garage.  The car is usually parked where they are playing. They were so loud while they played!  I thought all the people in the street might try to figure out what was going on!  No quiet rolling of the dice for them!  I think they all had a good time.  The prizes were usable things - towels, notebooks, pens, etc. Hopefully we will do this again soon. Enjoy!  Ron...