Rich and Ronda Dolan

First I want to introduce you to our new student.  His name is Vatana and he is from Battambang province and the village where are graduates Sokun and Soklee are working. Sokun called Rich and said he had a boy who just wants to be a preacher.  He is only 16 years old. So now we have two students with the name Vatana and also one named Ratana.  Not confusing at all! He is really sweet.  He is struggling a bit like they all do because studying at CBI is much harder than their schools.  But he is hanging in there! Some of our newer students have begun giving the chapel talks.   This is Piset. Sokmony.  He goes by Mony. This is Rotha.   (Obviously, Rich and I sit on the side, so the pictures aren't great.  But I didn't want to embarrass them by getting up and taking a picture head on.) This is Ratana. He has really taken Vatana II under his wing since Vatana has been at the school.  It is appreciated. And this is Seyha. ...

On Valentines Day, some of the couples from the Capitol Church of Christ took a trip to Sray Ambel.   We had a wonderful devotional and day of fellowship and fun.  They grilled seafood for lunch that was delicious. Basically we had a great time together, enjoying the beauty of God's creation at the sea, not to mention enjoying being out of the concrete and busyness of the city. The weather was great.  The ocean is always refreshing!  A wonderful day with our Christian brothers and sisters. Just some sights around town. On March 2nd, I was walking to the post office to mail birthday postcards and this group came down the street. The police even blocked off traffic for them. There were probably 6-7 trucks as well as people walking beside. It is part of the Chinese New Year.  Rich saw some more yesterday even. There are 3 New Years celebrated here:  January 1st for International New Years; Chinese New Year, that is based on the Lunar calendar so changes, ...

I forgot to post about our Graduation on January 31st. We had 2 graduates.   The first one is Teang.  She is from Battambang.  She is now living back in Battambang and is teaching 5th grade.  Sokun, from her village of Romchek in Battambang Province recommended for her to come to CBI.  She was a good student and a sweet girl. Please keep her in your prayers as she has begun working back in Battambang.  She is attending the church in Romchek.  However, she is engaged and her fiance is not a Christian.  Please keep that relationship in your prayers as well. Our other graduate is Lymeng.   He has been around CBI all his life.  His aunt is Navy, Khemrin's wife.  Much of his life, he has lived at CBI with Navy. He is currently job hunting and would like to stay in Phnom Penh.  Please keep him in your prayers as he begins a new chapter of his life. Sokun, from Romchek in Battambang Province gave the message to our graduates...

January 7th was  National Genocide Day.  In the past, we have taken students to Toul Sleng, which is the high school that Pol Pot took over and used as a prison camp during the Khmer Rouge between 1974-1979. But this year, since some of our older students have already been to Toul Sleng, we decided to go to the zoo.   Here is part of the group with Rich mimicking the poses of our girl students.  The zoo is small but it was nice just to get out and walk around in the woods (instead of the usual concrete streets).   This is the place we gathered for lunch.  You are allowed to bring in your own food and drinks, so Navy prepared food for us. This is: Eang, Vatana, Rich, Neath (pronounced 'Nite') and Phorn (pronounced 'Poan') Lymeng (who will be graduating on January 31st), Ratana, Piset, and Rotha (pronounced 'Rota') Mony (busy eating), Sraynu, Savy, and Neera Sokray, Khai, Samathe, and Seyha At the zoo, there are monkeys everywhere. Which is all fine...