Posts

Showing posts from 2011

Christmas at Krang Dong

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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!

Image
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

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

Image
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

Image
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

Just more pics

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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,

50th Asian Missionary Forum

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

Just around the country

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

Aggies with us on Rabbit Island

Image
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