May 1st and 2nd, Rich and I traveled to Singapore to do a marriage seminar for the Lavendar Church of Christ. The Lavendar congregation supports several of our graduates in the village who are preaching. They told us that there hasn't been a seminar like this before in Singapore. But they also wanted the group to be small, so they limited it to couples with children 12 years old or less.
As May 1st was a holiday, one of the other congregations had a Men's Retreat, so that took out couples from their congregation.
We taught on the Bible passages as well as Biblical examples. Then we also talked about communication, conflict and the importance of knowing the needs of your spouse. We had lecture time, split men and women's sessions, and then a couple of times, we had each couple meet together to talk. We didn't have very many (some were hesitant because they had never heard of this), but we received good feedback.
And, since we were busy, I didn't take any picture. Sorry! Rich preached on Sunday morning before we flew back to Cambodia. The Lavendar congregation has a group come over every 3 months, and as they rotate the people that come, it was great to get to see brothers and sisters that we met when they were here.
Back in Phnom Penh, Rich is teaching the older students on Wisdom literature and is in Ecclesiastes right now. Khemrin has most of the students studying the book of John.
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Our TV channels haven't worked in awhile because they were changing out the electrical poles and some wires. I finally called and asked our company to please check it. This is the crew trying to find OUR cord among the others and see where the problem is. Happy to report that we now have a picture on our TV. We don't watch it often, but we will check Youtube for the highlights of the basketball playoffs and have caught a couple games of Australian football "footie".
Neera, one of our newer students, decided after the Khmer New Year break that she just wanted to go to university and work instead of staying and studying at CBI. We were sad that she left us. Please keep her in your prayers as she is a Christian, but we haven't seen her on Sundays since she quit CBI.
We have these trees that are bloomed out right now. The yellow flowers cascade down in groups and are really pretty.
However, once the flowers fall, these are one of the most ugly trees there is! We are enjoying the pretty blooms now. The flowers are already starting to fall.
This tree blooms when it is the hottest. We have been REALLY hot. Our seasons are changing from the hot dry season to the rainy season. What that means for us is that this time is when we still have the intense direct sunlight, but now we also have the humidity. It hasn't actually started raining yet though, so it is just steamy.
We eat with the students on Tuesdays. This week, this was the lunch. These are river fish. They are panfried whole.
This is Rich's plate. He did a good job of cleaning the meat on both sides of the fish, but left the head and tail.
I noticed that several of the students left those as well, but some will eat the small amount of meat in the head and tail.
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As I have told you before, we are anxiously waiting for Amy (Thrailkill) Britton and her husband, Damon and their son, Jackson to come the morning of the 26th. Then, around midnight, our son, Randall and Kassie and their girls, Kenley and Ryah will arrive.
We look forward to showing them around Phnom Penh as well as the countryside. Randall, Kassie and Kenley were here a little over 10 years ago when Kassie was pregnant with Ryah. A lot has changed since then!
We are so very grateful for all of you and your love for the lost in Cambodia.
Please continue to pray for our students. Pray that they will put God and His Word in their hearts, not just have the facts in their heads; and that they will be a mighty force for God in this place.
Pray for the churches here as they are young. That they will grow in their knowledge of God and His word and seek His wisdom in their lives.
Please also pray that Rich and I will be wise as we work here. That we will be the instruments useful to God and His will for His church in Cambodia.
We pray for you; that your faith will grow even stronger. We need your faith and strength there in order for the work to be able to be done here.
Much love to you all!
Ronda Dolan
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