Getting to Know You: Wat Phnom

    Here are a few pictures of Wat Phnom.  A wat is a pagoda or temple.  There is a little hill in a relatively flat city, so there is a story about why the temple was built there. It is common to see wats around town, and they are common on high places.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I'd like to comment on the spiritual implications of some of these things, but for now you can just have a look-see.

Hindu-ish snake statues are common in temple areas.

A mural on the wall.

I took this picture to show the offerings that people leave on the statues: lotus flowers, money, etc.

To my architectural friends.. Is this what you would call a flying buttress?

Pointy spires reaching to the sky.

 

People were burning incense and praying to these stone lions(?)  I took this picture because they are stationed right next to a sink of dirty dishes and thought that was an interesting dichotomy.

Getting to Know You: The King's Palace

I've had about 2 weeks before school starts.  I've been using this time to get used to getting around town and negotiating for things in the market.  We've (roomies and I) also played the tourist a bit, so I'd like to share some of those pictures with you.  This post contains pictures of the area that encompasses the king's palace.  We didn't pay for a guide so I don't have a lot of specific information to share with you.  Enjoy the pictures!

 

I believe the king was home because the flag was up.

This was one part of a large mural.  I don't know if you can see up close in this picture, but the fellow in the lower right has bodies coming out of his ears and in his mouth.  In the future I will have a comment to say about the spiritual implications of some of these things, but for now it will suffice just to notice and observe.

A model of Angkor Wat

This is one of my roommates, Rebecca, also from the U.S.

 

Home Sweet Home

 

These are my new digs.  I’m on the second floor with the balcony.

 
 
 

Our principal left us a basket with a few items in it to get us started.  Notice there is a roll of toilet paper in there.  Very important, as bathrooms only come with butt sprayers here.  You’ll have to wait for the post on bathrooms to learn more about that one.

View from my balcony.

 

 



The yard to the east of our house, looking down from my balcony. 

 

 

 

The street we live on.

 

 Toul Kork is the name of our neighborhood.  It's one of the nicer neighborhoods just outside the city.  We have a rooster in the neighborhood.  I enjoy him every morning.  He's not to prompt or too overbearing in his crowing.  We've experienced a few rains so far.  It cools everything down a bit.  I'm sure it makes it more humid however every day feels very humid to me so I can't tell much of a difference. Every day is a sweaty day, but it's nothing unmanageable or unexpected so far.  Overall, things are going very well in the house and neighborhood!

 

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

How does one transport 6 people, 11 bags weighing 550 lbs. plus at least 6 more carry-ons 3 hours away to the airport?

First, you start with a great dad.  That dad purchases a special rack that attaches to the tow hitch.  Then dad and brother stack and tie down everything to the rack and roof.  Then dad wakes up in the wee hours of the morning to drive all that business down to L.A.  Then dad drives home alone because both of his children have flown off to the other side of the world.  Love you Pop, you really came through.  You are very special to me. xo

What's in a name?

I have started receiving schedules, curriculum and most recently a class list from the school where I will be teaching.  I was very excited to see my class list and read through the names.  As I started reading I thought, oh man, this is going to be tough, but I tried my best as I read down the list and tried to pronounce the names.  I immediately had a vision of myself on the first day of school attempting to take attendance.  One by one, I butchered their names as I went down the list, leaving each one a bloody mess as it rolled off my tongue.  But listen to how good God is.  I am reading down the names and I get to the biggest one.  It's Sereywattanak.  But just to the right is a column of nicknames.  Guess what Sereywattanak's nickname is?  JIMMY!  Thank goodness, I can do this!

There and Back Again. A Teacher's Tale.

This post is intended to give some history and background on how it came about that I should be going to Cambodia at this time.

When I tell people I'm moving to Cambodia, their reactions can generally be put into two categories.  First, and the majority of people, get really excited for me and want to know more details. The second, and smaller category, usually exhibits some kind of fear or anxiety.  This can look like wide-eyed shock, or a deadpan, "huh", with a calculator behind their eyes tallying away at retirement benefits  or lack thereof.  So this post is dedicated to both groups:  the excited people who want to know more and how this came about, and also the anxious who want to know more about how this came about.

First of all, let's talk a little about international travel. Because this is clearly not everyone's cup of tea (though I can't understand why!)  During my schooling years I was able to travel with my family to Mexico and Canada for vacations or family trips.  I went on my first overseas trip after high school graduation.  A girlfriend and I went to Tahiti.  Of course that was fun and beautiful and we both came back with Tahitian tattoos on our big toes.  When I was in college, I took a month-long course on the history and culture of Jamaica.  I believe it was Jamaica that fostered a passion for travel and culture.  I loved 'living' there, even if it was only for a month.  I loved that I wasn't a tourist and had a purpose for being there. I have since been to many places.  I have been to beautiful places, but if it is just a trip for pleasure, honestly it doesn't grip me in any special way.  What really matters for me is having a purpose in the place I am visiting, and that purpose, of course, is tightly wound up in what God is doing in my life at the time.  But you may say, "In a place like Jamaica... of course!"  I'll grant you that, my dear reader.  It may be that if the first place I visited I lived in squalor, was eaten up by the local insect population, spent most of my time in the bathroom and was robbed of all my possessions, a love of the nations might not have gripped me like it has.  But that didn't happen.  So here I am.

Just for the fun of it, here's a list of the places I've been.  The longest was 3 months, the shortest was 5 minutes on a riverbank illegally, and everything in between.

1. Canada
2. Mexico
3. Tahiti
4. Jamaica
5. Australia
6. New Zealand
7. Japan
8. Cambodia
9. Vietnam
10. Thailand
11. South Africa
12. Botswana
13. Zambia
14. Zimbabwe
15. Namibia
16. Brazil
17. Belize
18. Grand Cayman

Second, let's talk missions.  For my non-Christian readers, missions is basically doing God's work, to put it in the simplest terms.  It's generally thought of as overseas work, but that doesn't have to be the case.  Christians can and should do missions anywhere.  Let me tell you how the theme of overseas missions has been woven through my life.  I got saved while reading material about missionaries.  Three times I stepped out to do something overseas and God changed it into a missions trip of some fashion.  The first happened when a family I knew decided to work with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in South Africa.  They asked me to go as a nanny to their two girls.  I said yes even though I was in the middle of my teacher credentialing program.  A few days before we flew out they suggested that I do the YWAM training course with them, and they'd look for child care on the base.  I said yes, applied and was accepted to the missionary training program (YWAM calls this a DTS, discipleship training school).  As is turns out they didn't even need a nanny because they had child care on the base and the older child did her homeschooling with another girl.  It was just God's way of getting me into the mission field.  Let me just say that the five months I lived in Africa were a mountaintop experience for me.  I developed a passion for missions and met some great girlfriends there that are still a part of my life today.  The second was when my brother got married.  I flew to Cambodia to be in their wedding, but again before I flew out a team from their church asked if I wanted to join them after the wedding. So again I said yes.  On that trip we packed Bibles in our backpacks and walked them over the border into Vietnam, did medical clinics and children's ministry in rural Cambodian villages, and passed out tracts on the streets of Bangkok, Thailand.  The third occasion is quite a story.  It had been a few years since South Africa.  I sent an email to my friend Grace (a Nigerian who continued to do mission work in S.A.) and said, "It's been a while, let's meet in the middle."  So what is midway between South Africa and California (I'll give you a moment to look at a map)  ........ Brazil!  So we met in Brazil.  I had no expectation other than to spend time with Grace.  Well Grace being Grace set up ministry for us with a Brazilian friend we both knew from our time in South Africa.  So we gave testimonies in churches, spoke in a halfway house, visited a children's home and a YWAM ministry in the slums of Rio. If you think Christians, God or the Bible are boring I hope this short account above has blown that misconception out of the water!  The point is, on each of those trips, Africa, Asia, Brazil, I never planned to do mission work, but God led me into it by working through the circumstances, events and people in my life at that time.

Third, let's talk purpose.  I am currently an elementary schoolteacher.  My gifting is with the younger children.  I have taught first and third grades and will be teaching second in Cambodia.  I know that I make a difference in my students' lives (at least some of them).  I can teach them to love school, learning, reading, etc., but all those things end with their lifetime.  They may graduate from college, get better jobs and earn more money, but those things again, will end with their lifetime.  I want to use my skills to bless children in ways that will last for all eternity.  The American public school system is not a great avenue to accomplish this.  After applying for teaching positions in Phnom Penh, I was offered two positions.  One was at a school for mostly missionary kids, the other, a Christian Cambodian school that services mostly middle class Cambodian families.  Which one did I choose? (For my teacher friends: draw a conclusion from the paragraphs about missions and purpose.)  If you chose the Cambodian school, you were right! Ding, ding, ding!  These kids might not hear the Gospel message outside of my classroom. The other kids already have great mommies and daddies that teach them about Jesus.  My purpose is clear.  I will be using my gifts and talents to further the Kingdom of God which will last forever and ever and ever. 

Lastly, why Cambodia?  It seems like an odd corner of the Earth to go to (forgive me my Asian friends).  Simply because someone asked me and I said yes.  My brother and his wife live in Cambodia.  They run an amazing orphanage and a fledgling school.  As long as I've lived in Las Vegas teaching they've asked on and off, hinted, or indirectly asked me to come to Cambodia to live and teach.  Two years ago this August I told them I would consider it and pray about it.  It's God's timing, so now I am going. 

So for the next two years I will be teaching in the city to earn my keep, learn the language, and get my land legs culturally speaking.  I will assist my brother with his ministry as well, however I can.  And after that... who knows?

 

 

In the beginning...

Welcome to my first blog post… EVER!

My hope is that this online journal will be a way for you to not only share in my adventures, but also that it will be deep and meaningful, and even a bit life changing to a certain degree as it follows my life that will be changing in major ways.

What can you expect while reading here? 

Adventure.  When living in a foreign country, the day to day things that we don’t even think about can become things of lasting memories, the subject of a great belly laugh, or major trial to surmount. Can’t imagine what I’m referring to?  Think public toilets. Think something you have never seen before and it’s been put on a plate in front of you and called ‘food’. Think public transportation. 

Culture.  We often think of culture as food, dress, or festivals, but it’s so much more than that.  It’s the way people treat their elderly, how men and women interact, their concept of time, and work ethic.  My primary goal is to be a blessing, though I know cultural faux pas will be inevitable.  I really won’t mind if you laugh at me from your computer.  At least you will be able to learn from me, so when YOU visit Cambodia you won’t make the same mistakes!

This blog will be spiritual.  I know that many of you reading this come from all walks of life.  Regardless of what part of the planet you live on, or how you’ve been raised, my hope is that this blog will be a blessing to you as you read about how God loves and interacts with people all over the world.

There will be landscapes and scenery, noises and smells.  I am very eager for you to share in all my experiences vicariously.  Isn’t this why my fellow bookies and I love to read?  We can scale craggy peaks, battle the forces of evil, go on epic journeys to lands unknown, all within the safety of our cozy homes.   Well I’m the one taking the plunge folks, but I’m taking you with me through this blog.  So fasten your seatbelts (oh wait, you don’t have to wear seatbelts in Cambodia!), keep your hands and feet safely inside the tuk tuk at all times, and enjoy the ride!

​ចូរឱ្យ​របស់​ទៅទេ!