Posts
Kontrak Village -- the building that we teach in. Younger kids are upstairs and older kids are downstairs.
Tha-Vi -- my favorite student at Kontrak! (hehehe)
Yes.... we were trying to be Kung-Fu Pandas! (Check out Connie!)
The guys wanted a picture like the girls... so they decided to try it after us !!!
Kids at Kontrak singing songs!
Kids were decorating various designs using macaroni.
These are students from Rainbow School. Unlike Kontrak, they wear uniforms and are in a more structured setting with Cambodian teachers.
This is George teaching her beginning English and phonics. She's either amused at George or really listening to what he has to say.
Students from rainbow school are either picked up on motor bikes or bicycles like the above. There are not enough sits for three people, mind you....
Victoria teaching students the alphabet at Kontrak.
Jiem Reab Soo! I hope this blog post finds everyone well! It's 9:00pm Tuesday night and I find myself in a random internet cafe shooing mosquitos away and trying to coherently recap today's events.
In the morning we went to the NIBC Center and broke up into two teams -- younger kids vs. older kids. The youngers students, ages 3 to 5, are immersed in a structured school called Rainbow School. There are four Cambodian teachers and about 25-30 students -- the cutest students in the planet! Students come to school at 8:00am, sing songs, exercise, learn English, learn Khmer, play, learn about God, and go home at 11:00am. These students are so eager to learn and the teachers here are truly dedicated. There is truly a vision to educate these students for their future as they are being equipped with the gospel and an education. I am humbled to see Cambodian teachers actually sit in a circle and pray for these student after school everyday for an hour. Our English lessons have been received with so much enthusiasm and excitement as well. The students have enjoyed them and really are thirsty for hands-on projects and activities that are often not introduced to them.
Later in the afternoon, our team heads out to another village called Kontrak. This village is out in the "boonies" -- so to speak. The missionaries have built a two-story building in the middle of nowhere. However, there are children and families to be reached out there. When they see us, they flock out in herds and greet us with such warmth and affection. The students that come are between the ages of 1 to 20 years old! Our KCPC team is currently doing a VBS type of program at Kontrak Village. We'll sing praise songs with the kids, do a bible story skit, and break out into some crafts.
My personal experience thus far?? It's still quite a bit of a surreal experience for me. I'm soaking in the rich history and culture of Cambodia, as well as trying to learn a bit of Khmer everday. I am moved by the long term missionaries here whose hearts are to serve God faithfully and boldly. Moreover, I am now fully convinced that God is truly working in Cambodia. I just found out that there are over 300 churches planted here! And today, I met a family of six from Los Angeles who are thinking about moving to Cambodia for missions work. I also met another man who used to be an assistant principal of the Los Angeles Unified School District who is visiting in hopes of being a long term missionary here as well. These people amazed me and it was a reminder that God is sovereign.
Please continue to pray for our team. Your prayers have been felt here. Our team is alwalys in good spirits and good health. We get along very well and our team solidarity has been strong. Please pray for Elise as she has been a little sick. There also seems to be a little cold going around, so please pray for that. Otherwise, the weather has been very nice, the food is really good here, and the mosquitos have been very quiet. Continue to pray for the children and the people that we are coming in contact with daily. We want to be a shining light to this dark country ---- Ah Kun! (thank you!)
