BEAUTIFUL (SAAT)

chum reap soo (hello) from cambodia!
a week has passed and we are past the halfway point. deacon james, ellise, and victoria has left us. their presence was so big that the team feels so small now.

i titled this post beautiful (saat in khmer) because 1. the song is stuck in my head (jesus is beautiful... and He makes beautiful things of my life) but also because God has shown me so much beauty throughout this trip. starting with you guys. i read your support letters and many of you said we have beautiful feet (how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news Romans 10:15) but you guys have beautiful hearts. i truly am touched and encouraged by your support, prayers, good wishes through fasting, seeing us off at the airport, buying us snacks for our journey, etc. knowing our entire church is praying for us really lifted so much of my anxiety and fears about this trip.

the land of Cambodia is so beautiful, with such luscious greenery. we visited Ankgor Wat this weekend and was in awe. the handcarved stones, held together soley by their own weight. the man-made moat was breathtaking. i could cry from the beauty.

this weekend, we also attended the children's worship service, and i was amazed to see many of our Contrak kids there! i was encouraged that God is working through NIBC and the long term missionaries. even during our prayer walk, i met a local family who asked what i was doing there. i told them i was teaching at NIBC, and they knew of it, asking if that was a church. God is slowly but surely changing lives in Cambodia.

the children of Cambodia are beautiful. beautifully adorable on the outside and beautifully unspoiled and bold on the inside. they joyfully and diligently help me to pick up trash, they finish eating everything on their plates, they run barefoot alone in the rain and open terrain and find grasshoppers as pets. they just love to laugh, sing, jump, cling, and play. i feel like they show me so much more love than i am showing them. they show me so much affection even though they don't know who i am. even though i don't speak their language, they don't stop running to me and embracing me.

thank you again for your prayers and support, here are some specific things to pray for:

prayer requests:
for us to trust in God's sovereignty in the saving of lives
that the children and people of Cambodia will come to know and love God
missionaries to be continually renewed and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, for more long term missionaries to serve in Cambodia, and for growth of their ministries
team building, praying, and lesson preparations, for energy, wisdom, and love in teaching and interacting with the kids
continued health and protection both spriritual and physical. the team is battling a mild bout of stomachache and illness, please pray for quick healing

sra lan (love),
nancy



Eun-Sook and I dueling inside Angkor Wat




Brian and Angie doing the same inside the Bayon Temple




one of the 4 (charity, compassion, sympathy, and equanimity) smiling faces of the Buddha at the gate of Angkor Tom




Reverend Ryan's thumb and teaching his students about the countries of the world at Contrak







a precious moments girl saying her prayers at Rainbow School







Contrak kids singing "Praise the Lord!"







Rev Ryan and I with some of our students at NIBC



the trees at Tonle Sap (largest lake in Southeast Asia) look flooded but actually will look normal as the monsoon season subsides






team sharing at the missionaries' home




the girls found an imaginary window atop one of the Hindu temples in Angkor Tom




beautiful children at Contrak




team with SK Lee in front of our hotel



beautiful sisters =)





and one of his favorite students holding his lil bro




one of our students running up the stairs at contrak




JP messing around with his favorite girl at contrak



student standing in the window of her home-- made out of banana leaves!




nekru (teacher) eun-sook with students at rainbow school

jps blog

Favorite #1
Favorite #2
Team at Rainbow with the rascals.
BOY(thats his name)! He has A.D.D

Team at Angkor WHAT!?!?!?!?!
Look, Eunsook looks tall!
Tonle Sap! Kid chilling in his styrofoam floater.
Local kids at Tonle Sap in their play hut.
BOPHA! Look at those eyes.

Witu and Vuta (brothers), kids from Rainbow School, chilling at their fruit stand.
Nancy, Eunsook and I in front of Angkor Tom.
One of many group pictures taken today.
who are those two handsome guys?
Look at our Buddha faces!! No, look at Angie's Buddha face. hahaha

Favorite #2

After Kontrak, we visited a local students hut.
LANNA!!!!!!!!! I gonna bring her home.
Favorite #1

whats up everyone!! first i want to thank all our supporters for their prayers!! its been really encouraging to know that we have people back home praying consistently for us. so again, AH KUN (thats thank you in khmer)!!!! we reached the end of our first week, and i must say that its been truly an amazing one. because of your prayers, the team and i have not run into any serious complications. besides some slight fatigue, HUMIDITY, and these freaken mosquitoes, God has truly been blessing us here in cambodia.

today at dinner george, ben, pastor ryan found ourselves in a conversation about how the trip has been for us so far. initially, george asked angie at the dinner table what she learned and got out of the trip here last year. when i interjected and had a chance to share my thoughts and feelings, it was the first time i heard myself speaking aloud about whats been going thru my mind. although i felt slightly timid to share at first, i felt an urgency to want to share. in preparation of this trip, i assumed that i was going to feel much sympathy for the people here. i was expecting to see poverty at its greatest, and to want to help. since ive been here, i have not once felt sympathetic for the people because of their living conditions. although, compared to "our standards of living", these people may appear to not have much, they seem very content. the children are happy and the parents do not display any expression of feeling unfortunate. i almost want to say that i am envious of them. witnessing this has been very humbling. i soon began to question why we were here.

although they seem fine on the surface, God has illstrated to me that theyre living in a Godless country. though these people here seem to have what they need, they lack in Christ. please pray for the people here for they desperately need it.

quick prayer requests:

- victoria, elise and her dad are departing tomorrow. please pray for safe travel.

- tomorrow we are having a prayer walk in the city. Were going to visit an orphanage in siem reap.

-health and perseverance!

Love you all!!

In Him,

JP

Day 2 (Eun-Sook)

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!)

First days of Siem Reap

Brian & Angie with their English class comprised of locals. They make a good team.
Eunsook with some children from the Kontrak village on our first day.
P. Ryan's conception of a team pyramid coming to fruition. Success!
First team shot with everybody, including Hwayun, Sora, and Borean. Good looking group, huh?
Group shot of the children at Rainbow school, the kindergarten which includes English language curriculum. It is directed by Jarunee, a Thai missionary who decided to serve in Cambodia.
JP teaching gang signs to the children.
Group shot of the younger children at Kontrak. After we arrived, the children continued to stream in, their ages ranging from 1 to 21 years old.
George's class of 10 and 11-year old boys. Though this is a still shot, they hardly stayed still. Notice only two boys are sitting down, while four are practically on their feet, and one child is gone wandering around.
Picture from Siem Reap Int'l Airport. Felt pretty Indiana Jones-ish to come off a double propeller plane onto the tarmac.
Downtown Siem Reap on Sunday afternoon. A mild traffic day.

(From P. Ryan)
Hello supporters...

Since we've arrived, we have worked hard at getting ready for the various ministries here at Siem Reap. Today, Monday over here, was the first full day of work and boy what a day we had!
The children are beautiful here and so affectionate. They want to jump all over you. Everyone put in their share in giving to the children as much love and care as possible. The older kids are so eager to learn. The time went by so quickly... we barely had time to get tired or complain about the heat. George reminded us last night before the mad rush began to always try and be thankful... God answered our prayers in keeping us so preoccupied with work at hand, we had no time to complain.

As the day comes to a close, we can't help but to wonder about how you are back at home. How was church? How is the weather? We are so grateful for your prayer support, we feel your prayers. Keep on praying for us. It was just one day yet we feel so blessed.

As for me, I am learning so much about this country. I am so encouraged to see how much Cambodia has recovered since the war. People are so busy at work... they get up so early and are busy at work by the time we get up to get ready for the day. I was walking to the Rainbow School, where we were teaching, this morning at 7 am and the people were taking breaks from their morning work. I prayed that God fill this place with his love and with good Christians who can show them true hope and recovery through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As I see the eagerness in the people to move on from the past, I can't help but to wish for them a grander future in Christ. Cambodia needs much prayer and many, many workers to come and share God's love.

Pray for us to keep up the energy. We have such a great team. Everyone is getting along great but the work is tiresome. Pray that we will not lose steam and keep focusing on the love of Christ who will replenish us so that we can share it with those God sends our way. Pray also for opportunities for us to share the Gospel with them. We need wisdom and discernment to know when and how to share it. Pray that we don't get too wrapped up in teaching them English and playing games with them that we lose sight of why we really came. (Sometimes it's so hard... they are so cute...)

Signing off. Really tired. Others will be posting more.
Good night everyone. God bless...
From Siem Reap.
Pastor Ryan

Off we go

We're off to Siem Reap, Cambodia.



We are anxious to get to Siem Reap. For most of us, the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activities and preparation. Please check this blog semi-daily for updates.

We'll post again in Siem Reap! Thank you for your prayer support.

-G.C.

Team 2008

We just finalized the team that will be going back to Cambodia this summer. It's very exciting for our church to be returning for a second year with an organization that is in the early stages of its growth. From what we've heard from some the org. leaders, there's been a lot of new developments and God is continuing to work in the region.

We return with a lot of humility and eagerness. Some of the lessons from last year taught us that in our flesh and bone, we only bring so much to the table, but with the unlimited potential of God working through the Holy Spirit, we know miracles can happen through the Gospel. Our goal is to keep our visions and prayers God-sized.

We thank you for coming to this site to support our team. We will provide updates to our training and our time there as time permits. We will be in Cambodia the first two weeks of August. More details will follow.

If you want to support us financially and would like more information, please email us at missions (at) sfkcpc.org.

Thanks!

(Picture above was last year's team with another visiting team from S. Korea and some local congregation members)

G.C.