Worth A Thousand Words

I am a journaler....although I am pretty sure that is not an actual word, seeing as how the dreaded red-dotted line comes up underneath it. I love to journal...I always have. I love to look back and see where I was before and what was happening in my life...and hopefully see some progress.

This year, I am not only writing in a journal, but I am documenting each day with a picture. It's called the 365 Project. Some are random...ok, most are random...but they all have some sort of correlation to what happened that day. I don't think I am going to post each one, especially since there are 28 of them up to this point, but I am going be putting a few of my favorites up here. A few have them have already shown up in previous posts...

1/364...new year, new bed, new hopes
I bought a new bed today. A big bed. And as I look at, something inside of me says "You're a grown up now." I have always slept in a twin-sized bed, all of which have been given to me by someone else. Kinda sad, as a 30-year-old, that I have never actually purchased a bed for myself. Not only is the size of the bed significant for me, there was a feeling of settling down in my new home. A sense of something great to come. Who knew a bed could say so much.

3/362...reflection

from the back of a tuk tuk on the way home from the market in Phnom Penh. If you look carefully, you can see me in the arm rest reflection. So much chaos going on and you’re never quite sure which way to look…or whether it is better just to close your eyes and not look at all.

11/354...got it covered

This is what I looked like as I trekked it to the church this afternoon. The glasses not only protect my little eyes from the sun, but they double as dust deflectors. And today was the first day that I added a mask to the get up. There is A LOT of dust and exhaust fumes and not-so-pleasant smells blowing around as I walk down the street. I feel bad, though, because when people smile and wave or say hello, they can not see me smiling back.

20/345...inhabit my praises
Psalm 22:3 says that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people and that was my prayer today. I really wish I could play guitar so that I could have personal times of worship with music...but I can't, so I made a playlist.

22/243...the surprise inside

Many people could tell testify that I am what you might call a "picky eater"...ok, a very picky eater. I have definitely gotten better over the years as I have been traveling. I still shock my family with what I will actually eat now. And I am in the school of thought that says you can eat just about anything with a smile (or at least not making a face) because you care enough to honor the person who is giving it to you. So when this was handed to me in the village, I smiled and opened it. I was grateful that I have actually eaten one of these before but the first time I had to force myself to try it. It is sticky rice with banana in the middle, wrapped and cooked in a banana leaf. I am not a fan of bananas (that is putting it mildly). This, however, doesn’t taste like banana and so I can eat it.

23/242...gone are the days

I miss being called hovde on a regular basis. I am now called headueh(r), a little known variation of Heather. I know the “th” sound is difficult for them and apparently so is the “er” at the end. The kids I live with call me hovde about half the time and I love it.

27/238...old rugged

The lesson today for the Harvesters was on sin, the cross and repentance. We had a time at the end where they could respond to the Holy Spirit and repent of anything that is keeping them from a right relationship with God…anything that would hinder God’s work in their lives as His beloved and as His witness to the world. I am excited for where God is going to take this class and what He is going to do in each one.

Blogger is back!

I know in the past I have not been terribly faithful to update my blog. But I have been doing pretty good over the last 2 months since I have been here in Cambodia. And then there was silence...and a lot that I could have been writing about since this last week was a full and busy one. The reason I didn't write (it's not an excuse, it is an actual reason) was that blogger had been blocked/shut down in Cambodia for a while. I tried to log on and post updates, only to met by the silly "server error" page. Thankfully, blogger has been opened again...but now I am a bit behind.

The BIG thing that happened is that the Harvesters Class started this past Tuesday. We have 10 students and are meeting every Tuesday and Thursday for 3 hours. I couldn't be more excited about this group of students! They have been very open to what God is doing even in the little time we have had together already. I will make sure we get a group picture to post in the next week or so.

All the weeks leading up to this have been necessary and also a great blessing to me. I have been able to plan well (and that always makes for a "Happy Heather") and prepare the lessons that I am teaching. I have a really good friend of mine working with me. His name is Seyha and he is one of those people that I feel blessed to know.

He was in the inaugural Harvesters class in 2008/09 and has a heart for missions and showing the love of God to others. He is not only translating for me, but is helping with the teaching and discipling of the students. It is a great partnership!!

One of the things that I love about what I do is getting to share with people the things that God has taught me and walking with them as they begin to see God bigger and more awesome than they did before...experiencing His truth and allowing their hearts to be full of His love. Out of the overflow of their hearts, their mouths will speak.

Friendship Camp 2011

Have you ever had those times where your heart is full of joy and you know you are in exactly where you belong? That was what this weekend felt like for me. More than once i found myself just smiling even when I was just walking from one place to another and saying to myself "I love my job!!" although it never really feels like a "job" to me.

I went to the beach for three days for the "Friendship Camp" with over 100 students from the English classes and I had such a great time. Each day was full of games, teaching and discussion groups. I was leading a group with my friend, Seyha, but he had to do most of the talking seeing as how I can only have very very basic conversation with them. Each group was named after a Bible character and we were "Team Isaac"...

Each afternoon we went to the beach to play games there, like obstacle courses having to jump over strings and shimmy under bamboo sticks before running into the water 50 yards or so into the water and back again...

This one they are not allowed to have their feet touch the ground past a certain line, but they have to get a piece of candy out of a bowl on a chair quite a ways away. The funny part of it is that the bowl is full of flour and they have to dig through with their mouths to get it out.

Sometimes I have concentrate to keep myself from falling (trust me, I have lots of stories of my not-so-graceful, quick trips to the ground), so I definitely could not have played this one. Not only are they racing from one point to another, they are doing it BLINDFOLDED!! I would barely make it walking let alone trying to run. But they went full-force, sometimes into each other.

In one of the races, right after they said "go", a guy that ran into the crowd on the side and took out at least three other people. And while us bystanders were laughing about that, another one of the racers came over to the other side where myself and a few others were standing and smacked straight into one of the spectators. He never saw it coming and no chance to brace himself. Don't worry, everyone was ok.

This was one of the move subdued games where, depending on the number called out, they had to do a certain action. For one of them, they had to bow and curtsy to each other...

There was a session set aside for a question and answer panel with the team from Australia.

And while the activities of the weekend were great, it doesn't hurt when this is the view either...

This is a shot of the whole group. I am off to the side in the semi-shade so you can't see me very well.

For many of the students, this was the first time that they had ever heard about God. And while having a lot of fun was certainly high on the priority list, the main objective of the weekend was to present truth to the students and provoke them to think and ask questions, creating a hunger to know more about God. Because these are students at the church, we will see all of them on a regular basis and are able to continue cultivating friendships with them and share more with them as time goes on.

Early Morning coming...

Tomorrow I am setting out at 6 AM for Kampong Som, a province about 4 hours southwest of Phnom Penh, to participate with the "Friendship Camp." This is a joint effort between the church that I am working with and a team from Australia. We are loading up the bus with many of the English students for 3 days of games, teaching and lots of fun!

I will have pictures and loads more details of what we did when I get back on Sunday. Please keep us all in your prayers that we will have opportunities to share the love of God with these students, to provoke them to think and ask questions about what they are hearing and seeing.

Happy Birthday Saam Bo!

This is Saam Bo.

She turned 51 years old today.

I learned this random piece of information as I was waiting with some new friends at the park where other visitors climbed on Saam Bo's back for a short ride.

I was with a team from Australia that I met at church today. After making friends over great lunch conversation, they invited me to join them for the rest of the day. On the list of activities was going to the market and to ride an elephant.

I am looking forward to see them again on Wednesday and maybe even working in a massage with one of the girls at the end of the week.

Nah Dtawh Tawh Dtowh Towh

These are just 5 of the 70+ letters of the Khmer alphabet.

I just started my tutoring this week, as well as teaching an English class too. I still remember a lot of the basics from when I was here last year, but there is so much that just does not stick in my brain. I really really really want to learn the language so that I can communicate with the world around me. There is only so much I can say in what I like to call "international charades." There are of my friends that like to speak to me only in Khmer, even though they know English very well. I catch a few words here and there and figure out what is being said through context, but I have A LOT to learn!

I admit a feel a little overwhelmed at times when I am desperately trying to pick out words I know and still feel very lost. It will get better and I will get it, but it feels hard right now. Please keep praying!!

Pepsi or Coke?

The answer in my book is always Pepsi! It also seems to be the most favored brand of gasoline in Cambodia...

Gas gauges, especially on the motos (small motorcycles), usually stay on "E" and they put a liter of gas in here and there as they need it. And while there are proper gas stations, it often comes from the side of the road shops like this.

Say hello to my little friend...

My friend was ever so kind to bring a lizard to me in the hopes of scaring me...thankfully those are not the things that make me scream and run. I just took it from him and held it for awhile. I admit I followed suit and attempted to scare a few people with it. There are a number of people that get very jumpy and swerve and dodge you when you happen to when you walk up to...ok, semi-chase...them with this. Believe it or not, they get even bigger than this. I was being nice to it...stopped holding his head too tight and even made it the star of a photo shoot...

Then it turned around and bit me on the hand, right on the tender part between my thumb and index finger. I might have let out a little scream then...and rapidly tossed it to the ground.