#20 - A busy month of August

The month of August has been quite busy! We will be moving to the new center on 1 September!   Praise God that our preparation work is underway.  Here's a long list of things in our "to-do" list in the past 3 weeks:

• School logo design and banner design
• Promotional brochures
• Looking for the right furnitures, air conditioners and other electronics
• Deciding on the right curriculum and teaching materials
• Recruiting local Cambodian teachers, receptionists, cleaner
• Recruiting volunteer from overseas to serve as short-term or long-term mission
• Writing student registration procedures, internal control policy and procedures
• and a lot more little gritty things like go buy sweep and broom and toilet papers.

Please pray for us:

a) Praise God that we have 17 candidates that apply for the local teaching position over this week.  However, it is quite a challenge in the recruitment of local Christian teachers.  There are many English teachers applying for the position, but not many are Christians.   We will be interviewing more candidates this week, please pray that God will provide the suitable ones to work in the center. 

b) We are still looking for volunteer teachers from overseas.  Please continue to pray for us for someone who would like to serve in Cambodia for short-term (2 months) or more.

c) Praise God that we received some substantial giving for the set up of the new center.  

d) We have already identified the shops to purchase the different items needed at the best possible price  e.g. desk, chairs, air conditioner, lightings, fan, banner, whiteboard, cabinets, etc.  Please continue to pray for us on a smooth transition.

e) Please pray for our student registration and pray that God will open their hearts and they will have the opportunities to hear the Gospel.  And give us the wisdom on the pricing of the classes, and choosing the right curriculum for the class.

f) Please pray for Cambodia, as the political climate is very tense.  Everyone is anticipating a big demonstration related to the election if the current government still does not allow an independent panel to investigate the election fraud before the end of next week.  Pray that God's grace on this nation.

Thomas is measuring the center to decide the size of the furnitures and the quantities. 

Thomas is discussing where to put the banners and school sign

We installed a new glass-doors to our new center

View from outside

The new center building, the second floor balcony
will soon be cover by a huge banner

The primary school is only 50 feet from the center (very close!).
Currently they are on Summer holiday until late Sept.

 Street view from the center main entrance over looking
the primary school on left and the local community.

View of students finishing school and going home
passing our center

A screenshot from the printing company of make the banner for the center.

Thomas is thinking how to put lightings, school sign,
and other things in the main entrance.

Thomas and Yi Narith (Director of Hope House Center)

A 'tin roof' is being built to provide more shade
and to protect the front of the center from heavy rain.

The worker is putting the rods for the 'tin roof'.

The worker is putting the steel poles to the other side of the 'tin roof''.

The worker is measuring the length of the frame.  

This worker climb from one side to the other side on the frame.
(He has no safety gears!  and wearing flip-flop)

Workers measuring the length of the steel structure

The frame of the tin roof finally completed.
The next step is to put the 'tin' on top of the frame.

#19 - Reflection: Driving in Phnom Penh and Living according to God’s Plan

In the past 48 hours, we witnessed 3 traffic accidents within few feet from us.  First, as we are walking to our car after grocery shopping, an earsplitting ‘BANG’ followed by the loud crying sound of a toddler instantly pierce our hearts.  When we walked closer, the boy stood up with only some light scratches and the father also stood up with the help of some bystanders.  A car trying to pull out of the parking lot too fast and hit a motorcycle with a father and a toddler on it.   On the other hand, the young couples from the car seem to have no regret whatsoever and just pick up their phone (I guess calling their insurance agent) and inspecting the damage to their own car, not even walk closer to the father or boy who got hit.

The next day, while we are scouting the bookstores for teaching materials for the new center, we saw a car with diplomatic license hit yet another motorcycle damaging the side mirror.  Apparently the car is trying to make U-turn at a u-shape path designed for cars from the opposite direction to make u-turn.   So even if he was able to make this U-turn, the car will be driving on the wrong side of the road.

The same day in the evening when I went to purchase water outside the frontgate (we need to use distilled water bottle at home as the water supplied by the city is not clean), as soon as I pulled up to the exit, and tried to look at the oncoming traffic, two young girls on a motorcycle slipped and fell less than 5 feet from my car.  I am glad they were not hurt.

Every one of us probably has complaint about a traffic light, the speed limit or a no U-Turn sign because it caused us some inconveniences.  But having been in Phnom Penh for 3 months, we realized how valuable are traffic regulations and having police enforcing the rules.  It is extremely tiring and very dangerous to drive in a place where traffic regulations mean nothing of all drivers.   But we, as Christians who knows God, sometimes forgot He is the chief engineer of this world, not us; Not only He knows what is good for us but He already has the plan.  He also gave us rules and regulations to help us live a fulfilling lives.  In our lives, we certainly don’t like to follow His rules and think we know what is the best for ourselves; just like the drivers here, they drive whichever direction they want ignoring whether the road is in the right direction and any traffic regulations. 

Will you join me in prayers to ask God to renew us individually and live a life that He has planned for us and give us courage to stand up for Him; also pray for our children to grow up knowing His truth and living a life that is of Him as they are growing up in a time and culture which God’s sovereignty is depicted as shameful and absurd.

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We would like to share some of our photos in July:

On the way when we drove to Kampot (small town) in one weekend,
we saw many of these van packed with people or goods.
It is very common to see 2 to 3 people seating on top.

It is really sad to see so many people packed in the van
in such bad condition.

On the road, we also saw people jammed into the small tuk-tuk.

One night of rain provided much water for this area to farm and
we saw many villagers farming in the rice field in the next morning. 

But the rain also caused big flood, In the next morning,
we drove through muddy road and huge puddles.

Many people enjoyed soaking in the water with their clothes!
(They are all in the back of the photo)

We stopped the car to take picture with the farm land.
Behind Gryphon and Joelle is a field with growing rice.

We drove by many of the field with cows.  They are white and skinny.

We consider this is a much better road than the muddy road with many potholes.

We visited a pepper farm in Kep (a very small town).

Hat knitted by villager nearby.

Behind Gryphon and Joelle is Gulf of Thailand.

Joelle's 5-year old birthday!  First birthday in Cambodia,
celebrated with Pastor Billy and Jeanne!

Joelle celebrated her birthday with her summer school teacher,
who raised their own fundings to Cambodia from the U.S.
to teach the summer school.

Joelle and her teacher

End of summer school performance

  

#18 - We Found the Place!!! Praise Him for His Amazing Plan!

New Hope House Center

Praise God for opening doors and guiding us to this new location.  We are amazed by God’s plan and what can happen if we let Him lead.  The new center’s location is directly opposite to the entrance of a local primary school, which is less than 50 meters away.  The number of students estimated to be 700 to 800 who will be coming in and out of the school everyday from Monday to Saturday (morning session and afternoon session).  Moreover, there is a secondary school about 600 meters down the road.  

Primary school just right across the street
with less than 50 meters away

We have secured and signed a 2-year lease for the new Hope House Center.  Our lease will start on September 1st, 2013 and we are planning to start classes around October 1st, when the government school resumes their new school term.

The building of the new center is a Khmer (Cambodian) ‘Shophouse’ style, which is like a townhouse/rowhouse in the U.S., and it is about 4 meters wide, 20 meters deep, and 3 floors high with a mezzanine floor in between the ground floor and 2nd floor.  We will utilize the ground floor as the reception area and waiting area, and we can have up to 5 classes at the same time utilizing the rooms in the mezzanine floors and the 2nd floors.  The 3rd floor is currently an open space without dry walls and ceiling (it has a tin roof currently), which can be converted to more classrooms if needed.

View from new center (Primary school less than 50 meters
and secondary school less than 600 meters)

Open space on 3rd floor (no drywall and ceiling)
can be constructed to more classrooms if needed

VOLUNTEER NEEDS:

The new center will be offering mostly English classes to children who are in primary and secondary school.  With the opening of the new center, we need volunteers to teach English from overseas to come and serve with us.  Please see more detail from the flyer below and feel free to contact us if you are interested!

Page 1

Page 2

PRAYER NEEDS:

There are so much preparation work and we really need your prayers for wisdom, good health and strength, clear guidance from God, and good teamwork with the local team, and volunteers from overseas, and last but not least is our family’s financial situation.  

FINANCIAL NEEDS:

We are very thankful that many of you have been supporting us by praying and also giving to us financially.  However, our family has only secured about USD 600 of monthly pledges (only 1/7 of our monthly needs).  We have also received one-time support from individuals in the U.S., Hong Kong and Australia that covers about 3-4 months of our needs.  Our financial needs is definitely one of our daily burden but we trust that our Lord will provide for His workers and trust that the Holy Spirit will touch your hearts and those of whom He wants to participate in meeting the needs. 

This is God’s work and we can’t do it alone, and more importantly we need your partnerships.  In the past few months, we have already amazed how God touched many of you whom we may not have known for a very long time or whom we have not seen for many years.  Please continue to pray for us for our financial needs and His work in Cambodia.

We need your prayer and your partnerships!