What's Been Going On

We've been busy over the summer with our ministries and we wanted to give an update on everything that is going on.  First off Logos, school started on Monday for Chris, but this time in an entirely new role.  He is half administrator and half teacher.  He will be teaching one class this year and then filling his schedule with developing the schools curriculum to meet their ACSI standards for grades 5 -12.  He will also be responsible for the school's teacher coaching and observations.  The new role is very exciting and something Chris is excited to begin.  His afternoons and morning will be full of coaching boys basketball, girls and boys soccer, being the student government sponsor, leading the 12th grade homeroom, and a HS boys bible study.  This go around it seems a little less daunting than last year because we have a much better grip on language, culture, how to get around the city, where to eat, and Cambodia in general. 

Next up, Cambodia Bike Project (CBP), this really took flight over the summer with Chris starting to create awareness for the needs of bikes and how much they can change lives in Cambodia.  To read more on the project go here or read about on Facebook here.  Over the summer over 15 bikes were donated by friends or visitors that passed through Phnom Penh and we were able to make the first donation about a week ago.  The first bike to be given went to a woman who is a client of an organization called Precious Woman, who works with bar girls here in the city.  This woman now is able to leave her old life and begin school at her vocational training site now that she has the transportation to get there.  We are excited to give out more bikes next week in the community of Stung Meanchey with our other partner organization Kone Kmeng.

Staff of Precious Woman accepting the first donated bike.

Last up, Prek Pneu, we have been asking for your prayers as we look for a facility in this community to be the site of catch-up school for children, community workshops for adults, and a platform for any community development projects.  All of these combined will help protect the at-risk children that live in Prek Pneu.  The day after we arrived home from China we went out again looking for a facility, this time we found one.  We signed the lease contract on the 1st and gave the building a big clean out last Friday.  Now Americans have a tendency to he hyper clean and Cambodians have a tendency to never clean, so thus another culture clash that made for a very dirty Friday.  With the help of a group of 10 volunteers we were able to take out 9 very large trash bags fulls of dirt, dust, cob webs, trash and other fine gems.  Starting on Thursday we have a construction team coming in to do a bathroom and kitchen overhaul and painting will also commence.  This is very exciting and such a huge answer to prayer.  Below are the "Before" pictures and stayed tuned in a few weeks for the "After."

 

Thanks for your prayers and support through all of this and we look forward to the beginning of year two here in Cambodia!