Monday, August 8, 2011
Monday - Part II
We made it through 7 pantomimes today. Only one short of our goal so we are doing well! Everyone is doing great and working so hard. It is so awesome to see our group and the Cambodians working together. Ask us about the pig skin soup we had for lunch today when we get back.
Tomorrow we have 4 new pantomimes to teach and 7 to review. The plan is to start at 8:30 am and end at 5:30pm so it will be a long day. Please pray for endurance, patience, and joyful hearts as we finish up the Speechless rehearsals.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Jai Ho - Prodigal Son, Part 1
Just a quick update on the progress of our CMP (Chaotic Monday Practice) :
It is almost 2pm, Monday afternoon. After a quick lunch, we are back to work! We are currently working on Jai Ho (the first part of the prodigal son story), the 5th drama of the day (aiming on getting through 8). Right now, we have 4 different groups working on four different parts of the drama. Quite the chaos... good, some what organized chaos, but still chaos :D. The Cambodians are still trying to figure out how to deal with this crazy group of Americans, but they are rolling with us and learning their parts!
Please continue to pray for our progress. If you have EVER been to any Speechless practices, they are always "messy". It is much like cooking a scrumptious meal; there are a lot of parts involved (lots of ingredients and dirty dishes... and sometime spills). But in the end, the outcome is a beautiful gourmet meal, fit for the King :). So, all in all, messy is OK. Pray that our "mess" would be under control, especially when you throw in translations, cultural differences, not knowing names and abilities of the cast, and any other issues that may come up :).
Good night, our dear family. We covet your prayers as we tackle these next couple of days!
It is almost 2pm, Monday afternoon. After a quick lunch, we are back to work! We are currently working on Jai Ho (the first part of the prodigal son story), the 5th drama of the day (aiming on getting through 8). Right now, we have 4 different groups working on four different parts of the drama. Quite the chaos... good, some what organized chaos, but still chaos :D. The Cambodians are still trying to figure out how to deal with this crazy group of Americans, but they are rolling with us and learning their parts!
Please continue to pray for our progress. If you have EVER been to any Speechless practices, they are always "messy". It is much like cooking a scrumptious meal; there are a lot of parts involved (lots of ingredients and dirty dishes... and sometime spills). But in the end, the outcome is a beautiful gourmet meal, fit for the King :). So, all in all, messy is OK. Pray that our "mess" would be under control, especially when you throw in translations, cultural differences, not knowing names and abilities of the cast, and any other issues that may come up :).
Good night, our dear family. We covet your prayers as we tackle these next couple of days!
Meeting our Cambodian Brothers and Sisters!!!
It's Church Day!!! We are ALL healthy and happy today :) We got up good and early to prep for the first Speechless meeting tonight!!! Before head out into town to collect and purchase the list of goodies to complete all our props, costumes and sets, we unpacked and inspected all that we packed. Conclusion: we did a mighty good job packing and the luggage handlers were kind... just about everything is in good working order. Praise God :).
For lunch, we ventured out of our hotel with Kent and Becky Good (our missionaries in Cambodia). We took an AWESOME tuk-tuk ride to the restaurant!!! The VBS kids got to see some pictures of tuk-tuks -- they are motorcycles with a cabin/carriage attached in the back. This is a common form of transportation in this part of town. Some tuk-tuks are smaller and can only accommodate 2 or 3 people... ours held 6 :).
After lunch, we went to church at 3:00pm. It's a bit of an adjustment when most of us have gone to church first thing on Sunday mornings all our lives. This was good though... at least our minds weren't wondering and thinking about lunch :D!!! Serious, it was good to worship with our Khmer siblings. They sing a lot of American songs (in Khmer), so we were able to sing along and worship in English. Today's sermon was on Hebrews 12: 1 - 11. This part was a bit harder to follow :).
After church, we finally got to meet the Cambodian Speechless Team and had dinner with them. This team composed of teens from several different churches. God was good in allowing us to mingle with the different groups despite our language barrier.
With the general introductions out of the way, we forged ahead with "tryouts" to cast for parts for some of the dramas. The first one we worked on was Sandstorm (the one with three buckets and chains... we did this one at Friends Christian Church a few years back). It is really amazingly cool to see the Cambodian kids act out the dramas that our kids usually do!
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| Waiting for lunch... wondering if we get to order our own food?!? |
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| ... interesting menu. Don't think I can read this :D |
After lunch, we went to church at 3:00pm. It's a bit of an adjustment when most of us have gone to church first thing on Sunday mornings all our lives. This was good though... at least our minds weren't wondering and thinking about lunch :D!!! Serious, it was good to worship with our Khmer siblings. They sing a lot of American songs (in Khmer), so we were able to sing along and worship in English. Today's sermon was on Hebrews 12: 1 - 11. This part was a bit harder to follow :).
After church, we finally got to meet the Cambodian Speechless Team and had dinner with them. This team composed of teens from several different churches. God was good in allowing us to mingle with the different groups despite our language barrier.
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| Getting acquainted with the CST (Cambodian Speechless Team) - Sunday evening. |
With the general introductions out of the way, we forged ahead with "tryouts" to cast for parts for some of the dramas. The first one we worked on was Sandstorm (the one with three buckets and chains... we did this one at Friends Christian Church a few years back). It is really amazingly cool to see the Cambodian kids act out the dramas that our kids usually do!
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| Tryouts for parts |
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| Teaching the "Ashton" choreography |
All in all, today was a good, productive, and HUMID day :). We are so encouraged by the enthusiasm that the Cambodian kids bring to Speechless. We are so excited to work hard with them the next two FULL days! Please pray that the Lord will refresh us in our sleep each night, especially the next couple of days. We are looking at very ambitiously long and grueling days on Monday and Tuesday. May the Lord ready His people for this task!!!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
We are "home" - Battambang :)
Good morning, America!
We have safely arrived at Battambang. Saturday was a good travel and recovery day for the whole team.
Upon arrival, we had dinner at the Good's house. With a raging thunderstorm outside, we had a good time of eating and fellowship! In the middle of dinner, all the electricity went out!!! Our meal became a candle light dinner :). After dinner, still with candles, we sang and worshipped together... almost felt like a scene of the early house churches. We are thankful for a good time of team devotions tonight. Please pray that we will continue to draw strength from each other and from the One that gives us strength!
Off to bed now. Tomorrow is a day of prepping for Speechless practices. We will attend church at 3:00pm (1:00am in America). Then tomorrow evening, we meet the Cambodia Speechless Team and get started with Speechless!!!
A couple of people are having the beginnings of stomach issues, but most of us are doing well. Please pray that our stomachs adjust to the different (but delicious) foods quickly :).
We love you all! Hope you have a great Saturday. It was a good day on our side of the world! :)
Good night...
We have safely arrived at Battambang. Saturday was a good travel and recovery day for the whole team.
Upon arrival, we had dinner at the Good's house. With a raging thunderstorm outside, we had a good time of eating and fellowship! In the middle of dinner, all the electricity went out!!! Our meal became a candle light dinner :). After dinner, still with candles, we sang and worshipped together... almost felt like a scene of the early house churches. We are thankful for a good time of team devotions tonight. Please pray that we will continue to draw strength from each other and from the One that gives us strength!
Off to bed now. Tomorrow is a day of prepping for Speechless practices. We will attend church at 3:00pm (1:00am in America). Then tomorrow evening, we meet the Cambodia Speechless Team and get started with Speechless!!!
A couple of people are having the beginnings of stomach issues, but most of us are doing well. Please pray that our stomachs adjust to the different (but delicious) foods quickly :).
We love you all! Hope you have a great Saturday. It was a good day on our side of the world! :)
Good night...
Friday, August 5, 2011
Cyclos in Phnom Penh!
Ahhh... it only takes one night of attempting to sleep in a chair to appreciate the luxury of sleeping horizontally :). Thank you for your prayers on sleep, most of us slept well last night!
This morning, we took cyclos (pronounced si-clo-s) to breakfast. For those of you that weren't in VBS in June :), cyclos are individual baskets on wheels pushed by a man on a bicycle from behind (kind of like a wheel barrel ride pushed by a bike). We were quite the sight... 17 "white people" in 17 cyclos (including Kent and Becky Good - our missionary contacts in Cambodia) going through downtown Phnom Penh!
We had a delicious breakfast and had the chance to met up with Tim and Jessica Robertson. The Robertsons are Grace Brethren missionaries in Phnom Penh with Steve and Deb Wise (they were at our church in May).
Right now, we are on the bus headed to Battamgbang. We spent 1st hour practicing our Speechless specific Khumer words that we learned from the Cambodian doughnut shop owners in Orange (the one with the drive-thru window :)). Timothy is doing a good job counting to 4!!!
Although the weather is hot and humid (low 90s, humidity over 50% - very typical Cambodian summer weather), everybody happy and healthy.
Thank you for your continual prayers! We are grateful for our team of "prayer warriors". We will continue to keep you posted!!!
A note on the laptop situation...
Some of you have heard that the laptop that we were bringing got left at LAX. This is true. Because of some confusion and delay at the TSA security check point, our laptop didn't get retrieved when it came through the x-ray machine. We didn't realize this until our plane was taxing on the runway.
The laptop is found and is currently being held at LAX with the TSA Lost and Found. We are working out the details and downloading documents and music to run Speechless without it. God is faithful to supply modern technology, equipment, and a super IT person to field all this extra work :). We believe we have all that we need to be able to teach the dramas to the Cambodians and to be able to present Speechless next Friday.
We are thankful for glitches that make us refocus on Him! Praise God for all His resources :)
This morning, we took cyclos (pronounced si-clo-s) to breakfast. For those of you that weren't in VBS in June :), cyclos are individual baskets on wheels pushed by a man on a bicycle from behind (kind of like a wheel barrel ride pushed by a bike). We were quite the sight... 17 "white people" in 17 cyclos (including Kent and Becky Good - our missionary contacts in Cambodia) going through downtown Phnom Penh!
We had a delicious breakfast and had the chance to met up with Tim and Jessica Robertson. The Robertsons are Grace Brethren missionaries in Phnom Penh with Steve and Deb Wise (they were at our church in May).
Right now, we are on the bus headed to Battamgbang. We spent 1st hour practicing our Speechless specific Khumer words that we learned from the Cambodian doughnut shop owners in Orange (the one with the drive-thru window :)). Timothy is doing a good job counting to 4!!!
Although the weather is hot and humid (low 90s, humidity over 50% - very typical Cambodian summer weather), everybody happy and healthy.
Thank you for your continual prayers! We are grateful for our team of "prayer warriors". We will continue to keep you posted!!!
A note on the laptop situation...
Some of you have heard that the laptop that we were bringing got left at LAX. This is true. Because of some confusion and delay at the TSA security check point, our laptop didn't get retrieved when it came through the x-ray machine. We didn't realize this until our plane was taxing on the runway.
The laptop is found and is currently being held at LAX with the TSA Lost and Found. We are working out the details and downloading documents and music to run Speechless without it. God is faithful to supply modern technology, equipment, and a super IT person to field all this extra work :). We believe we have all that we need to be able to teach the dramas to the Cambodians and to be able to present Speechless next Friday.
We are thankful for glitches that make us refocus on Him! Praise God for all His resources :)
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Just touched down in Phnom Penh!
For all the parents and spouses that are keeping close tabs on our journey... we just arrived in Cambodia! We are all tired, hot and sweaty, but very excited to be done with the flying portion of our travel :).
We will check into our hotel and spend the night here in Phnom Penh. Tomorrow, we will take the notorious 6 - 8 hour bus ride to Battanbang.
Since it is lunch time (almost noon right now!), we will all work hard at not crashing until at least 6pm :D. Please pray that we will all sleep well and that there will be minimal jet lag.
We will check into our hotel and spend the night here in Phnom Penh. Tomorrow, we will take the notorious 6 - 8 hour bus ride to Battanbang.
Since it is lunch time (almost noon right now!), we will all work hard at not crashing until at least 6pm :D. Please pray that we will all sleep well and that there will be minimal jet lag.
Taiwan
So, 13 hours of flying later, we've made it to Taiwan. Just waiting for our connecting flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Should land there in Cambodia mid-day (on Friday). We will leave on Saturday morning for Battanbang - where the real work starts. Pray that we will be rested and have limited jet lag. Monday and Tuesday will be two very brutal days in the schedule - we are hopeful that we will be rested and sufficiently adjusted by then. Right now, most of the team is sprawled out here in the Taipei airport trying to catch some zzz's before we take off again. :)
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