Started off a quiet one.
The temperatures have been pleasantly lower but the rains still causing problems with flooding.
We had a week of no power as the water found its way through the building and into the electrical box. An electrician was able to find the source of the water and fixed it, but we had to then wait until the remaining water drained through the electric box and for it to dry out before re-connecting the electric. We are glad to say we now have power.
Two children had hospital visits this month. One girl had an abscess in her ear and an insect bite had caused one side of her face to swell, thankfully she is now on the mend.
The other child was being assessed for Autism. He needs further appointments and work will be done with his family which will be expensive (not sure yet how expensive), but we feel it will be of great value to our staff and his parents to know how to make his life easier and happier. We are however grateful that there are organisations in Cambodia that can help children with special needs and their families.
18th October Mark and I were married for 42 years. We are so blessed and we are looking forward to many more years together. We had a nice meal overlooking the river and like most evenings when we go out were home by 8.15pm. We thank everyone for their good wishes, we really appreciated it.
Over in Cambodia we use little Tuc Tucs to get around the city powered by liquid gas. Recently we have a new Tuc Tuc service which uses electric power. They are quiet but they have a strange name Onion (yes you read it right) we are now riding around Phnom Penh in an Onion!!!!
Preparations are now well underway for the team from Ballyhenry Presbyterian Church. They will spend their time working with our children, doing kids clubs in the village and with street kids, painting murals on the day care walls, leading worship, teaching English to the staff and much, much more. We are hoping they will contribute to the next newsletter and tell you more about their time here.
One of the staff gave me a banana to eat recently and told me it was an original banana!
We are so pleased for Sokheng our Director as she just got word that she has passed her Child Care and Education Diploma Level 3 from the UK which she did online. She worked very hard for over a year to gain this Diploma, English is not her first language so for her it was an added pressure, but she did it and with an average mark of 77%, we are so proud of her achievement.
7 of our children graduated on 28th October – they are ready now for school. There were many tears as we said goodbye, but we know they are ready to take their next step on their journey of learning. As the children were practicing their dance for their graduation party, I was watching them and looking at them all, I got very emotional, they have been with us for 4 years, two of the children looked at each other and said “Yei Yom Howie” grandma is crying already!! Yep, that summed it up nicely, I was crying that we were losing them, but happy that they are ready for the next step in the lives. We are praying for God to keep them safe and walking with Him.
We started two boys (siblings) on 27th October and will start another boy on 1 November. We have other applications to process for the rest of the places we want to fill so once the team leave, we will be busy filling these places. The home situation of the two boys is extremely difficult. The boys’ grandma wanted to keep them safe but had to go out and get money for food, so she was tying them to the wooden bed by the ankles with a rope until she came back. They need for a place with us is great so pray they settle in quickly with us. There are so many home situations here that are hard for us in the West to comprehend and we help where we can. Next year we hope to employ more staff and get more of these vulnerable children into our day care and safety.
I heard a story today and thought I would share it with you. One of our graduates asked his grandma for 500R – 12p to get some sweets, she told him “I have no money to buy food today so I am sorry I can’t. His reply was pray to Jesus. She did, and someone in the village arrived with rice and 4,000R – 90p for her, he got his 500R for his sweets. We forget how God provides for our needs when we ask even though we if we have not fully committed to him and that he is there in times of need, this little boy had confidence that God would answer his grandma’s prayer and God didn’t let him down.
Ok, enough for now.
Blessings
Liz and Mark
