feb

Ream made her first visit to the states with her main goal of renewing her green card and filing taxes.
She was so happy to call and tell me of the warm reception she had received. She had a difficult time getting there with out me. Once she had arrived the friendly people of Fallbrook and Anaheim where so kind to help.
Thank you so much to all the people that had taken care of Ream and baby for me.
It makes me look forward to Christmas.

Life has been busy here with all kinds of reports to do for the end of the year and the new year. We had team in the area doing clinics; dental, eye and women clinics. Are good friend Dusty was on this team. Cambodia is such a good place for Dusty. Dusty is always cold and loves to bike ride. Here it is never cold and everyone rides bikes or motos. We hear tails that Dust plans many trips back to Cambodia which is exciting.
We thank the Dentist and Eyeglass people who came and saw the children.
The dentist was a hard worker. She pulled and pulled all day long and from what I saw enjoyed every minute. It is a lot of fun to have someone visit that love what they are doing.
I have to say the most enjoyable part of meeting them was when the dentist said my teeth where fine. :)
I also would like to note that Calvary Alpine was responsible for this team coming and to thank Pastor Drew Mc entire for his visit and leading such a hard working team.

I would like to extend an invite to Calvary Honolulu and my friends Pastor Bud Stonebreaker and Dave Riddaskjold who said they might come this year.
I would really like to learn how to roast a pig and how to make Kuala pork. A team member that could teach us this would be valuable.
Mostly I miss your friendship and Bud teachings.

I would like to thank a Pastor Tom Fenholt Calvary Huntington Beach for your interest in what we are doing here. Since we are not in the city it is hard for us to keep regular contact. As we get more help we would hope to put out better information.

Thank you Luke Gernandt for the help you shown my family here, we where so impressed with your daughter Bree. To be young and pretty to have a good heart like she does says a lot to me about the kind of father you are. We do look forward to your return.

I would also like to think my sister for coming back. Her first trip was a little challenging with sickness heat
She just got her first teaching job. She had to move to Las Vegas to find it but it seems to be a real blessing for her. She says that the community is very teacher friendly and that people stop to thank her for coming to be a teacher.
So she came during her first break to help teach our children. I think she had fun and did not get to sick this time.

We’ll as for the update we received 2 new boys in January Tate and Tong. They are very kind and smart. When they arrived in the middle of the week we held the out of school until Monday. It gave us a chance to make them comfortable before facing a new school and new kids.
They got their blood test done and we received all their paper work from the care taker.
We had the chance to watch them study and find out how they where doing in school.
Tong our third grader was helping our eighth grader with his reading.
I turns out both boys had gone to a foreign supported school and are much more advanced then the others. The school they attend now is unsupported.
So when Monday came around it had seemed like Tate and Tong had been here for years. Their adjustment happened over night. We enrolled them into school a grade higher instead of 2nd and 3rd they are in 3rd and 4th grade and are nearing the top of the class.
It is such a relief to take an unknown child into your hands and have them be so easy to handle.

I would note that Tate and Tong are not Christians yet but will have no difficulty making that change when the time comes.

We have had the difficulty of telling families no to their children coming. The one recently was a child I recognized from a year ago. He was a so called tour guide in a nearby temple. He seems like a good child and we would have like to have him here but we could not take him. His family has too many options to explore before she gives him to us.

Tate and Tong came from a widow who has 8 children at home and 2 grandchildren. Because she was losing her eye sight and could not work or earn enough money that we felt lead to take them.

The rest of the children are advancing in school Channee was most improved went from 33 place to 8th in his class of almost 50. Mostly it is because he goes to school now.

Chow and Melor lost one of their grandmas this week her funeral was down the street so we got to listen to it all night for three days.
It is a funny thing here. They put her in the coffin about 10 feet in the air right at the edge of the road. Over a loud speaker they blast the same songs over and over, on and off the will monks chant. At night they will shoot off a firework or two and on the third day right at the edge of the road they burn the body, a giant burning inferno and if your down wind that’s to bad your smelling grandma all night.
So on the third day there is lots of the same only longer and louder they where shooting firework off until 11 or so at night. They are trying to scare the evil spirits away so her spirit can go where ever it is going.
I though to day to myself for a religion based around finding inner peace, the country is walking around scared.
What I think the catch is that the monk scares the people in to believing their needed so they have a job in getting rid of what scares them. What a big silly circle Asia is running in. It is hard to believe they can’t see out of it.
All of our children are scared of ghost, even the Christians. None of the children will go upstairs by themselves they always travel in packs.