You all have probably wondered where in the World is Jeanette????? I am alive and in Cambodia. There are slower internet cafes here and due to ministry times it has been a challenge to post anything! But I am proud to announce the whereabouts of my destination while we are in Cambodia. Are you ready…You sure?
We are staying at the church, New Life in Christ just outside of the capital city, Phnom Penh. We are mainly working with Pastor Keat Kove. The house dorm rooms have ceiling fans (much needed in the humid 85 deg. weather) with our own toilet and shower (and not squatty pottyJ). While we have been here we work with the church mainly in the evenings. In the mid afternoons we have been walking the neighborhoods and meeting the community. This has been great! We have met several people who are courageous to speak English with us. I really enjoy this time and wait in anticipation to see how God continues to develop these friendships. From 4:15-5:15 we meet with some of the youth to disciple. Pastor Kove’s heart is for the younger adults. When they become a believer in Christ it is very challenging to come to church without their parents objecting, so this time of hanging and talking with other believers before English classes is very beneficial. But due to the school sessions beginning, it has been hard for the girls to come early to meet. Please pray for open opportunities. Then from 5:30-6:30, M-F, the church offers free English classes. This is a great opportunity to share the knowledge of Jesus through the scriptures. I have been working with the older age group which is more advanced. It has been an amazing time going through the first chapter of James. We read for pronunciation, and then go through and explain vocabulary and then again continue with ongoing conversation skills. This has been something I have really enjoyed doing! On Saturday nights we will be working with and leading the Youth Group at night. Hopefully with meeting all of the youth it will encourage them to come around more to fellowship.
We also get to work along side a neighboring orphanage. CPCDO is an orphanage that takes care of about 60 children. They provide English classes, music classes, sports, and other activities for these kids. It is not a Christian orphanage but it has received a lot of support and involvement from many Christians around the world. Because of this, most of the staff and children have become Christians and they now allow teams to teach the Bible. We work at the orphanage from 9-11:30. There is already a volunteer woman from Germany teaching English this month, so it has been great to just play with the children, hold the newborns, hand wash clothes, and assist in any other helpful ways. The kids there are so lovely and affectionate despite the circumstances of their lives. New Life in Christ Church also has a preschool, so for some of the days a couple of us girls are assisting and teaching English to preschool-2nd, from 8:30-11:15. There are other opportunities to go to the University down the street to do friendship evangelism and to go to a village to teach English and minister to other Christians there. Sooo, there is so much to dive into! This has been a great opportunity for our team to really pray about where our passions and gifting fit best into. It is pretty cool too, to have found your niche for the month and to be used fully. So we will see what the Lord has in store! There will be pictures posted and plenty of sceneries of Cambodia coming soon to a computer near you! So please stay tuned.
