Cambodia Bible Education Centre

So, it's been awhile since I have written, because I have been crazy busy. This has largely been to two baptism interviews in the last week, one of which I was observing and witnessing, the other I was leading. Despite being a wonderful thing, it is still a bit of a slog. Usually, they take about 4 hours, because of translation and because of the amount we discuss. It seems excessive, but there have been problems before so it was decided to be the best course of action. I made sure we had a lunch break inbetween! Also, the adding of an extra lesson on two of my weekdays has bolstered my schedule. This is an English grammar lesson, which is still going ahead despite me warning my student that I may well speak English, but I don't know how, sometimes it just feels right and sometimes it feels wrong. So far we have been going through a workbook, I have been telling her what is right and wrong, she asks why and then we Google it. As I am on the subject of language, my Khmer is comi...

At the end of 2007, after spending six months in Cambodia, we came back to Australia, leaving behind two baptised members, thinking that we would return soon. But time passed, other things took priority, and it wasn’t until now (three years later) that we have returned (for a few weeks). In some ways the three year gap has been a good thing. We have been able to see the many positive differences that have taken place slowly over that time. The number of brethren and sisters here is now close to 40! Some of the regular students we left behind are now leaders in the ecclesia, showing true concern and love for the members. The Khmer brethren are giving exhortations and presiding. The Phnom Penh ecclesia are organizing their own activities. Some of the baptised members are assisting with teaching lessons or translating lessons for BEC students. There has been so much growth! Highlights: - Participating in a memorial meeting where the exhortation was given in Khmer and translated into Engli...

There is a sound that slowly, over time, I have come to resent: the sound of the alarm that wakes Deb and I up at 5.05am on most days. When that strumming, cheerful tune cuts through my sleep, my first thought is usually one of resentment. I spring out of bed (okay, using a little poetic licence here..) and try to avoid the gaping maw of a yawning Deb. I'm often the first person downstairs and as I'm unlocking the door the cool freshness of the morning hits me, I'm rejuvenated and I love it! The light touching the clouds with hints of pink and orange, the city still so quiet, the breeze gently rustling through the palm tree next door. A perfect moment of peace in an otherwise noisy and frantic day. Then I feel grateful that I've been able to witness another beautiful morning in Phnom Penh. Most of the fieldworkers then head to the dorm via tuk tuk where we are always greeted with happy smiles and numerous calls of "sok sabay?" before getting into classes. Gett...

So, I have been back in Kambodge for two weeks and getting into the swing of things. It was lovely to be welcomed by the other volunteers with no mention in the previous blog of my imminent arrival and a week of doing their work as they scampered off to Siem Reap. Yes, Cambodia (or the volunteers) failed to prepare sufficiently for a whinging POM. Obviously, I’m just living up to the stereotype. In fact, most of the enjoyment of our time together is exploring the Aussie and English stereotypes. The way I dunk my biscuits into hot drinks, the way they massacre our beautiful language with words like 'rattifanger' (don't ask), the intelligent English sense of humour (although, I haven't told them that most English people don't find the orange-for-a-head joke funny either), and the ha-ha-you-fell-over Aussie humour. Good times. But, in all seriousness, we have a great team here; working hard, but enjoying it at the same time. My lesson schedule has been stacking up, nic...

Well folks it’s been a while since the last one. I know that some of you have been hanging out for a blog, so my apologies for the wait. A fair few things have of course happened, so here it is… Going back about two weeks ago we had a week of holidays here for what the Khmer call something like “Phjumben day”. It was a pretty funny era of listening to the array of ‘barang’ (us foreign folk) try to correctly pronounce the word. Basically, you could tell if your pronunciation was correct judging by the amount of laughter that was that was hea rd following the attempt. So the days around a public holiday are usually deemed holidays also, and all bar one of the dorm students went back to their home province for about half a week. Before they all left we put on a movie night over at the dorms. It was a great afternoon and evening involving ‘Kungfu Panda’ (a lot of laughter) and ‘Get Smart’. The Khmer love Kungfu movies so therefore quite enjoyed the sight of an overweight Panda performing h...

Kong goes first Our time here has just about finished, which we are very sad about. The last seven and a half months have just disappeared. It doesn't seem that long ago that we were packing our things and commencing our trip in Cambodia... now we are packing our things and getting ready to leave Cambodia and we feel like we will be leaving our hearts behind when we go. But our trip here has ended on a happy note. David and I have been teaching three girls in preparation for baptism, and last Saturday before the Seminar we witnessed their baptisms. We all went over to the new dorm and we heard Kong, Sokhieng and Sokhean acknowledge their faith. It was a lovely time and we had many students arrive to see the ceremony. After the seminar we had a fabulous dinner, laid on by Sister Theavy and her hard-working crew, and spent time with all the visitors and dormers. This is the day In Cambodia, we don't settle for offering t...

Class in the orphanage One Thursday a couple of weeks ago we all headed off in a van for the day, to visit an orphanage in Takeo province, south of the capital. We headed off at around 7am for a drive of an hour or so... two and a half hours later we got there - perhaps the estimate was a little optimistic. On the way, it was lovely to see the countryside once again and all the green rice paddies. We eventually arrived at the orphanage/school, and we were introduced to the children, who were ever-so-friendly - so much so that we basically had to peel them off us when it came time to leave. Some of the children here were orphans, while for others their families couldn't afford to look after them. These children were really excited to see us and all came out as soon as they could to talk to us. Tobi and Tavi were pounced apon, much to their disapproval! When we asked some of these children their age we were amazed to discover that they were a lot older than they looked. This ...

Over the last few weeks we have had a few intriguing events taking place here at the BEC.   Our silicony window sill First up: a few complaints were being whispered around the BEC about windows leaking when it rained, so Vitou was on the blower to the landlord, and before we knew it the fik-it men were here to remedy the problem. Two men arrived and were duly shown the windows and the locations where leaks were to be encountered. Our bedroom windows didn't actually leak but it seems it was deemed necessary that virtually every window in the house should be fixed regardless! Silicone was the solution of the day, and so it was applied liberally around the frames, the sashes, the tracks, the flyscreens and even some on the glass itself. Problem fixed, the fik-it ('x' is more or less unpronounceable to Khmer speakers) men left!  It wasn't until a while later when we decided it was time to open windows to clear the...

This week has seen the Bethezer boys dormitory move to the new premises which is a few streets away from the old dorms. The girls dormitory moved a few weeks ago and it’s good to have all the students at one location again as the two locations made logistics for the early morning dorm class a little bit more interesting. The early morning dorm class, led by Dan and Kez, is currently looking at the book of James. Dan has recently purchased (as opposed to qualifying for..) his moto licence. Such is his love for his shiny new helmet, resembling a lady beetle, that he’s been known to eat, sleep and ride in it. We have been blessed with a deluge of new students at the BEC. The new teaching schedule now includes classes on both levels of the rooftop of a Sunday morning. Sunday is always a bustle of activity with the BEC bursting at the seams with people and the class rooms being used for back to back lessons. The roof was the only space left available and we’re thrilled to have so many peopl...

Last weekend the BEC held its ‘Outreach’ program. The ‘Outreach’ program happens once a month, when contacts living outside of Phnom Penh come to the BEC for a series of studies. This month we also had seven LCDI students (who have been attending Bible studies at LCDI) come and stay. The theme for the weekend was “Reasons to Believe the Bible.” The program started on Friday evening with a two part study on the history of world empires in the Middle East. This was done by Dan with dinner served in between the two sessions. The following morning Dan did a review (as this topic is a lot to take in when you are hearing it for the first time!) as well as a talk based on Daniel Chapter 2 and how we can see that a kingdom of God is coming to the earth. The following talk was done by Deb about bible inspiration and bible echoes. After lunch, Kerren did a session on the topic “Creation: Design or Chance?” which we followed up by showing the students a documentary on the diversity of life...

At the conclusion of Sunday's meeting, Dan stood up and said he had an announcement to make... and proudly stated that he had asked Gaye to marry him, and that her answer was in the affirmative. It seems that the question was popped at the top of Udong Mountain on Saturday (but not inside the wat, Dan assures us). They plan to have a formal engagement ceremony in Thailand near the end of the year. Congratulations!

On Sunday 22 August we had another baptism here in Cambodia – the third in as many weeks. As the date had already been earmarked for an ecclesial social activity, it was decided that the baptism would take place on Koh Dach Island in the middle of the Mekong River. Don't worry: we took Care ourselves and we didn't pay any parrks So a contingent of 40 or so ended up travelling out to the island, either by moto or tuk tuk, negotiating a ferry across the Mekong River in the process. In our tuktuk were Kerren , , Michael and David and I, and we set off on the hour’s ride to get there. It seemed that Dike hadn’t been informed which ferry crossing we should take, as he took us down side roads to what seemed to be just about every landing site on that stretch of the Mekong. Every landing site seemed to be located next door to a wat – perhaps for good luck on the river crossing? Eventually we got to the correct ferry crossing, and met the other tuktuk that had been waiting for us. A...

On Friday, Michael and I set off to teach Bible lessons at LCDI. Michael rode with Holy (vice-director of LCDI) and Brother Vanny took me, and we moto-ed the 20-or-so-km trip out from Phnom Penh. Arriving at LCDI, there were a team of Koreans hard at work. They had built a new mezzanine floor into the boy's dorm to increase the accomodation there, and now were at work planting banana trees. Each Friday afternoon, we have a class of around 12-15 students for Bible lessons. This time, I took the first lesson, crawling verse-by-verse through the record of creation from Genesis 1. After the better part of two hours of teaching, we reached the Sabbath rest. But before we knew it, the students were back, ready to launch into the next lesson, this time Michael explaining the creation of Adam and the nature of human existence. The group are always enthusiastic, keen to read, to learn, and to ask questions. One boy in particular was adept at firing more philosoophical questions relating to ...

We were glad to witness the baptism of Top Sokun yesterday. Bro Sokun is the first of our ‘biker’ students to be baptised. With many of the dorm students present, Brother "K" presided over the baptism, quoting John 3:5 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." The ‘biker’ program was established by Bro and Sis Steve and Lynne during their time in Cambodia as a way of assisting L-CDI students who wished to study the gospel to get to the BEC three times a week. Donated bicycles allowed them to ride to and from the BEC and study with the teachers here. Many people have contributed to this baptism. Brother Raju Devis who made first contact with the school, the Armes' and others, including the WCF, who have very generously donated large sums of money to keep the L-CDI school open over the last few years have made it possible for Sokun to choose to study the Name of Jesus Christ and the things concer...

Chum reap sua puekmaak [translation: greetings friends]!! It’s currently monsoon season here but only now do us newbies really believe it. Last night provided a spectacular display of the awesome power of nature. Some of the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard was crackling through the night as rain bucketed down in torrents temporarily turning our street into an ankle deep river. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in the downpour (momentary sympathy for Michael, David and Dan M) returned completely drenched and bringing stories of knee high flooding in a few places. This morning team intrepid, comprising of Dan and Kez, Dan M and Vitou, hit the ever so slightly soggy streets (humidity reigns supreme once more) to head out to Preah Vihear Province. Over the next few days they will be meeting up with two long term contacts to continue discussions on the Bible. The contacts have invited some of their friends along for the discussions. Please pray for them as they share the Good News of Th...

Hi all, I thought it might be nice to post one of loy's great recipies. She has given approval for her excellent custard pumpkin to go up. I know it sounds weird, but it is generally rated much better than glutinous rice balls. Go on, give it a go. Loy’s Pumpkin Custard Recip e Ingredients - Pumpkin ½ Kg - ½ cup of brown sugar - ½ cup of white sugar - 1/3 cup of Condemn milk - 5-7 eggs inside yellow only - 1 cup of coconut milk - ½ of milk powder - 1 tea spoon of Cinnamon - Pinch of salt How to make it: Pumpkin cut on the top around its stalk and talks off the seed and vein inside and clean the hole nicely. All the Ingredients well mixt together, than ready to put inside the pumpkin’s hole And put the stalk to cover on the top of Custard to steam for 45 minutes, see if it like this below. Sometime it takes longer than 45minutes to steam. But don’t forget put your love in there too.