Cambodia Bible Education Centre

Firstly, sorry everyone for the lack of blogs! It has been my ‘turn’ for the last 3 weeks, which I have managed to promptly forget about at the close of each Tuesday fieldworker meeting. So, the events of the last few weeks... Firstly, we said goodbye to Jess P who was here for what felt like a very fast 3 months. I still get asked when I go to LCDI, “Where is your sister-in-law?” and upon explanation “Oh, I miss her! When is she coming back?” (So no pressure Jess, but when are you coming back?:) ) Next, my parents, (Dan and Ros), arrived for their 3 week visit, bringing with them all the way from Australia a scale model of the tabernacle. We held our Saturday night Seminar at the dorm on the tabernacle, then held two more sessions for the ecclesia on the Sunday afternoon/evening, with an ecclesial dinner in between. On Sunday we ran through Exodus 40, setting up the tabernacle in the order Moses was commanded, learning about what the furniture represented as we set it up. Ever...

During this trip I have come to realise the enormity of language, and how language can act as a barrier or a never ending topic of conversation when living in another country. As mentioned in a previous blog I found it to be a great blessing for me to have several native English speakers living at the BEC when I arrived, as it made the transition into life and routine here so much easier for me. I have a very poor grasp of even basic Khmer language, and as I speak too quickly and I also have a Queensland Australian accent, so my speech can often be difficult for many of the locals (I am attempting to remember to try and speak at a more reasonable pace). Now that I have picked up a few Khmer basics it is amazing see the different reactions an attempt (even a poor one) at speaking the local lingo has upon the person to whom I address. Many are most often pleasantly surprised that a foreigner not only knows a handful of Khmer words, but would attempt to employ them, and the use of a ‘hel...