Cambodia Bible Education Centre

Hi! This is Abi van Heerden reporting live from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We have just experienced one of the biggest changes yet made to the BEC! ...Can I hear a drum roll please.................... (sound of drums) ....... 'THE BIG BEC MOVE!" We first came to view the new premises with a team of 'expert' field workers on 20 March, my very first day here in Cambodia. Our first impression was...'wow this place is green!!!' and secondly 'wow - this place is flash in comparison to the old BEC - maybe a little too flash for a teaching institution?'. However, after much debating and jotting down a list of pros and cons by marvelous Miriam, and making a few minor changes, like replacing a pretentious chandelier for a basic ceiling fan, it was later decided that the move was a GO! And so began our quest for boxes and more boxes. We packed up the BEC in only 2 days, because it clashed with Khmer New Year which falls over 13 - 15 April. Over these 3 days everythi...

So, it’s about time for some long awaited news about L-CDI, and I’m pleased to say there there’s a fair bit of news to share. As most of you may know L-CDI stands for Leadership Character Development Institute. The aim of the school is to teach English to Students as well as develop practical life skills that are useful in getting work and maintaining a positive life. I can certainly tell you after staying with the students for four days teaching and working, it’s hard to avoid a bit of the ol’ character development rubbing off on you! Last week Dan and myself had the opportunity to visit and stay at the new L-CDI site in Kandal. It is slightly less than an hour tuk tuk trip from Phnom Penh, and it sits about a minute walk from some markets, a few shops and a thumping big bank that is getting built a little further on. When we first saw the site a few weeks ago it was covered in banana palms, ants, mango and Jackfruit trees, and the only sign of civilization was the main house, the kit...

Finally…. Another Blog is posted The lot fell to me to write this next blog. I admit, I was meant to get it done last week… but not being a natural writer, inspiration is hard to come by! I was even so slow at getting this up, that I've been pipped at the post by another, more prompt fieldworker, very quick on their reporting of Day's baptism. I'm glad there are others more on the ball than myself :). What has happened since our last update? Well, there are always things going on at the BEC… the daily ebb and flow of students coming in and going out is what our lives revolve around. In general, our student population remains pretty stable. We have our “regular”attendees who rarely miss a class, and those who turn up when they are not too busy. The schedule changes weekly – we lose some students and gain some students. At the moment, many of our classes have moved to the dormitories and it looks as if we may get more regular attendance from them by making this change. As a g...

6:30 am Sunday 28th March 2010. As night gives way to day, darkness to light, Cambodia is blessed with yet another shining light in this place declaring a way of life and truth that remains the same regardless of time and culture. Our new brother, named Day, has been regularly attending bible studies with field workers, mainly with our American brother Gary, and demonstrated in his baptism interview a solid grounding in the 1st principles with a genuine commitment to follow his Lord. The baptism involved an early morning rise and several relocations along the river bank until a suitable place was found without too many people, too many smells or too much pollution. Here, with his brothers, sisters and friends standing on the bank and brethren Gary and Vitou standing in the water along side him, Day clearly said ‘I do’ and was lowered into the murky water before coming out a new brother. The group that went broke out in a suitable song lead by sister Loy, ‘this is the Day that the Lord...

We arrived in Phnom Penh around 11am, after a rather bumpy and sleepless night and feeling somewhat exhausted. Observing the country from the plane it looked rather dry and dusty, but quite heavily built up. Michael and Miriam met us at the airport and we were introduced to Tuk tuks. Similar to a horse and cart but instead of a horse it has a motor bike. Even in our rather weary state we couldn’t help notice the noise, the traffic, and the chaos. All very different to what we have been used to.Once arriving at the BEC we then met quite a few people and then had to commence in learning every ones name. Not quite so easy! The first day or two we spent getting used to things and where we were and the warm weather. The weather is definitely getting warmer, we can notice it even after only being here a week! Cold showers are the best invention, although they only keep you cool while you’re in them! As soon you turn the water off, you start steaming again. On Saturday we went over to the Bet...

I arrived in Phnom Penh at the respectable hour of 9:30am on January 16, after a bumpy flight from Melbourne to Singapore. The usual hustle and bustle of tuk tuk drivers greeted me – always a fun thing when one is completely worn out. The typical driver is purely interested in securing your person on their bike. Getting you to your correct destination at a reasonable price? Well, they are often a lot less interested in that. It is amusing that tuk tuk drivers expect utmost faithfulness (akin to that in a marriage); if you choose another tuk tuk when your usual driver is within view, this is a fate worse than death! Unfaithfulness to your normal tuk tuk driver is a crime, irrespective of whether the legislation says so!! When I arrived, the P2P trips to the provinces had only just finished, and most P2P-ers had departed back to their home towns. Nonetheless, Tom and Zach from Sydney, as well as Simon from the UK and Robin from NZ were still onboard. Tom and Zach departed a few days foll...

A group of P2Pers and local Khmer went for a action-packed few days in the Provinces recently. 4 Aussies, 4 Khmer, one Kiwi, one Yank, and one fearless, faultless leader, the Brit! We visited Battambang and Sisophon, with a few village stops on the way and Angkor Wat on the way home. Under the guidance of the schedule organizer, Vong, our task was to try and infiltrate his organizational mind with limited skills in either language and find out what on earth we were doing next. We were constantly surprised as we turned up to a local school with 200 children waiting for us to expound to them the delicate and finer details of the English language. I exaggerate slightly, we did usually have 48 hours advance warning of what we were supposed to do, the only vital informations missing was how much English they spoke, whether we had any translators, or even how old they were! So, the majority of our planning was adapted on the spot anyway. We've all had regular feelings of 'oh crud, wh...