Cambodia Bible Education Centre

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...