Wednesday, June 3, 2015

June 3

    Greetings from your future...just kidding...sorta. ;) (I am 11 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone)

       First of all I would like to start out with a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY!!! The little man is 2 years old today. I remember back to the day I heard that they were expecting little Zachary and now look at him; the perfect little toddler. Not meaning perfect in any way, but he is a toddler for sure! So fun and energetic and very interested in building things. He loves his blocks and constructing anything that resembles a car or plane. It is completely adorable.

    Today I felt like I was back home for a little bit. We went to Zachary's play group where there are a number to kids playing all together while the moms talk about life. Pretty much toddlers over here are the exact same as toddlers in the states: fighting, pulling, pushing, throwing...felt just like home. :)

     Sunday we were in the country side for services and it was such a blessing to see the ministry and how everything works. We had good numbers in the villages and some of the kids recognized me from 4 years ago...but how could you not when the  only other white person you see is Pastor Mark? ;) Some of the young teen girls practiced their English with me, I was rather impressed with how much they knew and understood (at least I think they understood). We eventually ran out of English sentences to practice with and then we just started talking through the translator. Ngeth was the one translating for me and will continue to help me with the lessons, games, and crafts. On Sunday he will be the one taking me on a moto to a village (as Pastor Mark is in another village) to do Sunday school. I got the opportunity to go meet some of the kids on Sunday and the kids kept coming. There could be a pretty large amount of kids, which will be awesome (and pretty intimidating for being on my own for the first time)! It is amazing to see how Mr. Srong is helping with this ministry and how the kids take to him. He is a true blessing to the Baldwins and the ministry here. There is a lot of persecution to some of the kids in one of the villages as they walk to the house where services are held. Numbers once were more, but the kids stop coming because it got too much for them. It is a real struggle, but they are thankful for the kids that have continued to come despite the persecution they are given.

     Because of school being in session and the kids not being able to come to vacation bible school for a full week, we will be doing weekends of  VBS rather than a whole week. So, not this Saturday and Sunday, but the following 2 weekends will be full of VBS activities. I am working on utilizing some of the left over crafts that we left here 4 years ago. A lot of memories come flooding back as I was going though everything. It was fun to think back 4 years ago and everyone on the team and to see how everyone's lives are so different in just a short time. It gave me time to think back and pray for each of the team members and their now growing families.

    Pastor Marks car has been at the shop since I got here last week. Thankfully his mechanic allowed Pastor Mark to borrow his car while he works on it. But, he has had it for a few weeks now and I know Pastor Mark is looking forward to getting his back. Each day it is a day filled with; 'is he going to call today?'. so far, not yet. Pastor Mark has learned very well on how to drive here. He drives just like a Cambodian... Pretty much the lines on the road are just decor. They just look pretty on the ground while everyone runs over them. One thing that has changed in 4 years is there are a lot of lights in the city. Thankfully pretty much everyone follows the lights. But they are not like the lights in the states. There is really no way to explain it to make you fully understand on how the lights work. But, it works for them here and that is what counts.

    Zachary and I went out alone yesterday. We took a walk to the playground up the street and went for a walk through Ucky, as Zachary calls it. Lucky is the local market here and they carry a lot of American food. I am thankful that it is there if I get a craving for something American, which has not really happened yet. Except I want a nice cold Dr. Pepper. But they don't have it over there. At least they didn't as of yesterday. But that is okay, because it would only help my dehydration that I am having right now. I am working on getting my hydration back. I have been drinking more water than I have before. I feel like I am an elephant trying to drink all the water I need in order to survive here. The hard part is staying hydrated. On Sunday morning I was fine. But by the time we got back that evening it was completely different. I did not feel like doing much on Monday and I am pretty positive it is because of not drinking enough water. Hopefully I learned my lesson and won't do that again.

     Thank you all for praying for this ministry while I am here! But I would ask for prayer for a bunch of my little kiddos at home. I guess there is a pretty bad stomach bug that has hit a few of them pretty hard and even ended up putting one of them in the hospital for a few days. It's always so hard to see such little ones suffer from such viruses.

     May the Lord keep you all safe!
                    In Christ,
                     Sharon    (or Karen as Pastor Mark keeps accidentally calling me) 
                  Psalm 25:5

Praise:
1) Numbers were good on Sunday for services
2) Games and Crafts are figured out!! (just now need to get some supplies)
3) Wiwin is healing well after her delivery of Anna

Prayer:
1) Anna to sleep longer periods of time during the night (she seems to be on American time and sleep all day and fuss all night)
2) Pastor Mark's car to be fixed soon and it not cost too much
3) Zachary to learn to potty train (and me as I am going to buckle down and help him)
4) For me to stay hydrated and not get sick from dehydration

    

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