Christmas in Cambodia

A man's mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure. Proverbs 16: 9

As I write this, I am feeling homesick and I miss my friends from church and my family. It totally sucks. I've a bit of time to myself this weekend then next week my schedule is full again. I think if everything was fine I'd probably be dealing with it better but as much as I love the people here, cross-cultural differences are starting to fray me somewhat.

Over here it will be just like any other day and apart from the bigger hotels trying to out-do each other with who has the most elaborate secular display of garish festive lights, it's just not Christmas here, well not as I know it. Just had a Christmas celebration at the village church where I teach and on Christmas Day, we're having a celebration with all the kids at the Vietnamese ministry. Then in the evening, a few of us working with the Christian Missionary Alliance (who run the Vietnamese school) are having a meal together although most of them I haven't yet met. On Monday morning, we have a Christmas youth event at the school too.

You may be surprised to hear that there haven't been any recent Khmer language faux pas on my part (none that I know of anyway) but I know that my pronunciation of students' names when I call the register does usually result in a few laughs. The other day though I was sat in the restaurant area of the guest house doing some lesson-planning (which sometimes seems like it's all I do) and realised I had a requirement for some scissors. The guest house owner's head was just visible as he worked away, sitting behind the desk at the end of the open-sided dining area, so I called his name and asked (in English):
“Hey, have you got any scissors?”
He looked up, gave me a really dirty look and then carried on with whatever he was doing.
A few moments later, his head suddenly popped up from behind the counter again saying:
“Oh SCISSORS! Very sorry Mister Danny, I thought you said: have you got any SISTERS!”
To be honest, I was more concerned that for a brief moment, he was forced in his own mind to question my integrity..

Now, I do realise that negotiating one's way through traffic out here can be a bit hair-raising at times, but I actually saw a western woman riding in a tuk-tuk wearing a blind-fold, which I thought was taking it a bit too far.

Time is precious here though and as I'm not one to do anything unprepped, everything's taking up a bit too much time. I have to buy my own teaching resources including photocopying and use a local internet cafe to print online materials. Logistically it can be a bit of a headache but I always get done what needs to be done. English is in high demand here and I get asked many times to teach different people but it just isn't possible.

I'm really encouraged that the Bible dictations that I do during my evening class are well-received. God has been faithful as He has lead me though this and I use one of the students to translate using a Khmer Bible. This week, I'll be giving my testimony via an interpreter at the lake project so I'd really value prayer for this.

An amazing thing happened at the Vietnamese school this week – you may remember me telling you of a lady that was studying outside the class peering in through the window with baby and coursebook in arms. Well, she's an established part of the class now (along with her kids) and is a keen student and doing very well; she desperately wants to give herself and her children a better chance, living in a country that won't recognise her existence. The trouble is, her husband beats and threatens her if she goes to church on Sunday and he has her watched to make sure she doesn't go as she is expected to work as a drinks vendor.

I learned that as a young girl she had a vivid dream that God was drawing her to Him and although she'd always pursued faith in Christ it had always seemingly been a bridge too far. This week though, at school, she gave her life to Jesus and it was such an honour to see the joy on her face and tear-filled eyes as we all prayed. If ever we are to pray for anyone though, it is her.

So I'm glad to end on a positive note and I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this and in sharing this journey with me. I appreciate the love and support received as it has recently been a challenging existence out here.

I pray that you have a very happy Christmas.

Love,
Dan