Summer/Fall 2015

This year has gone by all in a rush. So many things happened. Here's a quick catchup and update...

May

We jumped into school life after our long holiday, and definitely kept busy. Both classes and outside-of-school things were on the agenda.

A last-minute, surprise birthday party with "the gang"
for one of my students (who is in the dark shadows on the left).

The Grade 8 Tech Studies kids made alphabets, took pictures
of them, and handcrafted messages on the computer.

Tim & Wendy's house got torn down because of termites,
and they began to recreate a new one.

I always enjoy spending time over at the orphanage.
This is Mat Sitha, at house 11, making bok svay (pounded green mango).

Random violin practice. Hey, whatever does the trick!

June

More of the same...

Hanging out at dorm study hall.

Shannon and Sreya got engaged over one of the holidays.

We had a special baptism ceremony.
There were about 66 baptisms, it was special to see!

Most of my "gang" got baptized. Special guys!

Another birthday-cake celebration.

Laura and I tested out making some Khmer food.
It turned out yummy (though we've practiced more since then)!

July

July was a month of wrapping up classes, writing exams, giving exams, packing for home, and wrapping up all sorts of loose ends. It flew by so fast, even though at times it felt like it was going slow. And all those goodbyes at the end... whew. Not so much fun.

A birthday party for a student's little sister.

With my fellow volunteers. Fun bunch, these are!

This smiley boy hung outside of my office window a lot!

At the last Pathfinder outing of the school year.

Grade 7 class party just before exams.
Popcorn, bread, and old grade 6 videos made it lots of fun.

Three sweet girlies I love!

Exam time in Grade 8.

Another party - this time after we finished exams!

Lots of goodbyes! One of my grade 12 students.

A couple of fun-loving grade 11 guys.

One of my grade 7 girls.

One of my little grade 7 guys whose family moved away after I left.

A bouncy grade 7 guy!

More goodbyes at my house...

Even the little ones came.

It was not cool to leave. Even the sky cried...

Back home with family at last.

Peaches!!

  

I spent a weekend at YD Camp.
It had been two whole summers since I'd been back!

August

Fun times at ASI, seeing and catching up with so many old friends!

On a walk with my sweet doggy.

Enjoying my cardmaking stuff again...

Every Sunday night I hang out at my brother's apartment
and play games. Dutch Blitz is our go-to favorite.

Our friends had a double birthday party - ocean theme!

September

I went to the county fair a couple of times.
Julianna and I had a good time watching part of the horse show!

Great Sabbath evenings spent with friends...

Kids, kids, and more kids + Legos = great fun.

October

Laura and I have enjoyed FaceTiming more often these days.

A few of my Pathfinder girls at the UCC Pathfinder Camporee.

Christmas is already at Walmart!! I'm so excited!

Now I'm in Canada at my friends' home, enjoying a nice long visit. As for the future... it's still unknown (whose future isn't?) but I'm doing what I can at home while praying for God to lead in the next few months. If things work out I may end up back in Cambodia in the near future. We'll see!

A New Beginning

Semester 2 is underway! We finished our midyear exams last week, and I think everyone is enjoying the fact that we are learning new things now instead of reviewing for and taking all of those end-of-semester tests and exams. I am, for sure. And now we're getting closer to the end of the school year! I find it hard to believe that we're this far along already.

Grade 10 at flag raising on Monday morning. Photo: Vanessa

I've had an unexpected challenge and blessing this week: One of our volunteers left and someone was needed to pick up her Bible 7 class. Since I am one of the few people this year who doesn't have a Bible class in the mornings, it was handed to me. I am thrilled because it is my class from last year, and I haven't been able to teach them at all this year. I always really enjoy spending time with them! But on the other hand, it is a big challenge because my schedule has already been rather full! It is exciting though, because I am finally able to have a bit more of a direct influence on their spiritual lives again. I'm looking forward to the things we can talk and learn about together.

This week we've been learning about the Waldenses. It's been a blessing for me, and I think the kids have been understanding the concepts well enough that it's made them think as well. I discovered this article by a good friend, which is full of really good lessons we can learn from the lives of the Waldenses. It is easily simplified, so we've been using it in our class! Today we talked about the missionary efforts of the Waldenses, and the kids drew pictures of the Waldenses going away from their mountain homes to share the Bible with the people down in the cities. I'll share a few of my favorites with you:

Sun

Nak

Seila

Mao

"The spirit of Christ is a missionary spirit. The very first impulse of the renewed heart is to bring others also to the Saviour. Such was the spirit of the Vaudois Christians. They felt that God required more of them than merely to preserve the truth in its purity in their own churches; that a solemn responsibility rested upon them to let their light shine forth to those who were in darkness" (The Great Controversy, page 70).

The Top 7 Things a Teacher Can't Live Without

David (grade 12 last year) and his new group of students in Mondulkiri Province.

Over the last year and month or two, I've discovered some things that teachers (especially those in the mission field) must have in order to be successful, or at least to survive in a crisis. I'll share some with you...

Whiteboard marker. Even if you have nothing else in your hands, this is an essential. Whether you are following the textbook or teaching from off the top of your head, the kids will listen so much better if you can write things out (simply) for them to see. You can play word games with them, or review for an upcoming test. It's definitely a must-have.

Clock. Pretty much anyone needs this, but it's for sure on the teacher's list. Maybe the grade in charge of ringing the bell forgot to do it, or you need to determine how much more time you have to talk or do work. If you don't have your own, make sure at least one of the kids has one so you can assign them the task of timekeeper.

Extra pens. Someone's bound to give the excuse that they can't do the assignment because they don't have a pen! This is easily remedied if you have a good supply at hand. You don't have to have a whole box, but just a few will be helpful.

Paper. It can be fresh paper, scratch paper, or the kids' notebooks, but paper is a necessity! Kids can work by themselves or in groups to write, draw pictures, or make a poster about one of the things you've been studying about. Or - if the printer and copier are functioning properly - the kids can do a worksheet.

Flexibility. Without this, you'll crash. You could be asked to do anything at any given time. Maybe the science teacher has to be away for a week, so you need to teach a few periods of physics. Or the power's out during your two computer class periods. What to do? Be flexible and figure out a way to learn something and make it work!

Sleep. You can go without sleep for a little while, it is true. But sometimes you just need to put away the books at 8:30 or 9:00 and go to sleep even if you're not finished with everything you wanted to do for tomorrow. The next thing on my list will help you through this quandary (it has been proved). In order to stay cheerful during the day, you need to get enough rest at night.

Absolute reliance on God. Above anything and everything else, this is something a teacher can not live without for even an hour. All your plans will fail if you do not recognize your need of God, and trust Him to give you your lesson plans. I've experienced this firsthand for an entire year and He has proved faithful every day that I have trusted Him. Don't ever leave home without His presence! Don't let your classroom be without Him there!

Two of my boys from last year, at Angkor Wat. 

Sunrise at Wat Preah Yesu.

Photo credits: David, Ro, and Francis.

One year

Pathfinder outing! (Photo: Shannon Maddocks)

The school year is nearly over! It's so hard for to believe. A group of student teachers from Avondale College have been here for the past three weeks, but they just finished teaching their last day, and will be leaving soon. There's one "normal" week of study, then we have review and final exams in the following two weeks. Didn't I just arrive here at Wat Preah Yesu? It's crazy how fast time has gone by.

During the course of this year, my students and I have grown quite close. We've been with each other through happy times and hard times, 19+ classes a week. It's been fascinating to watch each young character closely and see the strengths blossom. I've seen so many weaknesses in myself, but I've also observed so much strength in God. It's been an incredible opportunity to be pushed toward Him as in no other way, and chosen to be a channel of His power and love.

We were really blessed during this school year to have a large variety of volunteers. A fellow teacher wrote about them here, on her blog. So many strong skills were represented this year: science, music, agriculture, photography, theology, health & nursing, accounting, math, and other things. God has provided just what we need to teach the kids.

Now we are looking ahead to next school year. We know that even though several of our teachers are moving on to new places, God will continue to give us the resources we need. However, at this point in time, we're still on the lookout for volunteers for the new school year beginning in September. Specifically, we need people to teach the following:

• Mechanics
• Bible
• English
• Science
• Math
• Music

We can use people with other skills as well. You don’t have to be a qualified teacher, but we do prefer conservative Seventh-day Adventists who have a commitment to letting Christ live His life through them.
If you are interested or would like to know more, please contact Tim Maddocks at tim @ saltmin . org (no spaces).

I'm so glad that God has worked it out so I can stay an additional year. One of my students mentioned that he wants me to stay for seven years. I said that it's up to God - He has to provide for me to stay if that's what He wants! So my little guy is now praying that God will help me to stay for that long. :-)

I will visit the US from August 14 - September 2. I am looking forward to being home again, trying out American food (not sure how I'll cope without rice), and visiting friends. I hope to see you, give you an update in person, and just catch up on life!

P.S. My friend Kathleen is much more faithful at updating her blog than I am, and she shares much of what happens at Wat Preah Yesu. You might consider following her blog as well - Purposed in My Heart.