An evening on the swing

The view from the swing at nighttime.

It was the eve of a school holiday. As my custom often is when I have a bit of free time in the evening, I headed down to the orphanage to see who I could find to hang out with. There's almost always someone to talk to, and it's almost always a different person. You just never know, which makes it a fun adventure.

This night, I considered talking with a certain one of my students from last year, so I went to his house. But he was out fishing, so I talked with the other girls from his house for a while, and then went out to find someone else. As I walked along, I heard a voice call me from the swings. " 'Cher!" It was a couple more students of mine. We chatted for quite a while about all sorts of things, and other kids came and went during our conversation. Then those two decided it was time to go home too. As I was getting ready to leave, yet another of my students (an older one this time) sat down on the swing next to me and said, "I want to talk with you now!"

We'd never really connected before, other than time in class, so I was happy that she wanted to talk. She'd shown some rebellion in other teachers' classes recently as well, and I was curious as to what might have been the cause. We started talking, and immediately she began to ask me spiritual questions. Stuff she wasn't sure about from Bible class, and questions she seemed to have been thinking about in her heart for a while. She told me of her fears of ghosts and demons; fears that she wouldn't go to heaven because of all the bad things she'd done; the times when she didn't really believe in God - or that He is love. She explained that her relatives sneer at her for being a Christian. She shared with me how she hates the favoritism she experiences in her orphanage home, and the hypocrisy she sees in the "Christian" adults around her every day.

I was eager to answer her questions and show her the path to true happiness, but I felt so inadequate. As she tried her best to translate her thoughts into English, I prayed silently. Lord, give me Your words. I'll mess it all up if You're not here with me.

As our feet shuffled on the ground underneath our swings, I answered each one of her questions, sharing my own stories of experience, and even thoughts of fear and unbelief I've had before. I tried my best to point her to Jesus as a God of love, and encouraged her to live like Him, even amid the hardships she faces every day. I can't say I gave all the right answers, or complete ones at that, but it was special to be able to connect with her and encourage her to follow Jesus and spend time in His Word.

She told me a story, after I'd reminded her of God's greater power than Satan, about a time when she was so afraid of the demons. I don't recall if she had actually seen them or not, but as she was lying in bed one night, she had an immense fear of these evil creatures. She wasn't sure what to do, but then she remembered that she had a Bible near her. She picked it up and hugged it to her chest. As she did, peace filled her heart, and she knew for a fact that God's Word has power. She'd forgotten all about the experience but our talking about these things had reminded her.

Before we parted ways (late in the night!), I prayed with her.

Please pray for this special girl, and that God will continue to work miracles in her life. She still has a long way to go, but she seems to be searching. Pray that God will give me the time I need to be able to connect with her - and the other students who are open to encouragement.

Bury My Heart

Photo credit: HistoryMakers

A friend recently shared this song on her blog, and I thought it was beautiful. So I'll let you read it too:

Bury My Heart

A young girl weeps in a far distant land;
She has no one to show her God’s love.
No mother or father to wipe away her tears,
She cries out in the night alone.

Bury my heart on the mission field, Lord;
I’ll go to dry that young girl’s tears.
I’ll serve You no matter where the path may lead;
Lord, please bury my heart.

A mother grieves for her starving child;
She has no shelter from the cold.
Earthly provisions will ease their suffering,
But who will feed their empty souls?

Bury my heart on the mission field, Lord;
I’ll give the gospel to the suffering ones.
I’ll go wherever You want me to go;
Lord, please bury my heart.

Will you ignore these lost souls in the night?
Can you hear their pleading cries?
They’re begging for someone to show them the way –
We must go before another one dies.

Bury my heart on the mission field, Lord;
These distant voices won’t fade away.
I’ll do Your will whatever the cost;
Lord, please bury my heart.

I’ll do Your will whatever the cost;
Lord, please bury my heart.
Lord, I give You my heart.

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.

Of Challenges and Bright Spots

Most of last year's Grade 6 class.

I was reading through my journal from earlier this year and found a couple of posts that tell of the heart of teaching. I'll share one of them here to show you why I love it here so much, despite challenges...

(I've abbreviated names for privacy.)

Thursday, February 6, 2014 - 5:17 p.m.

Today was a teensy bit better than yesterday, mostly because it had a few more bright spots in it. I'm not sure if it's just Satan trying his hardest to discourage me, or if I really am a terrible teacher, but whatever it is, I am having a super tough time trying to teach.

Basically, in a nutshell, yesterday I sat with B__ for over an hour in the empty classroom while talking to him and waiting for him to finally do pushups so he could go (eventually he did, thankfully). Then I spent the rest of the day feeling like a terrible teacher for being inconsistent and not teaching properly because I don't know how.....

Today, I prayed oh so hard. Last night, too. But this morning I went to my classroom extra early before staff worship and prayed for each student. But nevertheless, the class was noisy as usual for my first two classes. We somehow managed to learn a thing or two (between P__ doing multiple sets of 10 pushups for exiting his seat without my permission), but it was still awfully hard for me. As I walked home for the break between science & math classes, I was sick of kids' voices. I cried out to God for help. I thought and prayed and dozed in the hammock until time to go, and as I walked, I thought of "Be Still My Soul" - the song God had woken me up to this morning. I pulled out my iPod and read the words. Parts of a couple verses stood out to me in particular...

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In every change He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as He has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Such precious promise. The waves and winds still know, understand, and obey God's voice implicitly. Could students be any less obedient to Him? I got to the classroom but Teacher L was still inside with the Handicraft class. So I waited outside and watched all the kids in the schoolyard. Of such is the kingdom of Heaven. Even though they're a pain sometimes, God loves children most of all. Their spirit is what He wants in me. I was pretty quiet as I watched (I'm sure the kids wondered why), and then finally R__ poked me and said that I could go into the classroom now because Teacher L had left. I went in, just waiting for the oncoming battle. To my surprise, as we began our lesson on factors and prime & composite numbers, they settled down and actually learned. You know why? Because my God is incredible. :D He sent a group of visitors from the Korean church and they happened to stand outside our classroom for a good amount of time, talking or whatever. And my kids are quiet whenever visitors are around. :D :D God seriously can do anything!

After a fairly successful lesson (still need to work a few wrinkles out of that lesson because I didn't teach it quite right :P), I headed over to the music classroom for grade 8. I wasn't as stressed about that but was still not really looking forward to trying to juggle pianos and violins again. But lo and behold, when I walked in, T__ was there! I asked him what he was doing and he said he was willing to help with whatever! And so, I got to spend almost the entire Music 8 period teaching S__ the first two Twinkles on the violin, which was pure joy. :D God is amazing. I told T__ after class that he had helped God answer my prayer. :)

Sin in a Box

Here's a skit that some fellow volunteers did a couple of weeks ago at Sabbath-closing vespers. Quite thought-provoking - and it really spoke to some of the issues and questions our kids face.

Video: Dan Serns (obtained via FB)

Mission Missings

Month 1 of 11 in Cambodia:

I'm a missionary. And, as I've been discovering over the past month, there's a lot of stuff I can't get here that's readily available at home. Some of it's totally fine. I really don't mind washing my hair with little packets of shampoo, sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor, wearing only flip-flops at all times, or scrubbing my clothes in a tub by the pump. But some stuff is rather missed: 

1. A real piano.
2. Smoothies (specifically peanut butter/banana).
3. Whole wheat bread.
4. An oven.
5. Juice (from the refrigerator).
6. Couches.
7. Taco Bell (I seriously never thought I'd say that).
8. Christmas lights.

Month 10 of 11 in Cambodia:

The update...

Most of that stuff I wrote back then is totally fine now. I don't miss it much at all anymore, and I've discovered an Asian alternative for some of it, anyway. For example, we borrowed a blender from the Home Ec room during mango season, bought ice just down the road, and made incredible smoothies several times. WW bread... well... I will enjoy it at home but I've gotten used to the French baguette bread here. In January, I moved to one of the only houses on campus that actually has an oven, so I've been able to enjoy using that. Once a week I can get sugarcane juice at the market. Couches... hammocks are just as good, if not better. My mom sent me some LED Christmas lights so those are stashed away for Christmas season. The only two things that haven't really been remedied are the piano and Taco Bell, but I will enjoy those when I do go home! 

I think I'm going to have to do a switch and write a list of stuff I'll miss about Cambodia while I'm at home:

1. Brown-skinned people (they all want to be white; I wish I were brown).
2. A cool dipper bath in the middle of a hot day.
3. Hearing and speaking Khmer.
4. Morning market.
5. Sitting on the floor during church.
6. Leaving my shoes at the door (and trying to find them afterwards).
7. Rice. Every meal.
8. Riding on a motorbike everywhere I go in town.

It's been a challenge to adjust to a new culture, but I am learning Paul's lesson:

"I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11).

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.