National Museum

It was time for a field trip.  Sigh…it is so hard to find places that we can take the children for field trips.  It just isn’t the same here as it is in other countries.  Where is a good ole dairy when you need one?  Or an apple orchard?  A newspaper?

We have taken the children on a river boat ride to a silk weaving village, the Royal Palace, and we have done the zoo (or at least the closest thing we can call a zoo) TWICE.  We have enjoyed Apsara Arts for traditional Apsara dancing, gone  swimming, and enjoyed elephant rides at Wat Phnom.  But that just about exhausts our choices.  However,  I realized that we hadn’t done the National Museum yet.

I did the museum when I was here back in 2002 to adopt Seth and Chantal. My memories weren’t pleasant but maybe it would be better??? So we announced our plans and began the preparations.  We needed to arrange care for Bykota Littles and the Benz Littles.  We need additional transportation.  Who is it that gets car sick?  Anyone in danger of throwing up must go in the tuk tuk.  All those important details!

Once we get there, we find the usual disparity of fees.  Foreigners are $3 each…so that cost the four Benz family members $12…the other 16 visitors…all Khmer…were $2 total.  Good grief!  To get the most out of the museum, we paid for a guide in the Khmer language.  We are more concerned that the children understand the museum even if we do not.

We begin making our way through the museum and while it wasn’t dreadful, it was certainly not an experience that I will want to repeat.  Around almost every corner there was another idol of Buddha with offerings requested.  Money can be given, flowers or incense can be bought, prayers can be lifted… I wondered before we entered if this was going to be uncomfortable.  But with a single glance at our group, the idol attendants turned away.  It became apparent that the presence of the Lord was with us.

We kept looking for something, ANYTHING that wasn’t saturated in the idol worship of Hinduism or Buddhism.  Nothing was to be found.  Mark and I began to wonder the wisdom of coming here.  The tour actually got a little long for the kids also.  They did however, perk up when they came upon the swords.  The Bykota boys actively acted out mock decapitations and well, we didn’t stop them.  It was the most entertainment of the entire tour!

The highlight of the event was picture taking in the courtyard garden.  It was very, very pretty.  And Dad handed out money to buy fish food and they loved feeding the fish in the four ponds.

Today the children spent their morning (in total agony) as they worked on short reports of “My Field Trip to the National Museum.” The children would have enjoyed a vaccination clinic more than this painful process.

But HOT DOG…this is when we hit the jackpot!  Child after child commented either by mouth or in their essay how disturbing, how sad, how wrong it is that everything in their country is so against the ways of the Lord.  This wasn’t mentioned by us at all!  This was revelation from the Holy Spirit to the children themselves.  My heart is simply too small and inadequate to hold the JOY that floods me when I reflect on this.

These 17 children are gonna rock this world  These 17 children are going to be history makers in this land and where ever else the Lord sees fit to lead them!

What God has done here in Cambodia with High Tower Ministries is so beyond our wildest dreams or imaginations.  It is so totally by His hand and through His grace.  What an awesome God!  He reigns!

Breathing in, breathing out,

Rhonda

 

termites and thieves and soccer…

ter  mite –

Any of numerous pale-colored, usually soft-bodied social insects of the order Isoptera that live mostly in warm regions and many species of which feed on wood, often destroying trees and wooden structures. Also called white ant .

I think this  dictionary entry is WAAAYYY too mild of a description.  Plus I also think it is incorrect.  We have found that termites even like to eat waxy crayons!

We have returned from the States and after a first week of trying to recover from jet lag, Mark got school back on schedule as best he could.  But by the end of the first day, we found a terrible termite calamity.

In our main built-in cupboards in School of the Nations, termites have attacked.  We know they weren’t there when we left, but we have no idea when they moved in.  By the time Mark discovered them, they had eaten the entire wooden supports of the interior shelves.  Only the laminate material was supporting the weight of the materials.

But  the WORSE thing of all is the damage that they wrecked on the materials in the cupboards:

ALL but one of our excellent Scholastic Dictionaries were eaten…

All our extra NiRV Bibles that we had been collecting slowly but surely through donations…

The ENTIRE library of Khmer Christian Children’s writings…  EVERY Single one…destroyed…

Most of the box puzzles…

An entire box of donated Awana material…

All of our English Conversation material that we had copied for use this quarter…

Then also in the bottom cabinet where we had some art supplies stored we found:

ALL the sketch books…totally eaten

17 boxes of Crayola crayons eaten ( I hadn’t bought any Crayons in the States because we had this supply all ready to go)

All the paintbrushes eaten and just the little metal tips left that hold the bristles in!!!

All of these supplies were brought from the US and we used them and relied on them a great deal.  It was enough to make us want to just sit down in the middle of the floor and cry.  But the floor was wet with insecticide so we couldn’t sit there.  (trying to lol…)

If that wasn’t exciting enough for our first week back…the situation with crime and break ins have continued this week.  We live directly across the street from the “village chief.”  This Wednesday at 12 30 PM, his family had just finished lunch and were asleep in the house resting during rest time when they heard thieves at the back of the house.

The thief was dangling from something at the back and was patiently cutting away metal bars and supports of the fencing around and on the windows.    Thieves are doing this all over town.  They do this as a first step and sell the metal to recyclers because scrap metal is getting such a good price.  Then they come back later and go into the actual house to rob from the belongings.  But the brazen nature of this!  In the middle of the day…while the family was in the house resting…Golly Bob!

However, the week has ended on a more cheerful note.  Today was the first day of soccer with the Phnom Penh Soccer League.  Last year we were very blessed when the children of Bykota House were invited to participate since their English skills were so good.  So we had 11 very happy soccer players.  Bee, Mary, and Madeline were excited too because they love playing on the sidelines while soccer is playing.  As a side note…if this is something that a reader or someone you may know might be interested in sponsoring since it is certainly an extracurricular event…our expected costs for soccer this year is $400 ($200 for fees, $150 for new cleats for those whose feet are growing and $50 for the toll fees and transportation costs to get there)…see our website for details on how to give if this is something you are interested in.

Breathing in, breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Big week of VBS

Mark had seen an ad for children’s workers training on the internet so he quickly signed up for three seats at the training before all the seats were taken.  So week before last we had 3 staff members go to the training on Weds, Thurs, and Friday.  It turned out to be hard on TR.  The man that the trainers had hired to do the translating wasn’t up to the task so they asked TR to do it for them…and then he also got roped into helping with the Praise and Worship with playing the guitar.  Then on Friday all three of the High Tower employees were asked to accompany the trainers as they went out of town to a nearby province and held VBS for a poor village.  They shared with the ministry that they really couldn’t because we needed them back home at Bykota House.  Well, I guess they wanted our workers enough that they just flat out invited all of the Bykota Kids to join to the VBS. 

So last week, every morning TR loaded up the tuk tuk and the children headed off to VBS.  They had a GREAT time!  They did their school work in the afternoon so the week wasn’t an entire loss to the school books.

On Friday the team was breaking down and the leader of the group came over and blessed TR with the guitar that he had been playing all week for VBS.  It is Takamine…so it is a very top of the line guitar.  He also gifted TR with all the accessories and a hard-sided carrying case.  What an awesome blessing to this faithful young man…God has His hand on you, TR!

Tonight  (Sunday) was a monthly Ex pat worship night.  The location has changed from all the way across town to just two blocks from our home.  We are excited about this!  Tonight we loaded up the family into the tuk tuk and headed down there.  We really enjoying this time of worship in English.  There is something about worship in your native tongue that is so much more refreshing.

Everything is back to school as normal this week but with a new addition.  We are starting our new Awana Club on Friday.  Because of staff and location restrictions, it is certainly a modified club when compared to the ones that we have been involved in but another fun way to enjoy the Word of God and to learn more about His character.  We want to thank  Trent and Laura Walker, Carthage, MO and Heritage Bible Church in Benton, KY for their donations of Awana materials that have made this venture possible.

We would like to ask everyone to please continue to lift our son, Steven in prayer for safety and well-being while he serves in Iraq and to also remember our DIL, Dany, while she waits alone in the States.  Also we have had the joyful news that our daughter, Beki is again expecting a bundle of blessing in Carthage!  Most of our family haven’t yet met our grand daughter, Olivia but we hope to have furlough next summer.

Please post or email us to let us know how you are doing.  We would really enjoy some news from back home!  Love to all!

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Crossing a finish line

Well, unlike yesterday…so far today is going okay.  Well, I did drop a full coffee cup and make a terrible mess that needed cleaned up but hey, if that is the worst to happen today, it will be a better day than yesterday!

First off updates:

Christopher is doing okay.  We are trying to keep him calm and still so that he doesn’t get the wound all sweaty and we are keeping him inside in an attempt to keep it clean.  This is making him sorta sad though because as luck would have it, today is the first day of homeschool co-op.  There are only 10 sessions this semester and he is going to miss one…so I am sorry for that. 

Camilla, the dog.  She had to have an emergency removal of the uterus to save her life this morning.  The infection was really bad.  She is resting now and on IV meds.  We are supposed to bring her home tonight at six if she is doing okay.  No little Shar Pei puppies for us…

The finishing line that the title is talking about is that all but three students have finished their first grade reading workbooks in the curriculum with School of the Nations!  This is a cause for celebration!  We are very excited and since all the students had a nervous morning of taking a test, they have been given the afternoon off.  Tomorrow we are making preperations to have an extra special lunch with a dessert for them as a party of sorts. 

Today is Isaac’s 16th birthday.  For those of you unclear of who is who in this Benz family…Isaac is our youngest biological child.  He turns 16 today, Dani turned 17 last month, and Kati turned 18 in April.  These three children are the ones that we often referred to as our “baby boom” because they were all born in such a short period of time…but that was only yesteday…how did they get to be 16, 17, and 18???  We are thankful for the young adults that they are turning into.

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Royal Palace

We loaded up the van and the tuk tuk and took school on the road for a field trip this morning.  I had toured the Royal Palace when I visited Cambodia in 2002, but the rest of the family had never been there.  When it was time for a field trip, we gave the Bykota Kids a choice between the Apsara Arts Association to see the dancers and the Royal Palace.  They chose the Royal Palace.  So today we were off…

 TR had gone by the Palace to check the hours of operation and the costs of everything.  But when we got there we were told a different price!  Go figure…this is Cambodia.  You would think something like this would have a set price.  Also, when I walked up to the window, I was told that I would not be allowed in because my shirt didn’t have sleeves.  (We aren’t talking about a tank or a strap shirt at all.  This is a full cover shirt but yet is without sleeves. ) So I was led over to a souvenir stand to buy a Royal Palace tee shirt.  Good grief!!!  Mark later teased me that I was the lucky one because I got a souvenir.  Ha Ha

 Anyway, we paired up in teams of 3 or 4 each with a staff member in each group and went our seperate ways to explore the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda.  The children enjoyed the trip tremendously.  Staff had other opinions though…it was hot, it was miserable…but yet, it was fun being out with the children and seeing them have such a great time.  Everyone was thrilled to get a treat of a cold bottle of cola…and they loved to sit and watch the large Koi fish in the pond around the replica of Angkor Wat.

We all enjoyed showers, lunch, and then some rest time before afternoon activities took over.

We had a surprise treat come to the gate…MAIL!!!  We got a package of photos taken by H. on her visit here from Malaysia.  She had written a note that Sopheak read to the children and they googled the pictures with great relish.  Also, in the  mail we got notice of a package needing to be picked up AT the post office.  So TR, Kati, and I headed across town to get to the post office.

We had a package waiting from our sending church, Bykota Ministries.  It was full of cards and notes of encouragement.  We have taken turns this evening sharing all the cards and thinking of our loved ones back home in the States.

A sad thing happened on the way to the post office though…I was just sitting there when the tuk tuk went over a rough bump…out slid my phone RIGHT OUT OF MY POCKET and a moto dop driver bent over and swooped it right up.  He drove off like a crazy man with his new found loot and that was that!!!  That is just another part of the reality of living in Phnom Penh.

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Update on Soldier Boy and Lizzy and everything else

We were so blessed to get a phone call from Steven yesterday.  He is now only 4 time zones away from us.  It still seems like the other side of the world though.

 He only had 15 minutes and there was a long line behind him.  Dad, myself, Kati, Dani, Isaac, and Chantal all got a chance to say hello before he had to go.  The temperature where he was yesterday was 137 degrees.  Hard to believe how anyone can live in those temps.  He sounded in good spirits.  He misses his wife, Dany which is understandable.

Lizzy is doing better.  Since she is no longer dehydrated, she seems almost like a different baby.  Her face actually appears plumper, she has more energy, she is less fussy, and she has more of an appetite.  In the short time we have had her, she has gone from a little froggy type of scoot across the floor to up-on-all-fours for an out and out crawl.  Life is going to be busy from this point on.  Our house is NOT baby proof and she is showing us that every day.

Her second round of antibiotics is finished but her lungs are still full.  The doctor is not immediately doing a third round because she is quite sure that Lizzy has Cystic Fibrosis and will always be somewhat congested in her lungs.  I had a retired medical professional come over on Tuesday night and she showed me how to do chest percussion therapy to break up the mucus.  We have to do this 3 times a day and it is a nosy time of day because Lizzy screams to high heaven while we are doing it.  She hates it!  But the doctor assured me that the full blown war cry that Lizzy puts on is good for her too.  We may possibly lose a bit of our hearing but as long as it helps her, we are doing it.

The care of Lizzy has to be watched very carefully.  She must have a good, clean environment and over at BH there are so many children eager to hold and touch her and that is not what she needs.  So she is living at the Center with our family.  We aren’t equipped for a baby or at least we weren’t…but we have been very blessed.  Her diet must be closely monitored as well.  And of course, there is the 3X a day percussion therapy and her medicines that she must have 3 times a day. 

A visiting medical team happily carried over for us a pack n play.  So we have a bed for her.  Another ministry upon hearing of her arrival went through their supply of children’s clothes and found a few things. We couldn’t keep anything she arrived in because she was covered from head to toe with scabies.  The donated clothes combined with our small amount we had on hand from Grandma Marthalee and so she has a basic wardrobe.  We went out and found a junior chair of sorts to use as a high chair and we have had word that another family is sending us a car seat for her to use while in the van. 

We also want to thank Heather in Malaysia for her gift that covered her initial blood work and lab tests.  Please be in prayer that we can find some way to do the actual diagnostic test for CF.  We are hoping to be able to do it here and then have it couried over to Thailand or Vietnam so we can be positive of what we are dealing with.

We are in the process of apply for her passport.  The estimated cost of Lizzy’s passport so she would be free to travel to other countries in either an emergency or for testing/medical care is going to be around $300. 

School is doing very well.  Most of the Bykota Kids are in their fourth book now.  Dany, Bee, and Visoth need some special attention.  Our system is working WONDERFULLY with the other 10 students but these 3 that need special attention is one area that we aren’t doing well with.  So your prayers for us to have wisdom in how to proceed would be appreciated.

I must go now and get on with the day’s activities.  On top of everything that normally happens, we are preparing for a trip out to a provincial orphanage tomorrow where we will paint tee shirts with the children.  This will be one of those things that either will turn out to be a WONDERFUL memory  and lots of fun or it will be one of those “What were we thinking????” moments.

Breathing in, breathing out,

Rhonda

 

School Days

Well, it is official.  We had been talking about it and now it is a reality! School of the Nations has begun.  Our first day was on Monday, July 9th, and we are working out the glitches and getting over the rough spots!

The children are enjoying school and are working very, very hard.

We have enjoyed two visitors from Malaysia in our first week and we are now enjoying the help of a team of five from our Ozark Christian College in SW Missouri.  Their help has been invaluable in enabling us to pair a helper with those children needing special assistance.

 Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Desk delivery day

Saturday, June 23rd, was a busy, busy day here.  We had the day planned that we were going to be getting up early and going to Kompong Spue province to deliver some milk and hugs to the provincial orphanage there.  But on Friday night, the carpenter who is building the desks for our new school called and said he was ready to deliver them.

So Saturday morning started out with all the carpenters in and out of the house as they brought the desk’s pieces in and then assembled them in the rooms.  The Benz kids and the Bykota kids were all collectively anxious about when we were going to go to the orphanage.  They are always excited and look forward to it.  But we had to not only wait for the desk work to be finished, we had to wait also for the new tuk tuk which was having a little bit of work done on it.

So finally about 11 30, the desks are finished and paid for.  (I will try to post a picture of them.) Also, the tuk tuk guy called and our work was done and the tuk tuk was ready to be picked up.  We went and got it but by then it was time for lunch.  So we all sit down to eat and then get cleaned up, get the soy milks loaded, and  get all the children loaded.  We are off! 

We find the children at the orphanage ready and anxious for our arrival.  This time most of them met us at the gate.  That always scares us because they get so excited that they don’t watch out and it would be so easy to run over one of them. 

We immediately have children crawling all over us and we enjoy our time out there tremendously.  The Bykota kids sing some songs while TR accompanies them on the guitar and even Seth sung a solo.  “Savior, He can move the mountains.  My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save.”  We pass out a soy milk to each and every child and then pull the van over to the kitchen and unload another month or six weeks worth.

We were happy to find some of the children missing as some adoptions to families in France have been completed and the little ones now have Forever Families.

We came home…hot, dirty, and exhausted.  Showers were enjoyed all around and we sat back to enjoy the evening and rest.  But it wasn’t to be that way…a young couple that we know called us and wanted to finalize the sale of the small motorcycle that we had been talking to them about.  So Mark had to run out quickly to get cash and then we enjoyed visiting with them and becoming new owners of a much-needed moto.  What a day…and this was our DAY OFF.  LOL

 Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

PS  I know that this post is only getting posted on July 5th.  But I thought it was posted on Sunday June 24th.  But today when I went to the blog to check…it was saved as a DRAFT instead of being posted.  So, I just went ahead and posted it anyway.  Sigh…me and computers and internet…