ore we started the bricks were orange, so what's changed, really? Thia, the local handyman, was swinging from the window frame and the rafters to paint the high places; it proves the sturdiness of their welding and he was wearing flip-flops! He was also wiring in the mains and Eric lent a hand and gave him some new tools with which to do the electrical work; before we go he will need to give Thia a tutorial in how to work the multi-meter. Fiona's i-pod provided the music; there was some interesting dancing on top of the trellis by Martin; the American group was also there painting. Safe Haven School - today we were finishing yesterday's windmills and the children took great delight in running outside to make them work in the wind. Eric and Rosanne were making windmills and balloon-driven cars; we can explain how these work when we come home! The identity book asked the children to draw pictures of their family; some children had 3 or 4 pictures on their page (me, brother, sister, mother) and some had none. This is the reality of life in Cambodia! The older ones were singing "Oh happy day" with the actions - a great sound.
School on a Mat - saw Martin (Goliath) felled by Jeanette (David) as she used one of the children's catapults. Guess the story?! The children took to a game called Giant's Treasure in which they had to sit in a circle while one was pretending to be a giant sleeping in the middle; one of them had to sneak in to steal his treasure; when the giant woke up he chased the thief around the circle when the thief would become the giant. The treasure - a giant bag of Haribo! One wee boy was caught 3 times on his journey round the circle, but decided to keep going to steal the treasure anyway. We sang "My God is so big, so strong and so mighty" with the actions: they followed the actions and tried to join in the song. There must have been more than 40 children there.
Pastors' Conference - it was a challenging session as Jim dealt with chapters 5 and 6 of Ephesians for the pastors to take away, in a culture where marriage is not as strong as it should be and adultery is a common thing. Women are mistreated and children are abused and have little value in families. Jim also had to explain why Je
sus turned water into wine when Paul said we should not get drunk. Some of the other questions were about big issues and Jim had to try to answer them as fully as possible. "From your experience of travelling round the world, which country is the hardest for the gospel?" Sandra had several requests to have her photo taken with some of the pastors and at the end we had a large team photo taken. It has been a hugely demanding undertaking, but also hugely rewarding. These people have learned a lot during these 3 days, drinking in Jim's teaching because they have no other source, no-one else to teach them.
sus turned water into wine when Paul said we should not get drunk. Some of the other questions were about big issues and Jim had to try to answer them as fully as possible. "From your experience of travelling round the world, which country is the hardest for the gospel?" Sandra had several requests to have her photo taken with some of the pastors and at the end we had a large team photo taken. It has been a hugely demanding undertaking, but also hugely rewarding. These people have learned a lot during these 3 days, drinking in Jim's teaching because they have no other source, no-one else to teach them.