Today was church day and the Juniper Green Singers (!) did their bit to enhance worship.
Church takes place in the upstairs room of the CHO office; there were lots of people there, arriving gradually from 8.30am as the local version of the praise band led some singing. When the service began, there were some Khmer songs, but we also had the bizarre experience of singing the same song in both Khmer and English - "Because He lives...".
There were members of the CHO staff, with their wives and children. We m
et Vuthy's wife, Tangear, and his 2 boys, Watana and Winjee; Mao with his wife Mahleng and his son Stepan (he has a younger son Jonathan who is 3 months old); then later Reatray and his wife Lucky, his boys Rechant and Sandy. They are all such lovely people.
et Vuthy's wife, Tangear, and his 2 boys, Watana and Winjee; Mao with his wife Mahleng and his son Stepan (he has a younger son Jonathan who is 3 months old); then later Reatray and his wife Lucky, his boys Rechant and Sandy. They are all such lovely people.
We sang "The Lord's my Shepherd" as a choir. We managed without too much trouble; Rosanne and Fiona even added the descant. Vuthy remembered it from 2005 when it was the theme song of the previous group. Martin wore his kilt and got some funny looks from the locals.
"Pastor Jim" is Jim's n
ew name. It is a title that carries respect with it. The sermon today was from 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 on the theme of "ambassadors for Christ"; it won't be repeated here, but some of the team should be able to give you a full description (at least Pastor Jim hopes so). Preaching in bare feet was a different experience - a tad soul-searching!!! If some of you think the sermons are long in Juniper Green, they are even longer with a translator; Mao is a star.
ew name. It is a title that carries respect with it. The sermon today was from 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 on the theme of "ambassadors for Christ"; it won't be repeated here, but some of the team should be able to give you a full description (at least Pastor Jim hopes so). Preaching in bare feet was a different experience - a tad soul-searching!!! If some of you think the sermons are long in Juniper Green, they are even longer with a translator; Mao is a star.There was also an American group in Church, who are here for a few days looking at some issues of cultural tourism; some of them are based in Vietnam.
The pastors for the conference are also starting to arrive. Jim was crossing the hotel lobby when someone said "hello; someone on the street had told me that there are some Scottish people in the hotel working with CHO and I am here for the conference with Pastor Jim."
The rest of the day was spent relaxing: some of us were reading, some were writing, some were studying for exams, some were wandering the town markets Eric and Yvonne bought new watches), some were rebuilding a laptop and Jim was preparing for tomorrow.
Tomorrow the work begins; we're not all sure what that means yet; so watch this space!
We had a bit of a hiccup last night when the laptop crashed, but it has been restored to its basic settings; photos have been reinstalled and we are back on-line again today.
