Cambodia the Beautiful

I find it interesting that as I looked over the past few weeks of pictures in my camera and saw the first one (below), the song 'America the Beautiful' took over in my head. I am NOT a patriotic song gal, unless of course it's 4th of July. I remember learning the songs in school as a child, but I rarely hear them or remember their lyrics as an adult. Funny that, as I sit here counting down the days until we leave Cambodia, and thinking that there is not much beauty to be enjoyed here, that this song came to my mind. Enjoy the following images, and sing along to the lyrics of what is truly a wonderfully written song.

(To be sung to 'America the Beautiful')

Oh beautiful, for sunset skies...

For Asian fruits of all kinds...

For blue pools, and days off school...

For flowers that bloom in March!


Cambodia! Cambodia! God shed His grace on thee!



And crowned thy good, with sisterhood...

From sea to shining sea!

It's ssssooo hot that.....

-You are dripping sweat after each 5 minute, easy bike ride to school at 7 in the morning.
-1 1/2 liters of water just doesn't cut it anymore to keep you hydrated.
-You feel like a slug every evening before the air-conditioner can be turned on, because all of your energy is long-gone.
-Shade is essential when outside.
-Air conditioned rooms/classrooms don't feel very cool anymore.
-Swimming pools aren't refreshing anymore, because the weather outside has heated them up to be too warm.
-When the power goes out, you know you will eventually DIE if it stays out for too long.
-You make it a goal to do everything either before or after the sun goes down.
-Cambodian nappy time is anytime people feel like sleeping during the day, not just 12-2 anymore.
..even if you are running a business.
-Karie refuses to drink anything that is not ice cold.
-Thoughts of home and perfect California weather, as well as dreams of being cold, come frequently.
-Sweat rags, no matter how unattractive, are a necessity, and must be carried around at all times.
-We refuse to go anywhere that is not air-conditioned.
-Any reason to leave the air-conditioned classroom during the day must be taken into careful consideration.
-Karie figured, if she is going to sweat anyway, why not make the most of it?! She goes for walks when the sun goes down, and sweats her lil' heart out!
-Showers are mandatory before bed each night.
-the shower water, which comes from a tin thingy on the roof, is pumping out warm water......even though we don't have a water heater.
-Sweaty everythings are a part of life.

What have we been doing besides sweating? Thanks for asking. I have had a requst for more pictures on the blog, sorry I have been lazy about adding them recently. Here are some shots from around the city.

A shot taken from the top of a friend's roof. This housing community live on a lake. Their houses are on stilts above a large body of water.

There's something fantastic about colorful laundry, and here, it hangs everywhere! No dryers for us Cambodians!

Good friends are priceless. This is us gals celebrating Dean's 40th birthday.

Nothing much is new to share, except that our Coming Home Countdown has made it to 11 weeks! Brian and I are looking forward to our 1 week stop in Japan, and we should be arriving in beautiful San Francisco somewhere around June 6th. We will celebrate our 4th anniversary in a beautiful town on Japan's coast, and we look forward to transitioning out of this 3rd world country and back home.

Please Pray

I ask for your prayers during this hard time for some of the youth at our school/in our city. On Friday afternoon, they were on their way to a Middle School retreat at the beach (about 5 hours away). The bus they were riding in struck and killed 2 Cambodian men who were riding a moto. The men had tried to dodge a cow who jumped into their lane; they lost control, and were hit by the bus the students were in. They were killed on impact. Many of the young children saw the accident and the aftermath, as they had to wait there over 2 hours until police came to take care of the bodies. The bus driver is a Christian, and is in complete terror and shock, although the accident could not have been prevented. Please pray for the driver of the bus, for the families of the 2 men killed, as well as for the youth of this city who witnessed the accident. Pray that God will move in mighty ways through this tragedy. Thank you,

Karie <><

Lord, Bring the Sneezes!!

The past few days have been interesting, frustrating, and amazing. Yesterday morning, our water cooler decided to freeze, not allowing any water out. Nothing freezes here, so I was amused as to what was going on. My hunky hubby got in there with a knife and chopped out the ice, and we were back in business. The same morning, I was cooking us breakfast (breakfast burritos if you must know), and mid-egg-scrambling the gas turned off. Hmm. Well I tried and tried to light the burner again, but low and behold, we had actually run out of gas. Oh well, eggs went down the drain and it was off to work we went!
Our insurance refunded us some of the money we had to pay out of pocket when B had Dengue Fever, so we were able to get him new glasses. Last night, B and I went in search of this "world renowned" eye doctor here in Phnom Penh. We found him, and B was given the most thorough eye exam with some of the most innovative technology we'd ever seen. It cost only $10. We then went in search of a new pair of frames, and found out we would only have to pay around $50 for frames and lenses. Amazing.
Today, as I was teaching my 27 happy 5th graders, the power went out. A big, "ugh..." came from the crowd. The teacher, of course, was mature enough to keep her "ugh" in.....NOT. I was also not mature enough to have a perfect attitude, as 1...then 2 hours passed with no power. After about 15 minutes, the room began to heat up immensely; it was so hot, it felt like the air conditioners were never on this morning. Sweat was dripping from every kid, all while their teacher was trying to teach them many wonderful things!

My one and only prayer at this time was, "Lord, now would be a great time to bring on a sneeze attack!!!"

Paper fans began to be folded, and quiet, peaceful activities were achieved. After 1 1/2 hours of braving our sauna of a classroom, I decided, after sticking my hand out the window, that it was cooler outside. Never in Cambodia are things cooler outside. Beside the point. Anyway, we took our work outside and set up camp. I laughed out loud when I looked around our campus, only to see 5 or 6 other classes doing the same thing. Teachers had even brought out portable white boards, and kids were working hard...outside....in the middle of hot season.

Oh the joys of third world living. My class is great, and they were so flexible today. I will miss each of them greatly when we set sail for home.....in only 12 weeks from today.

Our March Newsletter....for y'all in the blog world :o)

Dear Family and Friends!

Happy March to you! As the month of March has come upon us here in Cambodia, the weather gods have turned up the volume!! April, as it has been told to us, is the hottest and most miserable month in the year…and March is definitely bringing us closer to the hot season. Brian and I are doing well, health-wise, and are really trying to focus on our jobs and ministries here; we only have 12 ½ weeks to go! Although our minds seem to be wandering to thoughts of home quite frequently, we are passionate to “finish well” here. We have purchased our plane ticket out of Cambodia, and we will leave on May 30^th (the day after school gets out). We will make a short stop in Japan, as this is part of our route home. We are looking to arrive back in California sometime on June 6^th or 7^th. We cannot wait to re-connect, hug, spend time with, and talk story with all of you!

We want to write to you to ask for your prayer and support in an area that I know might be a burden to many of you at this time, and that area is finances. We are both well aware of the economic crisis happening in America, and that crisis is also having an impact on those living in Asia. Many of our missionary families at the school are having to re-evaluate where they’re at with support money, and some are even having to move home because a lack of monthly partners.

We have been so blessed by 5 families/individuals who have committed to supporting us monthly. Our immediate families have also blessed us beyond measure!! Brian and I are so thankful to these people, most of whom are making cuts in their own budgets in order to support what the Lord has us doing out here. I know you might hear this a lot, but we truly could not be here without the support these people have given us financially. We owe each of them a huge THANK YOU!!

Unfortunately, when living overseas, financial support is very much needed. The income we receive is ¼ of what we would make back home. Here in Cambodia, even with the support we receive monthly, Brian and I are still living paycheck to paycheck. There is no extra money; this has been very hard for us, especially living somewhere new where having some money might make things a bit easier. We have put all trust and faith in the Lord, however, and have grown immensely while seeing His provisions for us. That being said, we want to share with you our current needs, financially and personally. If you cannot help us financially, could you at least pray that the money would come in? We would greatly appreciate it!

Finances:

· We both need some dental work done here before coming home. This is VERY cheap to get done here, but like I said, we have no extra money. An estimated cost would be around $400.00 total for both of us to get cleanings, cavities filled, etc.

· We need some money to cover costs of coming home; this would cover the expenses of moving out of our home here, and it would take care of menial things once we get back home. We sold everything we owned to come here, and we will need a few basics once we get back to California. I don’t have an estimated cost for this.

· This is a more selfish request, but there are multiple things we have wanted to do and see in the city where we live, that we simply have not been able to enjoy because of our tight budget. We have a few more weeks off from school before the end of the year, and we would (selfishly) like to see some of the things around the city and country. I don’t have an estimated cost for this.

Prayers:

· When we get home, Brian will be going back to school full time. He will be working hard for the next 2 years to finish with his college degree. Please pray for all of the documentation and enrollment processes to go smoothly for him, as he is beginning this process overseas.

· Karie has begun looking for a job, and has not had many replies from people, even to say they are not hiring. She is looking for a teaching job, and if she cannot find that, she has begun to look at Nanny positions. Please pray for the job God has for her to show up soon! Bills don’t disappear once we get home, and we need to have the means to pay them ASAP.

· For our school here in Cambodia, Logos International School. They are still in the hiring process for teachers for this upcoming school year. Please pray that those who are called to live here would contact the school.

We appreciate you reading this letter, and partnering with us in some way or another… whether through prayer, giving financially, or even sending us encouraging words! We are grateful for each and every person we know! If you would like to give financially, please contact us for the address. If you would like to give to a specific need (mentioned above), or give anonymously, please indicate that with your check.
Don’t forget to take a look at our blog, which we update regularly! We love you and thank you in advance for your support,

-Brian and Karie Bourdet